day 68 HYDERABAD l Thursday l may 07, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE CITY EDITION US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Operation Epic Fury, which began on Feb 28 against Iran, has ended. He claimed the mission has achieved its objectives | p11 Iran operation over: Rubio “The operation is over, as the president notified Congress. We’re done with that stage of it,” Rubio told reporters at the White House According to CNN, US and Iran are moving closer to an agreement on a one-page memo to end the war and begin nuclear negotiations Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he is pausing Project Freedom, the military operation to escort stranded ships out of Hormuz In his typical style, Trump also issued a fresh warning to Iran, saying the “bombing starts” again if a deal is not reached CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI New sports policy on Pak: No bilateral but multilateral OK E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai In a major development, India put out a formal sports policy regarding India’s participation or hosting of international events. Though certain provisions were part of an unsigned document on the sports ministry website in August last year, this time the signed policy outlined India’s approach involving Pakistan. India and Pakistan will not play in bilateral series but when it comes to international events involving multiple nations, they are free to compete in India or abroad. The circular dated May 5, 2026, has said that India’s policy of not playing Pakistan in bilateral events will continue. “India’s approach to sports events involving Pakistan reflects its overall policy in dealing with that country,” said the office memorandum. The memorandum states that when it comes to bilateral competitions India will not participate in Pakistan nor will they allow Pakistan to compete here in India. In short, there will be no cricket or hockey involving the two neighbours in near future. It is understood that this was necessitated after the International Olympic Committee also had reservations over such incidents.  P13 DMK-AIADMK rumours rain on Vijay’s parade Revanth asks Khattar to Swearing-in may be put off as Guv yet to invite TVK; buzz of Dravidian majors mulling a tie-up T M u r u g anandham @ Chennai The swearing-in ceremony of TVK chief Vijay initially sched, uled for Thursday, may be delayed even as strong rumours gathered speed of arch-rivals DMK and AIADMK discussing a partnership along with their allies to form a government. It is unclear how such an alliance would work with the AIADMK’s ally PMK and its rival VCK, allied to DMK, being in the mix. The DMK (59 seats) and AIADMK (47) together have 106 seats, falling short of a simple majority by 12. The IUML, CPI, CPM and VCK from the DMK front have two seats each and DMDK has one, while the PMK from the AIADMK alliance has four. If such an alliance comes to fruition, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami may assume the chief ministerial post with DMK’s support, as part of a larger plan that Assembly elections may extend up to the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, sources indicated. However, leaders from both Dravidian majors officially denied such a development to TNIE. DMK MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy, in a late night X post, said, “The DMK has decided to function as an effective opposition despite Congress’ betrayal (and perhaps other alliance parties). The ADMK (sic) is pushing BJP to stop TVK forming the government. That is disrespecting Cong severs decade-long ties with DMK Chennai: The Congress, in a statement issued by AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar on Wednesday, formally severed its decade-long alliance with the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and extended its full support to Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to form the government in the state | P9 TVK president Vijay with TN Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Lok Bhavan in Chennai on Wednesday | PTI people’s mandate. Hope democracy prevails.” The rumour mill started churning late on Wednesday, after the Congress formally announced its support to the TVK to form a government, stating that the alliance will continue till the 2029 polls. Vijay subsequently met with Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlekar and staked his claim to form a government as the legislative party leader of the single largest party in the House. It is customary for Lok Bhavan to issue an invitation within an hour of the leader staking claim to form a government and prove his majority on the floor of the state Assembly within a specified time frame. However, as of going to press on Wednesday night, the governor had yet to issue such an invitation. EPS as CM in DMK-AIADMK combine? According to AIADMK sources, in case of a DMK-AIADMK tie-up, party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami may assume the chief ministerial post with DMK’s support, as part of a larger plan that may extend up to the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. It is unclear how this would work with both the PMK and VCK in the mix Suvendu Adhikari’s PA shot dead in Bengal S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata In a major escalation of post-poll violence in West Bengal, a close aide of BJP’s prime contender for chief ministership, Suvendu Adhikari, was Bullet marks on the window of a shot dead on Wednesday car Chandranath night at Madhyagram in Rath (inset) was North 24 Parganas travelling in. Rath district. was Suvendu According to locals, Adhikari’s PA | PTI the assailants randomly sprayed bullets on Chandranath Rath, personal assistant of Adhikari, and his driver when their car was on the National Highway . Both sustained severe injuries and were rushed to a local hospital where Rath was declared dead. The condition of the driver is critical. Adhikari later visited the hospital. He was not in the car that was attacked. The attackers are said to have followed Rath’s car, intercepted it, shot him through the rolled-up window from the opposite side and fled. He was in the front seat next to the driver. The incident occurred at Chowmatha at Maddhyamgram, hardly 3 km from Kolkata airport. With tension building up in Maddhyamgram, a massive deployment of police forces was ordered. Police are verifying local CCTV footage to identify the culprits. fast track Metro Phase-II E x p r ess N e ws Se rv i c e @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday urged Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar to approve the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-II project and expedite pending clearances. During a meeting in Delhi, Revanth discussed approvals for Metro Rail Phase-II and Phase-III projects, stating that the expansion was essential to ensure safe public transport and commuter convenience in the rapidly growing city . He informed Khattar that the state government had prepared and submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Metro Phase-II, covering 122.9 km across seven corridors at an estimated cost of `38,595 crore. Revanth said the state government had taken full control of Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-I from L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd to facilitate the smooth execution of the proposed expansion projects. He Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy calls on Union Minister for Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar in New Delhi on Wednesday added that the takeover would make the implementation of Phase-II and Phase-III easier. Highlighting the increasing demand for Metro services, Revanth requested Khattar to approve Phase-II as a joint venture between the state and Union governments. He also sought support for the proposed RGI Airport– Bharat Future City corridor under Metro Rail Phase-III and informed Khattar that the DPR for the project had already been submitted to the Centre. express read TGIIC to e-auction land at Knowledge City Hyderabad: TGIIC will e-auction two prime land parcels in Knowledge City layout at Raidurg between May 28 and June 1, 2026. The govt is expecting around `1,800 crore to `2,000 crore from the sale of the two parcels located at Raidurg Panmaktha in Serilingampally, one of the city’s most coveted destinations | P5