Marlboro to get a little lighter

The EU and the maker of Marlboro cigarettes were today close to a $1bn (€833m) deal to end years of legal wrangling by cracking down together on smuggling and fakes that are costing both sides enormous sums.

Under the draft agreement, Philip Morris International would make payments over 12 years totalling about $1bn (€833m) – the biggest sum the EU has ever extracted from a single company.