as a new wave of violence rocks afghanistan, some of america's allies are debating their role on the war. should they stay, and at what cost and lives? in britain, the growing spread of the swine flu's triggering a sort of different debate. how helpful would it be to close schools? it's a good question for this country when flu season returns. in asia secretary of state hillary clinton raises questions to north korea as a nuclear threat. video games. and a sad tale from cairo. once revered by the ancient egyptians. today the lives of cats are far different and often filled with abuse. from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here is what is happening from around the world. this is "worldfocus." made possible, in part, by the following funders --

good evening. i'm martin savidge. it's been the deadliest month for u.s. troops in afghanistan since the war there started nearly eight years ago. and today in the eastern part of that country in the city of gardez, taliban militantss, some firing rockets and assault rifles and suicide bombers launched a highly orchestrated late-morning attack. a shootout followed between afghan security forces and the militants. and by the time it was all over, 14 people were dead. authorities there say at least two bombers dressed in women's burqas were involved in the attack in the city's police station. the governor's compound and the intelligence department before being repelled. >> translator: none of our soldiers opened fire on him from here and hey opened fire on him from the second floor and then i jumped up on the roof and fired on him from there. then i came down and i saw his body. >> chris sanz of the national newspaper is based in the afghan capital city of kabul. >> well i think the significance of today's attack is it shows

the taliban to know to get stronger in afghanistan. the more american soldiers and the more american troops to come to the country the more the violence ratchets up. the affect that has is that it increases the militiamen and the afghan population and security appears to be preding. in a separate incident today near the afghan city of jalla bad three militants attacked the u.s. military base. two militaitants were killed on was captured. america's allies continue to try to define their role in afghanistan. germany's got the third largest contingent of troops there. approximately 3,500. but as deutsche welle reports years after they arrived in that country the role of the germans, even with what they call their mission is still being debated back home. >> reporter: visited conduse base camp in afghanistan in june. the parliamentary arms commissioner wanted to assess for himself the dangers facing german soldiers stationed there. the taliban set off a bomb close to the camp soon after his

arrival. a prolonged firefight ensued. a 21-year-old german soldier sustained a life-threatening bullet wound and another an injury to his arm. later, soldiers told that it took 15 minutes to bring the two men to safety. the german armed forces have lost 13 men in understand can united states province alone. is to listen to soldier's complaints and concerns. their situation in afghanistan is certainly not improving. >> the fact is a lot of -- >> translator: the fact is that our people, our soldiers, are involved in tough combat situations on an almost daily basis. it's clear that this needs to be dealt with offensively and unequivocally in berlin and elsewhere. >> reporter: by the german defense minister, for example. is reluctant to use the term "war" despite increase in

violence. he argues the soldiers are fighting insurgents and not combatants and underlines the humanitarian character of the mission. >> translator: wars do not involve bombing schools, hospitals and kindergarteners. we need to win the trust of the people. unfortunately we are involved in armed combat in some places like in konduz and part of our job is to help create security. >> translator: the soldiers tell me that there are no wells being drilled or schools being built at the moment. it's war. and when soldiers tell me that, i have to recognize it. >> reporter: but the controversy is not only about words, it's also about the consequences. in central germany is home to an army facility where soldiers receive their final training for tours of duty in afghanistan. a crucial rule is that they may only use their weapons when coming under fear in self-defense. it's part of their rules of

gjtsment in afghanistan. finding and arresting terrorists and actively enforcing peace are explicitly prohib the by these rules. military experts are critical of this. >> translator: limiting yourself to just reacting puts you at an immediate disadvantage. you have an opponent who does not have an organized army and does not respect any roles of combat. another reason why we're not allowed to call it a war. >> reporter: a video posted on a german army blog shows the difference in approach compared to u.s. forces. a suspected taliban unit is dealt with even before it reaches the army base in question. but sometimes people are wrongly identified as enemy combatants. the americans say they've changed their strategy for their new big push against the taliban but german commanders are looking for a way to increase their effectiveness without endangering civilians. on the same day that funeral ceremonies were held for three

soldiers killed in kouduz the u.s. increased german troops in afghanistan. all a fear that the run-up to the parliament elections in germany in september the taliban may intensify their attacks. >> another important american al ally, australia, has more than 1,000 troops in afghanistan. the government and the leading opposition party there are united in their support of the war saying "it's key to winning the war on terrorism." but a number of analysts in australia question whether the war is winnable or wonder how or when it might end. chris olman of abc australia filed this report. >> reporter: there's no splitting the opposition and government on afghanistan. >> this is really the front line in the battle against global terrorism. it is a war we have to win and it's a war we will win. >> afghanistan has been a training ground for terrorists world wide. a training ground also for terrorists in southeast asia. >> reporter: with the death of private benjamin rennado a day after the terror attack in

