France is to ban smoking in public outdoor spaces, including beaches, parks, school zones, bus stops and sports facilities starting July 1 as part of a nationwide effort to protect children.

Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said where there are children, tobacco must disappear.

She added that plans  to lower the nicotine content in vaping products and reduce the number of flavours available.

“Anyone who violates the new smoking ban will have to pay a fine of 135 euros (153 U.

“The regulation is to be monitored by the municipal police.

“My goal is both simple and deeply ambitious: to ensure that children born in 2025 become the first smoke-free generation,” the minister said.

The new nationwide smoking restrictions, many of which were already in place at the local level, are designed to support that vision, she said.

However, outdoor seating at cafés and the use of e-cigarettes is exempted from the ban, but young people should no longer smoke outside schools.

The minister said that the size of the area around schools where smoking would no longer be permitted in future was still being determined.

The regulation should also prevent pupils from going outside the building to smoke.

In 2023, 15.6 per cent of 17-year-olds said they smoked, compared to twice as many 10 years earlier.

Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in France, responsible for 75,000 deaths annually or more than 200 per day, the health minister added.

Vautrin noted that it has been proven that prevention reduces the risk.

She also noted the economic toll, with cancer costing the country 150 billion euros per year.

Vautrin emphasised that the right to smoke is not being abolished.

“People are free to smoke at home or in designated areas. But that freedom ends where a child’s right to clean air begins.” (dpa/NAN)

Gov. Yahaya of Gombe State has lauded President Bola Tinubu for the implementation of viable social and economic reforms geared towards repositioning Nigeria for sustainable development.

The governor felicitated with the President and his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima on the occasion of their second anniversary in office.

Yahaya, in a goodwill message by his media aide, Mr Ismaila Uba-Misilli, said Tinubu’s bold reforms would reposition Nigeria on the path of sustainable growth.

He described Tinubu’s two years in office as those of courage, bold reforms, and purposeful governance under its Renewed Hope Agenda.

“President Tinubu has taken decisive steps to reposition Nigeria on the path of sustainable growth,” he said.

Yahaya said that Tinubu had initiated viable infrastructure development projects such as the Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Road, as landmark efforts to bridge developmental gaps and stimulate the economy.

According to Yahaya, these projects, along with other strategic interventions in energy, agriculture, transportation, and the digital economy, are gradually laying the foundation for a more prosperous and resilient Nigeria.

He acknowledged Tinubu administration’s renewed drive to tackle security challenges, describing the intensified campaign against insurgency, banditry and criminality as “commendable.”

Yahaya, who is also the Chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF), also applauded the president’s inclusive and consultative leadership style, fostering national unity and renewed confidence in governance.

“The Northern region is already feeling the ripple effects of Tinubu’s policies through the improved Federal Government collaborations, increased access to social investments, and targeted empowerment programmes for youths, women and vulnerable groups.”

He further prayed for continued divine guidance, good health and greater wisdom for Tinubu as he steers the nation toward peace, equity and development. (NAN)

Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno has paid the gratuity and other entitlement of civil servants amounting to N4.5 billion in one year.

The spokesperson of the governor, Mr Dauda Iliya, made this known in an interview in Maiduguri, on Zulum’s achievements from 2024 to date.

Iliya said that Zulum’s administration also cleared all outstanding gratuity and other entitlements of retired Permanent Secretaries up to December, 2024.

He said that the accrued outstanding gratuity and other entitlements of the senior civil servants cleared in December was put at N1.49 billion.

The spokesperson said that was in addition to the N200 million being paid monthly by the state government to the teeming retirees.

“The governor has pledged to settle all outstanding pensions and gratuities of civil servants before the end of his tenure,” Iliya said.

The spokesperson said that Zulum’s administration was committed to settling all backlog of pensions and gratuities owed civil servants in the state before the end of its tenure.

“In the area of post-conflict recovery effort, Zulum’s administration has, in collaboration with the Federal Government and other partners, repatriated 7,790 refugees from Baga Sola in Chad Republic to Kukawa Local Government Area of the state.

“Similar repatriation exercises were carried out of refugees from Diffa and Bosso in Niger Republic to Malamfatori headquarters of Abadam Local Government Area.

“Each of the returnees was provided with food and non-food items as part of the resettlement package,” he said. (NAN)