disputed presialial election. meanwhile, anger is growing over allegations of abuses over allegations of beatings and abuse of the country's political prisoners. thousands of south african government workers take to the streets to protest low wages. cape town and johannesburg are hardest hit with many of those protests turning violent. and when the housing industry in spain collapsed putting thousands out of work, hopes were tourism could help carry that country through. now even that industry is in trouble. where did all of the tourists go? from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here is what's happening from around the world. this is "worldfocus." made possible, in part, by the following funders -- good evening, i'm martin savidge. though it's faded from the headlines in the past few weeks, the political turmoil in iran continues to unfold. hundred of demonstrators were imprisoned following the street protests last month.

and their treatment, many would say mistreatment, in the weeks since the disputed presidential election is now the subject of intense international scrutiny. iran's official media reported today that 20 of those detained will be put on trial as early as this coming weekend. though, the huge protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, in some cases even silent, the demonstrators are accused by the iranian authorities of carrying out bombings and of attacking basij paramilitary forces, the very forces who repeatedly attacked them. roger cohen of "the new york times" was one of the last western reporters in tehran. >> the regime in iran is trying desperately to demonstrate it case that western agents were in some way responsible for bringing 3 million people out into the street. this is a completely fantastical charge. but idea behind what would really amount to show trials in my view would be to somehow

prove the case that this whole uprising was not spontaneous which is what i saw when i was in tehran. a spontaneous uprising. i imagine if the trials are held that there will be convictions. but i don't think that the trials will in any way calm the anger that is widespread, not only now over the election itself but over the very violent and ruthless clampdown. in the meantime, robert worth of "the times" reported today that there's growing outrage in iran, even among prominent conservatives about the alleged abuse of protesters since their arrest. he wrote "some prisoners say they watched fellow detainees being beatened to death by guards in overcrowded stinking holding pens. others say they had their fingernails ripped off or were forced to lick filthy toilet bowls." more bruised corpses had been returned to families in recent days and some hospital officials have told human rights workers that they have seen evidence that well over 100 protesters have died since the vote.

for more on the situation in iran, we're joined once again by ervand abrahamian. a distinguished professor of history at city university of new york. professor abrahamian was born in iran and has written extensively about it. thank you for joining us again. >> thank you for having me. >> we just heard that the conservatives are now speaking out about the severe mistreatment of the political prisoners. why is all of this outrage coming from conservative politicians who we normally would think of supporting the regime? >> there's always been a strain between the conservatives. i would describe them pragmatic conservatives. and more of evangelical conservatives like ahmadinejad. there's been no love loss between them. and i think this present crisis has actually aggravated that difference. >> and is this outspokenness on their part likely to invigorate the opposition? >> it will, but i think what more serious it will show to get

in the parliament, a conservative lock to work with ahmadinejad is going to be difficult. because these conservative -- pragmatic conservatives, will not go along with ahmadinejad's decision, his choice of ministers. it's going to cause fragmentation in the political elite. >> as far as these abuses that allegedly have been conducted by the government on these prisoners, why would conservatives who obviously favor the crackdown be bothered then by the tactics? >> well, you have to remember, one of the candidates running against ahmadinejad was a conservative. and it's a relative of one of his advisers that was killed the other day. and he'd been demonstrating against the rigging of their election. so you obviously had

demonstrations, people who supported the conservatives. of course the majority of the people in the demonstrations were the reformers. which there must have been conservatives there too. >> and what do you make of this announcement that 20 of these detainees are now going to be put on trial? >> well, this is an old tactic of the regime, which is that you get people to come to television to confess your crimes. here the would-be crimes is that they were hard. they were in sparts. they were attached to foreign elements that wanted to bring a revolution. and in this case, probably the link would be with the british and the bbc. >> finally, tomorrow marks the 40th day since the death of neda, the female protester who was shot and killed. more demonstrations are plant. what is the significance of 40 days? >> it has both religious and political significance. religious, this is the day you mourn the dead in the middle east. politically, the islamic revolution 7879 was born around

