tonight on "worldfocus" -- president obama reverses course on a missile defense system for europe. we look at what is behind the decision. the war in afghanistan turns deadly for italian troops. six are killed in a suicide bombing in kabul. while in pakistan, school has reopened in a former battle zone. we return to zimbabwe where a new political era has brought change and something lacking for so long -- hope. and our signature series, preserving history, our man in rome shows us how building a subway is a delicate journey through ancient treasures. >> from the world's leading

reporters and analysts, here's what's happening from around the world. this is "worldfocus." made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. good evening. i'm daljit dhaliwal. when barack obama came to office, he inherited a controversial plan from president bush for a missile defense system in europe to be based in the czech republic and poland. the idea was to counter a perceived threat to europe posed by long-range missiles from iran. today, an about-face. president obama announced he is dropping that plan for eastern europe. instead he said the united states will develop an

alternative plan to counter what is now perceived as a more immediate threat of short and medium-ranged missiles from iran. in tonight's lead focus, we're going to look at the issue in depth, starting with today's statement from the president. president obama announced the administration's plan to shelve the eastern europe missile defense shield in a brief appearance at the white house. the president said that the change was necessary because iran is much closer to developing short and medium-range missiles than long-range missiles that could hit eastern and pe. >> the best way to responsibly advance our security and the security of our allies is to deploy a missile defense system that best responds to the threats that we face and that utilizes technology that is both proven and cost effective. >> facilities for the defense shield were to be located in poland and the czech republic. the missile interceptors themselves were to be housed at

a base in gorsko, poland, while a radar installation was to be built in the brydy region of the czech republic. last fall, "worldfocus" traveled to brydy and found that many people were opposed to the plan. >> it's been very controversial. the village is split in two. >> jan cienski is a reporter for global post based in the polish capital of warsaw. >> the bases were not enormously popular in either country. the majority of both polands and czechs were against it. and had solidly been against it for a long time. some people saw the danger of poland and the czech republic potentially being dragged into a conflict with russia. russia had seen these bases as a potential threat to its own security. at one point threatened to target nuclear missiles against both bases. >> the government says poland and the czech republic strongly reported the idea of a missile shield but acknowledged that

today's announcement was not unexpected. >> shortly after midnight, baraled me to announce his government's decision. we were aware of the possibility the u.s. might back away and that the u.s. was re-examining the plan. >> however, in russia, today's news was greeted as a positive step forward. the kremlin had opposed the missile shield, viewing it as aimed at russia and not iran. >> with the u.s., we can work out effective measures that take in the interest of all sides. we appreciate this move by the u.s. president. i'm ready to continue the dialogue. >> for more on the president's announcement and what it means for america's relations with eastern europe and russia, we're joined tonight from washington by heather conley. she's a senior fellow at the senior for strategic and international studies and a former assistant secretary of state. heather, what's behind the president's decision today?

is the missile threat from iran less severe than depicted by the bush administration? >> today's decision marks the end of a seven-month review by the obama administration on the missile defense program in central europe. it does mean that the obama administration has made a different assessment of the iranian threat, vis-a-vis europe and u.s. forces in europe, rather than seeing the threat as long-range ballistic missiles, they believe it's more short and medium-range missile threat, which is why they are really adjusting the missile defense program in europe. >> did people have it wrong all along? >> well, it's unclear. this is a dramatic change in direction. it's using different technologies. it's looking at a different set of threat assumptions. and i think that's a fair question, how could we be so wrong and swing so -- in such a different direction in only nine months?

