>> welcome to "the journal." >> we have the business news. welcome. >> the headlines this hour, "we did not help hide a terrorist? what the prime minister of pakistan said they did not assist hiding osama bin laden. >> a credit rating is downgraded again. >> and a star midfielder is moving to real madrid.

>> pakistan's prime minister has rejected accusations that his country was heidi osama bin laden. but he said he has ordered an investigation into how the al qaeda leader residents went unnoticed. -- leader's residence went unnoticed. >> they have been piling pressure on the government. the prime minister's speech to lawmakers on monday sought to fend off critics from both sides. >> they cannot be held accounts for these policies. we did not invite osama bin laden to pakistan. >> questions from the u.n. center on whether elements in

the pakistan the intelligence knew about the bin laden compound. the accusations were rejected as absurd, pointing out that pakistan itself was a victim of al qaeda attacks. he also answer domestic critics who said the u.s. operations were a blow to pakistan's sovereignty and have called on the prime minister to resign. >> any attack against pakistan, it they will find a matching response. >> despite the heated rhetoric, the u.s. and pakistan maintain they still have important strategic ties. >> it is important to remember, as complex as this relationship is, it remains a very important relationship for the united states because of our national security interests. >> now, the white house wants access to three of bin laden's

wives who are in pakistan custody. >> we now go to an author on a book on security. welcome. first off, you have been advising governments in the region for decades. what is your opinion? who was helping osama bin laden, and what did pakistan know about it? >> i think pakistan knew nothing really about the presence of bin laden in the country. secondly, iran was the principal government which was helping osama bin laden since before 9/11, so i think we have to clear the ground there. certainly, this was an embarrassment in pakistan and the pakistan government, but the pakistan government had always pledged to support u.s. intervention into pakistan to capture bin laden or kill him if possible, so, basically, i think they knew nothing about it until the joint intelligence of pakistan and the united states

tracked down bin laden. >> can they get back on track with islamabad? it stated elsewhere in the world is slipping. >> we have to bear in mind that barack obama's principal objection -- target is to get reelected, and he feels he has the end of this year, so this is the opportunity to say mission accomplished, which is essentially what he has said, that it is served, to declare a victory and go home. i think that washington is absolutely not concerned about improving relations with pakistan at this stage, which is a very short-sighted approach to the situation because pakistan remains the only real avenue for the united states to have good access into central asia for the future, and that is now

disappearing. >> briefly, if you could, what does the u.s. then need to do to improve the security in the region. >> welcome in has to start taking a longer-term view. -- well, it has to start taking a longer-term view. this may be good for obama. it is not good for the united states. the united states has to start building relationships which get it comfortable with pakistan and then building a longer-term relationship in afghanistan. right now, it is not doing that. it needs to start giving a little more respect to pakistan. there is absolutely a lack of understanding and pakistan about what the dynamic is inside a pakistan and the fact that it has suffered more from terrorism and al qaeda itself. >> big you so very much for your comments. >> thank you. >> in other news, the eu says it

is imposing an arms embargo on syria as well as top government officials. this comes in response to a sweeping military operations against anti-government protesters that has left hundreds of people dead. the army has been deployed at a number of cities across the country, and hundreds of people of been arrested. the protests appeared to be spreading with this internet footage. it appears to be from an eastern city earlier. it was concentrated on the south and west. >> the international organization for migration says it has more accounts that hundreds of people capsized off of the libyan coastline last week. witnesses say some man -- people made it back, but others drowned. in a separate incident, migrants rescued from libya after their boat ran aground.

many on the vessel jumped into the sea in a panic. the u.s. agency says some parts -- failed to reach the city. over to ariana, and greece has been downgraded. >> they may need more time and more money in order to deal with the debt crisis. it is not enough. athens wants to revise the terms of the bailout deal. a major rating agency has cut the credit rating of greece. shares fell across europe on the news. >> after the eu finance ministers met secretly to discuss the greed debt crisis, there is growing speculation about a second bailout package for athens. the eu is looking to extend the

payment schedules and lower interest rates on its rescue package. there is also talk of restructuring greek debt. that would be bad news for creditors, who would have to write off much of their loans. for now, they are willing out an exit from the green zone. >> we have been talking worst- case scenario in greece were to leave the euro. i think there should be an attempt to solve the problem in an orderly fashion. we need to get on top of the situation in greece. its debt needs to be restructured, and if that is done in a coordinated way, the whole thing can be wrapped up with limited damage. it increased decides ultimately to leave the euro, which is free to do, then its competitiveness could be improved decidedly. >> the ratings agency standard and poor's was quick to react over concerns and cut the country's credit rating. it says it looks increasingly likely that greece will be given

more time to repay its bailout loans. but its decision about more aid for greece is not yet on the table. experts are reviewing the current situation. >> the german economy continues to power ahead. experts -- exports surged in march, reaching all-time highs. it is a sign the economy has rebounded. 98.3 billion euros, the highest monthly level since 1950, when records began. >> cars, engineering products led the list of exported products. two thirds when two eu countries, as demand began to pick up there. german exports have changed, but the rise in march was unprecedented, a jump from the previous year.