40 day commemorations of the day. and the opposition here hopes to sort of repeat that revolution. of course, i think the difference here is that the regime does have might, military might if it can unleash against the opposition. but clearly the people in the -- making decisions are very much influenced by 7879. >> ervand abrahamian, thank you very much. >> thank you. iran and russia are in the midst of their first joint naval military exercises. ships and helicopters are practicing what iran calls a maritime exercise exercise in the caspian sea. a vast lake stretching between russia and northern iran. experts say the caspian sea exercises which began yesterday may mark a new level of cooperation between the two countries at a time when the united states is trying to isolate iran from its pursuit of nuclear weapons. there was new unrest today

there was new unrest today in south africa. police there used tear gas and rubber bullets to battle demonstrators protesting poor public services. violent demonstrations have flared up all over the country during the past two months and as we hear now from al jazeera english the roots of that violence go back many years. when the government began promising help for the poorest communities. >> reporter: hunting for troublemakers on foot deep inside the township. shots are fired of the suspects as police continue their sweep. it's a menacing reminder for residents that all is not well where they live. >> guys are throwing stones and making fire. and when close to you they want to kill you. so in a group and they make noises. so be careful.

>> it's not over until the culprits are caught. terrified, a young mother finds cover in a rubbish dump. the policeman helps her take th. in the end, some of the stone throwers are arrested. young, unemployed men who say they are protesting because they are tired of empty promises made by their government of a better life. this is one of a few communal taps in the area. most people don't have water in their homes. >> i stay in the squatter camp. no water, no toilet, no electricity and i struggle. i go to work. i'm going to work. it's not right. it's not safe now. so i don't know what's going on. make a plan. government must make a plan. >> non pushes home about 60 liters of water. she does this every day. these families are still waiting for government housing promised

to them in 1994. close to 3 million homes have already been built but millions more still need decent accommodation. the burning tire, the unrest on the streets, all signs of public discontent and frustration. these protests keep happening on and off every week. when it's all over this is what you see on the streets. garbage strewn all over the place. as many as millions of south africans live in abject poverty and the gap between the rich and poor kps getting wider, people living in these poor areas could keep experiencing incidents like this. hara mutasa, al jazeera, thokoza township. south africans a blogging for the recent protests. alvin, an engineer and father of two, writes from the city of johannesburg. "there is a worrying factor about the recent protests, and that is the violencemayhem and hooliganism that accompany them. it is almost as if the south african society cannot demonstrate without resorting to some sort of violence. some people argue it comes from the apartheid past where people learnt to be violent because the

apartheid regime was violent. almost like a child who grows up in a home where violence is common and then becomes a violent criminal later in life." and there was more violence in nigeria today. thousands of people have now fled their homes in the muslim north of that country after police and soldiers attacked extremists groups in the region over the past few days. dozens of people have been represented and scores of militants were reportedly kiled. the country's president claims the situation's under control. 12 of nigeria's northern states are under islamic law. the southern part of that country ishristian. in kenya, there is news that a fiber-optic cable may bring better access to the internet and that's key to boosting that country's economy. as we reported from nairobi last year, kenyans have struggled with outdated and very slow dial-up connections. only 3% of the population even uses the internet as i result. the new high-speed broadband connection could triple internet use over the next two years. in dar es salaam, the

capital city of tanzania, a brand-new bank designed to help women open up their first branch this week. the tanzanian women's bank will require only a $2 deposit to open up an account unlike most other banks in the country. customers will not be to own property. or have other assets begin banking. officials hope to build a network of women's banks across the country and sure to mention men and their money are welcome too. the world health organization confirms it is in discussions with south africa about how to handle any possible outbreak of the h1n1 flu during next year's world cup soccer tournament. south africa is expecting up to half a million visitors during the event next june. that country has already reported more than 100 cases of h1n1. more than 800 people have died from h1n1 world wide. and as we look ahead to the fall, countries in the northern hemisphere are going to gear up for a possible new outbreak. as we've reported, there's already been an explosion in the number of cases in britain. and as we hear now from deutsche

