court in thailand on whether some $2 billion will be confiscated from the former prime minister thaksin shinawatraaccused of corruption. rachel harvey is outside the supreme court in bangkok. is not looking good for mr. thaksin, is it? >> it is not looking good. the judges have been going at it for some five and half hours. they have already made several things clear, first, they say mr. thaksin did unlawfully conceal the influence he held in the family firm. they also say that while he was prime minister, he refused policies that benefit give that company and the family. it is not looking good for mr. thaksin. what we have not heard is how much of the money that was frozen will be confiscated by the state. >> there are an awful lot of security forces on the street. >> there are a lot of security forces on the street. the atmosphere of the court here, despite hundreds of riot police, has been very relaxed. there could be violent and fears that a chasm could open up in thailand once more. there is no doubt that it has thrown the spotlight on the divisions in society. but they said that they did not

the supreme court in thailand has ruled that more than half of former prime minister thaksin shinawatra's assets inside the country must be confiscated. the assets came from the sale of his family's telecommunications company and were frozen after he was overthrown in a military coup. here is rachel harvey from bangkok. >> the police were ploys. the media out in force. but the judges were not in any hurry. it took them more than seven hours to read out the verdict. the final decision -- mr. thaksin was guilty of a conflict of interest during his time as prime minister, that he pursued policies that favored his family's firm, and more than half of his assets should be confiscated by the state. the papers were full of dire predictions the decision might provoke another round of violence here, but as you can see, the police are relaxed and there are no protestors anywhere. but sidestep decided to step back from the brink, it -- both sides have decided to step back from the brink, at least for now. all eyes then on mr. thaksin himself. he may be in exile in dubai, but he still gets its messag

thailand's highest court stripped former prime minister thaksin shinawatra of $1.4 billion of his assets. the funds were frozen right after he was deposed in a military coup in 2006. thaksin addressed his supporters in thailand via satellite from his exile in dubai. the court left him with nearly a billion dollars of his wealth intact. the nine-judge panel said that thaksin shaped telecommunications policy in order to help his companies profit. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web site. but for now, back to judy. >> woodruff: and still to come on the newshour: shields and brooks; long-term unemployment changing lives across america; and reflections on two weeks of olympic contests. but first, an explanation of a senate tactic that could help decide the fate of health care reform. newshour congressional correspondent kwame holman walks us through a procedure called reconciliation. >> holman: yesterday's health care summit featured disagreements over policy ideas, governing philosop