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Connect the World
Good News for Libyan Rebels; Eman al-Obeidy Alleges Continued Harassment; Egyptian Foreign Minister Praises Younger Generation for Successful Revolution; Haiti Elects New President
Aired April 21, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(CLOSING BELL AT NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE)
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN ANCHOR: Thursday, April 21st, the closing bell on Wall Street, marking the end of the trading day there, and let's have a look. Stocks down some 50 points, there, in the last few moments of trading.
Let's have a look at the rest of the headlines. Syria is bracing for fresh protests Friday, even after the president met a key opposition demand, Bashar al-Assad lifting an emergency law which restricted freedom for nearly 50 years. But the opposition wants an investigation into killings during recent unrest.
Authorities say a bomb killed at least 15 people at a gambling club in the Pakistani port city of Karachi. At least 40 other people were wounded in the blast. A police official says the bomb was placed under a table.
Egypt's public prosecutor has sent a medical team to the Sharm el- Sheikh resort to check the health of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, who's under temporary detention. They'll see if he can be transferred to Cairo's Torah Prison or its hospital.
The Japanese government is stepping up enforcement of an evacuation zone around the Fukushima nuclear plant. Officials are forbidding anyone from coming within 3 kilometers of the damaged plant. Access to a 20- kilometer exclusion zone will be highly regulated.
Earthquake-devastated Haiti now has a president. The popular singer turned politician, Michel Martelly, has been officially confirmed as the winner of the March 20th runoff. Martelly took more than 67 percent of the vote.
And those are the latest headlines. CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, US SECRETARY OF STATE: I think it is always -- a temptation in any conflict to expect there to be a resolution quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: The United States tells the world, be patient in Libya, after criticism that NATO is not doing enough. But with a going humanitarian crisis, we'll ask the UN, are troops on the ground? Now, the answer.
Also tonight, how your iPhone is doing much more than just tracking your calls.
And the beginning of a royal romance. We're going to head to the Scottish town where William and Kate's eyes first met.
Those stories and more tonight as we CONNECT THE WORLD.
We begin tonight with a rare bit of good news for the rebels in Libya. Opposition fighters have seized control of a key border crossing at the western town of Wazen. Some 100 troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi reportedly abandoned their weapons and fled into Tunisia.
Now, this crossing could give the rebels crucial access to the Libyan city of Nalut, under siege by Gadhafi's forces for the past month.
Also under siege, Misrata, where rebels warn a massacre is taking place as government forces indiscriminately shell the city. Aid workers scrambling the victims from there, a ship carrying hundreds of the wounded is expected to dock any minute now in Benghazi, carrying the bodies of two journalists killed yesterday.
Well, NATO, meantime, is warning civilians to stay away from military areas, perhaps foreshadowing plans to ramp up air strikes against the regime. And we've just learned that the United States will begin using predator drones to allow for more precise attacks. Let's get more. Fred Pleitgen is following all of these developments. He's on the ground in Tripoli.
The pieces of the jigsaw, moving slightly tonight, Fred. What's your assessment?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is quite significant, especially the fact that the US now says that it wants to use these predator drones here in Libya.
That, of course -- I wouldn't say it was necessarily a game changer, but it is something that could make a very big difference, especially in the town of Misrata. Because one of the things that the rebels have been complaining about is that they say that the US is not conducting enough air strikes, that out of fear of causing collateral damage, of hitting civilians in those.
Now, the predators, of course, they're very slow-moving drones. They're very good at monitoring the ground, monitoring what's going on there and, then, very precisely hitting a target.
So, those are something -- those are sort of the assets that could very easily do a lot of damage to Gadhafi's forces, especially in those dense, urban areas that is, of course, Misrata in particular.
Now, the other thing that you mentioned, of course, is the border crossing, there, with Tunisia, and that, indeed, is also quite significant, the fact that about 100 rebels overran the border post earlier today. There was fighting for quite a while, then the Libyan troops, there, abandoned it and actually ran over to the Tunisian side and defected to the Tunisian army to not be caught by the rebels.
The latest that we have is that this outpost is still in rebel hands. Meanwhile, there is a lot of fighting going on in the towns close to there, Yafran and Nalut, which is populated by tribes that notoriously have been very anti-Gadhafi. We've seen uprisings in that area before, but now it seems they're having some more success than before, Becky.
ANDERSON: Before you go, I know you've got some more information on a woman who became iconic, made headlines during this civil war for standing up to Gadhafi's forces, Eman al-Obeidy, of course.
PLEITGEN: Absolutely. And of course, she scrambled into this hotel that we're in right now to plead her cause to the foreign journalists after she'd allegedly been raped by people loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.
