tonight on orldfocus"- going home. in pakistan tusands of refugees gin the hard journey back to the swat valley, sce of

fierceighting with the taliban. tonight rare look at what many will find whethey get there. thkidnapping and murder of a russian human rightsctivist has spard international trage. russia'sresident says thkillers will be found. so why do so many people not believe him? it'the disease that kills mo than a million people a year, malari and n there are increasing signs that it's growing resistant to anti-malial drugs. tonight we look at whathat could mean and you've heard it fore, one person trash is another's treasure. no where is that mo obvious than at the condhand market in cairo. le's make a deal. good eveng. i'm martisavidge. all this week we've been tang younside the war against the

talib with the help of our "worldfocus" parers. as that battle intensifiesn both afghanian and pakistan. tonighte're going to focus on pakistan, where the governme, under pressurerom the united states, has been conducting largscale military operatio against the extremists. thgovernment says its offensive in one ar, the at valley was successful, bu it took aig humanitarian toll, dving some 2 million people from their homes. this week, some ofhose displaced people beg to return to the swatalley, including the capital of the area, mi minga. in tonight'sead focus we want to show you what it was likes they made theiway back. kamal der of al jazeera english was with some of the >> reporter: more andore peple are cominback and by whater means available fblt. some a on acres while others walk alongwith their ivestock, likthis old man who gives a helping hand tois animals. as the waits get longer at some

checkpoints, somcomplain they're not gettg any help to speed up the process. the chilen run back to e acres to the relative sety of the shaded trees by the rodsides. patience may be hard for some but there are others who are still hopeful. employees of the local government distribute rice and juices to the returnees along the road. not far away, the loca fire bgade douses everyon with a splash of cool ter to offe some relief. inside the s, a father hold s his daughter ercome with exhausti while other children look on. we leave the con waway movng to the screening of nmerous checkpoints, even we have to register. while returnees may be connelliconnell

i comingack to the valley, some are complaining that ey are virtual prisonersn their o homes. >> tse people are coming without money. the bazaa are closed. what aree to do? wetalking about hundredsof thsands of pele. >> reporter mingo is a city waitingor its peopleut it is a city in ruins. and the markets reduced to rubble. e people of swat y be coming back with aay of hope but what they will e with the own eyes may lead to someampened expectations. is was, of course, one of t busiest ties ofhe vally. also the hub o the commercial activity for the valley of swat, and nowou see nothing but shops at are closed, businessethat a shut down. e entire population of the city has fled. the government has now, of course, aowed them to return. it is going to take a while for the people to be ale t come back, pic up the pieces and to be able to rebuild theilives.

kamalyder, al jazeera, mingora city. al from northwest pakista today, officialsaid gunmen killea united nations official who headed relief efforts at a refug camp near peshar. he was a 59-ar-old pakistani who apparently resisted an attempt to dnap him. he had worked r the u.n. for most 30 years and was said be looking forrd to retiring sometime soon in neighboring afghanisn, here u.s. marines are condting a major operation in n helmand province, the u.s. commanderays they are enuntering more taliban resistance after only spadic fighting ithe first weeks of th operation. one sue for the amerans is a shortage of supies. ann scott tyson of "e washington pos is with the maris in helmand and writes -- "u.s. marines a short of basic equipnt and supplies ranging from radios anvehicles to unifms. critical supies of foo water and ammunition are being dropped to troopby helicopterferrying sling-loads to bypass roads implanted wh bombs.

veral marines from one companyfor example, ripped their pants during anrduous foot march and e still waiting for placements, some in boxer shorts." for british forces in afghanistan, t problem is a shorta of helicopters emselves, a problem underscored today in a port by the brith parliament, as we hear in this report from jes blake of itn >> reporter: this helicoptehas just returne from ative rvice in iq. it's one of six that's been brought back to bse at r near oxford to be refitted an adjusted, ready for theeat and dust of afghistan. they s they will be deployed some time before the end of the year b that may not be so enou. a report fromhe defense committee said a lack of helicopts in afghanistan is limiti military operations and putting soldiers' lives at risk. the m.o.d.on't confirm exactly homany helicopters are in ghanistan but the fleet includetroop carriers like

chinookas well as lks, apaches. the repos say they they have to use gund transport when helicopr lift would be preferrebo for the outcome and the protection of our forces. the armed rces has risen by 60% in the past two yearsbut there has been grt problems introducing them into afghanistan, as the port ates it is unasible tourge helicopters into theater. >> the big problem whichhe committee reports atntion to isman power. you can't just uphe number of pilotovernight. that quires a reasoble period to train new you ed to recruit them. >> reporter: earlier tis mont 15 britis soldiers were killed in afghanist i justen days. many fighting the taliban. their deaths have increased the

