tonight, on "world focus." >> in the afghan capital of kabul, suicide attackarget hote use bid oreigners, killing 17 people and wounding dozens of others. outrage over bank bonuses in britain. royal bank of scotland may have lost close to $7 billion last year, but it's still paying multimillion dollar bonuses with taxpayer money. it's been one of the best ever winter olympics for the u.s., but that could soon change. the chinese are hitting their slopes and setting their sights on becoming a snowy super power. >> and we finish our week-long focus on indigenous people of the world. tonight, we take you to northwest coast of australia and one of the oldest living cultures on earth. >> from the different perspective from reporters and analysts from around the globe, this is "world focus." good evening, i'm martin savidge. thank you for joining us. for every step forward in afghanistan, there seems to be one step back. while yesterday the government was heralding its progress in driving the taliban out of the key town of marjah in the south, today a series of deadly attacks that occurred in kabul, the capital. at least 16 people were killed and several dozen were wound in a four-hour assault that involved two suicide attacks and a car bomb. the targets were two hotels used by foreigners and at least six indians were among the dead, along with an italian diplomat and a french filmmaker who had trained young afghans in film making. we take you to kabul with hoda abdel-hamid of al jazeera english who was there in the chaos after the assault unfolded. >> hours after the attack took place, bodies are still being removed from one of the houses nearby. rescue workers are coming through in shock. the car bomb designated in front of the house, the building completely flattened now. the explosion happened on a corner street in central kabul where there are several other hotels. the force of the blast destroyed several buildings nearby. >> it was 4:00 in the morning. we stayed in our room and locked the door. >> according to security forces, several fighters were involved in this attack, all wearing suicide vests and carrying automatic weapons. there's still gun fire going on. as we understand it, there's some gunmen holding up in this guest house here in the corner of the street and there's gun fire going between the security forces and these gunmen. afghan and nato forces were deployed to the scene. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. it says it's part of operation nasrat, launched by the taliban last april in retaliation to the surge in troops and the nato operations around the country. the taliban warned it will continue to strike anytime and anywhere it wishes, a huge challenge ahead for the government here. >> that report by hoda abdel-hamid from al jazeera, english. for more on the attacks and the challenges in stopping them, we're joined by the professor of international relations at lehigh university. welcome back. >> thank you, martin. >> today's attacks seem to have been specifically targeting indians in kabul. they're there to work. they're also there to help out. why would the taliban target india? >> the taliban has realized that sind yeah's got involvement in afghanistan in a number of ways. india has little use for the columbine, had very close relationships with a group of northern alliance that the united states used to defeat the taliban after the 9/11 attacks. >> so pakistan, of course, also worries a great deal about india. they have indicated that the indians are there means of getting out of pakistan's way. is that true? >> yes. it's important to understand that 40 years before the taliban came to power in 1944 with pakistani resistance, there was a succession of pro indian governments in pakistan. pakistan felt it had an indian alliance state on the western border. that changed in coming to power of the taliban. with the collapse of the tali n taliban, you have the karzai government with which india has strong relations. it's important to understand a strong battle is going on for the future of afghanistan, not only the united states and the taliban but also between india and pakistan. >> nothing happens in a vacuum. you had a meeting also next week, the first time between india and pakistan since the mumbai massacre, which derailed the peace talks that have been going on between the two-countries. if india and pakistan improved relations, how does that impact the taliban in afghanistan? >> i think it makes life for the taliban much more difficult. because the deployment of pakistan forces now is primarily towards the east that's facing india. the pakistanis still believe india is the long-term strategic threat. that could change and more forces deployed to the west, it would be harder for the taliban providing the pakistanis took the unequivocal step in deciding they were going to cut all ties with the taliban, which they have not yet. >> is it possible then that today's attack was in part designed to create a little more tension between pakistan and india. >> that was certainly one objective. >> then the other objective, i think, would be we've had this military operation in marjah in the south. it appears to have been militarily successful. would it be that the taliban are trying to say, look, that doesn't mean we've been defeated. >> absolutely. they cannot stand and fight without taking heavy losses. they left some troops to fight. they bookie trapped the area. they moved their main fighters out. they want to send the message, the karzai government cannot protect people in the capital city. >> thank you again. >> thank you, martin. some economic news from around the world starting with japan airlines. one of the country's biggest victims of the recession is it lost many of its passengers. the company that continues to operate today announced a staggering loss for the first nine months of last year, just under $2 billion. that was up from $1.9 billion for the same period a year earlier. the company told shareholders, customer, and creditors, it was deeply apologetic. iceland whose economy you'll recall ravaged by a banking crisis is hoping to get a lift by joining the european union. it moved closer to that goal after the european commission voted to open talks on iceland's membership in the eu. but there will be strings attached as we hear from this report from deutschesvehla. iceland will have to settle its disputes with other eu companies. >>island's landscapes could be one day part of the european union, after the eu commission's stefan fewland had talks. >> iceland with the long democratic