She since has been trying to leave Gadhafi-controlled Libya to visit her parents in Benghazi. She's not been able to do that yet, and she told us today in an interview that we had to conduct in a car because we're not actually allowed to see her that she's still being harassed on a daily basis. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMAN AL-OBEIDY, ALLEGEDLY RAPED BY GADHAFI FORCES (through translator): I usually get harassed when I have to show my identification card to government officials somewhere and they find out who I am and that I've put complaints forward against Gadhafi's people.
They humiliate me to the point where other people gather around and start saying that it's shameful to treat a Libyan woman that way. It is the same thing every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: And Eman also tells that, of course, she went to the police and tried to bring those who raped her to justice, and she says on that front, also, no movement whatsoever. No move by the Libyan authorities to try and bring those people to justice, Becky.
ANDERSON: You are bang up to date on what is going on in Libya. Fred, we thank you for that.
Well, the bombs of some of the world's most powerful militaries have so far failed to tip the scales significantly in this war. Rebels and some of their supporters desperately want NATO to step up the fight, but the top US diplomat says, "Be patient and put things into perspective," she says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I would remind you that the United States and other partners bombed targets in Serbia for 78 days, and it looked at the end of that as though there had been a success in terms of protecting the Kosovars, but that Milosevic remained in power. But there had been a dynamic put into motion that eventually led to his being in the Hague.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: All right. Secretary Clinton drawing some analogies, there. I'm going to have to draw another one a little later. I want to get you, though, the latest stats. Let's step back a little bit.
There are currently 200 NATO aircraft enforcing a no-fly zone here in Libya. There have been more than 3,000 sorties we have -- and 16 -- conducted, and more than 1,200 air strikes.
Bringing this one up. Remember that there are vessels at sea, of course, as well, and that's important to remember. On the water, there are 18 NATO ships patrolling the waters of the Mediterranean near the Libyan coast. So far, 457 vessels have been hailed and 10 have been boarded to determine destination and specific cargo.
And this, the final piece of the jigsaw, as it were. Of the 28 countries who are members of NATO, only France, Britain, the United States, Belgium, Canada, and Norway -- oh, bring in Denmark, there, as well, I'm sorry -- are participating in the strikes.
So, let's take a look and see what individual countries are doing, shall we? This is what the United States is up to. It took a lead, of course, in the role since the crisis began, but since NATO took control, they've stepped back significantly. They are still conducting air strikes, though. We've got to remember that.
The UK also significantly involved, taking part in air strikes and have also said in the past week that they would send military devices to help the opposition. That's the UK's position.
What about France? Well, they're taking a lead role, as well, standing beside the Brits, here, sending advisers, as well, to Libya, also participating in the strikes.
Bring up Italy for you. Air bases used, of course, by others who are conducting their missions. Reconnaissance-only missions, though, by the Italians, and they are also sending advisers to Libya.
This country, of course, is significant, Qatar. They held a meeting on the future of Libya last week and have also supplied weapons to the rebels.
That's just a reminder of what's going on. Sometimes we get a bit micro about this, we actually need to step back and remember the significance of the NATO involvement.
Now, the United States has not joined those countries that are sending military advisers into Libya. It knows from experience that that step can be a slippery slope into what can become an intractable war. Barbara Starr reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARABARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the US military, the Vietnam Conflict remains a long shadow. US troops first went there as advisers. It would become a full-fledged war. Advising can become a slippery slope. Advisers need supplies, security, their own weapons.
PETER BROOKES, HERITAGE FOUNDATINO: We have mission creep going on, here. I think that's the concern, here. This is a bit of an escalation, even if it's a small group of people, and I'm not sure what effect it's really going to have on the ground. That's something we're just going to have to see.
STARR (voice-over): The Obama administration still says no US ground troops, but it is now sending the rebels aid and non-lethal military equipment.
CLINTON: We are moving to authorize up to $25 million in non-lethal commodities and services to support the Transitional National Council and our efforts to protect civilians and the civilian-populated areas that are under threat of attack from their own government in Libya.
STARR (voice-over): Most of the supplies will come from the Pentagon.
MARK TONER, US STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We're talking about things like radios, non-secure radios, body armor.
STARR (on camera): In a way, the US equipment and the European military advisers do go hand-in-hand, because a main priority now is to get the rebels better organized and better able to communicate between themselves and with NATO. Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: All right. Well, in addition to these fears of mission creep, aid workers for their own reasons are opposing an expanded military presence in Libya. The European Union, remember, is offering to provide military escorts for aid deliveries, but the UN's humanitarian chief says it could be dangerous to blur those lines.
Valerie Amos has just returned from Libya, joining us out of the United Nations this evening. You're just back. Before we move on, describe where you were and what saw, Valerie.
VALERIE AMOS, CHIEF, UN HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: I was in Tripoli, and then I went to Benghazi. The purpose of my trip was to call for a cessation of hostilities so that we could get people out, enable people who wanted to leave a very insecure situation to do that, and get aid supplies in.