pressure for more licopters. visiting the area, chi of the general staff, genel sir richard danitz, used an american blackhawk because, he said, haven got a british helicopr. these marylandelicopters will abe new addition to theleet in afghanistan but t report also citicizes the large number of fferent types of craft, saying it cause problems wi technica support and training. it also condemns the governmens policy to exte the flyg hours and the life pan of licopters, insistg this is neither value for oney, nor ll it provide aduate capacity iafghanistan. >> james blakeof itn. antaliban commanders are now threaning to kill a ptured american ldier unless the u.s. milita stops operationsn two istricts in southeastern afghanistan. the unidentified soldier was repoed missing two weeks ago after appantly walking off his base. one more note from t region, the prime ministers of iia and pakistan m today and agreed to cooperate on t investigation of the mumbai massae in india

seven months ago. that attack, ich india maintains was plannednd launched from pakistan, ledo a freeze in relations betwe the countries. today pakistan promed to do "everything its power" to bri the mumbai attackers to justice. e surviving gunman, a pakistani, faces tri in india. paistan has refused to hand over five otheruspects accused of plannin the attacks. and from iran tonigh the government says the head ofhat country' nuclear agency has regned, saying he bmitted his regnation 20 days ago, which was shortly aft iran's disputedresidential election. no reason wasiven, but the official halong been close to the position leader and presidential candidate,ir hossein mouvi. this was t day after an

acclaimed russian human ghts activist w kidnapped and rdered. it happed in the capital of chechnya, e republic long ravaged by civil w and insurgency tay, mourners gathered to rememb natalya estemirova, who had worked in chechnyaor a ecade, focusing on killings d dnappings she believed were carried o under the authority of chechnya's president,ho is backed by e kremlin. we have re on her life -- and death -- from jonathan miller n in this report that was filed late yesterd. >>eporter: natalya estemirov betternown as natasha, was abucted by four men who forced her into a whitear at8:30 this morning outside her small flat in grozny. her bodyshowing signs of a violent death was found at 5:20 p.m.n the capital of the neigoring russian republi unnamed security forces toldhe terfax nws agen she'd been murdered. natalya estemira brazenly confronted thehugs in

chechny exposing and documenting hundds of cases of huan rights abuse, kidn and kilngs. the russian president tonight xpressed outrage and ordered an investigation, but we have en here before. natalya estemirova worked hand in glove in checya with a ruian investigative journalist shot death in mcow three years ago no one has been nvicted of her kiing. together the two wen had been at the forefrontf illuminating the dark side of rusia's wars in chhnya, which laid near t capital. but natalya estemirova was e recipient of t awardamed aft her friend in 2007, and here she is in london last yea presenting it to an afghan womes rights campaier. >> withouther, i don know wt a lot of people a going to do. and ts also sen a huge message to other people in chechnya o are trying to wor in the fielof human rhts and who are tryingo open up some of th things gng on in che

chechn chechnya, bimessage if you ick your head out, you can t killed. >> reporter: channel 4 newhas lened she had been working on aeport for the new york-bed human rights watch inecent days. hu human rights watched told us tonight it is absotely sential that russia reverses the lack of accountability it has hg over checya for so long. one of the reonsike people like natasha are targeted is the climate of thecommunity. that needs to end,t said. no much evidence of theussian carpetombing of grozny today. the cityas been completely rebuilt by a 32-year-old rong-man president heren the left,ho's bank rolled by the kremlin andho rules with an iron fist. his power is fast expanding, and he's just been order to te charge in a neighboring city a well. and that's where natya estemirovs body was found this aernoon. there wi now be pressure on moscow to invtigate this, t latest death in a gr and ngthening capital of unsold

mders in russia. >> th was jonathan millerof itn with thaeport, which was filed yesterday. u heard him say that natalya estemirova had bn working with human rigs watch on a report. well, fomore on hereath and murr and the state of human rights in russia, we turn to humanights watch -- trachel denber, deputy director ofts europe and ceral asia division. thank you for being withs. >> thank you. >> what's the siificance of the murder of natalya estemirova? >> the message that was se with her killi was that human ghtsactivists, journalists, invtigators, should stay away from echnya. they shod stop lookg into t kinds of things that natasha was looking into. ey should stop lookng into the killis, the abductions, the trture and the collective punishment that ha been part and parc of the counterinsurgen campaign in chechnya. >> and what do youhink the impact will be?