welle, german businesses are already taking precautions to try to keep their workers swine flu-free. >> reporter: deutsche telekom employees disinfect their hands at the dispensers. a sure sign that german industry is taking the threat of swine flu seriously especially those companies with international links. deutsche telekom also provides its employees with brochures. describing symptoms and advice on how it avoid contracting the virus. other companies are using different methods. enterprise software giant s.a.p. is holding video conferences instead of having executives make international trips. aircraft manufacturer airbus has stopped an antiviral drug tamiflu. planning to offer workers free of charge antiflu vaccines this october. because swine flu could provers normously expensive.>> translat difficult to calculate the extent of the damage because the number of the cases isn't so

high. should the number increase significantly, however, we could be looking at damages of tens of billions. >> reporter: the world's health organization has warned that went next two years, the h1n1 virus could infect 2 billion people. president obama began the week by calling the relationship between china and the united states "as important as any relationship in the world." wrapping up two days of talks in washington, leaders of the delegations closed the talks with a promise to cooperate more closely on economic issues. >> i want to begin by just underscoring the importance of the actions china and the united states have taken together to help bring the world economy back from the edge of the most acute crisis we've seen in decades and to begin to lay the foundation for financial repair

and global growth again. >> translator: the two sides recognized that at this crucial, critical time when the global economy is moving out of the crisis and toward recovery, to stimulate economic growth remains a top priority for china/u.s. cooperations. >> somebody who has been following this week'talks in washington between the obama administration and the chinese has been nicholas lardy. a senior fellow with the peterson institute for international economics. the chairman of the peterson institute. peter peterson has a separate foundation which is among those providing funding for "worldfocus." thanks very much for being with us. there's been a perception that the chinese are growing skittish about investing so much money in america. was the treasury secretary able to convince them about the soundness of the u.s. economy? >> well, they seem to be persuaded of the soundness of the dollar both today and going forward. but you know what they -- at least that's what they said. but they really think of course is hard to know given the perspective large u.s. budget

deficits going forward over the next several years. they certainly have reason for concern given the large volume of dollar holdings that they have now. >> and i guess the question becomes to you, do you think that the chinese are really convinced that the obama administration will take steps to cut the deficit once our economy's finally back on its feet? >> well, that was certainly the message from secretary geithner and chairman bernanke. they both addressed this question slightly different ways. mr. geithner talking about reducing the budget deficit. substantially by 2010 or 2013 -- not 2010. but by 2012 or 2013. and mr. bernanke spoke about the various so-called exit strategies, which basically means the reduction of fed support for lending and other financial activities in the u.s. economy.

however, as i said, these are perspective plans. in some cases, they have to be approved by the congress which may prove difficult. and the real problem for the chinese is that they really don't have too much choice. if they didn't believe these plans, what would they do? they could sell their dollars now. that would precipitate what they're trying to avoid which is a decline in the value the dollar. so kind of caught twain rock and a hard place i would say. >> trade issues, they were also on the table. the americans have been concerned about what they see as efforts by the chinese to undercut american exports. any movement there? >> well, they both pledged to not adopt protectionist measures. i think each side was trying to explain that its policies were not discriminatory. that the buy american program was consistent with our w.t.o. obligations. china, of course, is not a participant in the government procurement code that governs those transactions, but they said that they were open and not discriminating against u.s. and other foreign goods. >> how do you see the economic relations between these two countries evolving over the coming months and years?