I also wanted to negotiate to get a small humanitarian presence in Tripoli and to try to go by road into Misrata.
ANDERSON: Are you getting a positive response from both sides when it comes to getting aid movements around at this point?
AMOS: Well, I secured an agreement with the government of Libya that they would ensure safe passage into Tripoli and safe passage by road to Misrata --
ANDERSON: Do you believe them?
AMOS: We also want to go into Misrata -- Well, of course, the test of all of this is in implementation, so this weekend, we're planning to get the first few people into Tripoli and early next week to try and go by road into Misrata. The test --
ANDERSON: Right.
AMOS: -- will be the implementation of this on the ground.
ANDERSON: You --
AMOS: We also want to get it -- get in by sea from Benghazi. We've managed to do that in terms of ships going in, picking up individuals, moving out, or getting supplies in. But of course, from our perspective, we want to be able to stay longer --
ANDERSON: Sure.
AMOS: -- so that we can find out exactly what's going on, who needs what.
ANDERSON: Significantly, you have warned against blurring the lines between military operations and relief work. Have you said that because you believe that is what is beginning to happen?
AMOS: I said it because we have very good offers from the European Union and from NATO to support the delivery of humanitarian aid, and we know that in some situations, it's important to get the military involved. We've seen it very often when there was a natural emergency and they come in and they do what they do best.
When you have a conflict situation, as you have now in Libya, it's much more complicated, because of course, humanitarian workers can become the target if they are --
ANDERSON: Sure.
AMOS: -- delivering aid under the auspices of the military, who are also parties to the conflict. So, we have to be very, very careful. Up until now, we have managed to get aid in using civilian assets.
As long as we can continue to do that -- because obviously, it's the people at the end of this, the people who need help, who are the most important -- as long as we can continue to do this, that's the best route - -
ANDERSON: All right.
AMOS: -- to take. If it becomes impossible, then we'll have to look at other options.
ANDERSON: All right, I buy what you're saying. Barbara Starr reminding us in the report before I spoke to you that there is a slippery slope of sending advisers to Vietnam. You've been on the ground, you've seen what's going on. Does the West have any real end game in Libya, Valerie?
AMOS: On the political context and the military context and what's going on, I have tried to keep out of that, because from my perspective, what we do on the humanitarian side has got to be impartial and neutral.
We've got to talk to everybody, because we've got to be able to try to get those people in need. We have to talk to the opposition, they control some parts of Libya. We have to talk to the government, they control some other parts of Libya.
There are negotiations going on on the political and the military side. Of course, I want those political discussions to succeed because it means that the fighting will stop and people can get help. But I am not directly involved in those political negotiations because I don't want to blur those lines.
ANDERSON: Valerie Amos, making her point very clear, this evening, out of the UN. We thank you, as ever, for joining us.
All right, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. After the break, we'll tell you why some of Israel's most respected intellectuals gathered at a landmark in Tel Aviv and how their message was received.
And later, many of us couldn't get through a day without them, but is there more on your iPhone or your iPad that meets the eye, and it could it be a threat to your privacy? That, coming up after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, support for a Palestinian state in a quite unusual place, earlier. Dozens of prominent Israelis gathered on the streets of Tel Aviv today to declare their support for an independent Palestine.
How realistic, though, is their proposal? We're going to get the view from Israel and, indeed, from the United Nations coming up this hour.
I'm Becky Anderson in London, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN at 18 minutes past 9:00 out of London. A look at the other stories that we're following for you this hour.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has ratified a law ending the country's 48-year-old state of emergency. The decision comes as the president attempts to diffuse protests against his 11-year rule. One prominent opposition figure called the move "useless," saying security forces can still operate outside of the law.
Well, a state-run news agency in Egypt is reporting that former president Hosni Mubarak's health is, quote, "unstable." The public prosecutor's office says it is trying to determine if a prison in Cairo is equipped to receive the former president.
But for now, he remains under hospital arrest, being held in connection with violence against protesters during Egypt revolution earlier this year.
Well, that uprising, of course, was led by a generation of young Egyptians and, in an interview with them, my colleague Hala Gorani today, Egypt's foreign minister reacted to that and spoke about his hopes for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NABIL ELARABY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: My dream is to see Egypt fully democratic, where every citizen has all his rights and that Egypt will be more prosperous and that there will be liberty for the man in the street, or the woman in the street, of course.
HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's your dream, but -- ?
ELARABY: No, no, no. Things are moving in that -- honestly. Honestly. I would speak frankly. It will be moving in that direction -- it is moving now in that direction.
GORANI: It's hard work.
ELARABY: There is a collective interest in moving ahead.