do youhink all of that, the investigation will be stopped a a result? >> i don't. i think that tasha's killing leaves a terrie vacuum in chechnya right now. because she waan incredie force. she as the nexus between victims human rits violations an the outside world. but i think th there will -- i think tat there will be mre people to that wok. it will be lot harer but i think that we will -- we have to filthat cuum. >> the rsian government says therewill be a very thoroug investation. in fact, t russian president has said he believes sobody will be brought to an accounting do you believe i >> i believe thathe credibility of s words will rest on the crebility of the investigation itse. i believehat russia isapable of hoing a credible and partial investigation, if there is the pitical wil we have not see that so far, but i think that if there i enough pressure from russia's international partners,hat rusia's credibility rests on the credility of this investigatn, then i think there's a ance. what can't happen, wh cannot

happen, is that the investigatiois left to the cal authorities in chechnya. this is someing that has to be taken under president medvedev's personal control. >> do u think th it's possible her murder willave an impact on the relaonship betwen the u.s. andrussia? in other words, the u.s. has always sod up for human rights often in the world, d this seems to be clear case of man rights. >> y. well, i think ere's certainly a ro for the united states to play, together wit its european partners, in pressing for an end to the unbounded lawlessness in chechnya. i tnk that the u.s. has a rle tolay in constantly,n not tting this guy, in not lettg it be just another statement i the issue,ith constantly falling up th medvedev,ith the russian leadership to say, where are the relates of he investigation? >> rachel denber, thank you very much for speaking with us day. >> thank you

in tonig's signature storywe look at a huge global health problem -- thwar ainst malaria, the parasitic illness transmitted by mosquitoes at kills more than aillion people every year. one of theiggest challenges in fighting malaria is drug resistance. in southeast asia -- camdia -- health officialare seeing new eviden of resistance as they try to tat the most deadly kind of malaria. the ncern is that this deadly strain willhen spread to afca with devastatinresults. gary sieker has our report, produced in assiation with the global health fronine news projec >> reporter: these villages in western cambodia have gathered to ceivenew weapon in a daly fight against malaria. they arebeing given bed nets that are dsed with slow-releasing insecticides.

if used properly, they should b ableo kill mosquitoes for several years they have pren to be effective but they're not silver bull against t disease. making matters worse is an even greater threat. the's incrsing at parasites of the most deadly strain of malaria are developing rug resistance. scientists from aroundhe world have come he to determine how and why this is happening. dr. mark fukudas leadingne of the studies for a group known as afriams, a.s. military research unit. this lol teacher is typical of the findings. ike at least a third of the patients in the sdy, he's still positive for malar after four days of treatment. it may notound like much, but it's significant. >> as one would expt parasites clear in perhaps two days 48 hou or so, whate're noticing here in this site pticularly

is thathe mean tme for parasite clearance is between 60 and 65 urs. we're concerned that this is harbinger for early resistance that might later translate int the drgs beingineffectve to achive a cure. >> reporter: this is a serious concern cause it has ppened before. the bestrug against falciparum malaria used to be lor aky. but over a-year period it was render largely ineffeive as the parasitesecame resistant to it. the ne drug was defeaed in lf that time. in both cases, tesistance gan here in sternambodia d spread as far as africa, whe 90% of malaria's victims live. now the dgs being used are called a.c.t.s, combition erapies based on the compound artemisinin. as good as they are, the warning signs of resistance are now appearing again. >> tse are our fil line of

defense at presen and we d't have really any new drugs on e horizon. so if we losehis ug, things become ateast in the sho to dium term, quite serious in terms of malaa because weill have lost oubest drug. reporter: to comb the read of resistance, the bil and minda gates foundation is unding a campaign prect adminisred by cam beaa's governmt and the world health organization. the key to its success is findingut how and why the parasite are deloping a tolance to the a.c.t. a trip to the local market provides clues. shoppers come here not onlyor uit and vegetles, but also for medication fromrivate pharmacies that have be here for years. >> this drug is correct, a it's gotlear instruction inside as to how to take the drug in ththree days that you have to take it. but it's possile that patients already cut it up and only take

it until they're fling better. is is the whole poblem that we find in the priva sector that patients arenot getting the correct dose, not getting the correct combation, and this is going to le to drug sistance developing very rapidly, unless it c be controlled. >> reporter: the cbodian governmt is awe of the problems in the private sector. it has banned the sale o monotherapies, sile drugs that are easy for parasites to apt to. but they are stilleadily available on the openmarket. the untry's top malaria official says a cckdown is immine. but even if these efforts are succeful, there are other challenges. grant workers pa rough here toork the fields and build roads. hey often don't ha bed nets or acce to adequate health care, making them morelikely to catch malia and sprd

