In its first global estimate of e-cigarette use, the WHO said more than 100 million people worldwide are now vaping, including at least 86 million adults, mostly in high-income countries

International News via Reuters:

At least 15 million people aged 13 to 15 use e-cigarettes globally, with young people on average nine times more likely to vape than adults in countries with data, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

In its first global estimate of e-cigarette use, the WHO said more than 100 million people worldwide are now vaping, including at least 86 million adults, mostly in high-income countries.

The figures come as global tobacco use continues to decline, with the number of tobacco users falling to 1.2 billion in 2024 from 1.38 billion in 2000.

As ever-stricter regulations help cut tobacco use, the industry has turned to alternative products such as vapes to help offset sales declines.

Tobacco companies say they target adult smokers, aiming to help them quit and reduce the harm of traditional tobacco. 

But e-cigarettes are driving a “new wave of nicotine addiction”, said Etienne Krug, director of the WHO department for health determinants, promotion and prevention. 

“They are marketed as harm reduction but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk undermining decades of progress.”

Governments and health authorities are grappling with how to balance the potential benefits and risks of e-cigarettes, namely uptake by new nicotine users. 

On the other hand, some research has found e-cigarettes are effective at helping smokers quit.

A 2024 review of evidence by Cochrane, a non-profit network of health researchers, found that smokers were more likely to succeed in quitting with e-cigarettes than traditional patches or gum.

But it also warned more data was needed and the longer-term health effects remained unclear.

The decline in traditional tobacco use varied sharply by region. Male tobacco prevalence in Southeast Asia nearly halved to 37% in 2024 from 70% in 2000, accounting for more than half the global decline.

Europe now has the highest tobacco prevalence globally at 24.1%, with its women engaging in the world’s highest female tobacco use at 17.4%.

The WHO warned that nearly one in five adults worldwide still use tobacco products, and called for stronger enforcement of tobacco control measures and regulation of new nicotine products such as vapes. 

Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

The swift, unexpected resignation came after allies and foes alike threatened to topple the new government

International News via Reuters:

France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government resigned on Monday, hours after Lecornu announced his cabinet line-up, in a major deepening of France’s political crisis that drove stocks and the euro sharply lower.

The swift, unexpected resignation came after allies and foes alike threatened to topple the new government, with Lecornu saying that meant he could not do his job.

Opposition parties immediately urged President Emmanuel Macron to resign, or call a snap parliamentary election, saying there was no other way out of the crisis.

Lecornu, who was Macron’s fifth prime minister in two years, stayed in the job for only 27 days. His government lasted 14 hours, making it the shortest-lived in modern French history at a time when parliament is deeply divided and the euro zone’s second-largest economy is struggling to put its finances in order.

WHAT’S NEXT?

French politics has become increasingly unstable since Macron’s re-election in 2022 for want of any party or grouping holding a parliamentary majority. Macron’s decision to call a snap parliamentary election last year deepened the crisis by producing an even more fragmented parliament.

The centrist president could now call new snap elections, resign or try to appoint yet another prime minister. In past months, Macron, whose mandate runs until May 2027, has repeatedly ruled out the first two options. He is yet to react publicly to Lecornu’s resignation.

BFM TV showed footage of Macron walking by the Seine, cutting a lonely figure.

OPPOSITION WANTS SNAP ELECTIONS

In the opposition, many rushed to ask for Macron to call new snap parliamentary elections or resign.

“Macron must now choose: dissolution or resignation, and fast!” the far-right National Rally (RN) said on X.  

“This joke has gone on long enough, the farce must end,” RN leader Marine Le Pen said.

Mathilde Panot, of the hard left France Unbowed, said: “Lecornu resigns. 3 Prime Ministers defeated in less than a year. The countdown has begun. Macron must go.”

David Lisnard, of the conservative Republicans, was also among those who called on Macron to leave.

To explain why he could not go forward and strike compromises with rival parties, Lecornu blamed the “egos” of opposition politicians who rigidly stuck to their manifestos, while those inside his minority coalition were focusing on their own presidential ambitions.

“You should always prefer your country to your party,” he said in a short speech after his resignation.

NEW CABINET LINE-UP ANGERED OPPONENTS

After weeks of consultations with political parties across the board, Lecornu, a close ally of Macron, had appointed his ministers on Sunday and they had been set to hold their first meeting on Monday afternoon.

But the new cabinet line-up had angered opponents and allies alike, who either found it too right-wing or not sufficiently so, raising questions on how long it could last.

Lecornu handed his resignation to Macron, who accepted it.

FRENCH STOCKS AND EURO FALL

Paris’ $3 trillion CAC 40 dropped  more than 1.5%,  making it the worst-performing index in Europe, as banking shares came under heavy fire.

The euro slid 0.7% on the day to $1.1665.

Lecornu’s two predecessors, Francois Bayrou and Michel Barnier, were brought down by parliament over efforts to rein in France’s public spending at a time when ratings agencies and investors are watching closely.

France’s debt has risen to 113.9% of gross domestic product, while the deficit was nearly double the European Union’s 3% limit last year.

“It’s just one government after another… this is the major problem for French assets, but it has a spillover effect for the rest of Europe,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group.

DEEP INSTABILITY

France has rarely suffered a political crisis so deep since the creation in 1958 of the Fifth Republic, the current system of government.

The 1958 constitution was designed to ensure stable governance by creating a powerful and highly centralised president endowed with a strong majority in parliament, and to avoid the instability of the periods immediately before and after World War Two.

Instead, Macron – who in his ascent to power in 2017 reshaped the political landscape – has found himself struggling with a fragmented parliament where the centre no longer holds the balance and the far-right and hard-left hold sway.

France is not used to building coalitions and finding consensus. 

Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Michel Rose, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Inti Landauro, Alessandro Parodi; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Gareth Jones, Sharon Singleton

Akermark, most recently Barclays’ country CEO for Sweden and head of Nordic banking, would be based in Stockholm and join later this year

International News via Reuters:

Citigroup has hired Tobias Akermark from Barclays and Kasper Dichow from Nordea to jointly lead its Nordic investment banking franchise, the U.S. bank said on Monday, as it expands its European operations.

Akermark, most recently Barclays’ country CEO for Sweden and head of Nordic banking, would be based in Stockholm and join later this year.

Dichow, who led Finland-based lender Nordea’s Nordic corporate finance and equity capital markets team, would work from Copenhagen, starting early 2026.

The bankers each have nearly two decades of investment banking experience. Prior to Barclays, Akermark had worked for 15 years at Morgan Stanley, including as the head of Nordic M&A. Dichow was leading Credit Suisse’s Nordic investment banking business before joining Nordea in 2015.

Citigroup, which has been undergoing a major turnaround, including selling businesses and simplifying its structure, expects investment banking fees and markets revenue to grow in mid-single digits in the third quarter compared to a year earlier.

Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar