tonight on "worldfocus" -- >> a nuclear bombshell. iran admits it has been secretly building a second uranium enrichment plant. we will take you to germany where the economy's recovering but anxiety of unemployment runs high on the even of the national elections. from kenya, the consequences of a severe drought. from east jerusalem a celebration of children and dance, their footwork is taking these youngsters all the way to washington. from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here's what's happening from around the

world. this is "worldfocus." major support has been provided by roslyn p. walter and the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. additional funding is provided by the following supporters -- hello and good evening. i'm daljit dhaliwal. iran and the united states appear for a showdown just days before critical talks are to begin about iran's nuclear program. at the g-20 summit in pittsburgh, president obama, and other western leaders disclose iran is billing a new uranium enrichment facility that could be used to make nuclear weapons. iran insisted again today that it is in compliance with u.n.

resolutions, the leaders warned iran to come clean about its secret plant. and at a news conference, late this afternoon, president obama refused to rule out military action. >> the last point i'll make specifically with respect to the military, i've always said we do not rule out any options when it comes to u.s. security interests, but i will also reemphasize that my preferred course of action is to resolve this in a diplomatic fashion. it's up to the iranians to respond. >> the iranian facility at heart of the conflict is here qom, the shiite muslim holy city, about 100 miles southwest of tehran. today's extraordinary events on iran are our lead focus. and we begin with the president's comments early in the day. in remark that were brief and to the point, president obama with french president nicolas

sarkozy and british prime minister gordon brown at his side, addressed the revelation. the president said that the iranian facility seemed clearly designed for military use, a violation of security council resolutions, calling on iran to end the enrichment of the uranium for military purposes. >> the existence of the facility underscores iran's continuing unwillingness to meet its obligations under u.n. security council resolutions and iaea rearments. >> today on iranian state television, iran publicly acknowledged the existence of the facility. the plant is built near the holy city of qom, some 160 kilometers south of tehran. earlier in the week iran privately informed the international atomic energy agency of the plant's existence but said it was not operational and would on used for nuclear energy. president obama was skeptical. >> the international community

knows that this is not the first time that iran has concealed information about its nuclear program. iran has a right to peaceful nuclear power that meets the energy needs of its people. but the size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program. >> later, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad responded -- >> translator: iran's activities are completely within the framework of iaea rules. i was quite surprised. what we did was completely legal. we informed the agency, the agency will come and take a look, it's nothing. >> reporter: this latest news raises the stakes the talks scheduled for next week between the united states, several major powers and iran. at those talks the members of the security council and germany hope to convince iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, once and for all. if it does not, british prime minister gordon brown said that

the world would have no choice but to punish iran with tougher sanctions. >> confronted by the serial deception of many years, the international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand. and we are prepared to implement further, and more stringent, sanctions. >> the likelihood of harsh sanctions took a step forward when president medvedev suggested he would support them. he again reiterated those remarks to a group of students yesterday in pittsburgh. russia's cooperation is considered essential given its trading relationship with iran. we want to take a closer look at this latest revelation about iran's nuclear ambitions and the response by the united states and its major european allies. and to do that, we are joined from washington by a senior adviser at the center for

and international studies and also a professor at penn state university. what is the possible military significance of this newly discovered uranium enrichment plant in iran? >> well, the scope and the size of it, 3,000 centrifuges, doesn't make it for power generation. therefore we become suspicious this may have military implications. >> how do you this the disclosure is going to affect next week's talks about trying to curb iran's nuclear ambitions? >> it will make us a lot more aggressive, demanding a much more serious checking out of the new operation because up to now, we've been taking baby steps moving forward. but, in fact, what's happening now is this revelation is basically poured water on the whole relationship. >> how do you envision the talks panning out, you know, when

these two nations come face-to-face at the table? >> right. i think it strengthens our hand. they've been caught with their hand in the cookie jar and they've people saying they have the right to do this, they have the right to do that and now they've been doing things that, you know, under the table. and so they have to come clean and sort of strengthens i think the five plus one's hand. >> in terms of the information, how does -- does it make it easier now for nations like china and russia to join the united states and its allies in supporting the idea of a much harsher sanctions regime against iran, if indeed it comes to that? >> it does. it gives them some cover to be a little bit harsher. you already saw that with medvedev, with the russians say they would be more aminable in looking at this might be a possibility of sanctions with regard to petroleum, for example. >> another interesting part of

the story is that the united states government has apparently known about this building, this enrichment plan, for quite some time. why do you think we are only hearing about it now? >> well, there's a couple of aspects of it. one they run us up to it b we've got a situation where we're going for an october meeting and the g-20 are there altogether. and so by making this open and apparent right now, we a lot more bang for our buck. >> all right. thank you. >> a pleasure. and all of this brings us tonight's question -- does this new revelation about iran demonstrate that the united states and its allies take an even tougher line toward iran? tell us what you think by joining the conversation at the how you see it section of our website at worldfocus.org. u.s. military officials said today five more american troops have been killed in southern afghanistan. all of them died yesterday,

three when their vehicle hit a bomb, and two who were shot and killed in separate insurgent attacks. the united states will have 68,000 troops in afghanistan by year's end. the american commander, general stanley mcchrystal, is expected to ask for as many as 40,000 more. >>. al qaeda lead, osama bin laden, has issued a new warning about afghanistan. in an audiotape posted today on islamic websites, bin laden warns that al qaeda could retaliate against europe for its alliance with the united states in afghanistan. he says, european countries should pull out of their coalition with the united states. beyond the headlines on iran, the world's leaders meeting

in pittsburgh announce they'd would permanently expand their oversight of the global economy to a much bigger group from 8 nations to 20, including major emerging economies such as india, china, and brazil. the group of 20 will serve as the board of directors on the global economy. supporters of the larger group say the world has changed and that the emerging countries zeev a seat at the table to debate not only economic issues but other top priorities, such as climate change. germany's chancellor angela merkel was in pittsburgh today, but she's clearly looking beyond the summit to the sunday's elections in germany, where economic concerns have dominated the debate. the country votes the members of its lower house of parliament, who in turn choose the head of the government. polls show a tight race with merkel's center right coalition holding a lead of just one to two points. as in this country, there are signs of recovery in the

german economy, but many are working scared, wondering how secure their jobs are. we want to take a look at the german experience tonight as that country, like ours, struggles out of recession. barnaby phillips of al jazeera english looks where germany stands. >> reporter: germany's factories are the manufacturing heartbeat of europe, and they're starting to move again. six months ago, this car spare parts factory near frankfurt was quiet. now, it's humming. but recovery has come at a cost. one of many germans, who has had to accept what they call reduced hours and reduced pay as?l alternative to being laid off. he fears there may be worse to come. >> translator: i, personally, don't think it will get better next year. we depend on the automobile industry, which is in a global crisis. i hope i'm wrong but i don't think so. the measures may not be enough.

i worry that after the elections, my colleagues and i could lose our jobs. >> reporter: the frankfurt motor show is the biggest in the world. this year, as ever, there's a buzz around new german cars. the buyout of opal should save many german jobs. there are hybrids and electric cars, but it's a difficult year for the industry. germany's carmakers will have to carry on innovating to stay on topnth(n this is hamburg, germany's biggest port. and the city that thrives during germany's export boom. during this recession, the rest of the world has run out of money to pay for german goods. and as a result, this city has been hit very hard. in the first half of this year, trade fell by one quarter in the hamburg port. now, things look a little bit

better here. a recovery fueled by the growing power of asian economies. >> trades pick up a little bit, especially china, a sharp rise has been noticed from india. we believe there is an upward trend, not yet remarkable, but acknowledgeable. >> reporter: many germans feel they've come out of the economic crisis relatively well. perhaps that's why the election has been so low key. but they've also learned that, when global demand for german goods falls, their country pays a heavy price. barnaby phillips, al jazeera, germany. we turn to africa for a

story that is not getting much attention here in the united states. a severe drought in east africa that is pushing more than 23 million people towards severe hunger, according to the aid organization. the hardest hit countries are kenya, ethiopia, somalia, uganda. some people are surviving on as little as two quarts of water a day, less water than a toilet flush, as one official put it. and kenya alone, 4 million people are surviving on food handouts. and there is another aspect to this crisis, the toll on wildlife, as we hear in the report.em >> reporter: little snow is left on mt. kilimanjaro. now the unusual water is affecting the wildlife park at foot of the mountain. the grass is dry, and many animals have starved to death. >> we've seen more than a hundred carcasses in two hours.

