
Oct 12 - By Albert Aji, Associated Press Writers
Syria's president on Monday issued a decree banning smoking in public places, joining an anti-smoking trend already under way in other Arab countries.
Sep 20 - By Associated Press
A Maui judge has ordered a 19-year-old man who pleaded no contest to starting a restaurant fire with a flicked cigarette to stop smoking for a year.
Sep 14 - By Sara Kugler, Associated Press Writer
New York City's famous parks may be going smoke-free.
Aug 29 - By The Associated Press, Only on msnbc.com
Highlights of a study commissioned by the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department to combat tobacco use in the military.

Aug 29 - By Deb Riechmann, Associated Press Writer
Gen. Douglas MacArthur had his signature corncob pipe. Soldiers got cigarettes in their C-rations during World War II. Even today, America's war on tobacco seems to have largely bypassed the military.

Aug 11 - By Diane Mapes, msnbc.com - Only on msnbc.com
In a world swirling with studies, stories, online health forums, and several thousand pounds of conflicting research, itβs hard to figure out what to do and who to believe when it comes to truly healthy behavior.

Aug 10 - By JoNel Aleccia, health writer, msnbc.com
A growing chorus of medical professionals, researchers and ordinary citizens contend that the touchy topic of individual responsibility has been ignored in the health reform debate.
Aug 9 - By Alonso Duralde, msnbc.com - Only on msnbc.com
We know cigarettes are bad for you, but stars such as Bette Davis in "Now Voyager" and Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca," sure did make smoking look good.
Aug 6 - By Associated Press
A Malaysian teacher forced a student to smoke 42 cigarettes for four hours as punishment after a cigarette and lighter were found in his locker, a news report said Thursday.

Aug 5 - By Hadeel Al-Shalchi, Associated Press Writer
After six years of war and terrorist bombings, Iraq is moving against a different killer in its midst — smoking. Sweeping curbs unveiled by the government Thursday suggest that as the violence subsides, authorities have more time to worry about normal quality-of-life issues. The legislation to go before parliament would ban smoking in public buildings, outlaw sales to under-18s, prohibit advertising, limit tar content and mandate health warnings on cigarette packs.

Aug 1 - By Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press Writer
One plaintiff is a cancer patient. Another is represented by his widow. The third, has emphysema and rolls into the courtroom on a wheelchair with tubes trailing out of his nose. The three Japanese are waging a minnow-vs.-whale battle against Big Tobacco in one of the world's most smoker-friendly countries. But precedent suggests they're likely to lose, and they hope their suit will at least draw attention to the dangers of smoking.

Jul 18 - By Suzan Fraser, Associated Press Writer
Patrons of a usually smoke-filled hookah bar stepped outside to light up Sunday as Turkey extended a ban on indoor public smoking to bars, restaurants and coffeehouses.
Jul 15 - By Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press Writer
Smoke 'em if you got 'em. The Pentagon reassured troops Wednesday that it won't ban tobacco products in war zones. Defense officials hadn't actually planned to eliminate smoking — at least for now. But fear of a ban arose among some troops after the Defense Department received a study recommending the military move toward becoming tobacco-free — perhaps in about 20 years.
Jul 14 - By Alex Johnson, msnbc.com - Only on msnbc.com
A Pentagon-commissioned report urges the Defense Department to ban smoking in the military, even by combat troops in battle zones, a proposal that quickly ignited a controversy among service members.
Jul 8 - By Russ Bynum, Associated Press Writer
Two inmates at the Chatham County jail in coastal Georgia got burned by their own smoking habit when they started a fire trying to light a handmade cigarette with a spark from an electrical socket.
Jun 30 - By Associated Press
Authorities said a man has been charged with domestic battery after he drenched his wife with a garden hose and elbowed her for smoking in the house. An arrest report shows that the 51-year-old husband was charged Saturday. Police said the couple began arguing when the wife began smoking a cigarette in their home.

Jun 23 - By Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer
It fell to President Barack Obama to confirm the gossip that his aides had spent weeks trying to snuff out: He still sneaks an occasional cigarette.

Jun 16 - By Mark Potter, msnbc.com - Only on msnbc.com
MOREHEAD, Ky. β Late in the morning last New Year's Day, Sam and Lynn Kissick received a devastating phone call that would tear their lives apart.
Jun 12 - By Associated Press
The White House press secretary says President Barack Obama still struggles with a nicotine addiction, but the spokesman would not say whether the president still smokes cigarettes.

Jun 10 - By Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer
Sen. Dick Durbin was just 10 or 11 when he and his cousin Mike sneaked out behind a garage in East St. Louis, Ill., to have a smoke, Durbin's first. He didn't care much for the taste of the cigarette but, unfortunately, Mike did.
Jun 4 - By Associated Press
China's corruption watchdog will clamp down on government officials who use public money to buy expensive cigarettes, the official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday, after one county last month urged its officials to smoke more than a million local cigarettes a year.
May 29 - By Bradley S. Klapper, Associated Press Writer
Cigarette packages should include images of sickness and suffering caused by tobacco, along with written warnings, the World Health Organization said Friday.

May 18 - By Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer
It may be riskier on the lungs to smoke cigarettes today than it was a few decades ago — at least in the U.S., says new research that blames changes in cigarette design for fueling a certain type of lung cancer.
May 14 - By Emery P. Dalesio, Associated Press Writer
Beer and cigarettes go together like cows and hay in hard-partying Wisconsin. North Carolina is the country's top tobacco-growing state.
May 13 - By Emery P. Dalesio, Associated Press Writer
North Carolina legislators have approved a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars in the country's top tobacco-growing state.