Thailand's former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been sentenced to eight years in prison

Thailand's former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by the country's supreme court, in relation to three convictions imposed on him in absence. The ruling comes as Mr Thaksin returned to Thailand after fifteen years of self-imposed exile following a military coup.

President Biden's has visited the disaster-hit Hawaii - it follows criticism by locals of response to the devastating wildfires there.

Also hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent so far as the list of footballers joining Saudi clubs grows daily.

And the five nations that make up the BRICS grouping have invited dozens of nations to their summit in South Africa, with talk the club will be expanded. So is the BRICS about to become a challenger to the western economic order?