GORANI: Did you think in your lifetime you'd see Egypt the way it is today?
ELARABY: No. And that makes me and my generation a bit shameful.
GORANI: Why?
ELARABY: Because we did not succeed in doing anything like that. And that our grand -- children and grandchildren succeeded in returning the spirit of a free country to Egypt. Everyone is proud to be an Egyptian.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby speaking with my colleague Hala Gorani earlier today.
Well, authorities now say a bomb has exploded at a gambling club in Pakistan, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens of others. The blast happened just hours ago in the port city of Karachi. The explosive device was placed, we are told, under a table at the club.
A new leader for Haiti. The nation's electoral council officially declared singer Michel Martelly the winner of last month's runoff election. On May the 14th, he'll be inaugurated as the new president of his country. Well, he took more than 67 percent of the vote and, on Thursday, he discussed what his impoverished country now needs to accomplish.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHEL MARTELLY, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF HAITI: Haiti today is the republic of NGOs. The state has been weakened, and this must change. We need to build up the state and citizens while making the valuable work of the NGOs more effective and better coordinated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Two US air traffic controllers are without their jobs today. Aviation authorities fired them for sleeping on the job. One controller worked in Miami, the other in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now, the firings come after a series of incidents, you may remember, as controllers have been sleeping while on duty.
Coming up, unlikely support for a Palestinian state from some of the most prominent people in Israel.
Plus, do you remember where you were at this time last week? Well, if you don't, consult your iPhone, because that does.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: A very warm welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson for you in London.
Now, the French ambassador to the United Nations said earlier today that France and its European partners might be willing to recognize a Palestinian state. CNN's Richard Roth is our Senior United Nations Correspondent joining us, now, live from base in New York.
How significant a move is this by the French, Richard?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in Paris who told journalists on Tuesday that France is considering, with European partners, consideration of a Palestinian state.
It's highly a volatile, of course, sensitive issue, and we're seeing more talk of it as the General Assembly September session looms.
The talk also comes right before the visit today of Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinians in the West Bank, and certainly the French want to be good hosts to this Palestinian leader who has arrived there.
The French ambassador to the United Nations, using the setting of the Security Council table, discussed the French ideas on a Palestinian state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERARD ARAUD, FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS (through translator): The recognition of a state of Palestine is one of the options which France considers, together with its European partners, from the viewpoint of creating a political horizon which will make it possible to relaunch the peace process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: For the French, there's a lot of frustration about the continuing deadlock, stalemate regarding peace talks in the Middle East between the Palestinians and the Israelis which, once again, have bogged down.
The European countries, some of them, at least, thinking this type of consideration of a statehood and maybe even voting for that might be the galvanizing force to jump start these talks.
This is something, of course, Israel strongly objects to and, also, the United States, which believes the Middle East is best settled in discussions between the two parties directly.
A couple of Latin American countries have recognized the Palestinian state. It's not as easy as it sounds, Becky, and there's no guarantee the French or other Europeans will do this. Germany is not on record as being in favor at this moment, Becky.
ANDERSON: And "considering" is, obviously, the operative word, here, by the French tonight. An Israeli source, I know, has told CNN he wouldn't read much into this. You'd think he probably would say that, wouldn't he? He says this is a carrot dangled by the French ahead of that meeting with Mahmoud Abbas in Paris.
What's your assessment of what happens next, Richard?
ROTH: I think you're going to see talk of recognition of a state increase. Now, we have the Israeli prime minister Netanyahu planning some type of major Middle East speech before the US Congress. Things are going to ratchet up.
Now, the US can block in the Security Council any type of move to recognizing the Palestinians. The General Assembly could go ahead on its own and recognize, but in what form? Will it be to plan to recognize, recognize a state as is? This would open up the Israelis to some type of sanctions efforts.
But things that are voted on in the General Assembly are not really binding, and we've seen them in the past not really lead anywhere. But it's highly symbolic, highly explosive, and certainly something that Israel has major objections to at this time.
ANDERSON: Yes, Richard Roth is at the United Nations for you this evening.
Well, support for a Palestinian state was also visible today on the streets of Tel Aviv. Dozens of prominent Israeli intellectuals, artists, and writers chose a symbolic location for what was their declaration. And as CNN's Phil Black reports, their announcement was not entirely welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is the place where, in 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared Israel to be an independent state. And today, it is where a group of this country's most honored intellectuals, artists, and other academics have come to declare their support, very controversially, for a Palestinian state.
HANNA MERON, ACTRESS (through translator): It is the natural right of the Jewish and the Palestinian people to be like every other nation in their own sovereign states.
YARON EZRAHI, PROFESSOR, HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM: We want to start anew. In a way, between give us a future of hope and eliminate this strategy of fear.
BLACK: The declaration was created on one side, with strong applause and support. On the other side of the road just behind me, jeers and shouts of "traitors."
