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British American Tobacco, the world's second-biggest maker of cigarettes, said on Wednesday that group sales dropped in the first nine months of the year amid "fragile" economic recovery. Group revenue fell 1.0 percent compared with the first three quarters of 2011, BAT said in a statement. However revenue grew by 4.0 percent at constant exchange rates.

BAT added that it had sold 517 billion cigarettes during the reporting period, down 1.2 percent. "Economic recovery remains fragile this year and difficult trading conditions persist in many parts of the world," BAT chief executive Nicandro Durante said in the earnings statement.

"However, pricing remains strong, we are growing underlying market share and our global drive brands (Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall) continue to perform well. "The trading performance of the group is good and we are on track for another year of good earnings growth," he added.

The U.S. government is asking a federal appeals court to rehear a challenge to a Food and Drug Administration requirement that tobacco companies to put large graphic health warnings on cigarette packages to show that smoking can disfigure and even kill people.

The Justice Department filed a petition Tuesday asking for the full court to rehear the case after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington affirmed in August a lower court ruling blocking the mandate, saying it ran afoul of the First Amendment's free speech protections. However, the court rarely grants such appeals.

Some of the nation's largest tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., sued to block the mandate to include warnings to show the dangers of smoking and encouraging smokers to quit lighting up. They argued that the proposed warnings went beyond factual information into anti-smoking advocacy. The government argued the photos of dead and diseased smokers are factual.

The nine graphic warnings proposed by the FDA include color images of a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his throat, and a plume of cigarette smoke enveloping an infant receiving a mother's kiss. These are accompanied by language that says smoking causes cancer and can harm fetuses.

A COMPANY which flouted the smoking ban found itself in hot water and had to pay up more than £2,600 following an investigation by Ealing Council. Parkbox Limited, which runs a shisha business out of a lounge bar and grill at Mattock Lane, pleaded guilty to at Ealing Magistrates Court last month. The company was fined £1,666 and ordered to pay the council’s costs of £995 and a victim surcharge of £15, totaling £2676.

A team from Ealing Council visited the business on several occasions and witnessed at least 15 to 20 customers smoking shishas and cigarettes in an area that didn’t have proper ventilation. Parkbox is the first business in Ealing to be charged for breaching a smoking and ventilation law under the Health Act 2006, and two other businesses are currently awaiting trial.

Councillor Ranjit Dheer, Ealing leader for community services and safety, said: “Air quality should never be compromised and these laws are extremely important in enforcing a positive attitude towards public health and safety.

“This is another example of the council cracking down on non-compliant businesses and I hope this success serves as a warning that we will take action against those breaking the law.” Parkbox and the lounge bar and grill where it operates from have applied to the council for a license to convert the roof top into a better ventilated shisha and smoking area.

Hey smokers, lighting up in a Greenwood park could cost you $50. The City Council banned smoking in all public property including parks, parking lots and outside buildings on an 8-1 vote on Monday night, City Clerk Jeannine Myers said.

The only public places in the city where folks can legally smoke are streets, sidewalks and trails. Police can issue a ticket to smokers who violate the ban, with fines starting at $50 and increasing to $250 for repeat offenders.

Council member Ezra Hill was the lone council member to oppose the ban. He wanted the council to include designated smoking area in the parks. Myers, who doesn’t get to vote on the issue, said she agreed with Hill. “I personally don’t like smoking but I think it makes sense that they should have a designated area,” she said.

First aid officers at the Perth Royal Show say markedly fewer children have had asthma attacks and accidental cigarette burns since smoking was banned three years ago. The Show was the first big WA venue to outlaw smoking under a sponsorship with Healthway in 2009.

St John Ambulance volunteers this year reported the downturn in respiratory illnesses and very few injuries from cigarettes. Rockingham divisional manager Don Atkins, who has worked at the Show for 10 years, said cigarette burns used to be routine, particularly in children because their height put them at risk from passing smokers.

He said cigarettes or ash could burn necks, arms and feet, particularly in crowded areas. "We used to do a lot of first aid for burns and depending on the size of them, some people had to go to hospital to have them looked at," he said.

Mr Atkins said first aid officers also reported fewer children with asthma because the Show was generally a lot more pleasant, especially in pavilions that used to get really smoky. Healthway chairwoman Rosanna Capolingua said the move for the Show to go smoke-free was a big success, with most of the 400,000 visitors each year supporting it.

"People are butting out when they come to the Show and this is protecting others from exposure to tobacco smoke and from burns," Dr Capolingua said. "The dangers of passive smoking are well-known but the smoke-free environment is also keeping kids safe from burns to their faces in crowed places like sideshow alley.

"Apart from being very frightening for a toddler, walking into a burning cigarette held in the hand of an adult can have serious consequences, particularly if it burns an eye." Dr Capolingua said injuries from cigarettes were always more likely in crowded places where there was entertainment because people were distracted and less aware of what was around them.