restance. stem the tie, say sme advocates, spendi on global ma lara programseeds to be qurupled to at least$4 billion a year. >> and we need that money because whout it,will not be able to contain this resistce, and if itgets to africa, then there ll be an normous problem fort both africa but thelobal communi to aually fund the conquences of thatresistance. >> reporter: if those resistant malar strains take hold and spread to africa, t results could beatastrophic. this wi a disease that alrdy kills one chi every 30 second gary strieker for "wodfocus." as usual, when it ces to issues of ience, we turn to michael novacek, therovost of science at e american museum ofnatural hiory here in new york. michaelwe just heard abou this drug-resistant strai of

malaria tt apparently has croed up in mbodia. how mh of a threat is this? how worried should we be? >> malariis one of the world's great and terrible disses and affts, martin, millions of peoe a year, has high mortality rates. so any time the parasite tt spreads malari delops a resistce to a certain kind of dru it's certainly aoncern and sothing to focus on. >> i have read and i have heard as well that there concern that deforestation and global warng may contribute greatly to the spread of this sease. i gues i can understand the warmer temperatures. i wasn't quite sure the forestation. >>ell, there are scientiic papers that ve madehe corlation between both of those facrs and the spread malaria. there are other scientist reports an more receny that estion, especiall the straight on correlation between global warming a the spread of malia. what actually , the pattern is theyre predictions based on science of where t disease will spread an where it will diminish, depenng on those condions.

ut why degradation environnts, what's the factor there? well, any time you get that, you very often also comes wit more peopledegraded eironments lik stagnant ater, polluted ter, a greater amount of mosqtoes. >> more people going into >> the combinaon, a dangerous combination. lotsf mosquitoes and lots of people. what does science do en you try toombat thisisease? and do y think that one day, o day, it can be eeradicateed? >> it is possible tat a huge disease, very effective and problematic disease likthis could be eradicated itould take an enormous amount of effort and money. in the meantime, there a efforts on all fronts to control the mosquito a vector. also to develop new drugs that will knock out the parase,

that it hasn't adapted to hasn't evolved restance to andhere's also research, including researcheing done at the american muse of natural history to look at how that organi evolves a to look for clues to try to deal with the isease. >> to fi an achils' heel. >> to find that achilles' heel the organism. michael novace it's always a pleasure, thanks. >> great to be here again. finally tonight, we take you to the capitalf egypt, cro, where tomorrow an every friday there is a sparling mark you can can find jst about anything, as long as y don't mindhat it may haveeen usd. it'sot qui the egyptian version of "antiquesoad show," but as johnjenzen oflobal post sows us,it may be one of e wrld's most ultimate yard sales. reporter: at first glance,

theseen appear to be siftg through a pile of trash. but ts is actually amarket, the friday market inir yeb, where thousand of shopper gather every wee on a slum on the outskirtsof town of the most of the em here's are secondhand. thisan sells used applices on th dusty plot. broken toys, furniture, computer parts and ore. you canind everhing ere. lder items mayot always work but at ast they're eap. thi womanants to buy shutters for her home. sh says she com here because she can't afford to buthem new. it's alively, festive atmohere at the friday market, and almost anything es. this man sells exoticand endangered animals illally. the bats, he say are bought for their bld to remove body hair. rabbs and pions are sold for

thr meat, two of egt's most popular delicacie these littl guys won't endp on th dinner ble, but that doesn't mean th're all happy inheir current sta. whetr you're getting goldfish or rotting smoked fish, buying here never simple. noisy negotiation is part of the game. but for buyers with patience, many deal as wait. >>inside the junk,ou may find some good lue. if find something ofood value, why not? it goes t m own colleion or rube later on. >> rorter: but not everyone's a winner. ied, who has a college deree, onl makes $2 to $3 a day. evestill, he says, it's a livi. >> andhere you have it. jon jensen of glal post. that's "worldfocus" for tis thursdayevening. a reminder that you can also watch usn the web any time.

that's atworldfocus.org. i'm main savidge in neyork. as always, we tnk you for joining us. we hope to see y backere again tomorw and any time on the web. until th have a good night. mark welter has be a teacher

all his life. no one gets ri teaching, but no one lds a richer life. and public tv and ucation are undeniably linke and part of my motivion is to pay back some this. that's why mark incled his puic television station in his will. nsider joining the community of people who want publi television tspan generations.