The political right here in Israel is furious about this declaration. They believe that those making it are the elite left, unrepresentative of the mass population here in Israel, and they believe that they are siding with this country's enemies.
TAL MOR, TEL AVIV RESIDENT: We want to live with them, but not by giving them our country, state, without security without being sure that we can live here.
BLACK: These pro-Palestinian Israelis have made this gesture in support of what is an ongoing Palestinian initiative.
With peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis stalled, the Palestinian Authority says it's getting on with the job of state building, building the institutions, the infrastructure, the good governance, to try and make a Palestinian state an undeniable reality. And it is lobbying the international community very hard to try and accept this potential state, to acknowledge it some stage later this year.
The Israeli government opposes this unilateral track, but these Israeli academics and artists here say they have made this gesture to show that it does have some Israeli support. Phil Black, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: All right, still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN, the Apple privacy storm. Find out how your iPhone and iPad have become virtual spies tracing your every movement. That controversy explained, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back, your with CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson in London. Coming up, is your smartphone just a little too smart? Beware the device that could be keeping tabs on you.
Plus, the roots of royal love. It all began in an old Scottish town. Up next, find out more about William and Kate's early romance.
And the suns of the world, how people all over the world are creating a new dawn for earthquake-ravaged Japan.
That's the show in the next half hour. Before we do that, let's get you a quick check of the headlines this hour.
A rare advance for rebels in western Libya. Opposition fighters have seized a key town on the border with Tunisia. That foothold can now give them access to a nearby city under siege by government forces.
Syria is bracing for fresh protests on Friday, even after the president there met a key demand of the opposition. Bashar al-Assad lifted an emergency law which restricted freedoms for nearly 50 years. The opposition, though, still wants an investigation into killings during the recent unrest.
Authorities say a bomb killed at least 15 people at a gambling club in the Pakistani port of Karachi. At least 40 other people were wounded in that blast. A police official says the bomb was placed under a table.
Dozens of prominent Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv earlier today to voice their support for a Palestinian state. Many of them were recipients of the Israel Prize, the country's highest honor. They signed a declaration stating that an independent Palestinian state is a condition for liberation on both sides.
And earthquake-devastated Haiti has now got a president. A popular singer turned politician, Michel Martelly, has been officially confirmed as the winner of the March 20th runoff. He took more than 67 percent of the vote.
And those are your headlines this hour.
Well, I don't have to tell you that we live in an era of the mobile phone, always contactable, and if you happen to own an iPhone or an iPad, it has emerged that you are always traceable as well. Two researchers say that they've discovered a hidden tracking file in the Apple devices, which has been storing information about where you've traveled over the last year, whether you like it or not.
Now, here's how it works. Once you plug your iPhone or your iPad into your computer, all that location information that's been gathered as you move about is transferred across. Well, then, it's stored in an unencrypted file on your hard drive, available to anyone with access to your computer.
Well, Apple has so far refused to comment on the tracking device. We are, though, getting plenty of reaction from iPhone users themselves, 108 million of the devices were sold worldwide. Our digital producer Phil Han caught up with one of those many customers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You have your iPhone. It has an internal device, here, or an internal application that basically tracks everything you do.
And then, when you transfer or you sync your iPhone to your computer, which most people do through iTunes, you can run a little application, very easy to do, and it'll show where you've gone. This shows where I've been over the past year or so since June.
Now, is that a problem? Well, for some people, it might be. The guys that found this do believe it is a problem for some people, and they do believe that iPhone users should have known about it. Take a listen.
ALASDIAR ALLAN, SENIOR RESEARCHER, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER: It really depends on the circumstances. Some people are in an abusive relationship, some people are getting divorced, some people -- you know, having things where people knowing their exact location at a certain point of time is a bad thing.
Personally, I'm not particularly concerned myself. I don't think people should panic. But I don't think it's necessary to keep the data in the phone, and people should be aware of it.
ROWLANDS: People should keep in mind, for somebody to get this information, they physically have to get your device and/or that computer and have access to it, so they would need to know your password, so would have to be somebody that knows you well or that actually steals your device.
And then the question is, who cares if they know where you've been? For some people, it makes a difference. For others, they don't care.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, who cares? We are -- we're going to find out who cares. That was Ted Rowlands, of course, it wasn't Phil Han, so let's bring you Phil's report. He spoke to one iPhone user. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL HAN, CNN DIGITIAL PRODUCER (on camera): So, I'm joined by Phil Marleet, and Phil's a London resident, and we've got all his iPhone tracking data up here on our big screen.
Now, Phil, I'm just going to press play, and kind of tell me how you feel when you watch where you've been over the past year.
