Bangkok: Thailand’s cabinet imposed the highest state of emergency on Tuesday across three Muslim-majority provinces in the south that have been racked by a deadly insurgency for the past 18 months. Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the cabinet had declared a “serious emergency situation” in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces but rejected a council of ministers’ decision to impose it in parts of Songkhla. — AFP