Buddy the Elf is back…although not like anyone could imagine. Will Ferrell unexpectedly dressed up as his iconic character from Jon Favreau’s 2003 Christmas comedy “Elf” while attending the Dec. 29 hockey game between the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers. Only this iteration of Buddy was looking quite disheveled with five o’clock shadow and a faux cigarette in his mouth. Ferrell is fan of the Los Angeles Kings and regularly attends their games, but never as Buddy the Elf. FanDuel Sports Network broadcaster Carrlyn Bathe reported live from the...

A chilling study has estimated how many minutes are lost from a person's life each time they smoke a single cigarette. The University College London (UCL) study published today said on average a single smoked cigarette snatches away about 20 minutes from a person's life. This equates to nearly seven hours of life lost when a 20 pack of cigarettes is smoked. It is estimated that men lose about 17 minutes of life with every cigarette smoked. A woman's life is cut short by 22 minutes per cigarette, the researchers...

Every cigarette smoked cuts 20 minutes off a person’s life, a study has claimed. An analysis by scientists at University College London (UCL), commissioned by the Government, found that the harm caused by smoking shaved an average of 22 minutes per cigarette off the lifespan of a woman, with a loss of 17 minutes for a man. The findings are up to twice as much as previous estimates which claimed that an individual cigarette costs 11 minutes of a person’s life. Researchers said that the harm caused by smoking was...

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes as of Jan. 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move for European Union nations. Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke said the inexpensive e-cigarettes had turned into a health threat since they are an easy way for teenagers to be drawn into smoking and get hooked on nicotine. “Disposable e-cigarettes is a new product simply designed to attract new consumers,” he said in an interview. “E-cigarettes often contain nicotine. Nicotine makes you addicted to nicotine. Nicotine is...

A man fell to his death while smoking a cigarette between moving subway cars on the Upper East Side Christmas morning.

The 49-year-old victim was lighting up on the gangway between two cars of a northbound No. 6 train when he lost his footing and fell in the tunnel underneath Lexington Ave. between the 68th St-Hunter College and 77th St. stations around 10 p.m., cops said.

The moving train crushed the man after he fell and medics pronounced him dead at the scene, said police.

A 20-year-old North Carolina woman was reportedly assaulted and set on fire by three unknown assailants on Dec. 16. The report comes as a woman was burned alive on the New York subway with an illegal immigrant was arrested for the crime The attackers poured gasoline all over Ashanti Downey’s body and lit the highly flammable liquid with a cigarette before fleeing the scene, Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats reported in a Facebook post. Police are still looking for the suspects. “Ashanti Downey was walking in the area of NC...

Dec 19 - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday upheld a $95.2 million jury verdict for tobacco giant Altria (MO.N) in a patent dispute with rival R.J. Reynolds [RIC:RIC:RAITH.UL] over e-cigarette technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a North Carolina jury's decision that vaping devices from RJR's top-selling Vuse line infringed three Altria e-cigarette patents. Spokespeople and attorneys for RJR and Altria did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.

Morning, y’all! Temps are back in the mid-40s this morning, but we should warm up to around 60 degrees later on. News wise, get ready to discuss Fulton County’s criminal case against Donald Trump, some uber-talented young Georgians and an Army National Guardsman reunited with a canine friend he made overseas (aw!). But first: the battle over tobacco packaging hits home. Cigarette companies really don’t want to put graphic warning labels on their packaging. And as it turns out, the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores would prefer they didn’t, too....

The Dec. 13 complaint was brought by the association, Philip Morris and two Georgia companies that own convenience stores and distribute products including cigarettes. They sued the FDA and its commissioner, as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its secretary. “This is a clear case of administrative rulemaking gone awry,” the group said in the suit.

Latvia said Monday its police and border guards had seized nearly 300 million counterfeit cigarettes and arrested more than 30 people suspected in involvement in an illegal distribution network spanning borders. "This is one of the biggest such operations against illegal tobacco production over the last years in Europe," Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis told state television. Border guard chief Guntis Pujats told reporters the 32 people arrested included six Latvians, one Russian and several Ukrainians.