Puffed up
Just 12.9% of Britons smoke cigarettes, figures out this week showed – the lowest on record. How does the UK compare?
– The highest smoking rate is in Nauru (48.5%), the lowest is in Ghana (3.5%).
– 24.5% of people in France are daily smokers compared with 11.5% in the US.
– In Germany, the overall smoking rate is 34%, an increase from 26.5% in March 2020. For young Germans aged between 14 and 17, this has almost doubled between 2021 and last year, from 8.7% to 15.9%.
– Maybe it’s the price of a pack. The average cost of 20 cigarettes in the UK hit £14.47 after the Budget in March. In France it’s £8.70, in Germany it’s even lower, at £5.68.
Winning touch
The Rugby World Cup is starting. Who do the bookies think will win?
New Zealand 27%
France/South Africa 23%
Ireland 18%
Australia 8%
England 7%
Argentina 4%
Scotland/Wales 3%
Source: Oddschecker
Royal standard
A memorial for Elizabeth II will be announced in 2026 on what would have been her 100th birthday year. What other things are named after the late Queen?
– The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster
– The Queen’s Terminal, Heathrow airport
– The Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir in Walton-on-Thames
– The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Pavilion Café, Queen’s Park, Bolton
– The Queen Elizabeth Power Station in Regina, Canada
– Queen Elizabeth School for the Blind, in Johor, Malaysia
– Queen Elizabeth’s Land, Antarctica
– The Elizabeth line
High time
Nitrous oxide was this week classified as a Class C drug, making those in possession of it liable for up to two years in prison. What category are other recreational drugs?
– Class A (seven years in jail): heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, magic mushrooms, LSD and crystal meth
– Class B (five years): cannabis, amphetamines, ketamine, mephedrone and barbituates
– Class C (two years): anabolic steroids, GHB, khat and nitrous oxide
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