Russia: Putin's plan to invest £46bn to boost falling birth rate by 25%

Russia's population will plummet by 30 per cent in the next four decades due to a falling birth rate, Vladimir Putin warned today.

The Russian Prime Minister issued the warning as he announced plans to invest $53billion (£46.9billion) to help raise reproduction rates in the country by 2015.

Despite being the worlds largest country at over 6.5million square miles, high rates of smoking, alcoholism, pollution and poverty, together with falling rates, mean Russia's population will shrink to 116 million by 2050 from 143million last year.

Electronic cigarettes still raising questions in public places

In a world of rapidly growing technology, with more facets of daily life becoming electronic, one device can still turns heads: the electronic cigarette.

"People give me weird looks for smoking inside," said Jeff Martin, a freshman criminal justice major. Martin, also a traditional smoker, enjoys his e-cigarette indoors where normal smoking is not allowed.

E-cigarettes are devices that simulate the appearance and sensation of smoking. While they can be disguised, they often look like normal cigarettes. Some e-cigarettes are smoking cessation devices, akin to nicotine gum. Others are supposedly safer alternatives to smoking a cigarette or hookah.

Kate Middleton Smoking to Deal With Wedding Stress!

With the wedding just weeks away, royal insiders have been worried about Kate Middleton's shocking weight loss and now they are concerned that the future Queen of England is smoking again.

"Only Princess Diana could understand the amount of pressure this young girl is experiencing," a royal expert tells me. "It's been billed as the wedding of the century, when in realty it is just young kids that are at the center of it. No one should be put under this sort of pressure."

Whoopi Goldberg Talks About Smoking Weed Before Her 1991 Oscar Win

When Whoopi Goldberg took to the stage in 1991 to receive her Academy Award she appeared just like an other Oscar winner - excited and overwhelmed.

But the 55-year-old star was actually under the influence of drugs as she made her acceptance speech having smoked a 'wonderful joint' just minutes before the win.

She was accepting the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role alongside Patrick Swayze in the film Ghost.

In a 1992 video that has only just surface on celebrity blog TMZ, the actress is seen admitting she was stoned on the day of the ceremony.

Jessica Alba pregnant....but still chain smoking tobacco?

Now that Jessica Alba's pregnant with baby #2, will the famously fit actress quit smoking for good? Known for her celebrity butt, the mother of one is also famous for chain smoking and puffing her way through photo shoots and movie sets. Will Jessica Alba finally kick the habit?

In 2008, the 29-year-old Alba and hubby Cash Warren, 32, welcomed baby girl Honor Marie, and while she quit smoking during pregnancy, Alba was quick to light up following the birth of their first daughter. She was seen smoking in France and was photographed chain smoking on the set of "Good Luck Chuck" and throughout her November 2010 covershoot with Elle magazine.

Stand up against smoking in bars

I’ve been thinking about why laws get enacted and what the role of the government truly is.

I’ve been thinking about why laws get enacted and what the role of the government truly is. Here’s the deal:

Minnesota has HF 188 and SF 168 that deal with re-instating smoking in bars, going against the Freedom to Breathe Act of 2007. Some people think that the issue of smoking in public places is a business right and a personal right. So, I took my dog for a walk to ponder the idea of rights.

Now, many communities have fines if your dog takes a dump and you don’t pick it up. I highly doubt there are very many people who shout “my dog has a right to do whatever he wants wherever and whenever he wants!” Nor would many be happy to utilize public bike paths and parks and be subjected to the smell or even to step in it.