06/05/2026

WEDNESDAY | MAY 6, 2026 7 Thailand scraps joint exploration pact BANGKOK: Thailand yesterday cancelled a longstanding agreement with Cambodia to work towards joint offshore energy exploration, its prime minister said yesterday, defying calls from its neighbour to stay the course on the 25 year-old pact. The Thai Cabinet’s cancellation of the 2001 agreement, which seeks to develop a framework to jointly explore hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Thailand where claims overlap, had long been expected and follows conflict between the two countries last year. The withdrawal was an election campaign pledge of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who earlier this year rode a wave of nationalism stoked by the fierce fighting with Cambodia to become the first Thai premier to be reelected in two decades. “Cancelling the deal is not related to the border conflict but part of my policy. It has been 25 years and there has been no progress,” Anutin told reporters, adding that Cambodia would be informed of the decision. Cambodia’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Phnom Penh had recently described Thailand’s plan to withdraw from the agreement, known as Memorandum of Understanding 44, as “deeply regrettable”, adding it remained “firmly and consistently committed” to it. MOU 44 has made little progress since it was signed, with the process derailed by political instability in Thailand, disputes and fierce opposition from Thai nationalists. The two-track agreement had proposed creating a framework to allow offshore oil and gas to be jointly explored in overlapping areas while talks take place on formal demarcation. Thai officials have said they intend to rely on terms set out in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, for future negotiations. A ceasefire has been in place between Thailand and Cambodia since late December after fighting along stretches of their border. Each side blames the other for triggering the clashes, which killed close to 150 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. – Reuters Pilots link technical causes to deadly crash MUMBAI: A pilot group has submitted a letter to the Indian Aviation Ministry suggesting that electrical failure, and not pilot action, could have caused the Air India crash last year. The submission by the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), which has more than 5,000 members, comes ahead of the expected final report into the crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that killed 260 people shortly after takeoff on June 12. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau published a preliminary report on July 12, one month after the disaster, when the plane exploded shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad. That 15-page document said the fuel supply to the engines was cut off moments before impact. It did not mention whether the turning off of the fuel switches could have been caused by pilot manoeuvre or malfunction. The FIP letter, dated May 1 and seen by AFP, offers what it called a “technical note” that “suggests a credible cause” requiring further investigation. “A prelift-off electrical disturbance could have caused unintended relay operation and dual engine fuel cut-off without pilot input,” it reads. “Media reports ... continue to suggest pilot action,” it adds. “However, the International Civil Aviation Organisation ... requires all credible technical causes be ruled out first. “It is submitted that this may be treated as a testable hypothesis and examined through detailed electrical analysis ... Technical causes cannot be ruled out till this analysis is made.” – AFP

India state polls deliver electrifying outcomes

o Actor Vijay set to be Tamil Nadu chief minister

her assembly seat of Bhabanipur to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari by about 15,000 votes. Banerjee and her allies criticised the “Special Intensive Revision” of voter rolls in which nine million voters, representing 12% of the state’s electorate, were controversially removed. The Election Commission has called the elections fair, defended the voter list revision to take into account absentee or deceased voters and hailed high voter turnouts in West Bengal. The BJP won 206 seats in West Bengal’s 294-member assembly, with the TMC getting 81 and the Congress party managing just two wins. The BJP’s vote share is 45.8% compared with 40.8% support for the TMC. Modi also hailed the party’s victory in Assam, where it will form a government for the third consecutive term. The BJP’s seat tally in Assam is 82, followed by 19 seats for the Congress, and 10 each for the Bodoland Peoples Front and the Asom Gana Parishad. In Puducherry, the BJP scored wins in four seats and its regional ally All India N.R. Congress won 12 seats to secure a combined majority in the 30-member legislature. In Kerala, the Indian National Congress emerged as the single largest party by winning 63 seats and its alliance partner Indian Union Muslim League won 22 seats, enough to enjoy a comfortable majority in the 140-member house. – Bernama

the TVK’s V.S. Babu by a margin of 8,795 votes. Stalin in his post-result reaction said he has seen victories as well as defeats in his public life but the DMK’s political journey will continue and it will act as a good opposition party. Outgoing deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin emerged victorious in the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency. Tamil Nadu is no stranger to creating big politicians out of film stars. The AIADMK was started by actor-turned politician M.G. Ramachandran, after breaking away from the DMK in 1972. He later served as chief minister. J. Jayalalithaa, popularly known as Amma, took over the party upon MGR’s death in 1987, and dominated Tamil Nadu’s politics for three decades during which she served as chief minister six times. Now Vijay is being hailed as a new political icon in the state whose more than 80 million people have a strong sense of regional and linguistic identity. The assembly elections were held in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the federally-administered territory of Puducherry last month and votes were counted on Monday. In West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) achieved a landslide win against three-term chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC). Banerjee, a strong critic of BJP policies, lost

HYDERABAD: India’s key state elections have produced stunning results in the states of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, electrifying its national politics. The most unexpected result came from Tamil Nadu, where C. Joseph Vijay, aged 51, unfancied as a political contender but popular as a movie icon, led his newly-formed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to victory against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Commonly known as Vijay or Thalapathy (leader), he was not seen as a major political threat either to the DMK or the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the two parties that have ruled Tamil Nadu for more than six decades. The TVK has secured 108 seats in the 234 member assembly, followed by 59 for the DMK and 47 won by AIADMK, with the rest going to other parties, according to the Election Commission’s website. Vijay is poised to lead the state as chief minister, even though the party, launched in 2024, has fallen short of the 118 seats required to form a majority government on its own. DMK leader and outgoing chief minister M.K. Stalin lost his own seat of Kolathur, which he had won three times since 2011, to

TVK party members blow a whistle (party symbol) and hold a cut-out of Vijay to celebrate during vote counting in Chennai on Monday. – AFPPIC

All systems go for Asean summit MANILA: The Philippines is all set to host the 48th Asean Summit and Related Meetings in Cebu from today to Friday, the Asean National Organising Council (NOC) said yesterday at the opening of the International Media Centre. Philippine News Agency reported that the centre will serve as the central hub for journalists covering the high-level meetings in Cebu. Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area Summit in Cebu tomorrow. De La Vega said the Philippines is also “ready for any contingency” ahead of a tropical cyclone forecast for Saturday. De La Vega said austerity measures are in place to keep the summit practical but the Philippines expects a fruitful meeting among the attending leaders, who will focus on key deliverables on energy, economic and food security, among others.

prudent balance, one that upholds the high standards expected of the Asean chair, while ensuring that national and natural resources are used responsibly, sustainably, compassionately and are accountable for our people’s needs,” she said. Presidential Communications Office Acting Secretary Dave Gomez assured the agency’s full support to enable timely reporting and seamless coverage. Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Cynthia Chan were also guests of honour at the media centre. The centre is expecting an estimated 800 to 1,000 local and international media personnel. – Bernama

NOC Director-General Ma Hellen De La Vega said the summit proper will open on Friday, preceded by a series of senior officials meetings from today. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr, together with leaders of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia, will also meet for the Special

“As we carry out our international commitment, we continue to be mindful of our place in the scheme of things,” she said. “The unprecedented realities remind us that our preparations must continue to strike a