jakarta, questions have resurfaced about australia's involvement in the seven-year old war and on what winning might mean. >> it's unwinnable in any conventional sense, that is that we control all of the territory and bring everybody to peace and democracy. that simply cannot happen. >> reporter: the former senior defense official says australia should continue the fight, but he sees scared operational links with southeast asian terrorists. >> what afghanistan is about is to deny the training that's necessary for al qaeda to do its job. >> reporter: as former chief of operations for the coalition forces in iraq, jim mullen knows the cost of underresourcing a war. he believes troop numbers should be doubled. >> is that the war in the afghan province never reaches a decisive stage. we never win and we never lose. this happened in iraq and we stayed there for year after year after year with a trickle of casualties. let's get in there. let's get serious about this war. and let's resource it. >> reporter: one little discussed fact or that keeps the major parties in this fight is

alliance maintenance. australia's in afghanistan because the united states is there. >> commitment to alliance in afghanistan is one thing. and i would certainly support that. but an argument that we're there to prevent terrorism in australia, i don't think is very sustainable. >> reporter: getting into the war was easier than leaving it will be. >> what signal would we send to terrorism in indonesia if we were to akbroond the battle of terrorism in afghanistan? >> we have to make progress in afghanistan. we know that that's not going to occur quickly. we know we're there effectively for the long haul. >> reporter: there's only one thing everyone agrees on -- there's no end in sight. chris olman, "lifeline." >> to try and make sense of all of this we've asked lisa curtis to come back and join us once more. she's a senior research fellow at the heritage foundation. she was part of a delegation that visited afghastan about four weeks ago and she joins us from washington.

welcome back. >> thanks very havingy. >> what do you make in the way in which these attacks were carried out in the eastern part of the country? and do you think that these attacks today have anything to do with the presidential elections scheduled for next month? >> i think the taliban is trying to create a sense of insecurity and chaos throughout the country. they have been conducting attacks in the southern region of afghanistan but i think we see now with the attacks increasing in the west, the north and now the east that they are trying to disrupt the election and prevent people from taking part in the polls which are scheduled for august 20th. >> and how would you describe the security situation throughout afghanistan? and when i say that, i mean, let's take it region by region, starting in the north and the west in that country. how are things there? >> well, in the north, where the germans are in control, things are relatively calm. these are ethnic groups that aren't associated with the taliban. so the taliban hasn't really been able to make inroads into that area. and the same is pretty much true

for the western part of the country, which the italians control. these areas over the last few years have been relatively safe and stabile. >> and what about, say, the south and the east of the country, a very different portrait coming out from there. >> well, yes, that's where most of the fighting has been. the pashtun belt of the east that goes into pakistan and into the southern region. and in the south, you have the united kingdom, canada, u.s. forces. about 30,000 forces fighting there. and then in the east, the u.s. is in the lead. and you have about 20,000 forces. and that is predominantly where most of the casualties have taken place. >> the targeting of government offices, part of what happened today. i presume, as you say, that's to show that the government isn't in control and is fail in that regard? >> well, that's right. i think the taliban are nervous about the upcoming elections. if they are successful. and so they're trying to disrupt those in any way that they can.

and i think it's important to remember that these elections are being run by the afghans. so they have really taken ownership. the 2004 elections were run by the international community. hans are really taking the ownership and they're actually critical in demonstrating that the taliban don't have support. that the people do support a democratic political process and the taliban knows that and that's why they are trying to disrupt the atmosphere. >> lisa curtis, thank you very much. >> thank you. more than 60 people reportedly have been killed during three days of cl between pakistani government troops and taliban militants. the fighting's been raging across the border from afghanistan and the lower deer region of pakistan. that borders the swat valley, where the pakistani government recently completed a major offensive against the taliban. the pakistani government claims to have killed 1,700 militants during that operation. the numbers that cannot be independently confirmed. turning now to iraq.

as you'll recall, the approximately 128,000 american troops in iraq have redeployed in the cities to u.s. bases. that's part of that new security agreement between the u.s. and iraq. well, now the "the wall street journal" reports tensions are rising between the u.s. and iraqi governments over baghdad's push to restrict american military operations in iraq with some u.s. officers complaining their forces are being constrained beyond what is called for in their agreement to withdraw from the cities. the officer said baghdad has sharply reduced the number of joint patrols with the u.s. made it harder for the american military to move troops and. >> is around the country. and effectively ban the u.s. from conducting raids with time-sensitive intelligence. the paper quoted an army captain as saying "the basic message is, you're not wanted." in iran, the split month country's top religious leaders appears to be deepening in the aftermath of last month's disputed presidential election. yesterday, the sproik religious leader ayatollah ali khamenei

warned clerics contesting the election outcome that they're undermining iran's security. but today, the former president, ali akbar rafsanjani issued a defiant statement saying he knows no fear. and in tehran today hundreds of antigovernment protesters took to the streets, once a secretary of state hillary clinton's continuing her tour of asia. today she's in thailand and expressed concern that north korea may be exporting its nuclear technology to the military regime in myanmar. that, she said, would destabilize the region. of course, are there continuing tensions between north korea and south korea. and there's also concerns that north korean spies continue to cross the border and infiltrate the south. now as steve chaof al jazeera english reports the government in seoul is taking some extraordinary steps to alert its

young people about the problem. >> reporter: south korea is a nation obsessed with gaming. 17 million, the majority young men, packed internet dens like these nightly. and so it's here, country's intelligence agency has come recruiting. this is a government gape encouraging people to route out -- >> the game is important. >> reporter: with south korea living under a state of heightened alert, the government is increasingly worried over enemy encurrenc. in the event, in the event of war could launch attacks. trained to be a spy in pong yong's elite school of espionage before defecting. he since published a book on "the enemy within."

>> translator: spies are a brgre threat. >> reporter: lee says they have made it even into the top ranks of south korea's military. and while the numbers are impossible to confirm, he estimates there could be as many as 60,000 operatives along among the civilian population. even though the border between the north and the south is one of mote heavily fortified over the years agents over the years have managed to get across. the tunnel right through the demilitarized zone. others have come in desguise. and this is one way they do it. every year the south accepts thousands of defectors, and while seoul has a tough koreaning program, spies still get through. >> translator: you are trained well on how to get in and mount into society. then get an intelligence on people. if we have to. or even sneak in. >> reporter: take the case of defector. known as the seduct res.

a court last year convicted her of stealing military secrets from the south korean officers she slept with. so as the country's youth take on the enemy in the cyber world the government is hoping they will come out to defend the real one, too. steve chow, al jazeera, seoul. one other note from asia tonight, last week we reported how the government of malaysia often rounds up illegal immigrants from myanmar and sometimes sells them to human traffickers. well, today, authorities in malaysia announced that they have arrested five immigration officers for that very crime. we want to return tonight to a story we brought you last week. that's thepid spread in britain of the h1n1 virus. the number of cases is now doubling every week.

and a fierce debate has erupted about how to contain the disease. recommended some that some schools in session still be closed but government is resisting that, saying that it's too late. andrew thomas of itn reports. >> reporter: this is how most schools are at the moment. by next week all will empty for the school holidays. if the swine flu pandemic continues, should they stay closed into the autumn? of 130 schools that are temporarily closed to stop swine flu spreading, 113 have reopened. official government policy now against the mass closure of schools. but could that stall the pandemic? >> the thing about a pandemic is you have very large numbers of people becoming infected and ill in the peak of two, three weeks. schools closed could reduce those numbers by 30%, 40%. it doesn't stop beam from getting ill it just spreads out

that peak and therefore, reduces peak demand. >> reporter: and that could save lives but report doesn't ignort economic costs, parents looking after children, unable to work makes up 1% of the country's gdp. the government says they will review the situation again in late august. >> schools shouldn't close because the swine flu is actually out in the community. so closing the schools unless there's a specific -- locally, isn't going to help. >> reporter: at the moment, cases of swine flu are doubling in number every week. today's report suggests they could double every couple of days come the autumn. as well as schools, that'll hit businesses. they've been one estimate this week that swine flu could knock 3% of the gdp of the ecomy. but some businesses are seeing a swine flu boom. this packaging company, 4 of the 14 production lines have been over to swine flu

products. there's an all-natural hand sanitizer that supermarkets can't get enough from. order from gdp surgeries and individuals for face masks made abroad, but packaged here normally run at a thousand a week. in the last four days, over 100,000 have been sent out. >> no, no time for breakfast. no time for lunch at the moment. just grabbing a quick bite. that's just how -- how busy things are. it's really, really, just, doing our best to cope with the demand at the moment. >> reporter: however prevalent swine flu is now, today's reports suggests that in the autumn it will get much more so. school closures or not. this packaging factory, one of a few beneficiaries. >> that was andrew thom was itn. let's get more information now and for that we are joined tonight by andrew peckish. a professor of microbiology and immunology at johns hopkins university in baltimore.thanks . >> my pleasure. >> we were told early on that

the h1n1 wouldn't flower nish warm weather. that it would spread to the southern hemisphere down there where of course it's now winter. so how concerned are you that it's spreading so rapidly this summer in england? >> it is something that we are concerned about. this is not something that's seasonal influenza is known to do. we're not sure if this is some sort of unique property of the virus or simply a result of a fact that so much -- so much of the population is susceptible to this virus that the virus continues to find hosts that it can infect. and the infection hasn't burned itself out. so it is -- it is a concern. because the more infections the virus has in terms of humans, the more likely it will be to adapt to replication in humans. and, therefore, perhaps be more efficient at spreading or causing disease in the human population. >> what are the implications for us here in the united states then? >> what we're dealing with influenza outbreak at a time where we normally aren't dealing with influenza.

these cases that are occurring now represent -- can represent significant pockets of infection. particularly in they get into areas such as schools or summer camps where large numbers of people congregate. so it's -- and it's a -- it's a sign of, perhaps, a very severe flu season to come, the fact that the flu virus can infect at such an inopportune sometime what's the situation in the southern hemisphere? >> the southern hemisphere the flu season has started earlier. there appear to be more cases. and the virus appears to be spreading much faster than we normally see. so it really does suggest to us that when the fall and early winter come here in the northern hemisphere we're going to see a return of this virus much earlier and in much stronger way, in terms of numbers of cases that we see. >> and with that in mind, how close, then, are scientists to developing a vaccine? how effective could it likely be? so we're very close. vaccine manufacturers are making the vaccine as we speak. the first batches should be ready in the next month or so.

giving us enough time to on some testing to get the optimal dosing and schedule for vaccination in place by, say, early october. in which case, a very targeted vaccination campaign should be started. >> we always like to keep concern in context here. how worried should we be? >> well, everybody should take personal precautions. the number of cases that are going to occur, very high. and anybody who's had influenza knows that it's a very, very severe disease and very debilitating. public health measures, personal hygiene in terms of washing your hands, staying home if you're sick and following the recommendations of public health authorities, with respect to who is going to get vaccinated and who will take antivirals. very important in terms of minimizing this epidemic on the human population. >> professor andrew peckish.

thank you very much for speaking with us. >> thank you. finally tonight, a story about the passage of time and the loss of tradition in egypt. in ancient times cats were revered there, often mummified and buried in their own cemeterys. nowadays, those once cherished animals are routinely abused. jon jensen of "globalpost" has our story. >> reporter: for cats in cairo, it's a rough life. once a sacred sim boefl ancient egypt, many cats here are now scraping by, struggling to survive. lack of population control means thousands of ferrell felines live on cairo streets, many suffering disease. doctor is trying to change that.

>> i love cats. i think it's something inside. hello? egyptian -- organization. >> reporter: here in the suburb of cairo, doctor manages a center that saves cats from the streets, putting them up for adoption here and around the world. they work mainly with this cat, the mau, a breed indigenous to egypt. >> this is the mao cat. the end which is drawn on the front of the head. okay. going to recognize also the growing of the eye which looks like the growing of the eye of the ancient who are women. and you are going to recognize also in this cat the spots that's found on all of the body. >> reporter: the egyptian mao may have been the first domestcated cat in the world. in feronic times, cats were revered as pets. they were mummified and buried in their own cemeteries. and then it was even a crime to injure a cat. amina abassa president of a

local animal shelter worries that some egyptians have worried about history. >> i have seen putting cats in plastic bags. throwing them in canals. starving them. cutting their tail. poking their eyes. this is what we're seeing in the streets. god knows what's happening in the houses. >> doctor is also working to teach egyptians about their long history with cats but he's still concerned for the future. >> i'm worried about the future of those cats. and we are afraid that we wake up in the morning and we don't find those ancient cats. it's a treasure here for egypt. i think it's like the -- and it will be our mistake that we didn't take care of those treasures. >> that report from jon jensen of "globalpost." and that's "worldfocus" for a tuesday night. a reminder, join us tonight in our website, that's worldfocus.org, for our weekly "blogtalk" weekly radio program. i'm martin savidge in new york. as always, we thank you for joining us. we'll look for you back here tomorrow night and anytime on

the web. until then, have a good night. "worldfocus" is made possible, in part, by the follow funders -- "worldfocus" is made possible, in part, by the follow -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles.