>> hello and welcome to the "journal" live from berlin. >> here are the headlines -- has the u.s. in sending military drums from the ec delegation in germany without berlin's knowledge? >> russia says missiles will not reach syria for months, but it will sell missiles to the assad regime.

>> germany says it had no knowledge of u.s. drone strikes being directed from its territory. it follows media reports that allege that the u.s. military was steering drones from german bases. >> the u.s. military had directed drone attacks against suspected islamist guerrillas in somalia and other african countries from its command in stood guard according to reports. the use of drones is highly controversial in germany. >> the u.s. air force base in ramstein, germany. reports have surfaced alleging the facility may have been involved in helping to carry out drone's strikes on terrorists abroad. according to information

collected by german media outlets, pilots in the u.s. were able to steer unmanned drones via a satellite link at the base. their targets -- suspected islamist terrorists in africa. the united states-africa command located at a u.s. space science the guard reportedly planned the strikes -- at a u.s. based in stuttgart. >> the german government has no knowledge of any attacks being planned or carried out by u.s. forces. for that reason, there is no evidence that international law has been breached. >> the use of unmanned drones is highly controversial in germany. opposition parties have demanded the government cease their use. >> is up to the killings are in violation of international law. it is not acceptable that the government says it knew nothing. >> in a statement, a senior u.s.

commanders said the base is not used to control unmanned craft. >> earlier, we spoke with our parliamentary correspondent about this and asked him to give us a bit more clarity on the story. >> no one is claiming the u.s. pilots are sitting at joysticks in germany directly carrying out the lethal attacks in africa. what german media reports are suggesting is that the u.s. media facilities in germany are being used to support those operations, to make those drone attacks possible. it is said that u.s. military in germany are doing several things -- first of all, they are carrying out aerial reconnaissance, directing aerial reconnaissance in africa, that they are assisting with intelligence to provide identification of targets, and most crucially, that they are

rooting this signals used in to attack saddam being carried out in africa, and given that the u.s. does have its command headquarters in germany, those allegations are somewhat plausible. >> at midnight tonight, the european union arms embargo on syria expires, meaning member countries could theoretically start providing anti-assad rebels with weapons if they chose to. >> meanwhile, the situation has become more complicated, with russia say and it is sending fighter jets to the syrian government as part of a contract, this is there was more heavy fighting in syria. >> and a lack of unity among the various syrian opposition groups is making it increasingly difficult to support the rebel movement. >> russian aircraft maker made has confirmed it will supply at least 10 modern fighter jets to

the syrian regime. it is not clear when the jets would arrive. a syrian trade delegation is reportedly in moscow to discuss the deal. russia is also providing the syrian regime with s-300 anti- aircraft missiles, though an unnamed source says the weapons could take months to arrive. western powers have condemned the arms deals. speaking in washington, the german foreign minister said russia's decision to ship arms to syria further endangered plans for peace talks. >> no one knows if this conference will become a success, but i think it is the wrong message which has been sent by our colleagues in russia to the world and to the region by delivering s-30 or other parts of weapons. >> but the syrian opposition is also threatening to derail plans for the peace conference.

the opposition says it will not take part until lebanese hezbollah fighters and iranian personnel have left syrian territory. >> a conflict in syria and the unstable political situation at home has prompted lebanese lawmakers to postpone the election schedule from june this year to november 2014. >> ahead of the vote, protesters have gathered outside parliament to throw tomatoes at lawmakers and scuffle with police. lawmakers are also considering reforming election laws. turkish police have used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators in istanbul, injuring dozens. >> the demonstrators were initially sparked by plans to replace a park in istanbul with a shopping mall. the unrest quickly spread after

demonstrators said police used excessive force against the protesters. protesters also spread to ankara, where turkish authorities attempted to break up the solidarity demonstration. amnesty international has voiced concern over the aggressive crackdown. many people lost their jobs due to the draconian austerity measures imposed by lawmakers in response to the bailout funds secured from the so-called troika. >> this weekend marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the ecb. demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the central bank this friday to protest against its policies. >> several hundred members of the blocuppy movement. police were also out in frankfurt's banking district. the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, although a few

protesters tried to barricade the surrounding bank. >> we are protesting against the european a steady policy, which is a disaster for people in the countries affected, and the cuts will affect us as well. >> the troika has far too much power. we can no longer assesse -- accept a system of democracy. >> many demonstrators moved on to other sites, including the headquarters of germany's biggest bank. >> we accused deutsche bank of continuing to push commodity speculation, and we criticize its involvement in land grabbing, which is forcing people all over the world off their land. >> the protests are a prelude to a mass demonstration planned for saturday. organizers are expecting around

