- Roma stroll past Udinese as fans protest De Rossi sacking
- Horschel outduels McIlroy to win PGA Championship play-off
- Audiences summon 'Beetlejuice' to top of N. America box office for third week
- Stones salvages point for Man City against 10-man Arsenal
- Egypt fears 'all out' regional war: foreign minister to AFP
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory, Stuttgart outclass Dortmund
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote: projections
- Olympic champion Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Horschel's eagle beats McIlroy in PGA Championship play-off
- Mourners at commander's funeral express loyalty to Hezbollah
- Norris hails his 'mega' McLaren after dominant win at Singapore
- Monaco beat Le Havre to join PSG at the top of Ligue 1
- Scholz's party narrowly leads far-right AfD in east German state vote: exit polls
- New leftist president vows to 'rewrite Sri Lankan history'
- UN adopts pact to tackle volatile future for mankind
- Leclerc hails Ferrari fightback from torrid Singapore GP qualifying
- Belgian Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Sosa rescues point for Forest against Brighton
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory over Wolfsburg in seven-goal thriller
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: official results
- No fairytale ending for Ricciardo after 13 years in Formula One
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to step back from the brink
- What is the UN's 'Pact for the Future'?
- Norris dominates Singapore Grand Prix to cut Verstappen's title lead
- From bullets to ballots: Sri Lanka's comrade president-elect
- McLaren's Lando Norris wins Singapore GP to narrow F1 title race
- UN adopts pact promising to build 'brighter future' for humanity
- Military escalation not in Israel's 'best interest': White House
- Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect
- Classes resume at Bangladesh university at heart of protests
- 'Barely anyone left': Sudan's El-Fasher devastated by fighting
- 'Warrior' Joshua vows to fight on despite Dubois mauling
- Martin extends MotoGP lead as Bastianini wins at Misano and Bagnaia crashes out
- New French government instantly under pressure on multiple fronts
- Australia's Brown adds world title to Olympic time trial gold
- Russian strike on Ukraine's Kharkiv wounds 21
- UK's Starmer rules out austerity as Labour conference opens
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: projected results
- Israel says 'landed blows' on Hezbollah as Lebanon violence intensifies
- Roma CEO steps down amid anger over club icon De Rossi's sacking
- Incoming French government under pressure on multiple fronts
- Hezbollah rockets strike near Israel's Haifa as UN warns of 'catastrophe'
- Haddad Maia roars back to beat Kasatkina in Korea Open final
- All-rounder Ashwin powers India to 280-run Test win over Bangladesh
- Failed Springbok 'gamble' sets up rugby championship decider
- Lebanon strikes send Israelis to shelters as UN warns of 'catastrophe'
- Far-right AfD eyes new win in east German state vote
- Tony Popovic set to become new Socceroos coach - reports
- All-round Ashwin powers India to big Test win over Bangladesh
- NZ chase 275 to win first Sri Lanka Test after Patel bags six
France moves to ban 'sneaky' disposable e-cigarettes
French parliament has backed a proposal to ban single-use electronic cigarettes, considered to be gateways to tobacco addiction for teenagers and harmful to the environment.
The lower house National Assembly late Monday voted unanimously for the move, which still needs backing from France's upper house Senate and clearance from the EU Commission.
Pre-filled disposable e-cigarettes, known as "puffs", are popular with young people, can have a high nicotine content, come in many flavours and are cheap.
"They open a pathway to serious addiction," Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau said.
"They're ridiculously cheap, the fruity and sugary flavours are attractive, and their small size makes them easy to hide from parents," said deputy Francesca Pasquini, who submitted the draft law in November last year.
Co-sponsor Michel Lauzzana said that France's National Academy of Medicine qualifies puffs as "a sneaky trap especially for children and teenagers".
The motion, which got the vote of all the 104 members of parliament present, has the backing of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who had in September called for a ban on the single-use vaping devices.
The vote for the bill was unanimous, although far-left lawmaker Rachel Keke called on the government to "set an example", a remark seen as aimed at Borne who is often seen vaping during parliamentary debates.
- 'Environmental calamity' -
The members of parliament also deplored the ecological impact of the disposable e-cigarettes, which Rousseau called an "environmental calamity".
Pasquini said they had a high content of plastic and lithium which required great amounts of oil and water for their production which were extracted "across the world in lamentable conditions".
The measure, part of a wider government anti-smoking campaign, will now go to the Senate for approval.
It then needs the green light from the EU Commission which will notably rule on whether a ban would be a "proportionate" response to the problem.
If that process goes smoothly, the government said it hopes the ban will be effective by September 2024.
The French move against puffs, introduced in France two years ago, follows similar initiatives in Germany and Ireland.
Tobacco use is the main cause of 75,000 avoidable deaths every year in France, said deputy Karl Olive.
"These are not just statistics," he said. "They are first names, lives, families destroyed and in mourning."
The move against vaping is part of a wider French anti-smoking campaign.
The government said last month it would ban smoking on all the country's beaches, in public parks and forests, and near schools.
Taxes on cigarettes are to be hiked, with a pack of 20, currently at around 11 euros ($12), rising to 12 euros by 2025 and 13 euros the following year.
The government aims to create "the first tobacco-free generation by 2032", according to a promise made by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.
J.Williams--AMWN