China should choose its own path The first China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue illustrates the close connection between China and the United States. The US needs China’s help to overcome this financial crisis, and China also wants the world to remain peaceful and stable, which is necessary for her development. “Rowing in the same boat”is no longer diplomatic language, but a living reality. Looking back in history, when China began making progress by leaps and bounds since its reform and opening up, the US didn’t know what to make of it. Its attitude kept changing f ... Jump to full article >>

Today’s Seattle PostGlobe scoops Seattle’s daily Times and online-only P-I with news of that a councilman posed followers on his Facebook page this riddle: Should the city ban smoking in parks? You may recall that Washington state voters passed a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars four years ago. Now Seattle City Councilman Tom Rasmussen is mulling the next step. [caption id="attachment_2963" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Seattle City Councilman Tom Rasmussen"][/caption] The measure would likely be controversial. “Am I going to have to leave the planet to smoke?& ... Jump to full article >>

Second-hand smoke seeping through walls has many housing associations considering creating smoke-free flats An increasing number of complaints by tenants over cigarette smoke from adjoining flats have resulted in housing companies considering how they can establish smoke-free complexes. KAB, the country’s largest administrator of non-profit housing, already presented the idea back in December, and now Fredensborg Housing Association has put forth a fully completed plan for several non-smoking housing blocks. However, implementing the no-smoking policy could face many obstacles – ... Jump to full article >>

Many tobacco users stationed at the two largest U.S. installations in northern Italy have had to do without their favorite brands in recent weeks. The shelves of the Army and Air Force Exchange and Defense Commissary Agency outlets in Vicenza and Aviano are largely bare of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco — with only a few brands left in most locations. The shortage is caused by a lack of tobacco shipments from Italian ports, officials said. Previously, Italian carabinieri had escorted the shipments to Vicenza, Aviano and Camp Darby, AAFES-Europe spokesman Lt. Col. Wayne Marotto said. ... Jump to full article >>

Military sites in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia are embracing cessation efforts intended to curb troops’ smoking habits, an official says. Lt. Col. George R. Goodwin Jr., deputy commander for clinical services at Virginia’s Fort Eustis, said new recruits at the Newport News, Va., site undergoes a smoking cessation briefing after they arrive, the Newport News Daily Press reported Wednesday. Goodwin said all recruits also are offered access to various smoking cessation materials, including nicotine patches, to help them quit the dangerous habit. “These resources are availa ... Jump to full article >>

Investigators seized thousands of counterfeit cigars, many labeled as Swisher Sweets. Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies say they have busted a cigar-counterfeiting ring that flooded the Southeast with look-alike cigars. The ring, operated by men in Homewood and McCalla, imported hundreds of thousands of cheap and uninspected counterfeit cigars from China and India, repackaged them and distributed them across the region as if they were name brands. The national and international implications from the criminal enterprise may lead to more charges in many other jurisdictions, authorities ... Jump to full article >>

A draft of the smoking ban proposal that St. Louis County voters may consider in November contains two key exemptions: casino floors and bars. County council members discussed the draft at a caucus meeting this afternoon. The draft could be reworked by the time the full council meets this evening, but, for the moment represents a major concession to opponents of the ban. Council member Barbara Fraser, D-University City, the proposal’s sponsor, said the exemptions were needed to get enough support to put the proposal on the ballot. “I see it as a first step,” said Fraser, who ... Jump to full article >>

THE health minister and the Ma-laysian Oncological Society president’s recent statements that there were only 50 oncologists in the country has me worried (”Travelling far for cancer treatment” — NST, July 24). However, their solution to the problem, that is training 50 more oncologists, left me wondering whether 100 will be enough. While the Oncological Society has expressed concern about the incidence of renal cancer (2.3 per 100,000), lung cancer is a much bigger problem (30 per 100,000) and it is the No. 1 cancer that is screaming for attention. Overall, cancer is t ... Jump to full article >>

Michigan Supreme Court Says Counties Can Adopt Stricter Standards Than The State The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that counties can put more stringent anti-smoking rules in place than state lawmakers. Courts have said only the Legislature can ban smoking in restaurants and bars. But local governments are prohibiting smoking inside other businesses because of secondhand smoke risks. All seven justices on the high court said Tuesday that local officials can adopt stricter smoking regulations than the state to safeguard public health. But the court split 4-3 on another issue, voting to uphol ... Jump to full article >>

The public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill, conducted this week by the Senator Iyabo Obasanjo Bello-led Senate Committee on Health, has been commended by international agencies and non-governmental organisations. World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative in Nigeria, who was represented at the Public hearing by Dr. Kayode Soyinka, said the hearing was a significant step by the Upper Chamber to rescue the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco addiction. “We fully support this effort which is to domesticate the WHO-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Co ... Jump to full article >>

MELVINDALE — An ordinance to ban smoking in city parks failed in its second and final reading at last Wednesday’s City Council meeting. The ordinance would have made it unlawful for a person to smoke on or within 30 of feet of bleachers or baseball backstops at any city park. No-smoking signs would have been put up, and anyone caught by police smoking in the banned areas could have been ticketed. Voting against the ordinance were Councilmen Jeffery Bolton and John Rowe and Councilwoman Kalley Hess. Voting yes were Councilwomen Sue Herman and Stacy Striz, who proposed the ordinanc ... Jump to full article >>