tonighon "worldfocus" -- the latest deadly bombingf baghdad. new questions raised about iraq's ality to provide its own security. and abroader look at the state of the nation. > in afghanistan, the deadest day for americans in more than four years, as esident ham karzai's opponent steps up the presre to make the runoff fair. in our ignature segment," a quartercentury after a devastating famin we take a look at life in ethiopia. what you may not know aboutthe couny and its rich history. > and from japan,e lk at an underwer threat. what is behind thenvasion of a giant jellish? is it a man-de problem? om the world's leading reporters d analysts, here's what's happening fm around the world. this i"worldfocus." mar support has been provided by rosalind p. walter anthe peter g. petersofoundation, dicated to promoting fiscal responsibility andddressing key onomic challenges facing amera's future. and additional funding is proved by the following supporters -- hello and goodvening. i'daljit dhaliwal. we are going to begin tonight with iraq. on day after 155 people wre killed in the deadliest bombing to hithat countr in more than two years. we will look at the sta of security and other aspects of life inraq as t united stat prepares to cut its miliry presence by more than half nextyear. the suide bus bombings at two heavilyuarded government buildings in baghdad call into question once again iraq ability to proct itself despite attempts by president nuri al mali to demotrate that h securityforces ca meet that challge. today, said one government work, we came toworkdespite e fear iide us. funerals for the victims today provided anotherreminder of that fear and the danger that ordinary iraqis face ery day. in additioto the dead, some 500 people were injured. on aq's independent al badadia television, the words said "long live iraq, death to the iminals" followed by images of yesterday's bombings accompanieby somber music. in our "lead focus" tonight, we want to take you to thetreets of baghdad. owen fay of al jazeera english show us what it was lik at the moment of impact, and he filed his report yesterday shortly after thosexplosions. >> reporter: ts is what it looks li when a massive car bomb is tonated. ese images were taken on a cell phone not far from baghdad's justice mistry and show the full destructive power ofhis lest attack. within momes sharp burs of gunfire followed almost immediately the blare of alms. and the fit reaction o ir's armed fors, shooting in the direction of the attack and caught up inhe overwlming mayhem of a blast othis magnitude. e car bombswere tonated just mines apart. the fit striking the justice nistry at 9:30 a.m. local time. the second targeted a senior government office. both buiings are in areas normly under heavy secuty in thheart of iraq's capital. police and emerncy rescue personnel raced to the scenes of the attacks. the explosis clearly powerful engh not only to cau damage to building themselves but to rupture water mains and pulverize ca parkednearby. as theyrace to drag the wounded to fety, officials said that given the size o the blast, theyxpect the casualty figures to imb. within hours of the asts, nuri al maliki arrid at the scene, the look of shock cleay evident onhe prime minister's ce. he vowedto do whateve is necessaryto bring tse responsie to justice. while no one has yet claimed responbility, the timing of the attacksis already ising suspicion. that's because iraq's pitical leaders re set to meet later today to resol a dspute which could lead to a del in the election slated for nuary. that's n been postponed but many lawmakers e appeang for a new era ofcooperation. on sturday the prime mister said flure to reachan agement could lead to a dela of one t two months, and if thathappened, quote, the governme will losets legitimacy and paiament will have lost its legitimacy. he concluded b poinng out, quote, wwill go back to square one and we wl return to sectianism. the couny's military leaders have also expressed their ncerns about the political wrangling believing that aelay now uld lead to increased security problems across the country. theyinsist they have plansn place dealith any ity brought on by a delay, but the gener consensus, both the political and miliry sphes, is that unless this impasse isovercome qukly, it will lead to what one partipant called a constitutional and political void. owen fay, al jazeera. we learned today that as many as 30 children were among the dead they the playground of a day care center some, according to one witness, died right where ey sat on the sesaws. despit yesterday's attacks, over the long term lfe has been imoving in iraq. every two weeks the broings initution updatests iraq index. thendex tracks several measures of the quality life inside ir. andccording to the latest index, cilian fatalities from attacks are dow from a highof more than 3,700 in the fall of 2006 to around 00 last mont in may of 03, shortly after the war began in iraq, the number of iraqi secury forces, including police,as between 7,000 and 9,0. in aprilf this ar, the last available figure,he total was 645,00 