New chief exec for US e-cigarette maker
WASHINGTON • A tobacco industry veteran will replace the current chief executive of Juul, the top United States e-cigarette manufacturer, as the company suspends all lobbying and advertising and responds to a mounting public backlash against its main products.
Also yesterday, Altria Group, a major Juul stakeholder, said it had ended merger talks with Philip Morris International, scuttling a potential tie-up between the world's two largest tobacco makers.
Mr Kevin Burns, co-founder of Juul, which had seen a meteoric rise in recent years, will be replaced by Mr K. C. Crosthwaite, a top Altria executive.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Male model arrested over woman's death
BANGKOK • Thai police yesterday arrested a male model accused of taking an unconscious woman home, boasting online about his sexual exploits, and leaving her dead body in the lobby of his building.
The police brought charges of illegal detention leading to death, abduction with intent of committing an indecent act and molestation against 24-year-old Ratchadech Wongtabut.
The victim, Ms Thitima Noraphanpiphat, 25, made a living as a "pretty" - the term for young women hired to pose seductively to promote products or events. She was hired to attend a party from which Ratchadech left with her on the night of Sept 16.
The police said Ms Thitima may have been dead by the time Ratchadech brought her to his apartment. They said yesterday that an autopsy found she had died from extreme alcohol intoxication.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Over 1,100 Egyptian protesters detained
CAIRO • The Egyptian authorities have detained more than 1,100 people, including several high-profile individuals, since the weekend, when rare protests were held in several cities calling for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to quit, human-rights monitors said yesterday.
The protests took place after a former civilian contractor for the military posted videos accusing Mr Sisi and the military of corruption. The President has dismissed the allegations as "lies and slander".
REUTERS