>> what about budgetary considerations? did they factor into the president's announcement and what is a new shield, if there is one -- what is that likely to cost? >> the budget did factor into the equation. the obama administration very early on had two main problems with the bush administration's missile defense plans. number one, cost. number two, the actual technology, they questioned the efficacy of the technology itself. there needs to be a greater explanation and exploration, i'm sure, undertaken by congress to see what are the budget ramifications of this new system. again, the administration is arguing it's faster, it's more cost effective and i think we'll have to get into the details to see if that, in fact, is true. >> the missile defense shield was a huge irritant for russia. can we now expect more cooperation from moscow on

difficult topics like sanctions against iran? does moscow have any leverage when it comes to iran? >> this is very unclear. i don't believe there was any thought in the obama administration to connect this decision today on missile defense to gaining any additional russian concessions. and in fact, that played out. the russian foreign minister lavrov just released a statement shortly saying that on iran, russia did not believe that there is any appropriate mechanism to increase or enhance sanctions against iran. so i don't believe there's a quid pro quo. it does eliminate a major irritant, as you said, to the u.s./russian bilateral relationship. it may be part of the reset that vice president biden first talked about in february. but i would not anticipate, certainly in the short term, any major movement from russia vis-a-vis iran. >> heather conley, thank you

very much for your insights. >> thank you. now, the "associated press" reports that experts at the international atomic energy agency in vienna are in agreement that iran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb and is on the way to developing a missile system able to carry an atomic warhead. this according to a secret document drafted by senior officials at the u.n. agency. despite that, "newsweek" magazine's website says that u.s. intelligence agencies have told the white house that iran has not restarted its nuclear weapons development program after stopping it in 2003. italy lost six of its troops in afghanistan today in a suicide car bombing. it happened in the heart of kabul as two military vehicles were struck by a car filled with

explosives. in addition to the italian deaths, four others were wounded and ten afghan civilians died. italy has about 3,000 troops in afghanistan, 21 have now been killed. in our "how they see it" segment, we want to you the reaction of some italians to the loss of the soldiers in afghanistan. on the website of the newspaper "la stampa," one reader wrote, six people died, i'm sorry. they are soldiers, they knew they were going to afghanistan and not club med. they knew what they would earn and what they would risk. some commented on the mission. one said, there's not a lot of sense in staying to be targets for the taliban. at this point it is better to return home. it is a senseless mission. you can't bring democracy to those who don't want it. another invoked world war ii, if the americans had left in 1943 at the first deaths, hitler would have won or stalin. today, the taliban would win and they would not be content only

with afghanistan. for more perspective on this, we are joined by an italian journalist, alessandra baldini. she's new york bureau chief for the italian news agency ansa. thank you very much for coming on the program. >> thank you for having me. >> alessandra, will this attack mean that italians will begin to view the war very differently now? >> it has already happened in the last past hour. there has been calls for rapid withdrawal of the troops, not just by the left parties but inside the majority, inside the government coalition, the northern league which is one of the strong blocs of the government coalition called for troops back home by christmas and prime minister berlusconi who never said that, talked about a withdrawal as soon as possible. >> what about italian citizens? how often does the subject of the war come up in italy's

restaurants and cafes? is this something they feel very strongly about compared to the iraq war? >> the iraq war was very much present in everyday life of the italians. afghanistan is more remote and has not been much discussion on the street level. although now when you have five bodies coming back, it's going to be huge. tomorrow's newspapers will be full with stories like six, seven pages, just devoted to afghanistan. >> right. and president obama's apparent determination to push ahead with the mission in afghanistan, how is that affecting how italians, the italian government sees him, his administration? >> italians love president obama. and i don't think that the insistence of going on with the war in afghanistan is going to affect the view that italians have of the administration. >> but if the president said that his european allies should

commit more troops to the effort in afghanistan, would the italians send more forces? >> that would be a very difficult decision for prime minister berlusconi. >> what do you think would be palatable for the italians? would it be a few hundred? >> maybe sending people that will work on the back line. logistical support, police support, training rather than being on the front line. >> okay, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. staying with afghanistan, president hamid karzai defended the integrity of the country's presidential election today. he also admitted for the first time that there was fraud by government officials who support him but said that there was fraud as well by those supporting his main opponent. the final but uncertified count gives karzai more than 54% of the vote. but european election observers say that about one-third of the votes were suspicious and should

