Blue Sky

INGAPORE - The finest ingredients and top chefs are key components to the best dining experiences, but it can be the added extras that make meals or venues memorable. Forbes.com has compiled a list of 11 of the world's most extravagant meals (here). 1. Daniel Boulud's Caviar - New York City At $205, Daniel's tasting menu is a relative bargain compared to other high-end Manhattan eateries but care for some Champagne and caviar in the lounge before dinner? Fifty grams of Boulud's private-label Caspian Sea Golden Ossetra caviar goes for $860. 2. The French Laundry - Napa Valley Even the wiliest concierges have trouble scoring reservations at Chef Thomas Keller's The French Laundry. Each day Keller and his staff create two nine-course $240 menus - a chef's "tasting" menu and a "vegetable" menu - promising not to repeat a single ingredient on either menu. 3. $1,000 Sultan's Golden Cake - Istanbul Upon request the pastry chef at hotel the...

LONDON – Tobacco use kills at least 5 million people every year, a figure that could rise if countries don't take stronger measures to combat smoking, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. In a new report on tobacco use and control, the U.N. agency said nearly 95 percent of the global population is unprotected by laws banning smoking. WHO said secondhand smoking kills about 600,000 people every year. The report describes countries' various strategies to curb smoking, including protecting people from smoke, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, and raising taxes on tobacco products. Those were included in a package of six strategies WHO unveiled last year, but less than 10 percent of the world's population is covered by any single measure. "People need more than to be told that tobacco is bad for human health," said Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative. "They need their governments to implement the WHO Framework Convention....