IN BRIEF (Page 4)

United States

National ban likely for flavored e-cigarettes

US President Donald Trump's administration announced on Wednesday that it would soon ban flavored e-cigarette products to stem a rising tide of youth users, following a spike in vaping-linked deaths. The move could later be extended to an outright prohibition on vaping products if adolescents migrate to tobacco flavors, viewed as more legitimate products that help smokers quit their habit. Addressing reporters at the White House, the president said that both he and first lady Melania Trump, as parents of a teenage son, were worried about an outbreak of severe lung disease that has killed six people and sickened hundreds. "We are both reading it," he said. "A lot of people are reading, people are dying of vaping," he added, vowing to act.