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BANGKOK: Hundreds of protesters gathered in Thailand’s capital on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, part of the brewing political turmoil set off by a leaked phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Paetongtarn faces growing dissatisfaction over her handling of a recent border dispute with Cambodia involving an armed confrontation May 28. One Cambodian soldier was killed in a relatively small, contested area. The clash set off a string of investigations that could lead to her removal.

Protesters held national flags and signs as they occupied parts of the streets around the Victory Monument in central Bangkok. A huge stage was set up at the foot of the monument as participants sat and listened to speakers who said they gathered to express their love of the country following the intensified border row.

Many of the leading figures in the protest were familiar faces who were part of a group popularly known as Yellow Shirts, whose clothing color indicates loyalty to the Thai monarchy. They are longtime foes of Paetongtarn’s father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Their rallies at times turned violent and led to military coups in 2006 and 2014, which respectively ousted the elected governments of Thaksin and Paetongtarn’s aunt, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Outrage over the recorded phone call mostly revolved around Paetongtarn telling Hun Sen, the current Cambodian Senate president and a longtime friend of her father, not to listen to “an opponent” in Thailand. It’s believed to be a reference to the regional Thai army commander in charge of the area where the clash happened, who publicly criticized Cambodia over the border dispute.

Hun Sen on Saturday vowed to protect his country’s territory from foreign invaders and condemned what he called an attack by Thai forces last month.

At a 74th anniversary celebration of the foundation of his long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party, Hun Sen claimed the action by the Thai army was illegal when it engaged Cambodian forces. He said the skirmish inside Cambodian territory was a serious violation of country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, despite Cambodia’s good will in attempting to resolve the border issue.

“This poor Cambodia has suffered from foreign invasion, war, and genocide, been surrounded and isolated and insulted in the past but now Cambodia has risen on an equal face with other countries. We need peace, friendship, cooperation, and development the most, and we have no politics and no unfriendly stance with any nation,” Hun Sen said in front of cheerful thousands of party members at the event in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

There is a long history of territorial disputes between the countries. Thailand is still rattled by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded Cambodia the disputed territory where the historic Preah Vihear temple stands. There were sporadic though serious clashes there in 2011. The ruling from the UN court was reaffirmed in 2013, when Yingluck was prime minister.

The scandal has broken Paetongtarn’s fragile coalition government, costing her Pheu Thai Party the loss of its biggest partner, Bhumjaithai Party. There already was a rift between Bhumjaithai and Pheu Thai Party over reports Bhumjaithai would be shuffled out of the powerful Interior Ministry.

Several Bhumjaithai leaders also are under investigation over an alleged rigging of last year’s Senate election in which many figures who are reportedly close to the party claimed a majority of seats.

The departure of Bhumjaithai left the 10-party coalition with 255 seats, just above the majority of the 500-seat house.

Paetongtarn also faces investigations by the Constitutional Court and the national anti-corruption agency. Their decisions could lead to her removal from office.

Sarote Phuengrampan, secretary-general of the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said Wednesday that his agency is investigating Paetongtarn for a serious breach of ethics over the phone call with Hun Sen. He did not give a possible timeline for a decision.

Reports said the Constitutional Court can suspend Paetongtarn from duty pending the investigation and could decide as early as next week whether it will take the case. The prime minister said Tuesday she is not worried and is ready to give evidence to support her case.

“It was clear from the phone call that I had nothing to gain from it, and I also didn’t cause any damage to the country,” she said.

The court last year removed her predecessor from Pheu Thai over a breach of ethics. Thailand’s courts, especially the Constitutional Court, are considered a bulwark of the country’s royalist establishment, which has used them and nominally independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to cripple or sink political opponents.

WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure logged a mild uptick Friday while spending weakened, triggering another tirade by President Donald Trump against the central bank chair for not cutting interest rates sooner.
“We have a guy that’s just a stubborn mule and a stupid person,” Trump told an event at the White House, referring to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. “He’s making a mistake.”
With Powell’s term as Fed chief coming to an end next year, Trump hinted at his choice of successor: “I’m going to put somebody that wants to cut rates.”
The president’s remarks came after government data showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbing 2.3 percent last month from a year ago in May.
This was in line with analyst expectations and a slight acceleration from April’s 2.2 percent increase, but still a relatively mild uptick.
Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, the PCE price index was up 2.7 percent, rising from April’s 2.6 percent uptick, the Commerce Department’s report showed.
But consumer spending declined, after Trump’s fresh tariffs in April dragged on consumer sentiment. PCE dropped by 0.1 percent from the preceding month, reversing an earlier rise.
While Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners since returning to the White House in January — alongside higher rates on imports of steel, aluminum and autos — these have had a muted effect so far on inflation.
This is in part because he held off or postponed some of his harshest salvos, while businesses are still running through inventory they stockpiled in anticipation of the levies.
But central bank officials have not rushed to slash interest rates, saying they can afford to wait and learn more about the impact of Trump’s recent duties. They expect to learn more about the tariffs’ effects over the summer.

“The experience of the limited range of tariffs introduced in 2018 suggests that pass-through to consumer prices is intense three-to-six months after their implementation,” warned economists Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen of Pantheon Macroeconomics in a note.
They flagged weakness in consumer spending, in part due to a pullback in autos after buyers rushed to get ahead of levies.
And spending on services was tepid even after excluding volatile components, they said.
“There has also been a clear weakening in discretionary services spending, notably in travel and hospitality,” said Michael Pearce, deputy chief US economist at Oxford Economics, in a note.
This reflects “the chilling effect of the plunge in consumer sentiment,” he added.
Between April and May, the PCE price index was up 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department report showed.
As a July deadline approaches for higher tariff rates to kick in on dozens of economies, all eyes are also on whether countries can reach lasting trade deals with Washington to ease the effects of tariffs.
For now, despite the slowing in economic growth, Pearce said risks that inflation could increase will keep the Fed on hold with interest rates “until much later in the year.”