What We’re Watching: Thailand’s PM ousted, Musk vs Trump on bill and midterms, Turkey arrests journalists for blasphemy

Thailand’s PM suspended over flattering phone call

Thailand’s constitutional court accepted a petition on Tuesday to suspend Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, as pressure mounts over the leader’s alleged mishandling of a border dispute with neighbouring Cambodia. The petition accuses Paetongtarn of violating ethical standards in a leaked phone call with influential Cambodian politician Hun Sen, during which she flattered Hun and disparaged her own country’s military. Paetongtarn now has 15 days to gather evidence pleading her case. If she is removed, her party will likely select a successor, but broader clashes with the opposition – and the streets – may just be beginning.

Elon Musk makes a huge threat versus Trump

World’s richest man Elon Musk has more thoughts to offer on US President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” If the bill passes Congress, Musk warns, a third American political party “will be formed the next day,” and every lawmaker who voted for it “will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.” The Senate passed its $3.3-trillion version of the bill on Tuesday, but it must go back through the House before it reaches the president’s desk. Musk’s warning won’t change the fate of Trump’s signature legislation – overwhelming pressure from the US president will far outweigh anything Musk can immediately apply – but his threats to spend mega-millions to swing next year’s midterm elections can’t be ignored.

Cartoon controversy in Turkey

Four employees of a satirical magazine in Turkey have been arrested forpublishing a cartoon that authorities say depicts the Prophet Muhammad, which is forbidden in Islam. With disturbing echoes of the so-called “Charlie Hebdo” murders in Paris ten years ago, Istanbul riot police have had to contain protesters outside the magazine’s offices chanting for “blood” and “revenge.” The publishers emphatically deny their cartoon depicts the prophet, but prosecution of these journalists will offer an easy political win for the ever-controversial PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government.