>> well, i think it's a complicated relationship. both sides benefit substantially. it's a very important trade relationship. it is obviously -- your questions indicate very, very important on the financial side as well. i'm hoping it will become more balanced as we increase savings here and are not going into debt in order finance such a big trade deficit. our deficit has been coming down the past couple of years and there are now indications that the chinese surplus is also shrinking substantially. so we may have a somewhat more balanced relationship than in the recent past. >> nicholas lardy, thanks very much for talking with us. >> thank you. one other item from china tonight. the vice president of the supreme people's court says china will start executing fewer people. more than 60 crimes are punishable by death there. amnesty international estimates that as many as 1,700 chinese were executed last year. dramatically fewer than a decade ago, actually. by comparison, 37 americans were executed in 2008.

spanish authorities are blaming the basque separatist group e.t.a. for a car bombing that injured as many as 50 people this morning. the bomb went off in front of a police barracks that houses civil guard police officers and their families in the city of burgos in northern spain. e.t.a. typically phones warnings of its attacks giving time for evacuations but there was no warning today. throughout spain there are more warning signs that the economy is yet on the road to recovery. the summer tourist season is heading into what should be it's peak month but as we hear in our "spotlight" story from deutsche welle television, it's turning to be much too quiet othe towns of the beaches of spain's spectacular costa brava.

>> reporter: he says sun and a sandy beat are its greatest assets. the local counselor and hotel owner monitor the mediterranean water quality and does his best to make the town attractive for holidaymakers. but they're in short supply this year, like everywhere on the costa brava. >> translator: even back in may and june, it was already clear that this wouldn't be an easy season that people were staying away. now on the beaches, it looks like there are lots of tourists. but in comparison to the previous year, it's clear that fewer people are here. >> repor numbers have dropped by some 15%. and for those who live from tourism, the rest of the year looks bleak. we can't do anything. it's in the hands of the tour operators. we try to make things as pleasant as possible for people, but for us there's nothing left. lots of families used to come. now it's almost all young people.

and they're mostly budget tourists. many hotels are trying to fill their empty rooms by offering discounts and all-inclusive holidays. but many britons and germans are staying home this year leaving some shop owners and other businesses facing bankruptcy. to minimize losses the chamber maids are alternating shifts and the chefs start work later. the hotel employees fear that this bad year might mean the end for the hotel. >> translator: it's sad. i've worked here for so many years. i see how serious and worried the owners are. this is like a home to me. it's my home. >> reporter: all across spain, people are concerned about their future of tourism. with visitors staying away in droves, many tourist areas are

feeling the pinch and it's not clear whether they'll be able to cope with the rising number of unemployed. >> translator: we're trying to offer assistance to develop new businesses and projects, thereby, creating new jobs. and we want to facilitate vocational training to make it easier for people in the town to find new jobs. >> reporter: for them, every inquiry at the reception desk gives them cause for hope. they're taking the initiative and keeping in contact with regular visitors. >> translator: other politicians always say things will be all right, but that's not true. august is just around the corner and we're still not full. we can no longer recoup this year's losses. but what worries us more is that the crisis will continue. >> reporter: they say it's the small hotels that have made the costa brava great.

they hope the extra personalized services they provide will help them ride out the current crisis. finally, we have an excerpt tonight from the latest edition of the pbs series "wide angle." it's called "contestant number two." a story of an arab/israeli teenager and member of the druze religion seeking fame on the international beauty pageant circuit. but there's a catch. the miss israel pageant includes a bathing suit competition and appearing that way in publi could disgrace her family and even put her in danger. >> reporter: the preliminary selections for miss israel take place behind closed doors. duah's coach, jack jaakov, waits

for the results. >> reporter: duah's mother is supportive. but miss israel presents a dilemma. it requires her daughter to appear on stage on television in a swimsuit.

check your local listings for "wide angle" tonight and you can also find it online at pbs.org/wideangle. that's "worldfocus" for this wednesday. there's always more global news on our website, worldfocus.org. i'm martin savidge in new york. as always, thanks for joining us. we hope to see you back here

again tomorrow. and we'll look for you anytime on the web. until then, have a good night. "worldfocus" is made possible, in part, by the following funders -- "worldfocus" is made possible, in part, by the -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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