>> tonight on "worldfocus" -- in afghanistan, complaints of election fraud pour in trig airing stormy meeting between hamid karzai and the u.s. special envoy. in japan unemployment sores on the eve of national elections there. a youth movement sweeping the country and the party that has ruled japan for decades may be on the way out. in sub-saharan africa malaria still kills more than a million people a year. now comes hope of a vaccine that could save countless lives. and sailing solo. tonight, a look at two teens and their quest to go around the

world alone. in britain, it's considered a challenge. in holland, it could be a case of child abuse. >> 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 martin savidge. we are going to start tonight with afghanistan, where the death of a u.s. soldier today made this the deadliest month of the eight-year war for american forces. 45 u.s. troops have been killed so far in august. it is with that backdrop, the escalating war and its increasing toll that the wait

for the results of last week's presidential election has turned increasily tense. we've learned on the dramatic example of that. a fiery meeting in which the special envoy to the region, richard holbrooke, raised concerns about alleged election fraud with president hamid karzai. kenny of itn puts it in context for nus tonight's "lead focus." >> reporter: a president fast losing international support, a suspect and bloody election, and one very angry u.s. envoy -- the scene for a fiery meeting where richard holbrooke reportedly took hamid karzai to task and suggested a runoff would help legitimize afghanistan's democratic process. the coalition is in a bind. foreign troops enabled the first afghan-run elections in 30 years. but at the cost of many lives. yet, there's no secret there are deep reservations about the president karzai, the man who's claiming victory. politics in afghanistan are in a very precarious condition.

not least of course, because in some parts of the country very, very few people actually went to vote. and if karzai lacks legitimacy, the risk is that those who up to be willing to support him, will start to look elsewhere. and we could find that the extent to which central government in kabul enjoys any kind of confidence in the country's very substantially undermined. >> reporter: how worried is the coalition? well, britain's ambassador to afghanistan, said earlier this week that authorities were investigating more than 200 allegations of fraud. 35 to 40 of which could be material to the outcome of the election, if upheld. >> the difficult is with public opinion here if -- against the backgrind of increasing casualties, both for us and indeed particularly too for the united states. there's a lack of confidence in the person who's the president of the country, and then it will not be very long before people

in this country begin to ask themselves what in the devil are we doing there? what purpose are we serving by being there? >> reporter: eyebrows have always been raised by the political alliances karzai has forged to try to shore up report across the country. the likes of uzbek war lord general dafterman in the north and karzai's choice of vice president, alleged drug baron marshall mohammed kasseem ca hem. above in central kandahar on tuesday was a reminder that despite president obama sending an=e stability in afghanistan is still a long way off. u.s. commanders are warning they still don't have the resources to fight the taliban. >> that was kenny azerasm itn. there is another important election we'll be watching this weekend. sunday, japan will select a new parliament. and it appears the ruling liberal democratic party will be ousted for first time in 54 years. prime minister aso's approval raths have plunged over his handling over the economy.

and today he got more bad news. unemployment in japan hit 5.7%. its highest level since world war i. the man hoping to succeed him is from the opposition democratic party of japan. it has campaigned on the slogan "putting people's lives first" and has gained traction with many young people. in fact you may not have known that there is a youthful wave sweeping be the japanese political landscape. steve chou of al jazeera english starting from nara, southwest of tokyo. >> reporter: japan's ancient capital of nara is the city's steep in tradition. residents brv rituals passed down for more than a century ago. change comes from -- it's with great surprise then that the new man in the seat of power is just 33 years old.

naka gowa became the youngest mayor's history in july when people oy vote him in. the last four mayors were in their 60s. >> translator: i can paint clearly on the message that i would offer a new style of politics and that was in tune to the spirit of the people. they want somebody to take real political action. >> reporter: believing that mood for change is countrywide. japan's opposition has deployed within dubs, the princess corps. king-clad young candidates with the notion take key seats from the governing party in the national election. coimiko is a 36-year-old running in tokyo. >> translator: i'm trying to create excitement. people are tired of the old style of politics, but i know i'm fighting tradition. >> reporter: japan remains a country still very much tied to its imperial past. a past that has long been -- for

its leaders. for their wisdom, experience and age. in fact these traits used to be a mandatory part of japanese politics here. but times are changing. the ruling party's reputation has been marred by leadership druggels. there had been four different prime ministers in four years. add on its ability to pull the economy out of one of the worst recessions since world war ii, and has turned public opinion largely against them. >> translator: oh, it's time for new blood. there are too many old people in politics. >> translator: politics is out of touch with people. we don't see what we have much of a say. >> reporter: one of the mayor of nara's pledges is to move politics from an arena of elitism, and to make it more accessible.'e4 theory takes the interview from a 13-year-old for her classroom projects. it's perhaps a snapshot of japan's political future.