i mean, they're all over the place. it's really, really sad. >> reporter: safari guides say it hasn't been like this in decades. one in three animals has always died. >> we feel possibly the government should do something about it, maybe bring some hay to the animals, supply some water. >> reporter: elephant remains are quickly removed, due to the value of their tusks. survivors have trouble finding enough to eat. the game warden is at a loss. >> how many to feed 1,000 elephants, 15,000 wi and zebra. the problem is quite immense. it's not like going to feed ten cows with hay. >> reporter: there's not even enough for kenya's cattle. to make matters worse, live stock prices have tumbled, and it's feared the country's traditional nomadic life could be in danger. >> officials of the leading environmental group say they are concerned about the effects that drought and

flooding may have on the river region of southeast asia. they expressed that concern after announcing the discovery of 163 new animal and plant species in the region. the newly discovered animals include a fanged frog from eastern thailand, leopard gecko in northern vietnam and the snake, a tiger-striped pit viper, also found in vietnam. time for our friday roundtable discussion of some of the week's top stories. we will look at the debate over ar in afghanistan, as top u.s. military comnders call for yet more american troops. and we will examine the global economic summit in pittsburgh, what the leaders accomplished as their ranks increased from a group of 8 to a group of 20.

and joining us, once again, gideon rose, managing editor of "foreign affairs" magazine, and rana foroohar, senior editor of "newsweek's" international editions. welcome to both of you. nice to see you. >> thank you. >> let's start with afghanistan, and it seems that everything isp really kind of up in the air. gideon, your thoughts on what do you make of this debate? >> well, it's fascinating because a debate over troop levels, how much force the united states should send, is segueing into a debate on strategy, what strategies the united states use, which is segueing in turn to debate over is the war necessary in the first place? it's fascinating, because everything seems to be up in the air. so you pull one thread and the whole sweater unravels. no one knows which way this is going to go. at the end of the day it's goini to look like where it was a few months ago than dramatically different because the costs are either going big or going out are too high politically for the administration to bear. i think you'll muddle through,

but that may not be the most optimal substantive strategy. >> do you think in some ways it's almost become radioactive? >> i absolutely agree with that. you've got a situation that's almost unwinnable for the u.s., any successful counterinsurgency needs at least one legitimate partner, and that's the problem we don't have that in afghanistan right now. karzai lost legitimacy because of the vote rigging issues, both within his own population and the world at large. you see the eu coming out and think half of the votes for karzai were fraudulent. this is a big mess. i think the taliban will continue to get stronger, things will get more chaotic and you have a situation which the u.s. has to think about, what are we doing here? do we have to negotiate with the taliban at some stage. >> all questions, is this conflict winnable without sending more troops. >> the conflict, frankly, probably isn't winnable in a simple sense, no matter what we do because the real end game, in terms of winning, is a stable afghanistan that can survive on its own and not be a threat when

foreign troops aren't there. that's not going to happen any time soon. the question is, how much cost and how much risk are you prepared to bear for halfway outcome. so we're going to be with this debate for a long time. frankly, everybody's argument against their opponents are better than their arguments in favor of their own strategy which is amusing to watch but makes it hard to come to a fixed end point for the debate so it cycles around. >> right. but are we seeing a rift opening up here between president obama and his top military commander whether or not to send more troops? they suggest, yes, that is exactly what we need to do, but doesn't want to put the horse before the cart. >> i think you're seeing a greater politicization. you've got a military general saying that we need to have more troops and we're going to lose the war within a year if we don't expand forces on the ground and you've got biden ands exactly the opposite that we need to refocus, scale back,

