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