PHIL MARFLEET, IPHONE OWNER: Whoa. At first, I felt slightly violated, perhaps, I've had this going in my pocket the whole time, and it really hasn't missed anywhere I've been. Up to Norwich, also to Liverpool, in London, down to Brighton. Yes, back home, my parents', got a lot of visits there.
HAN: So, this the map, now. This is kind of where you've been in the past year. You're based in London, you seem to go out kind east just there. What's out there, and what have you been doing over there?
MARFLEET: Out east is to Mersea Island, which is where I grew up and my parents' house, so I try and get back there at weekends, as you can clearly see from the map. Up in Norwich was a place I went a little while ago with some friends at a country home.
HAN: And that's just up -- kind of that -- and that's --
MARFLEET: That's heading towards Liverpool, which is a trip I made in December.
HAN: So, kind of looking at this map, how do you feel kind of knowing that it's been tracking your every single movement over the past year?
MARFLEET: I guess it's good in a way that it could be used to fight crime by someone. But really bad in a way that it's pretty much open to anyone to see if they can get access to my laptop.
HAN: And did you have any idea that this kind of stuff was happening?
MARFLEET: I had an idea that phone networks were tracking text messages and calls, but I had no idea that Apple were doing the same thing, and probably using it to their advantage. Perhaps they could see where the best to place to have a store is, where their users are going, that kind of thing.
HAN: And do you think that this is going to change any of your habits. Are you going to be switching your GPS or your 3G data roaming off a bit more?
MARFLEET: I don't think I could live without my 3G on and data roaming on, et cetera, and also probably couldn't live without my iPhone. So, it's not going to make me get rid of an iPhone soon, but it is going to make me think twice about where I let people use my laptop.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, some of that surprised Phil, some of it didn't. I wonder it's -- whether it surprised you. There's evidence today that not only is this nothing new but that other popular smartphone apps may go even further, transmitting personal information about cell phone users -- that's you and me, of course -- sometimes without our consent.
Let's discuss what's going on, here. From our Washington bureau tonight, I'm joined by Marc Rotenberg, who's the director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. We welcome you, sir. And from CNN New York, John Abell from Wired.com.
This is a gross invasion of our privacy, isn't it John?
JOHN ABELL, WIRED.COM: Well, yes and no. It's important to remember that this information has always been in the possession of your cell phone carrier, which could have -- can always be coerced by the government to give it to them via subpoena.
The fact that this information exists and is recorded isn't the issue. It's that it's being recorded and stored in a very, very poor way, that's the issue right now.
ANDERSON: Marc, are we being naive? They've got all our information anyway, haven't they?
MARC ROTENBERG, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER: Well, I'm surprised by John's comment, because people who follow the release of the new Apple operating system for the iPhone, OS 4, know that locational privacy was a very big issue.
And actually, Steve Jobs went out of his way to reassure customers that locational privacy would be addressed by Apple. There are various settings for those applications that protect where you are.
And lo and behold, we find out that Apple itself has been saving all of this data. I think they have a real problem, and I think they need to fix it.
ANDERSON: And John, Apple's refusal to comment doesn't inspire an awful lot of confidence today, does it?
ABELL: Well, I think it suggests to me that they're sort of unaware of what's going on. There might be a very innocuous explanation to why this was introduced --
ANDERSON: Oh, come on.
ABELL: -- into the operating system. This is not to belittle the issue of this information being stored in a very poor way and being collected at all.
But again, we are -- we are faced with, on a daily basis, the fact that our cell phone companies have this information. In the United States, they have shared this against -- without knowledge of their customers with the government. There was a huge case about this.
So, the fact that this information exists --
(CROSSTALK)
ROTENBERG: Right, be we oppose that, John, I mean --
ABELL: -- is not a big deal.
ANDERSON: Go on, Marc.
ABELL: Of course you oppose it --
ANDERSON: Give him a chance.
ABELL: -- I'm just saying that people --
ANDERSON: Give him a chance, John. Hang on, hang on, hang on.
ABELL: -- people should understand --
ANDERSON: Give Marc a chance.
ABELL: -- that this information exists.
ANDERSON: Go on, Marc.
ROTENBERG: OK, but let's -- but let's be fair. Users are very concerned about the privacy of locational data. It's very sensitive information.
And by the way, people haven't even thought about the fact that this data can be matched up against the same data of other iPhone users, so there's a whole other --
ANDERSON: All right.
ROTENBERG: -- privacy wave that's about to land when people figure out that those date sets can be matched.
ANDERSON: I've got some comments and questions --
(CROSSTALK)
ROTENBERG: And I think people are absolutely right --
ANDERSON: -- from some of our viewers, Marc, tonight.
ROTENBERG: -- to be concerned.
ANDERSON: Podunk9115 says, "What if someone you know is the victim of a crime and your cell phone shows that you were there at the time?" Could this be, potentially, incriminating as well as an invasion of ones privacy?
