Thai PM faces new dismissal threat

Thailand's Constitutional Court agreed Wednesday to consider a petition to remove Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office for transferring a top security official -- the latest in a volley of legal challenges by her opponents. The case was filed by a group of senators who argued that the replacement of then-national security chief Thawil Pliensri after Yingluck was elected in 2011 was for the benefit of her party. Under the constitution -- drawn up in the wake of a 2006 coup that ousted Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra as premier -- such an offence could lead to her sacking. Yingluck must present her defence within 15 days of receiving a copy of the petition, according to AFP.