and crude oil production is now back to prewarevels 2.5 million barrels a day. and theroduction of electricity also coinues to grow. in may of 2003,he country anchd between four and eight hourof electricity a day. now hseholds are averaging more than 15 hours a day. for mo on thesituation in iraqwe are joined once agai by michael o'hanl, the director of research and a senior fellow at the brookings institution. ank you very much for joinin us. >> thank you. so althou the number of attacks and cilian deaths is down sharpl in iraq over the past few years, yesterday's attacks em to suggest that the militants are going after much more high profiletargets. what do youake of that? >> well, i think that's a legitima worry. and yes, do believe w're going to have to -- or prime minister maliki going to have to do some things he might not have wnted to, such as reoring some of the blast barriers that haveeenaken down and obviously scrutinizing the forceshat are manng some of these checkpoin because it appes the bombers penetrated a number of checkpoints where ey frankly shouldave been identified and stopped andound out. beuse if you're carrying several hundrepounds or more of explive, you can hide that in a truck that's properly seared. so i think we're going to have to look for some tactics to counter this because it probably is correct to say tht, yes, ined, the tremists are going after high profile buildin. >> beyond measures of vience, what other benchmarks best reflect what lif is like for ordinary iraqis today? >> well, you kno i do blieve at the overl level of civilian fatalies is qte significant. iraqis are certainly happier abt their les and their future no the best indicor, the best reason why is this reduction in random killing. and so tragically this weekend' events weren exption to tt trend, but the trd is nonheless real and has been oning for a cole of years. but certainly, youant to ask pele to what extent they feel safe froother kinds of crime, from kidnaing, from ievery. these are also importan determinants of the nature o lifethe nature of the security environment. do they feel they can send their kids to school. do they feel they n go out to thearketand shop? public opinion polling is often a useful compliment forthe actual numbers becausit tells you to what extent people's psychology has shifted bac to a more normal state. therefor the degree tohich our overall objectiv of building up credibility and legitimacy f the government is really working. >> there are also some positive economic umbers. for example, oil produion is up to prewar levels and expor revenue i believe is also rising. who benets from that influ of money? do ordinary iraqis see it? >> well, yes, there are number of imprements in the conomy. and frankly, oil exports might not even be t leadi one. electricy production, for example, has improved much more notably. t in terms of wh benefits, iraqas suffered in the last ar as has any oth producer aund the world from the decline i oil prices. iraq has been a t of an old fashiod budget crisis but a little bit of what the rest of the world is facing as well. iris are handlingt with a serb sense oformalcy and professionism in how they try to make cuts here and tere in various government programs. i think civilians and citizens on the reets in iraq have n seenadical improvemes in their material quality of life. what's reall improved dramatally, as we were discussi, is the securit enronment. that's wre most people would idenfy the progress. michael o'hanlon, thankou very mucfor joining us. >> my pleasure, thank you. we also want know what you think about the situation ik iraq. as w said,he united states plans to cut its tro levels next year ifhe secuty situation is able. so our question tonight is, if the security suation in iraq isn't stable, do you ink that the united states should withdraw its troops anyhow you can tell us what y think by goid ction, and you can find that at our websi, worldfocus.org. turning to afghanistan, president obama toy held a sixth meeting with his national secuty team as he tries to decide on a strateg for the next phase of the war. theiggest isue, of cour, is whether a by how much to increase the level of u.s. forces in afgnistan,currently about 68000. one of those opposed to a troop inease is senator john kerry, the head of theoreign relations committee. says that a propos to add 40,000 tro put forwardy the u.s. militaer in afghanistan goesoo far too fast this was deay day i afghanistan where 14 amerins were kild, all involving helicopter ashes. in one instance, a helicopr went down in wesrn afghanian after leaving the scene of a battle, killing ten americans. seven were roops, and there were also three agentsrom the u.s. druenforcemt administtion. the cause s not been given. in a separate incident, two hecopters collided over soutrn hlmandprovince, killinfour u.s. roops. it washe deadliest day for americans in afghanistan in more thanfour years. 