target al qaeda instead of the taliban. clearly there's chaos on the strategy front. i agree with gideon, everyone's better at criticizing opposition than coming up with real solutions. >> do you see a rift opening up between the president and his top commanders? >> the military's uncomfortable with halfway policies, they want to be really big and do the job properly, as they would see it, or not be task with it at all. they're frustrated with the political leadership giving them a middle of the road policy that doesn't get anywhere. realistically, the obama administration has severe political costs and problems in either going big or getting out, so i think the answer is, there is something of a rift that's developing but neither side will get everything it wants, and you'll continue along the lines of current policy in which nobody is happen with but better than alternatives. >> okay. let's move on to the g-20 summit in pittsburgh. this used to be a club of eight, some would say a very exclusive,

elitist club of eight, and it's now broadening out to a club of 20. your thoughts on, you know, what this summit was able to accomplish, but also what does this shift signal for the united states and for what kind of world we seem to be kind of moving towards? >> well, i think, as you point out, the very fact that the g-20 has become the place to work out the world's problems, is very important. and it's good news because it's a more inclusive and diverse group of nations. in terms of what was agreed upon it was great there was agreement upon bankers' pay and how to regulate that going forward, capital requirements. i think bankers' pay is where you'll see the most agreement, the average person on the street in the u.s. and europe can understand. the issue of global imbalances is still problematic. it's great that china and the other large emerging nations are getting a bigger seat at table to discuss that, because that's the key issue, it's unresolved. >> what do you think about the fact that it has -- it's now a group of 20 nations as opposed

to 8 nations? what does that mean for the united states? >> i think this is a very good thing. what this is, is institutional recognition of what our mutual friend fareed zakaria called the post elections world. it not nato, it's not a small group of big countries. you need to bring a larger group of play to the table, in order to have any kind of real buy-in among the essential players for global economic policy. unlike, let's say, political issues of the security council, economic issues are too important not to deal with, so the institutional reform has happened. everyone's been talking about it, and the security council, it hasn't happened there. here it did happen. and it's going to make things unwieldy because there's much more difficult to come to a consensus among 20, especially with widely diverted interests, than it is among a smaller group, which was always hard there, too. but it's necessary. it's appropriate. united states will have less leverage, not because they've moved the sphere to a larger

group but rather because its role in the world is not as large as it once was. >> we're out of time for now. thank you very much to both of you joining us for the roundtable discussion. >> thank you. finally tonight, a group of palestinian school children is heading to walk this weekend for what may be the performance of their lives. dancers, who specialize in a traditional palestinian dance. they're coming here under the sponsorship of a nonprofit group called american near east refugee aid. from jerusalem, felice friedson of the media line has their story. >> reporter: dance competitions, tango, walthz, foxtrot variety

are the rage. but the dubka. earned the students a trip abroad. students 9 to 11 at the elementary school competed with their peers from 17 other arabic schools in jerusalem and the west bank, dancing traditional palestinian dubka, which means stamping of the feet. this man has been teaching students weekly. >> translator: the dubka is the dance of the palestinian people, it express is heritage and i identity especially in jerusalem and duality of the identity here. it's a way to teach children about their identity and their affiliation. >> reporter: these boys and girls are on their way to the united states to bring a different kind of palestinian message, a cultural one. >> i want to see the white house. i want to see all the things in america. >> i want to see the white house and washington monument. >> translator: yes i was

surprised. i was really happy. i've been waiting to see the white house for a long time, especially the inside if we can go in. >> reporter: for more than 35 years, principal of the school established in 1952 by elizabeth nasser, as a home for destitute girls. it began with 20 girls, and by 1970 was coeducational and today a student body of 230. >> it means house of flowers. she wanted this beautiful name to show how the place show be, happiness. and she insisted on music, singing, dancing. she feels that it helps you from inside when you sing and dance, you forget all your problems and all your difficulty. that's why we follow her steps. >> reporter: this is felice friedson for the media line from jerusalem.

>> and that is "worldfocus" for this friday evening and for this week. but don't forget, get much more global news and perspective on our website, worldfocus.org. and join the conversation online. i'm daljit dhaliwal in new york. for me and the rest of the team have a great weekend. buh-bye. major support for "worldfocus" has been provided by roslyn p. walter and the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addre key economic challenges facing america's future. and additional funding provided by the following supporters --