traditions clearly fails the criteria and therefore cannot open negotiations with the european union. >> iceland has a functioning market economy, but it's applied for eu membership last year after being hit by the global financial crisis. the country's banking system collapsed despite efforts to stave off the meltdown. there's also an ongoing dispute with britain and the netherlands who say iceland does the almost 4 billion euros in savsavings. the government remains largely opposed. >> that report from deutschewell. that takes us to britain, where the royal bank of scotland announced more big losses this week. yet, it still found room to reward its employees almost $2.5 billion in bonuses. that has sparked a good deal of outrage just as it has in this country. the bank's rationale for the bonuses is also similar to what the banks here have said to justify the big payouts. you'll see those and other parallels in this report from faisal islam from our british partner, itn. >> the news wasn't so bad. fears, bad loans have peaked. but behind the facade is the bank propped up by tens of billions of pounds of taxpayer cash and hundreds of billions in guarantees. so it's now the time to make at least 100 of its bankers millionaires. they're being made by investment bankers who need to be paid the going rate, and the increased bonus parts at 27% of revenues was below that shelled out. the taxpayers want to impress. >> i would have felt their paychecks would slack off a bit. they don't need that big of a bonus. >> i'm in the rbs and i think it's far too much. chief executive steven hester knew he had explaining to do to a public that's owned 84% of what was the most bankrupt bank in the world. >> i understand that there is a very careful tight rope walk we have to tread in the issues of public policy and the support we've received and our main mission to make rbs commercially successful and serve our customers. that involves some compromises. we struck a painful balance. we have to do that. >> why do you want to know? that was the response of rbs' bosses when required how many bonus millionaires are created in this loss-making state-owned bank. it was a better year than 2008, but rbs ran up losses of 3.6 billion pounds. they were the results of bad debts which totalled 13.9 billion for the year. but there was enough cash around to pay bonuses of 1.7 billion pounds. >> what isn't acceptable is for a bank to play vast sums in bones while at the same time the bank is failing one of the central objectives. it has a legally binding operation and an agreement for the government to make credit available to small and medium-sitesed companies. not only is it failing in that legally binding obligation, its net lending is negative. >> this is the american attorney general's report for details for all of the banks that took bailout money in america, exactly how many millionaire bonuses, $2 million bonuses, $3 million bones. nothing like this is going to come out in britain. that's becse there's no government pressure to bail out the size of the bankers' millionaire club. >> we want to know what you think. our question, are the bailed out banks either here or in britain beinger response when paying such a big bonus while still holding a tight squeeze on credit. you can give us your opinion by going to the how you see it website at worldfocus.org. as the vancouver winter olympics wind down, one country, china, is a skiing power house by the next decade. a side of china you haven't seen as we journey to ski country in china's north with tony birthley of al jazeera english. the bleak landscape of china close to cato where temperatures can decline to 40 degrees centigrade, a simple trip can be an adventure. amid the sharp rural life, this is the ski resort four hours north of beijing. it's part of a revolution going on in the snow. although this is one of 300 ski stations, there are 20 that meet international standards. but china isn't focusing on upgrading the industry to make it a serious competitor to the ski superpowers of japan and south korea. >> china's ski industry rapidly expanded, more resorts, hotels, and more revenue. and now china has its sights set on staging the winter olympics that may not happen for a few years. but as you saw the summer olympics in 2008, they know how to put on a good show. hundreds of millions of dollars are being pumped in to the resorts to bring them up to internal international standards and create a springboard for their ambitions. >> it's football in the future. we're growing with the markets. the markets are going up every year. and the investment in the ski industry, we're also growing up every year. perfect slope, perfect mountains. and we can compete in the winter olympics. >> china has almost perfect ski conditions in the north, plenty of snow and low temperatures to keep it for four or five months of the season. if anything, it can become too cold at times. >> china attaches great importance to the big events. it has great political motives for showing a solid society like with the summer olympics. >> the main resorts around harbin in the north, the number of skiers are doubling every year and the skills are improving. >> we need to get to the international stage. but, of course, i'm confi they will do that. they are building good ski resorts. they're taking good care of the slopes. they are ready to invest in it. i'm confident it's only a matter of timing. >> china is using the time to prepare. the next real possibility is to apply for the 2022 winter olympics, by then, china should be more than ready and also a force to be reckoned with. tony birthley, al jazeera, duolemeidi, northern china. time now for our friday roundtable discussion of some of the week's top stories. we're going to take a look at the greing scandal involving the killing of a top official in hamas, the militant palestinian group last month in dubai. police say there are 26 people there involve in a plot they link to israel's spy service. israel is silent on the matter. and afghanistan and pakistan including the battle for marjah saying they control the town after a two-week battle. joining us tonight is james rubin an adjunct professor of columbia university's school of international and public affairs and a former assistant secretary of state in the clinton administration. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> it's waged, it's over. the military aspect. but maybe the toughest part begins. it's a real test of the administration's new policy in afghanistan. >> it really. is i think no one doubted american military power could defeat the taliban. the question is what could happen after they're defeat in a particular region. would the people -- the afghans, support the afghan government taking over, or would they revert back to the supporting the taliban the moment the troops leave? and so the real test for the american policy here is whether support oaf the people in the region shifts to the afghan government so ultimately the afghans can take over without having american forces do everything and ultimately americans can come home. >> how much is riding on this for the united states? >> an enormous amount is riding on the policy because president obama is made it clear he's give them a short amount of time before he's calling them home. that signal has caused some concern in kabul, pakistan, neighboring pakistan. a lot is riding on the ability to use combination forces, civilian projects, civilian support. they don't like to say it, but it's nation-building in afghanistan. and whether we can see the end of the taliban and reasonable afghan government. >> you mentioned pakistan. i want to bring that in. we've seen dramatic developments as far as arrested officials in pakistan. it becomes quite clear they have been operating rather freely in pakistan. but there's a change of heart of the pakistani government. why? >> no one knows what the long-term views of the pakistani intelligence service, the so-called isi are going to be. but recently, it does look like they've begun to cooperate with our intelligence service and not just capture or kill the taliban that have been attacking not just the pakistani government but those taliban that live in pakistan, that are the enemies of hamid karzai in kabul and the united states. and if this cooperation, meaning an across-the-board effort by pakistan and the united states to defeat islamic extremism in the form of al qaeda and these individuals, if that continues, that's really the kind hofstra teenlgic progress people have been looking for and the combination with increased american force, success on the ground, we're going to see the long-term ship in our direction that we're all hopinfor. >> turning dubai and the assassination of the hamas official. do you think israel was involved? well, i don't know. there's few plausible explanations for who would be involved. my best guess from talking to diplomats who know a lot of people in the region is that the israelis thought that the government there, the uae government, the emirates government wasn't going to investigate that very intensely. that government is very factionalized. groups within groups. each emirate has different leadership within each emirate, different parts of the royal family control. israel is expecting a minimal cursory investigation but instead we're having a proper investigation and they're coming up with a rather remarkable pink panther operation in dubai. >> very quickly, the follow-up in israel? >> bad news. the european governments are upset that israel would use european passports to defy previous promises not to do so. it hurts israel long term in terms of international support from key allies in the west. >> if, in fact, israel was involved. james rubin, thank you very much. >> thank you. final tonight, we conclude this week's series but a fascinating look at the culture of australia. the remnants of an ancient civilization is being threatened by the encroachment of the modern world. in australia as you hear this report, a history written in the land is in danger of being erased. . >> sunrise on the northwestern coast of australia. at the dawn of human history, the first people arrived here and settled the southern continent. they are thought to have come here on bamboo rafts. theirs is the oldest living culture in the world. some of the descendents settled here in an arch they carved pictures of animals and ski creatures on the rocks. for australia's indigenous peoples, it became sacred ground. >> it is the bible of the land. not only just in one place, it's all over. white people, they have a church to go to. they have everything on the book, written on the book. aboriginal people, n when they take young people out with initiations, that's when they teach people singing of all animal animals and everything that's in this land. >> tim douglas, who's the company's wilfred sings us the ane except songs their forefathers explained to the chirp to explain the meaning of the pictures now known as petroglyphs. the aborigines documented their reality. they tell a creation story very similar to that in the christian bible, thousands before the bible was written. the pictures have a deep symbolism, only fully apparent to experts and the aborigines themselves. melbourne in southeastern australia. an austrian immigrant is one of the leading experts on rock art. >> it's not obviously large. it is also the largest art gallery in the world, and it's the largest and most significant, most important culture. >> he's an activist who spent decades fighting to protect the dampier lockhart from industrial development. the huge complex is located near the petroglyphs. the iron ore mines are the backbone of the regional economy and created a boom. but thousands of priceless artworks have been removed or destroy in the process. >> once you move a rock, you broke the spirit. you broke the spirit on that rock. that's why we cry. day and night, we see what they're doing to the mining companies. so many things they shouldn't have moved but they did it. >> but the petroglyphs face a bigger threat -- acid rain. creatinged by the flaring or burning off of gases in erodes the rock surface. the aborigine's bible could vanish by the end of the century. >> it commits it destruction of the petrochemical plant next to stone hedge or the egyptians permit the disappearance of the pyramids. and so why is the government avoiding listing dampier on its list? >> even if the australian government is unwilling to sanction it, the peninsula's rock art is a piece of world heritage and one of human kind's oldest surviving art works. but if nothing is done soon to protect this legacy, it could disappear forever. deutsche welle focusing on the indigenous people of the world. there's a whole lot of news to be found on our website on worldfocus.org. i'm martin savidge in new york. it's been great spending the week with you. and i'll look for you next time. until then, have a great weekend. world focus is brought to you by roz land p. walters, and dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. and additional funding is provide bid t provided by the following