12days from now, afghanistan willold a runoff ints presidenti election. today president hamid karzai's opponent dr. abdullah abdullah called forhe replement of the country's top electn official. abdullah said tt the chairman of the election commission had no credibility becaus of widespread fraud in the initial vote back in august. the election officials said that allegations are t sufficient for s reval and they would need to be investigated. tight, we wanto take y beyond the headlines and look a mement to fight global warmg. it invols recruitingeligious groups to enurage people arou the world to try to go green. and for more on this subct we're joined by olav jor zkjorz. thank yovery much for coming on "worldfocus." >> thank you for havinme. >> so talk aittle bi about why the united natio is reacng out tothe wor's major religions try to help them to fight climate change and obal warming? >> we are reaching out, actually, to the laest civil ciet organizations ormyq initutions in the world today that reach at least 85% of they're actually havinglot tod say these days about the importance of taking care of our ho, our planet and that's the energy a that's the iniration that is needed tod for governments tolso ste up to the plate and move fward on climate change. >> and give us examples of how worl religions are saying that they're going t try to change theirarbon footprint, if you like? >> wl, they're coming up now with concrete aion plans for theoming several yea that they want to put in place so that they will indeed contribute a green and safer fure. and e examples that, for instan, thelutheran church tanzania will plant 8.5 million trs arod mount kilimanjaro. the sikhs will provide the food fofree to 30 million ople every single day. in islam, theyrentroducing an iamic eco label for prodtion of goods and services. and in the case of e jesuits with the catholic churc they have decided, for instance, to bring th climate message very strongly into their educational curriculums. the jesui, they basically run most of the educational institutions in latin americ today. >> why does the ited nations thk this is going to have a significant impact on reducing clime change? >> because if wee going to succeein the fight against climate change, we he to mobilize people all overhe rld, all people needo be part of this fort, and to put pressure on governments to make the deal that we neednd desperately need to sa the future of our plane it reall is about the future the grachildren and the religions have in a senseeen the missing linkor the missing piece of the puzzle rlly in moving this agenda fward. now they'rcoming on board, not just coming on board but leading the wa with concrete commitments. this is precisely the message that policians need hear as they prepare for the netiations in copenhagen in a few weeks. >> olav kjorz, thank you very much. >> thank y. in our "signatu story," we go to africa tonight r a start of a four-rt sees this ek on ethiopia. to the outside wod, themage of this country of 85 millio people haseen saped by what haed there a quarter century ago. itas the start of a famine that kille asany as 1 million people and mad ethiopia synonyus with starvation and sufferin but tonight"worldfocus" special correspondent rtin seemungal looks beyond that image to ethiopia's rich history an culture. >> repter: it is ancient, a time capsule,its traditions d ceremonieso back hundreds of years. the are towerin obesks in the north d castles. d abundant wildlife in the south. and some of the most speccular scenery on t planet. it is ethiopia the other ethiopia. not the land fami. 25 years have passed since 1984. mention ethiopia, and there is an immiate association with starvation. >>hatstereotype is very confusing because it does not reflect the realityf ethiopia, the history, the mytholo, the mystery of this great natin. to understan africa, one has to start in ethiopi >> reporter: b to srt ooet open rks you need to go back aong way, 3,00 years to the fabled land of shba. many believe iwas here i rthern ethiopia. the main source of water he is still called sheeba'bath. fast forward about a thousand years tothe axite kingdom. these obelisks are burial markers. the one on the grou isthe biggest piece of stone evercut by a human. there's a lot aut ethiopia we don't necessarily know. >> reporr: you want mystery? a few years ago farme dug up this stone slab. it's standing where they found it. it recounts the military exploits of o of the aximi ngs. one langue is xstingts, the other is rarely usd, the other ancient grek. there are tombs in axom, this one is 1400 yearsld and it's ristian. axom today isn a particularly large cit but it'still portant for another reason. according to the traditions of the ethiopianrthodox churc that chape is the finalesting place of the arc of the covenant, yes, the arc which ntained the tabls of e ten commandments. ethiopians believe theirueen of sheeba and king somon of ancient rael had a son and thate somehow broug the arc back toethiopia. many people are, of course, skeptil about the clm, but whether you believe or not, thtruth is the arc has been central toethiopian orthox chriianity for centuries. ever single church in the country keeps aeplica of t holy tablet and thehurch is ntral to the