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• Germany Mulls Way Forward for Smoking Ban After Court Ruling 

German politicians are calling for a comprehensive, nationwide law against smoking on the heels of the recent ruling by the German Constitutional Court to partially overturn bans in several German states.

After years of dragging its feet on implementing a smoking ban, Germany went smoke-free in bars and restaurants this year in a move that has both raised hackles and won praise. So last Wednesday's court ruling, which found that individual state laws allowing bars to set up separate smoking and non-smoking areas gave large multi-room pubs an advantage over smaller one-room pubs, was one that was met with fierce debate.

Renate Kuenast, the parliamentary co-leader of the opposition Green Party, criticized the federal government in comments on the Web site of German newsmagazine Der Spiegel on Sunday.

"It was an act of cowardice to leave protection of non-smokers up to the states," Kuenast said.

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