analysts expect the trend to continue as more countries emerge from their economic crisis. it has been projected that the total value of exports could surpass one trillion euros. >> the year is to kill -- the largest european automaker has raised its stake about 30% in one company. that means there must now be a mandatory takeover bid. this was part of the plans of you -- vw. it includes a heavy truck koran. vw believe the alliance can bring synergies there has been a ham radio to other issues. they need to create a commercial unit. our correspondent filed this

report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> concerned about the debt problems, these concerns weighed on the minds of investors. what is more, this will bring many publications of inflation data, and in china, an increase in interest rates is being expected. many reasons for investors to stay away from buying stocks. an exception was made by shares in a truck maker, where the mandatory takeover bid that volkswagen made helped their stocks to end the day on the upside. >> that was conrad in frankfurt. let's take a closer look at the market numbers. in frankfurt, the dax closed down 1%. the euro stoxx 50 index closed at 2902, down. and the dow industrials ended

the session higher at 12 goslin 684, and on currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.4361. an insurance company is reporting losses, but it says that it should be in profit by the end of the year. they say they lost in the month of january. many analysts thought the first quarter losses would be higher, largely due to natural disasters and weather-related catastrophes. and it is back to you. >> first, it was a monster tornadoes, and now, the mississippi is raging, flooding towns and destroying thousands of hectares of five parma and in missouri. -- fine farmland in missouri.

it has not been that high since 1930. thousands of people of already been evacuated. >> memphis, tennessee. the home of the blues. but now, the mighty mississippi is calling the tune. thousands of volunteers are filling sandbags for what could be the highest level in years. in this crisis center, workers are comparing the flood to a slow motion tsunami. heavy rains caused it to swallow so far that some tributaries are flying backwards. >> it is a very serious situation. as you know, we have already had to evacuate some of our folks, and we may have to evacuate more. >> days ago, they blew up levees upstream in missouri in an attempt to save cities.

over five and a square kilometers of farmland were flooded. local farmers are furious. some are now suing the u.s. government. people in memphis be aired the worst. many streets and highways are already submerged. the sheriff's department as volunteers on patrol in an effort to prevent looting. residents managed to evacuate in time, but their homes have been damaged to a point of no return. >> at this point, the last i heard was about 2800. >> but memphis could just be the beginning. further south, memphis is bracing for another disaster. >> there may be hope for cuban's looking to travel abroad. there were near reform guidelines published today, and there is an indication that the government will study ways to reduce the bureaucratic hurdles.

this began after fidel castro handed over their role in 2008. >> germany is about to see its first census in more than two decades. they can expect a raft of questions from census gores. millions will give details about their family status, occupation, religion, and much more. a random selection of a population will face those questions. anyone refusing to take part could face a fine. the government says it needs that information to help plan for the future. coming up in our "in depth" in just a bit, we will take a closer look. some sports now, a belgian cyclists have died after a crash. he was only 26 years old. he fell off of his bicycle during a dissent.

that was on stage three of the race in northern italy. doctors at the scene were not able to revive him. he is the first cyclist to die since 1995. more sports now come a setback for the fans of the soccer club. this is saying goodbye to one of its star players that help steer the team to the title this year. another player says he is moving to real madrid. in excess of 10 million euros. he is considered a top talent, the youngest player to ever joint, making his debut at the age of just 16. well, what is the right balance between privacy and the need of the state to protect its citizens? we will be looking at that question and more when we probe's data protection in europe and here in germany.

in light of the senses, the first in more than 20 years, that is coming up. >> dick brown. >> -- stick around.

