hello. glad to have you with us on ewin" i'yu fusma thovnmt gng toll arone ptn tist thhuertre r t15 da. ts trying to defuse tension after the jailing of anna hazare prmted protests across the country. police arrested him for trying to stage a hunger strike in new delhi. he has been demanding the government act immediately against rampant corruption.

the government ordered his release after widespread rallies broke out. but refus tlee aing freedom of assembly. he continued to hole his hunger strike ija. >> on thursday, the government made a concession allowing him to hold a public fast of 15 days. zare is no expecte t coinue his demonstration at a rally with tens of thousands of his supporters. observers say that there are fear it is government's stand-off with the activist is not over yet. it has rejected his demand for a tougher anti-corruption law. a recent survey said corruption in india has cost billions of dollars and could derail growth. syrian president bashar al asad said his security forces have stopped their crackdown on anti-government protesters. he made a statement in a phone call with the united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon. syria has been suppressing demonstrations since march. more than 2,000 people are believed to have died in the

violence. the united nations released details about the call assad had on wednesday. it said ban criticized the widespread violation of human rights and excessive use of force by syrian security teams. he urged assad to stop targeting the civilians. the u.n. quoted the president as saying military and police operations against protestors have stopped. assad also indicated he will carry out democratic reforms within a few months including revising the constitution and holding parliamentary elections. western countries have imposed additional sanctions on syria since the violent crackdn began. ab nations are also becoming increasingly critical. earlier this month the u.n. security council adopted a statement condemning syria. it is scheduled to discuss the fuher reon to the situation on thursy. crits tksin

shinawatra are denouncing a decision allowing m visit japan. he was granted a special visa sunday. about 80 protestors gathered in front of the japanese embassy bangkok on thursday. they say thaksin is a criminal convicted of corruption. the group handed an embassy official a written statement calling for s sito be canced it is scheduled to start next monday. japan issued the exceptional visa to thaksin after the new thai government led by his sister asked for his trip to be approved. japan's immigration rules generally don't allow foreigners who were given prison terms of more tn a year to enter the country. a thai court sentenced thaksin in 2008 to two years in jail for violating an anti-corruption law. he's lived in exile since the military coup pushed him out of office in 2006. during his week-long stay in japan, the former thai leader plans to visit areas hit by the

march 11th disaster. the vice presidents of the united states and china agreed to strengthen their countries' bilateral relations. joe biden held talks with xi jinping on thursday in beijing. cerede xny hted by pridta eror onns >>id vedhe.swi stay involved in gbaafir >> that the unit steof america plans on and will continue to be engaged totally in the wld.

>> biden and xi are believed to ha dcussedheowngrade of the u.s. treasury bond rating. china is the biggest creditor of u.s. bonds. the issue of territorial disputes involving islands in the south china sea apparently came up as well. biden is visiting china until monday. he's scheduled to travel along with xi. the chinese province was hit by an earthquake in 2008. biden will also meet president hu jintao before he leaves continuing his asian tour. he'll go to japan and mongolia before heading home. they've urged the global community for aid to somalia. he warned hundreds of thousands of children could starve to death. >> the response around the world so far has been inadequate and it is dangerously inadequate.

up to 400,000 children are at risk of dying through starvation. >> mitchell spoke in kenya after visiting mogadishu, capital of somalia. he announced britain will offer more than $40 million worth of additional food and medicine. the livf 3.7 million or about half the population of somalia are in jeopardy amid a famine triggered by drut droughts. the country has been plagued with continuing conflict between the transitional government and muslim extremists. meanwhile, the organization of islamic cooperation held a summit in istanbul, turkey, on wednesday. it announced that it will provide $350 million in aid to somalia. japanese government has given the national women's soccer team one of the country's top distinctions. nadeshiko has received the

people's honor award at the final victory in july. the awards ceremony took place uray at e prime mist's ce ridence in toky thhe coachthe caai and 23th pye a tm af tended. pre minieroto kan said nadeshiko made the achieveme through rserce he aed the am performance inspired japanese who are struggling to rebuild after the march 11th disaster. >> translator: we are honored we received such a great award. it makes me feel we should again pledge to keep going on so we can encourage people through our performance. >> translator: we all do our best at the preliminary qualifying games for the olympics and tried to get the gold medal. >> the japanese national women's soccer team is the 19th recipient of the people's honor award since its launch in 1977. now a look at the weather forecasts around the world.

kendo students from the disaster-stricken area in

northeastern japan are practicing their ghting iruia 28apesfr a igschool and a university in iwate prefecture. they visited a gym in moscow on wednesday. they practiced for about two hours with more than 30 russians. the russian kendo federation invited them to train together. the students have had difficulty securing a training facility since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. >> translator: i appreciate the opportunity the russian people have given us. i want to learn as much as i can. >> the group is scheduled to travel to eastern siberia where they'll join a camp with local kendo enthusiasts through sunday. that is going to do it for now on "newsline." i'm yuko fukushima.

we will be back at the top of the next hour. we will see you then. good-bye for now.