Yingluck files case against opponents

Thailand's ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was pushed from office more than a year ago, hit back at her opponents on Tuesday with her own lawsuit.

Yingluck, who was impeached and faces criminal charges, filed a case at Bangkok's Criminal Court to countersue the country's attorney-general over the handling of her prosecution in connection with a subsidy scheme for rice farmers, which ran up huge losses.

The lawsuit is another twist in a long-standing political battle dividing Thailand. On one side is the country's traditional ruling elite who are backed by the military that staged Thailand's 2014 coup, and on the other is a group of politicians who challenged the status quo, led by Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire-turned-populist politician who held office from 2001 to 2006.