steve chou, al jazeera, nara, japan. there was some new signs today of warming relations between north and south korea. the north said that it would free four south korean fishermen detained last month after their boat strayed into north korean waters. beyond that, the two countries have agreed to hold a new round reunions last month. the first reunions in almost two years. and there's this, south korea is promoting the idea of sending a joint group of soccer fans to next year's world cup in south africa, where both countries will compete. turning to the middle east. a senior saudi prince who's had a big hand in that country's aggressive efforts to fight terrorism was himself the target of a terrorist attack last night. a suicide bomber blew himself up outside prince mohammed bin nayef's home. the prince was lightly wound and says that he's more determined than ever to fight terrorism in saudi arabia. just last month, several hundred al qaeda militants were

convicted in that country's first known trials. four suspected members of the group. let's take a deeper look now at some of the week's top stories in our friday roundtable discussion. in afghanistan, the war's become more deadly than ever and there is talk of sending even more u.s. troops, as the presidential election remains in dispute. in the middle east, iran, more tough talk from european leaders about sanctions or their possibility. will they convince iran to give up its nuclear program? and we'll also look at some of the big shifts in the global clerk as japan fades, china rises. what are the implications for the u.s.? joining us is garrett utley. president of the levin institute. and then ran a foroohar.

welcome to both of you. let's start with afghanistan. we talk about how we're already on -- on track for perhaps the deadliest month of the war here in the united states and nato forces, and now this contested election. and i'm wondering, it just seems to be, garrick, another red flag to the u.s. about, what are we doing? >> well, there's the political dimension and the elections show the inability the government having any effective role there. and there's also the military side. right now the vote count in which is going to go on for a few more week and may lead to another runoff puts us into a difficult situation. because although, yes, we're seeing democracy in action. we're also not seeing any kind of, really confident sign that that election result is going to lead to a more effective government. so wa are you left in your hands? not much. >> the united states, what, they want to see a runoff now? >> well, i think there's really no good outcome that the stage. karzai, it looks like karzai's going to win and the vote-counting is always a painful processing. but even if he does, he's not an easy candidate for the u.s. to

support, not only because the elections are being contested but because of his running mate marshall bahem is accused of being involved in a drug trade and this goes to another point and problem in afghanistan right now, whichmyq is that the talib is more deeply involved in drug trafficking and drug trade was initially nate as recent nato and military operations have found. and that's going to mean more unrest both in afghanistan and in pakistan. >> and( united states is doing a total look, again, at the military option. >> aside of what has happened on the political side of things, you're hearing interesting words coming from admiral mullen, head of the joint chiefs, saying the war's not going well. talking about maybe needing more troops. general mcchrystal on the ground in afghanistan is -- called for studies from think-tanks and others, testing what we are doing there militarily. is this the right policy? it's very unusual, i would say, for military leaders to question what they are doing. my suspicion is that not only the military but people in the white house are starting to say, do we need a policy review on

opposition and strategy and presence in afghanistan? >> and this is a bi thing, not t of do we need more troops, do we need to alter the strategy? we're talking about, do we stay or do we go? >> well, there's the shadow of lyndon johnson in vietnam as noted in the press that lyndon johnson got trapped in vietnam. the military just said, send us more troops, and we'll do the job. the military is now saying, in effect, mr. president, you can send more troops and we need more troops. we're not telling you we can do the job. and that's theroblem that obama administration has to face. >> all right, another conundrum before the obama administration, iran. september, next month of course. that was sort of the south deadline that this administration has said for iran to respond to a dialogue, the united states is trying to encourage. without a dialogue, i guess sanctions? where do we stand on sanctions and can they really work? >> well, it's possible there is going to be -- certainly pressure around sanctions and more sanctions. but my feeling unless you have china and russia on board they're going to be uneffective and that's because china and russia are key investors in iran's energy sector and they've

