Can Africa kick the habit? (Health).

In some parts of Africa, more than 45 percent of adults are smokers, compared with 24 percent in the U.S. Smoke clouds fill many airliners, bars, restaurants, and even hospitals. British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second-largest cigarette maker, has fought to keep Africa a smoking zone, relying on friends like Uganda's President, Yoweri Museveni, who has called the company a lifesaver for providing tax revenue and jobs for his impoverished country.

Now an anti-smoking movement spreading across Africa is turning up the heat on the tobacco industry. Despite endorsements like Museveni's, no-smoking signs have been gaining in popularity. Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania are enacting laws to restrict smoking in public places, and lawsuits over the health effects of smoking are no longer unusual. BAT officials scoff at the notion that tobacco is anywhere near as serious as the many other challenges facing Africa. Says one: "It's hard to talk tobacco when people are dying of AIDS."