be examined for fraud. karzai called on them to respect the votes of the afghan people. >> almost half of the country was under attack. hundreds of rockets came on elecll over the country. but people even then came out and voted. that's what i'm seeking, a respect for that day and respect for the bravery of our people to come and vote. of course, fraud and if it is committed, it has to be investigated. but investigated fairly and without prejudice. >> we also want to know how you see it with so much at stake in afghanistan. here is tonight's question -- should the united states demand a recount or accept the results of the election in afghanistan? you can tell us what you think by going to the "how you see it" section of our website at worldfocus.org. also in afghanistan, a presidential commission issued a

statement today on that u.s. air strike earlier this month on two hijacked fuel trucks, an attack that was ordered by german forces. the commission said that 69 taliban militants and 30 civilians were killed in the attack. it said that while nato erred in the bombing, the taliban were also to blame for putting civilians at risk. it called that an inhuman act. in neighboring pakistan, officials are reporting that two top militants were apparently killed in recent american missile attacks in the country's northwest tribal region. the attacks were in north waziristan and were launched from unmanned aircraft. officials said in one attack, an al qaeda operations chief was apparently killed. in the other, a top militant from uzbekistan is thought to have been killed. in another area of the northwest, the swat valley, /oôp things are still tense two months after the military drove the taliban from power.

there has been reports of dozens of killings -- the settling of scores, possibly involving the pakistani military. and in the middle of all of this, the children have been going back to school for the first time since the fighting broke out in may. if you've just sent your kids back to school in recent weeks, consider what it is like for those in this report from kamal haidar of al jazeera english. >> the children of swat valley are back at school after months of intense fighting. between the pakistani taliban and the pakistan army. despite the damage and the twisted metal, teachers and students are returning in large numbers. more than 500 schools were destroyed during the clashes. some don't have any windows anymore, others are missing desks. but for the students, the main thing is they're resuming their education. some are even helping to clear the rubble.

most kids hope their school will be repaired before the onset of winter. >> we have lost a lot of time because of the conflict and now we are hoping we will be able to continue our education. >> on the outskirts of the capital of mingora, girls sit under the shade of a large tree for their lessons as their school building is still unsafe. 1250 girl schools in swat have been destroyed. but the will of the local people remains strong, along with their determination to lead as normal a life as possible. some schools cannot be used by its students. but even here, a boy flies his kite. ther is approaching and it will be too cold to use the tents. for now, the priority is to build as fast as possible and hope that peace in the valley is a lasting one. kamal haidar, al jazeera, islamabad.

in indonesia, authorities announced a big victory in their battle against islamic extremists -- the killing of a suspected terrorist connected to a long string of deadly bombings in that country. he was noordin mohammad top and he was on the run for seven years. indonesia's police chief held up pictures of his fingerprints to prove he'd been killed. he died in a gunfight during a raid on a hideout in central indonesia. most recently, noordin was tied to the july bombings of the jw marriott and tton hotels in jakarta. he was also implicated in the 2005 bombings in bali that killed more than 200 people on the island resort. we want to return tonight to

a story that hasn't gotten much attention lately, the situation in zimbabwe. over the last year, we have reported on the many problems facing that country in southern africa. economic collapse, food shortages, a cholera epidemic and a teachers' strike, just to cite some of the troubles. but in recent months, things have begun to take a turn for the better, under a unity government formed by zimbabwe's political rivals. andrew geoghegan went to the city of bulawayo for the lateline program of australia's abc. >> prime minister morgan tsvangirai chose to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the movement for democratic change in bulawayo, zimbabwe's second largest city. and most here believe he's delivered change. >> we nearly died. we're just moving skeletons. but now there's life. >> on the streets of bulawayo,

