BANGKOK, Aug 22 (NNN-TNA) – Former Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, today was transported to prison, soon after his return to the country, after years of exile, as Thailand’s Supreme Court issued an eight-year detention order for him.

The court’s criminal division for holders of political positions, announced a statement saying, Thaksin is convicted of eight-year imprisonment, related to his three convictions passed on the 74-year-old in absentia.

BANGKOK (AP) — Divisive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand on Tuesday after years of self-imposed exile to face possible criminal penalties on the same day that a party affiliated with him plans to start forming a new government.

Thaksin has said his decision to return has nothing to do with an expected vote in Parliament later in the day on a candidate from the Pheu Thai party for prime minister. But many believe his arrival is connected to the party’s pursuit of power.

BENGALURU, Aug 21 (Reuters) - India's space agency on Monday released images its spacecraft took of the far side of the moon as it headed for an attempted landing on the lunar south pole, just days after the failure of a Russian lander.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft had been in a race with Russia to be the first to land on the lunar south pole, a region whose shadowed craters are thought to contain water ice that could support a future moon settlement.

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (AP) — Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, flooded roads, toppled trees and forced a rescue by bulldozer of more than a dozen older residents trapped by mud in a care home Monday as it marched northward, prompting flood watches and warnings in half a dozen states.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israel carried out a missile strike on military sites around the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday night, injuring a soldier, the Syrian army said in a statement.

The missiles were launched from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, it said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said three military sites, including weapon depots that belong to Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, were targeted.

ANKARA, August 22. /TASS/: Substantial progress has been made at consultations on renewing the grain deal, Turkey’s Yeni Safak newspaper said citing a source in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office.

"Significant progress has been achieved on a grain corridor agreement. An alternative route of the grain corridor without Russia is irrational," the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

ROME, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Italy is in the grip of its third major heatwave of this summer, as the hottest two-year period on record continues in the country.

The Ministry of Health said Monday that by mid-week, 17 of Italy's 27 largest cities will be on "red alert" for heat. A new record of 20 out of 27 cities was set in July.

The cities currently set to be put on red alert by Wednesday include Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome and Turin. A dozen cities were already on red alert as of Monday.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan will start releasing treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean as early as Thursday — a controversial but essential early step in the decades of work to shut down the facility 12 years after its meltdown disaster.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the final go-ahead Tuesday at a meeting of Cabinet ministers involved in the plan and instructed the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, to be ready to start the coastal release Thursday if weather and sea conditions permit.

SEOUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has lashed out at top officials for their "irresponsible" response to flood damage, saying they had "spoiled" the national economy, state media reported on Tuesday.

Kim inspected a tideland on the west coast on Monday after seawater recently destroyed an embankment with inadequate drainage system, flooding more than 560 hectares of land, including over 270 hectares of rice paddies, news agency KCNA said.

TOKYO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Japan said on Tuesday it will start releasing into the sea more than 1 million metric tonnes of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Aug. 24, going ahead with a plan heavily criticised by China.

The plan, approved two years ago by the Japanese government as crucial to decommissioning the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) (9501.T), has also faced criticism from local fishing groups fearing reputational damage.

BEIJING, August 22. /TASS/: The meeting of the leaders of the BRICS member countries in South Africa will become an important milestone in the history of the association and will strengthen solidarity among developing countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said upon his arrival in South Africa, where the XV BRICS Summit is being held.

ATHENS, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a visit to Greece on Monday, where he met with European leaders, Greek national broadcaster ERT has reported.

During his visit, Zelensky met separately with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

He also joined an informal meeting of European leaders on enlargement of the European Union (EU) here in Athens.