lives of millions of ethiopians,ver 60% of the untry is christian. it has shaped the eiopian identity. "i am proud of my religion," he says. "compared to other religions, this is the best region." that fierce pride drove them to carve out the incredible chches. handcarved out roc one th the largest free-standg rock hewn church in the world. it's unbelievable. >> reporte but contrast the rich spectacl of allhis with the povty. ethiop is still one of the poorest nations on earth. povertis a fact of life in ethiopia, but this is not a nation of bears. we've en in this townf 20,000eople forwo days and not oncehas anyone aked us for money. this man is deteined to make a living no matter how hard she has to work. her husband dd recently, and she has two children to care for. she normly carries stacksof wood, t today there's no work. so she's selling incense by the roadsi. if she's lucky, she'll make the equivalent of dollar. so what she's saying it's importanfor her to help hersf? "i try to findmy own soluti," she says. ♪ music is another source of great pride. ethiopian music. you can hr the ppular tunes on ery corner. ethiopiasn't a t travel destation. roger cavadini fr vancouver thinks it shou be. >> there's a saying in ethiopia at when you come to ethiopia, your heart breaks twice, first when you come a see the porty, then when you leave because you have to leave the beauty and the peple. >> reporte yes, deite the richness of the culture, very w americans have beehere or know much about th country. the good news, time moves slowly inethiopia. it's beenhere for many centuries, and it will be here for many centuri to come. for "worldfocus," i' mrtin seemungal northern ethiopia tomoow we will take you to a remote ethiopian village so isolated tt the words "barack obama"re absolutely meaningless to them. finally tonight, one more story abt the global environmt. in this cotry, jellyfish are seen by mo peopleas a nuisance of the beach to be avoided because of t sting that som can inlict. well, i pan, there is an invasion of jellyfish, kind u may never have seen before. mark willacyf the ateline" progm of abc in stralia has been loking into the problem. as you will notice in his report, although it is aroblem affecting fishermen on the we coast of japan, also involves china and south korea.@s >> reporr: for centuries t fisherman of eizen have harvested the seas of wtern n]eusquid. but now they have deay competition,rom a leviathan lurking beneath the surface. >> tey become more than t meters, their body weight is re than --eavier than 200 kilograms. it looks like a monster. >> reporter: the nomura jellyfh also look like something om a terrifyi science fiction fi. this yea millio of these toxi creates have swept east on the ocean currenfrom ina, plagui fishing commuties from sou korea to japa >> translator: if th tentacles touch fish like yellowtail caught in thenet, t fish will spl and lose its colr. weave to sell these fish a lower price. >> reporter: heron the west coast of japan, the nomura jeyfish invasion hits hard. in some cases catches have drped by upo 80%. fishermen can spen days repaing nets torn by the sheer weight ofhese sea creatures. >> translator: with the damage to troll nets,his community halost $700,000 in a month. >> reporter: every daythese fishermen from echizen snare hundreds of nomura jellyfish. >> translator: if we have to shut down our operation because of these jellyfish, we will lose our jobs. that would be devastating. >> reporter: there are seval theories aut these giganticjellyfish are exploding in numbers. they ilude the fact that nutrients from runoff from far and factories in china are lping their number exple. thenhere's the issue of overfishing of thei natural predators. and of course, there'another theory, thatlobal wming is enuraging them to breed. >> i think the mostimportant factor is the decrease of fish population. that means overshing is the most important factor to cause this jellyfish >> reporter: i a bid to wipe out the plag, fishermen have developed new nets, some of whichsimply slice the ellyfish . others are trng to cash inn th inver, processing it into cosmics, tofu and even sweets. it's clear that i will te a jointcientific assault by china, south korea and japan to unlock theecrets of the nomura jellyfish ague. >> the jellyfi boom is basicay a man-ma problem. ybe the sea- the gods o the sea send the jellyfh as a messenger to say somhing to human beings. >> reporr: but until that message is heeded, the fishermen of echizen could fac an invasion of the deepvery yer. markillacy, "lateline." that is "worldfocus" f this mnday evenin don't forgeto join the nversation online at worldfocus.org. m daljit dhaliwal in new york. thank you for joining us. hope to see you back hereat the me time tomorrow night. bye-bye. -- captions by vic -- www.tac.com jor support for "worfocus" has been provided by rosald p. walter and the ter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promotingiscal responsibility and addressg keeconomic challenges facing america's fure. and additional fding is provided by the folling supporters --