Scotland's semi-autonomous government has agreed to ban smoking in enclosed public places under legislation to be launched before Christmas, First Minister Jack McConnell said on Wednesday. "Too many people smoke, and too many people die or fall ill from cancer, stroke and heart disease," McConnell told Scotland's parliament after a unanimous vote of the country's ruling executive in Edinburgh. "The single largest cause of preventable premature death in Scotland is smoking," said McConnell pointing to a total of 13,000 smoking-related deaths a year. He told parliament that poor diet, excessive drinking, lack of exercise and drug abuse all made Scotland one of the unhealthiest nations in Europe.
■ Russia
Hostel fire kills 19
A fire in a Russian workers' hostel killed at least 19 people and may have injured many more, the Emergencies Ministry said on Wednesday. The fire ripped through the two-storey wooden building late on Tuesday. It was inhabited by workers from a power station in the town of Kyzyl, capital of the Tuva region near Russia's border with Mongolia. News agencies reported that barred windows prevented residents from escaping after the fire, apparently caused by a faulty electric connection, started near the only exit. Itar-Tass news agency quoted the deputy mayor of Kyzyl as saying the local power company had cut off the hostel for non-payment and residents had rigged up a connection to the electric grid to keep the house heated. Night-time temperatures are as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius in Kyzyl at this time of year.
■ Austria
`Grandpa gang' busted
Austrian authorities said Wednesday they busted a group of older men dubbed the "Grandpa Gang" who allegedly were involved in selling cocaine. An undisclosed number of suspects ranging in age from 55 to 70 were detained by police on suspicion of involvement in the ring, including the alleged leader, a 58-year-old man whose name was not released, Vienna police said in a statement. Police arrested the suspects in a raid on a penthouse apartment in downtown Vienna, where they also seized cocaine with an estimated street value of more than US$260,000. Authorities said the drugs were brought from Belgium and the Netherlands for sale in Austria and had been hidden in letters and envelopes in the apartment. Police used drug-sniffing dogs to find the cocaine cache.
■ Belgium
Fraudster jailed
A British fraudster who passed himself off as a top-flight football player and a Formula 1 racing driver was sentenced Wednesday to a five-year jail term in Belgium. Paul Jones, 38, who posed variously as a Manchester United or Liverpool football player, a driver for Formula 1 team MacLaren or as an airline pilot, was convicted of defrauding around 150 Belgians of at least 700,000 euros. Belga news agency said Jones, claiming urgent financial needs, tapped his victims for loans promising astounding rates of interest in return. The court of appeal in Brussels ordered the seizure of 700,000 euros held in accounts in Turkish Cyprus controlled by Jones to repay 56 people who sued him in a civil action. Jones had already been sentenced to 45 months' jail in the Netherlands for fraud, Belga said.
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