actually benefited hugely are not part of the existing sanctions just this last spring you saw the chinese coming in with the $70 billion oil and gas deal to develop southwestern iran reserves. russians are selling the iranians -- billions of dollars worth of nuclear technology and radar missiles. little impetus for these count rose. >> they're doing okay? >> yeah. >> and the other thing about the sanctions, and of course the idea here is to get the iranians to negotiate away their nuclear program. but by enforcing this, are we not also strengthening the hand of the hardliners who right now appear to be teetering? >> well, this week we're seeing all kinds of steps being taken. were saying today and yesterday that yes we should go ahead with the sanctions that the iranians don't behave on the nuclear issue. but we know as you said a deeper and ever visible split between the hard-liners and the reformers with ali khamenei. the supreme leader sort of trying to bridge the two. and any kind of sanctions are

simply going to strengthen the hard-liners. so do you back off the nuclear issue and potential sanctions where they can say, look we scared the west and the rest of the world off. do you push and head and strengthen the hard-liners. meanwhile this trial is going on. and who do you end up strengthening? this is a catch-22 of the worst kind. >> we're going to run out of time and i want to bring up what you wrote about this week, which is actually japan and a fading japan. we've got an election coming up this weekend. we may see a changing government. we may also see a change in where japan sits in the world's economy. from number two to number three? >> yeah, this is a real seismic shiftment. it will probably take place at the end of this year. in the second quarter in year, japan's economy contracted by over 15%. this is the worst contraction of any rich economy in decades. and when that means is that china is going to overtake them faster within a couple of years, faster than was initially thought. this is and going to put china in the spotlight yet again. we already than they're the

800-pound gorilla in the region. now the number one trade partner for japan over the u.s. but also as a political partner in the region. i think you can so that with the u.s./china strategic dialogue in july which made japan very nervous. >> japan going to number three. for the united states, what is the real impact here? just a psychological thing? we get over it and -- >> oh a psychological element but in terms of substance and size this is a historic moment. the first time that the industrialized world, the world's coming out of you recession in which we're not going to be pulled out by either europe, the u.s. or japan. the traditional economic locomotives. we hope it is china, asia, in general. i find it interesting that today, in the world of a g-2, the u.s. and china, both nations right now in their economies are being fueled largely by stimulus programs. china has one. we have one. how solid, how lasting are these going to be as you indicated? we don't know. >> we don't know. and there could be a downturn as

a result of when those programs end. but that's going to have to wait for another day. rana foroohar, garrick utley. a pleasure as always. as this country repairs for a potentially big outbreak of new h1n1 swine flu cases this fall, we want to give you a sense tonight of the toll the disease is taking. south america, where it's winter has been hit relatively hard according from figures from the european centers of prevention and control. the virus had killed 192 people. by this week, that number had almost tripled to 557. in the u.s., there were 436 deaths as of two weeks ago. this week, the number had grown to 522. world wide the number of deaths

from swine flu has gone up about 50% in the last two weeks from 1,851 to 2,757. for all the concern about the flu, here is something that might put it in perspective, malaria, the mosquito-borne disease, kills more than 1 million people each year. most of them in sub-saharan africa. tonight, we're going to take a closer look at malaria, the toll it takes and what's being done about it. there is new hope. we report from a report from kenya in the town ofcyia on the front lines of the battle. the story was produced by the international reporting project, shot and edited it by christina macgillivray and by charvan who narrate it is the report. >> reporter: this is the district hospital in rural western kenya and it serves over 120,000 patients a year. like valerie, most of them are young children seeking treatment for mylaria, one of the leading preventible causes of death in the world.

>> malaria parricides. we've seen it many times every day. many times every day. at least twice. >> reporter: transmitted by mosquitoes. it's most varlious strains are found in sub-saharan afric >> 90% of these deathses here in children of 5 years of age in sub-saharan africa. >> reporter: malaria is both preventible and treatable. public education and viral drugs and the use of bednets are effective approaches but this sub-saharan africa many families who cannot access these critical recently, several strains of malaria have become existent to resisting medications. >> we were really wondering why it was so hard to get families to spend 50 schillings.