20,000 people to take part. >> and on to friday's market action, european shares ended the month on a negative note. our correspondent said as the summary of the trading day at the frankfurt stock exchange. >> t-shirts, black t-shirts, jeans, running shoes, hoodies, even. it is not exactly the kind of a tire you would assume a banker or trader here on the frankfurt floor would be wearing, but that is exactly what people want to work this day. it was not a usual workday. riots of the stock market, everything remained quiet, but people had to get to work, so it was a suggestion by many employers that people who work here not necessarily appear as bankers right off the bat, so as to avoid a possible conflict. it did not do any harm. the dax did lose, but for the week, the dax had a gain of

about 0.5%. the month of may looks even better, the picture even brighter, the dax gaining about 6%. >> bringing you back down to earth, and the mood today, which was not all that good in frankfurt, where the dax was losing a lot of ground. 8348 points was the closing number. the euro stoxx 50 sliding by over a full percent. the dow jones has lost over 0.5%. the hero worth $1.32 in u.s. dollars. -- the euro worth $1.32. >> new figures show the economy grew by 5% in 2012-2013, but that is the slowest annual rate in a decade. >> it is another blow to the corruption of government headed next year's elections. the and india as a manufacturing and service sectors posted the most disappointing growth -- >>

@ india's manufacturing and service sectors. the prime minister said taming his country's high inflation rate of nearly 10% was key. >> there is more space available to pursue a pro-growth policies, and i do believe in the coming months, i do believe you will see inflation coming under greater control. >> other problems include poor infrastructure, corruption, and high state spending. that all puts a damper on growth in this emerging economy. 5% is far below this type of growth set by the governing coalition. >> once upon a time, we turned around 10% gdp growth. there were certain quarters where we could achieve more than 9% gdp growth. there were two quarters where we did. now, gdp falling to as low as 4.8% means there will be

problems and negativity for india as well as internationally. >> but not just international investors. concern is growing in india itself at the slowing pace of growth. the country goes to the polls in 2014, and the economic slowdown is likely to be a pivotal campaign issue. >> to germany now, a country known as being very innovative when it comes to science and technology, and there's another generation of young scientists on its way. >> the competition was set up all the way back in 1965 to encourage youngsters to come up with new inventions. this year, there are more than 11,000 entries from school kids all over the country's rigid from all over the country. >> we met a few of these young inventors. >> up, up and away. this many drone cruises through the air -- this minidrone.

it's 18 and 19-year-old inventors have also equipped it with a virtual crash buffer. >> it is always monitoring its current position of the gps so it can automatically avoid obstacles that have been programmed in. it is like a driver assistance system that can recognize obstacles on its own and avoid collisions. >> a quatro-copter is a helicopter with four propellers. this is their eighth project for the young researchers competition. in the world of up-and-coming inventors, they are pros. the pair met through the competition. they're excited to present their latest project here. >> this is the product of several development stages. each of them was designed first on a computer. then we develop circuit diagrams.

then a 3-d model in order to spot any bugs. then we cut out in my basement, screwed it together, and this is what the final product looks like. >> use researching is europe's biggest use science competition -- youth researching is europe's biggest youth science competition. most interest focused on environmental protection, but this is about a different kind of protection. it is a smartphone app that allows children -- parents to put brakes on their children's tricycles. >> i was in the woods with my brother, and we came to a steep drop. he kept going faster, and then he came to a fall. i thought it would be practical if i had a remote control. >> he will not be selling his

invention. it would be too expensive. just being here is an opportunity that could open doors for the young inventors. >> when we come back, how desperate times are calling for desperate measures in venezuela. authorities have launched a police raid for toilet paper. >> we are back in a few minutes. stay with us.

>> welcome back. the first census in a long time in germany has revealed 1.5 million fewer people than thought and about 15% fewer foreigners. and immigration is -- >> immigration is a hot topic. the government has been pushing hard for skilled migrants. >> there has been a huge surge in immigration, mainly from debt-stricken southern europe. >> the government has been coming up with more targeted policies for its citizens. >> analysts have spent two years number crunching, tabulating

homes, ages, education levels and counting the population. >> as of may 9, 2011, germany had about 1.5 million fewer citizens than previously thought. >> demographics experts were surprised that german citizens accounted for only a fraction of the downward correction. >> for foreigners, the deviation was considerably greater. nearly 1.1 million fewer foreigners living in germany than was previously estimated. >> but the overall picture is of a country clearly changed by immigration. nationwide, nearly 19% of people in germany have been immigrant background. that figure includes residents who are immigrants themselves or have a foreign-born parents. almost 40% of them have foreign citizenship. the census data also show an aging population, a trend set to

continue. just under 16% of the more than 80 million people living in germany are under age 18 while more than 40% of the population are 50 and older. the census also revealed that most people live in rented apartments, but there are nearly half a million more units than previously thought. 4% of the units are unoccupied. authorities will now have to adjust government budgets to reflect the revised numbers. >> every business takes an inventory usually once a year if it can in order to make sure that the numbers on the books correspond to what is on the shelves. this since this is like a kind of inventory, and after 20 years, it was time for us to take stock. >> new rules require countries to conduct a census once every 10 years. that means germany's next one will take place in 2021.