ROTENBERG: Well, the answer is yes, of course --
(CROSSTALK)
ABELL: Well, again, the cell phone carrier knows this --
ROTENBERG: This data can be very --
ANDERSON: Hold on, John, hold on --
ROTENBERG: -- useful for lots of different people.
ANDERSON: I'll give you a chance. Go on, Marc.
ROTENBERG: OK. Well, the data can be very useful to lots of third parties. It can be useful to lawyers who are litigating cases to law enforcement agents who are conducting investigations. It can be useful to marketing firms.
But I think the biggest problem here is that users don't know that this information about them --
ANDERSON: Sure.
ROTENBERG: -- was being kept and recorded, and I think that's the big, big problem for Apple today.
ANDERSON: John?
ABELL: Agreed. That's a big problem for Apple. But again, the basic know -- the basic information here is that your crime scenario would have been the same without this file because the cell phone carrier had the information and would have had to have given it up.
But I'll go Marc one further. I would say the real issue here is between me and a spouse or me and my employer. I might be syncing up with a company computer, and my employer now, without my knowledge, can go into my machine, it's their machine, and look at things that I've done with my phone.
A jealous spouse can say, "I don't believe you, now, when you called me last week and said you were at work. You can prove me wrong by giving me this phone."
ANDERSON: I back you up on -- with a comment --
(CROSSTALK)
ABELL: So, that's the real issue, here.
ANDERSON: I back you up with a comment from a viewer tonight, vmvm wrote in saying, and I quote, "I just checked my wife's data. I can see that in the past she was 12 times in an area where her ex lives, and there is absolutely nothing else in that area. Thank you, Apple," he says this evening.
Last question from one of the viewers, or last comment at least, Marc. "One more reason," says mr60233, "not to buy anything form Apple. Never been a customer, and I never will be."
The point here, let's just make it clear, there are other smartphone apps -- smartphones and apps -- that do this, of course. This isn't just Apple, is it?
ROTENBERG: No, it's not. But I think, look. Apple makes cool products. There's no doubt about it. But they really made a mistake here, and they need to fix it.
And I don't think it's fair to expect users to go to extraordinary measures to try to deal with something they're going to have a great deal of difficulty understanding. It's all on Apple right now to fix this problem.
ANDERSON: Do they need to fix the problem, John?
ROTENBERG: Well, they -- not only do they have to, but they almost certainly will with a software update which eliminates this. I mean, that's a -- going to be a proforma move by them almost without a doubt.
ANDERSON: All right, and with that we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much, indeed. Lively discussion on what is a very interesting story today. Marc, John, thank you for that.
Fancy a flutter on the royal wedding? Bookies are taking bets on where William will plant his kiss, the lips, cheek, or the hand? What do you think? What about Harry dropping the ring? Find out what the odds are on that, here, next, on CONNECT THE WORLD.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, every moment we are inching closer to the royal wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton on April the 29th, if you've forgotten. Here you can see CNN's official countdown, 7 days 13 hours, 14 seconds -- no, got it wrong -- 7 days, 13 hours, 14 minutes, there you go, 36 seconds.
We're all getting revved up for the wedding day, certainly, here at CNN. Before we do, there is another milestone in the mix. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is 85 today. She attended the royal Maundy service, as it's called, at the Westminster Abbey earlier. It's an Easter tradition where she hands out specially-minted silver coins to the elderly.
Britons will have to wait a few more weeks to ring in her birthday officially. The national celebration is scheduled for June. She has two birthdays, of course.
Well, the queen may be celebrating another birthday. Prince William and Kate are getting ready for their big day, don't, then, forget poor Prince Charles. Why?
Well, today is actually a modest historical moment for him, as well. He's officially the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. So far, he has waited 59 years, 2 months, and 14 days for the top job. He's now broken the record set by his great-great-grandfather, Edward VII. Talk about a patient prince.
Royal wedding buzz taking over social media. Online, the nuptials, let me tell you, are mentioned every ten seconds. That is, at least, according to new research. But it's not just the internet that's in a wedding spin. The bookies are also in a bit of a flutter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (on camera): I'm here in Central London on Carnaby Street. It's a stunning day in London, and the excitement about the royal nuptials is palpable. Let's find out what's going on with the bookies.
We've got some bets up here. My friend Chantal's (ph) going to help us out, as is Rupert. What have we got first, Rupert?
RUPERT ADAMS, WILLIAMS HILL: Well, this one is one of the big ones we've got going, the balcony kiss. Where are they going to kiss? Is Prince William going to kiss her on the lips, the cheek, or the hand?
ANDERSON: What do you think, Chantal?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe the lips.