the economy is slowly grinding forward again. jobs are being created rather than lost. and there's food on the shelves. in the past 12 months, there's been a noticeable change of attitude here. many people are no longer worried or fearful of robert mugabe. they really feel the future belongs to morgan tsvangirai. do you think morgan tsvangirai has enough power to make change in zimbabwe? >> yes, yes, he's got that power. look at all these people. they are here for him. >> i'm not going to stand by while zanu-pf continues to violate the law, persecute our members of parliament, spread r÷ the language of hate, invade productive farms, ignore our international treaties and continue to loot our national resources. i'm not going to stand by and watch this happen. >> prime minister tsvangirai has the full backing of the european union. it's refusing to yield to robert

mugabe and his zanu-pf loyalists and remove sanctions until more is done to implement the 12-month-old power-sharing agreement. >> these are restrictive measures to specific persons specific companies and that this is a matter that has to be resolved in the political dialogue. >> if zimbabwe's unity government fails to resolv differences, the international community is likely to continue withholding investment. andrew geoghegan, lateline. finally tonight, our signature story, we conclude our series on preserving history, with another look at rome. actually what's going on under rome. if you take the subway to work in this country, you will know that a tunnel is a pretty unremarkable place, but that is

not the case in rome where they are building a brand-new subway line and they keep coming across remnants of the ancient past. "worldfocus" special correspondent martin seemungal is our guide. >> it might just be the most famous fountain on the planet. the trevi fountain draws millions of tourists every year because according to local legend, if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the water, someday you will return to roam. if these people do come back, then these people might consider looking under the trevi fountain. they're actually standing or sitting on ancient rome in ruin. down below the 2,000-year-old aqueduct is still supplying water to the fountain. there are water sis cyst earns, walls and rooms and all sorts of treasures from the days of the roman empire.

>> digging underground, rome is usually find the roman -- 50 meters under the streets. in this part of rome, now we are near in the center of the city. >> imagine then what happened back in the 1960s and '70s when rome's two subway lines were drilled right through the center of the city. >> it destroyed very important monuments. >> and the digging machines are back. now rome is building a third subway line, line c. and everyone involved in this project is aware the stakes are high.

nobody wants a repeat of what happened when the old subway lines were put in. >> there was no preservation of archaeological findings. they found tunneling during the tunnel was destroyed. >> this time, it will be different. the metro c line will be cut deeper, below the layers where the buildings and artifacts are usually found. it's the stations and exits to the street level that pose a challenge. and for this project, the final word rests with rome's superintendent of archaeology, angelo bottini. we are working with the engineers, he says. and we have decided to reduce the number of stations. and potential stations are excavated by archaeologists before any work starts. >> take the case of piazza

venecia, that recognizable square in the center of the city. archaeologists have been at it here for over a year now. this area has been inhabited since ancient times, so there are several layers of history here. these are the remains of ancient roman walls, from the second century a.d. the challenge for the team here is to preserve all these things and somehow find an exit from the subway station that will be in the center of piazza venecia. a challenge for giovanni but he's dedicated to finding a resolution. >> it's like a cake with different layers. but the question is that it's important that there's not only one layer but all the layers, maybe with a big section. >> nobody questions the need for a third subway line in this city. the existing lines are overcrowded. >> it's not possible for the

public transport and for people in general. honestly, i don't know when we can have the third line. i hope as soon as possible because we need it. >> it's clearly a tradeoff. the city is choked with cars in close proximity to precious monuments. digging underground is a risk, but if it gets cars off the road and with little money for new scientific excavations, some archaeologists see the building of metro c as an opportunity. >> modern streets, there is a part of the ancient city that today isn't discovered. >> who knows? by the next time these coin-tossers do come back, there may be a new subway line and new ruins to see. for "worldfocus," i'm martin seemungal in rome. that is "worldfocus" for this thursday evening.

don't forget, you can tell us what you think by logging on to our website at worldfocus.org. i'm daljit dhaliwal in new york. for the entire "worldfocus" team, have a great evening. for the entire "worldfocus" team, have a great evening. see you tomorrow. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "worldfocus" is made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future.