that's 60 cents on a bednet. how could that not be possible? and then when you see how people really struggle for health matters and for school fees and you realize that for some that 50 chillings is just too much. >> reporter: back at district hospital valerie's red blood cell count has plummeted in just a few hours. she's in need of an immediate blood transfusion. but in rural clinics like this one supplies are not always available. >> although we are hopeful. >> reporter: now, for irst time ever, there is new hope in the fight against malaria. participants in the international malaria vaccination initiative funded largely by the bill and melinda gates foundation connected second phase testing of malaria

vaccine. earlier results from six african countries have indicated a 50% efficacy rate. >> one thing to remember about this vaccine is that the early studies show if prevented 50% of severe disease, but because we're talking about malaria which kills a million children every year, 50% is something we think is worth taking forward. and that 50% should save tens of thousands of lives. >> the vaccine will reduce the violent disease within the country. it will also improve the economy of the country because a huge budget of the minister of health stand on treating and prevention on malaria. >> reporter: in the phase three trial is successful the vaccine could be integrated into a regular vaccine regiment as early as 2013. >> a real hopeful time for malaria control right now. this renewed interest from the

international community and from ministries of health in africa, i think we really are going to see some major inroads in the fight against malaria in the next five, ten years. >> we wanted to know more about the challenges of fighting malaria so we spoke here yesterday with our regular science analyst, michael novacek, the provost of science. here in new york. we just had this report that was talking about the human toll of malaria in kenya. and i guess my question to you is, what makes malaria so rampant and also so deadly in sub-saharan africa? >> well, malaria is a disease that's spread by -- by a parasite and that parasite thrives under certain conditions. are present in sub-saharan africa. you've got a lot of people. you've got a lot of mosquitoes that are acting as vectors spreading the disease from oneh. plus you have another important factor, an that is poverty. and the inability to prevent the

disease. some people can't even afford mosquito netting and hospitals are really underequipped or understaffed treating the diseases. it's really a tragic situation. >> well given the fact that this disease has been around for so long, why has it taken so long to come up with some sort of vaccine? >> the parasite that causes malaria is well equipped to really do damage in humans. it's one of the few pathogens, for example, that invades red blood cells. and it has all kinds of destctive challenge. it can evolve resistance to drugs. it can release lots of proteins into the host cell. it could even change the way it's protein profile is. so sort of to fool our own human immune system. >> and how do we describe the trial vaccine, how well is it working? >> well, it's important to emphasize that this is still in a trial phase p it's being used on about 16,000 children. it could be use on millions more to theirbenefit. but the projections are fairly

hopeful. in other words, it's suggested now that the vaccine could actually reduce by about 50% the number of severe cases. but that vaccine won't be fully into the system and used till, say, sometime until 2015. >> well, unthey vaccine is widely available, whar some of the other means are appreciating this disease? >> we need to deal with the disease in very practical terms. in terms of its cause and affect. just providing more support for aid, for preventatives like mosquito -- treated mosquito netting. but also to get -- help these countries deal with their root problems. problems with poverty, problems with poor education and certainly problems of these hugely growing populations. >> michael novacek, as always, thank you. >> great to be here, martin.

finally tonight, if you're the parent of a teenager, then you'll know that this is the time they explore, test their boundaries. well, tonight we're going to introduce you to two teenagers who don't seem to know the word, limits. they are sailors. the 17-year-old who has gone around the world solo and a 13-year-old girl fighting with dutch authorities for the chance to follow him as we hear in this report from deutsche welle. >> reporter: he's done it after 9 1/2 months challenges, mike has arrived back in english coastal waters. mike braved massive waves and storms all alone on his 40,000-kilometer trip through all of the world's oceans. >> sometimes you will be calm wind. and sometimes storms and you'll be out of control. and you'll be asking yourself, why in the earth are you there? what in the hell are you doing? but once you get through something like that, you're on such a high that you're like,

oh, that's why i did it. >> reporter: but mike's joy at breaking the record could are short-lived. is battling course in the netherlands to be allowed to follow in mike's footsteps, despite the disapproval of the authorities. mike says age is irrelevance. provided the sailor is schooled enough to face a myriad of challenges. >> i mean, for me, age is only a number. whether she's got a physical strength or mental strength and the technical ability in her engine blindfolded, can she build boats? is she an electrician, a mechanic as well? because you can't just be a sailor to do a trip like this. >> reporter: mike is looking forward to sailing in portsmouth on monday. the entire family will soon have something to celebrate. on dry land. >> that was deutsche welle. and that's "worldfocus" for this

friday and this week. and speaking of voyages. as i take on a new role with "worldfocus." it will allow me to get out from behind this desk and see more of the world we bring you each night. monday my, colleague, dalji dhaliwal will be here. you'll still see me one week each month and in reports to come. it's been a pleasure and a privilege. until then as always, thank you for joining us. have a good night. and a great weekend. "worldfocus" is made possible in part by the following funders -- "worldfocus" is made possible in part by the -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com 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.