>> we are joined now from the berlin brandenburg office for statistics. first of all, where did all of those people go? >> we assume that many people left germany and left in germany without the registration, which is why they are still in our population registers. >> this the first full-scale census in germany since reunification and the worst -- the first in the west since 1987. why has it taken so long? >> when unification came, we have lots of data bases from the western and eastern part. it took a lot of time. we started now with a new census. >> i suppose that is because of unification itself took a lot of time. what are some of the most significant findings of this report in your opinion? >> one significant finding is we are now 1.5 million people less than we assumed to be. about 60% of the people that are

not there anymore are people with foreign citizenship, and that is really interesting. if you see how the age structure is in germany, you see very clearly that in the age range 65 years and older, we only have a few people with an immigrant background, it seems to be that these people leave germany. that is certainly, just as a last question, something that is changing in germany, would you say? >> we know about that before, but we have only a small sample. now we have a big sample. it is 10%, so i think we can validate all this data now. >> thank you very much for your time. still to come on the show, why a venezuelan police raid targeted secret stashes of toilet paper. >> first, however, these stories in brief. firefighters in california are

still battling severe wild fires burning north of los angeles, and they have called in aircraft to help contain the blaze. the flames have eaten through hundreds of hectares in the national forest. it is still not clear how many houses have been affected. a huge asteroid will pass close to the earth day, but it will be keeping a safe distance of 6 million kiloliters. that is 15 times further away than our moon. the asteroid measures almost 3 kiloliters in length. stargazers hoping to catch a glimpse will need a powerful telescope. >> large parts of germany have been hit by floods after days of heavy rainfall. police say a cyclist died in flood waters in hanover. rivers burst their banks, and houses were inundated in cities across the country. meteorologist save more heavy rain is on its way. venezuela was the site of a

dramatic recent bust. an anonymous tip off lead to a police raid on an apartment in a working-class suburb of caracas. >> all tusis toilet paper. about 2.5000 rolls -- all to seize toilet paper. about 2500 roles. >> it is a desperate situation for many venezuelans. household staples are scarce, and accusations of hoarding are rife. >> here in the city south of caracas, her kitchen reserves are limited. these days, venezuela often faces shortages of milk, butter, and corn flour used to make the country's national dish. >> you can eat it without butter, but you cannot tell the kids there's nothing to put in their bottles.

we have to go to a lot of trouble to get what we need. >> she often has a tough time finding the things she needs at her neighborhood grocery store. supplies are harder to come back here -- to come by here than in the capital, and she does not have much money. even the store owner is not much better off. >> i have to run all over to find a few things, and sometimes, the price is doubled. >> occasionally, pushing and shoving are what it takes. this internet video shows a grocery store with a few dozen chickens for sale. they go quickly to the customers who can grab them the fastest. a shortage of toilet paper is also evident on supermarket shelves. the scarce supply even led parliament to give the

government a special allowance so it can buy rolls from abroad. opposition politicians blame the government. meanwhile, president maduro has pointed his finger at the united states but also at venezuelan companies. maduro claims they are holding back supplies to destabilize the country and remove him from power. >> if any of you thinks that economic woe will defeat nicolas maduro, you are way off. some of you can be overthrown. >> as a successor of late president hugo chavez, maduro has also inherited the consequences of chavez's economic policies. for years, chavez to make it -- neglected the manufacture -- the agricultural sector. but his restrictions on foreign currency make imports difficult, and vendors must often stick to fixed low prices

set by the state, meaning businesses have a hard time covering their own costs. financial experts say this system cannot go on. >> what we're seeing now is the collapse of a model that was not sustainable over time. it was focused on consumption and not on production. venezuela is going to have to steer away from this model of consuming cheap imported products and move toward a model that is focused on production. >> until that happens, it looks like the search for groceries is not going to get any easier. >> for more on the story, we talked to a professor of political science who focuses on latin america. i asked him what president maduro will do to help ease the shortage is in his country. >> he will do what a lot of venezuelan presidents did. he will import the goods -- he will try to import the goods

that are missing, and he will accuse the opposition for creating this situation of under supply. the problem is that he has a very hard job because succeeding chavez is perhaps the worst job in venezuela. chavez was a very good entertainer, a political entertainer, and a good provider, at least for his people. they expect maduro to do the same thing. >> the opposition leader recently met with the colombian president. maduro has called that an affront. what do you make of it? >> he looks for additional support, which is quite difficult, because the latin american countries accepted the result of the april elections. what we will see now is -- will the government in caracas stay together? he is looking for additional

support and look how he can improve his position, but the important question is -- will the government stay together? >> thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> onto some sports news now. the 35-year-old east past the clear from the united states and in straight sets. among the women, one italian made short work of the player from germany. the defending champion finished off with a straight set victory. that is all from us for now. thank you for joining us. >> see you again soon. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--