>> just like television. life's dream. one of dw-tv's mobile options. more information. >> thanks for staying with us. what is the best balance between the needs of the state to protect its citizens and your personal privacy? how many of your emails and phone calls should be noted and stored by government agencies? and how easily she police authorities be able to access that information? these are extremely sensitive issues right now in europe, especially here in germany, as the country begins taking its first census in more than two decades. the european commission wants all member states to have a policy on data retention. police and border security officials say it would help them preempt terrorist attacks. but democracy advocates say what

brussels wants is effectively a green light for mass surveillance and the collapse of protections for personal privacy. here is more. >> 500 million people live in the european union, storing data from citizens' meeting that details of people's daily lives are being saved for months or even years. the eu wants to have common standards for data retention, but there are great differences among countries, like britain, sweden, and poland. in poland's, internet traffic data is stored for two years. police and other authorities can access the data even when investigating minor crimes, but many polls are against such a mass storage of data. there is concern, especially in light of the communist past of poland. >> storing data like this is

similar to the file compiled by the secret police. kidd is very dangerous, especially with information technology. it is too easy. >> in britain, there are an estimated 4000 closed-circuit television. every citizen is caught on camera 300 times per day. in britain, internet data is stored for years as. britain also has the biggest dna database in the world. this is unthinkable in sweden. across the political spectrum, there is broad agreement that the citizens' privacy data should be protected. many worry about where the collected data should and up. >> i think there is a huge risk that the information will get into the wrong hands and that someone who should not be using it is going to use it. i have not really seen this

except for compromise civil liberties. >> sweden has refused to implement the new directive on data retention. the european commission has taken stockholm to court twice over the issue. activists in europe hope the you will reconsider its plans on data retention. they want to be free to make phone calls and surf the internet without being watched. >> as we saw there, some parts of europe are more free when it comes to the state knowing who you talk to and send emails to. the constitutional courts of several european courts have said that implementing the new data director vote are illegal. these points out that political power derives from the people and not from your administrators. those protections are in the czech republic, romania, and here in germany. >> telecommunications data can

reveal a lot. investigators often use it to create a profile, but germany's highest court overturned a previous retention laws, saying it was unconstitutional. a coalition partner believes that was the right decision, but conservatives one dated to be served -- stored for six months. >> thousands of crimes remain unsolved every year because the only piece of evidence is 7 to vacations data. no witnesses, no fingerprints. >> if you do not want to see data storage, then you want to see crimes remain unsolved. >> we cannot put 80 million citizens under general suspicion. storing their everyday telecommunications data, their emails and other data, just in case we might need to use it some day. we do not need data cemeteries like this. >> another wants to be able to access the internet with its

mobile phone without his information being stored somewhere. as long as someone is not under suspicion of the crime, but he believes people should not be watched. >> data retention is not important. it is important to that data available when there is a concrete suspicion of the crime. then the data should be frozen. if the judge permits, then it should be released. >> you can only freeze data that you already have, data that was not restored or has already been raised cannot be frozen. every housewife knows you can only freeze which actually have in the kitchen, nothing else. >> wolfgang does not hold out much hope that his conservatives and their coalition partner will reach agreement on a new law this year. currently, the duration the data is stored depends on the terms of customers contracts with their delicate vacations provider. for now at least, people can

make phone calls in germany without being monitored. >> oh what should we make about the move to store information? and will the trends continue? authority in brussels continuing to expect ever higher levels of compliance. we have been discussing that with the european digital rights, a nonprofit association that campaigns for data protection. >> i think it is that this measure is simply not necessary. >> why do you say that? >> because in germany -- it has not been pursued in countries like romania. when you compare this with other countries, you see that there is no practical benefit in the countries that have this policy in place already.

>> what about those who say we need this to protect us against terrorist attacks? >> there is nothing to indicate that this is a necessary policy, and what the member states came back with is very limited evidence, and it shows it is simply not necessary. >> so what do you think is behind this? it seems like you're worried about the eu becoming a type of big brother? >> >> well, right now, the eu has a policy of recruiting private companies to take part in policing, so you have this particular measure, for example, demanding that telecom companies retain data. you have another which is requiring the collection and use of passenger name records, from air travelers, and in the

financial area, there is the exchange with the united states. this is part of a wider, quite disturbing move of law enforcement into the private sector. >> so what are your real concerns here? are you more concerned about the government's storing and keeping the data or the data getting outside of government control? >> i think both are a concern. when the data is collected, it represents a security risk, and that can be seen upon from sony, for example. if data is collected, then it must be collected for a clear and necessary purpose, and this is not the case here. >> joe, from the advocacy group, thank you very much. and that is our "in depth, as germany prepares to habits% this in 20 years is. the last one had court challenges and protests.

compared to last time around, there is little objection. thank you for joining us here at "dw-tv."