14/07/2026

TUESDAY | JULY 14, 2026 7 India seeks to quash nicotine pouch challenge NEW DELHI: The Indian government has argued the airport sale of nicotine pouches is a “substantive violation” of drug laws and a “serious public health risk”, seeking to throw out a company’s bid to overturn an official finding that it broke the law by selling the unlicensed products at Mumbai’s airport. The Indian government has also asserted in court that the airport is on Indian soil, dismissing Adani Group’s argument that Indian law does not apply to nicotine pouches imported and stored in customs warehouses and sold only to departing international passengers. “The products enter Indian airspace and Indian territory at the moment of arrival at CSMIA (Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport). “The fact that they are stored in a customs bonded warehouse does not mean they are not physically present in India,” the government said in a court filing dated July 7. The case relates to an Indian Drugs Department inspection finding in March that duty-free shops at the airport illegally stocked and sold nicotine pouches, defined as a drug in India, without necessary approvals, prompting a court challenge from the company. Lawyers say Adani’s legal fight with Indian authorities could set a precedent on how the country regulates sales of nicotine pouches at duty-free international airports. The High Court in Mumbai is due to hear the case today. The characterisation of “the matter as a ‘breach of law’ is premature and legally unsustainable”, Adani told Reuters last week in a statement, adding that its unit Mumbai Travel Retail had “challenged the regulatory interpretation through judicial review.” The filing by Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation said the sale of nicotine pouches at the airport was “not merely a procedural non compliance but ... a substantive violation of” provisions of drug laws. Reuters is the first to report the government’s arguments. Gautam Adani’s group manages eight airports in India and has an ambitious US$11 billion (RM44.8 billion) expansion plan, including for duty-free shops, to capitalise on the growing demand for air travel. – Reuters Yoon jailed two years in funding case SEOUL: A South Korean court sentenced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to two years in prison yesterday after finding him guilty of illegally receiving opinion polling services worth US$179,800 (RM733,430) for free from a political broker, local media reported. The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon violated political funding laws by receiving 14 rounds of polling from the political broker at no cost and later exercising influence over the nomination of a former lawmaker to repay him, according to the ruling. Yoon had denied the charges, saying he had not requested the polls or promised anything in return. The decision differed from earlier court rulings involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee, which had found there was no quid pro quo in connection with the polling services. Yesterday’s ruling can be appealed. Yoon, 65, is involved in eight legal cases. He is appealing a life sentence handed down in February after a court found him guilty of masterminding an insurrection tied to his short lived declaration of martial law in 2024. Other cases include a Supreme Court ruling last week that finalised a seven-year prison sentence for obstructing authorities’ attempt to arrest him. – Reuters

Forensic police officials inspect the site of the fire. – REUTERSPIC

Bangkok pub fire kills 27

o Police investigate possible negligence

BANGKOK: An explosive fire at a pub here killed 27 people and injured dozens, officials said yesterday, with police investigating possible negligence including obstructed emergency exits as people scrambled to flee the burning venue. One video of the incident posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed thick smoke billowing out of the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub, before an intense horizontal plume of fire jets out of a doorway, as screaming customers fled the premises around midnight on Sunday. “Most of the victims ran to the back of the building, into the bathroom, and there was no clear sign of a fire exit,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site early yesterday. Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok’s disaster prevention and mitigation department, said 63 people were injured, 22 critically. The pub is in a busy intersection in northern Bangkok, connected by its urban rail systems and next to two shopping malls, within walking distance of cinemas, large parks and the Chatuchak weekend market. The city’s disaster administration said its initial assessment was that an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner may have caused the fire, while police said there may have been issues with fire exits, overloaded wiring and use of flammable materials in renovations to enhance sound. “At this time, police have established negligence as the primary theory guiding their investigation,” said National Police chief Kittiratt Phanphet. Firefighter Chakrit Khongkom, 45, said he arrived on the first fire truck to see the pub alight and many patrons stranded inside, several trying to escape from the back of the venue. The few people coming through the front of the venue were burnt. “The smoke was everywhere,” he said. “Most of the survivors were choking on smoke.” Body-camera footage from an emergency worker seen by Reuters showed firefighters in oxygen masks moving through the darkened remains of the pub with torches as they searched for survivors and victims. Several victims could be seen lying prone on the floor near the pub’s toilets. “We found a lot of people were inside the

A woman shows a photo of her missing son at a hospital morgue. – REUTERSPIC

City authorities said Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao had a licence as a restaurant and live music venue and had been inspected in April, when fire exits, emergency signs and fire extinguishers were in place. The governor’s office said the pub’s ceiling materials, decorations and indoor equipment would be examined, as well as the possibility that tables and other items may have been blocking exits. In a video shared by Anutin’s office during an inspection of the scene, the premier was told a door that was once an exit was bolted, with the proprietor afraid that customers would slip out without paying. The door had a sign that said “staff only” and could be opened to the outside, but an official told Anutin customers would not have been aware. “If they had run this way, it would have been fine,” Anutin said. Based on survivor accounts, officials said the fire may have started at the front stage section of the pub and spread rapidly, forcing many to run to the back of the venue, which houses the kitchen and bathrooms. “There are two fire exits, one is near the kitchen. There were beer crates in the way,” Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters, adding that there was a table in the way of the other fire exit. He said a forensic examination was underway. – Reuters

toilet. Most of them were trying to escape to the back because they saw that the flame was at the front,” said Chakrit. In the early hours of the morning, numbered bodies lay in two rows awaiting removal as forensics teams inspected the site. Firefighters stood near the pub’s entrance, its facade scorched and blackened by the blaze. In the hours after the fire, Sukanya Wongwongwai waited outside the pub, looking for a missing friend. Survivors had told her about the chaos that had ensued inside. “My friend, who was singing on stage, said at first they noticed the smell of something burning, then a little after they saw the ceiling was on fire,” said Sukanya, 32. “Some people were injured because of the (debris) from the ceiling because it seems that the ceiling was made out of foam material to absorb sound.” Entertainment venues have suffered several fires in recent years in Thailand, where fire safety inspections are conducted but protocols are not always consistently followed by proprietors. At least 13 people were killed in a nightclub fire in Chonburi in 2022, while 65 people died in a blaze during a New Year party at a packed Bangkok club in 2009, where an investigation determined corruption and safety breaches were key factors.