ANDERSON: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they're very young and they're still -- they've got a do there. The lips, the balcony, the whole moment, the emotion. Of course, it has to be the lips.
ANDERSON: Good for you. All right, well, what would I then get on the lips, as it were?
ADAMS: Chantal is spot on, basically, lips is the red-hot favorite, 1 to 5, that's 20 percent chance. Actually I guarantee 4 to 1 if you reckon it's the cheeks. Rank outsider, 20 to 1, there's no way, surely, it'll be the hand.
ANDERSON: All right. But if it was, if you put a pound on that, you'd get 20 back, or 21 back, of course.
ADAMS: And your original bet back, so yes. You bet once on the right, you win once on the left, and you walk away.
ANDERSON: Good, all right. What else have we got?
ADAMS: This is fantastic, yes. Prince Phillip to fall asleep at any point during the service. It was 40 to 1 for 40 winks, seeing the eyelids crash is now 8 to 1, and it'll cost us 25 grand.
Next up, Kate to sign a prenup. I don't think it's going to happen, but we're 9 to 1 for that.
And then, Harry, surely you won't drop the ring. He's a pilot, surely he'll hold on. But if he does, 23 to 1 shot.
ANDERSON: Chantal, what would you take a bet on, mate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kate to sign the prenup.
ANDERSON: You reckon?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, of course.
ANDERSON: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because, obviously he loves her and he obviously trusts her, he hasn't had anybody else, really, so why wouldn't she? That's why.
ANDERSON: Lovely. All right, those are the bets. The race is on. We've got seven and a half days to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Chantal's absolutely convinced of this relationship. It looks like a pretty good bet, doesn't it, right now? And that's probably thanks to their years together at St. Andrews University. In the documentary "The Women Who Would Be Queen," Soledad O'Brien reports on a royal relationship that all began in an old Scottish town.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Fall 2001, St. Andrews, Scotland. Kate Middleton meets her prince.
KATE MIDDLETON, ENGAGED TO PRINCE WILLIAM: I actually went bright red when I met you and scuttled off, feeling very shy about -- about meeting you.
CHRISTOPHER ANDERSEN, AUTHOR, "WILLIAM AND KATE": Not long after, William invited a number of friends to his dormitory room. She did this awkward curtsy and he reacted by instantly spilling his drink on himself, because he realized -- he would do things like this to put people at ease. And from that point on, they became friendly.
O'BRIEN: They both live in this dorm, affectionately called St. Sally's. They bonded over their shared major of art history, early morning swims in the campus pool, and their sense of humor.
HRH PRINCE WILLIAM OF WALES, UNITED KINGDOM: It was good fun. We had a really good laugh, and things happened.
O'BRIEN: They stuck together in good times and in bad.
CHARLES WARREN, PRINCE WILLIAM'S TEACHER: He was panicking about approaching deadlines and struggling with some of it, like all -- you know, most of our student do.
ANDERSEN: He was so desperately unhappy that, after the first year, he was determined to leave. And it really was Kate who talked him into staying. She said, "Look, we'll both stick it out together and, if at the end of sophomore year, we feel the same way, we'll both leave."
O'BRIEN: It was a friendship that almost never happened. Most assumed William would go to Oxford, like most of his family had.
JULES KNIGHT, FRIEND OF WILLIAM AND KATE: I think it was an attempt to get away from the public eye, to some extent.
O'BRIEN: St. Andrews is a small town in Scotland, population 28,000. So small and isolated that the school and palace could control the media there. They even brokered a deal with the press that while William was at St. Andrews, they would stay away.
In this private enclave, he was able to meet Kate, who some say was convinced to go to St. Andrews by her mother.
ANDERSEN: Originally, Kate wanted to go to Edinburgh University. When it was announced by the palace that William would be attending St. Andrews University, enrollment among women in St. Andrews jumped over night by 40 percent.
By putting her in proximity to William, magic happened.
O'BRIEN: That magic happened March 2002. The annual charity fashion show called Don't Walk. A lingerie show. The models were nearly naked. Kate was no exception.
She wasn't what you call a kind of risque girl. She was a pretty safe bet, quite conservative, really, in the way that she dressed and the way that she acted. And here she was not wearing that much, looking amazing.
ANDERSEN: That was point at which he pursued her romantically, and very quickly.
O'BRIEN: A romance that would become St. Andrews' ultimate match. Soledad O'Brien, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: A preview, there of what is a CNN special, "The Women Who Would Be Queen," an intimate look at the two women who have influenced William's life, his late mother and his bride-to-be, here Saturday at 8:00 in London, 9:00 PM in Berlin, 11:00 if you are in, for example, Abu Dhabi, or the times you can work out for yourself locally.
And don't forget, all next week on CONNECT THE WORLD, we're going to bring you the global view of the royal wedding and hear from royal experts every single day as I report live from Buckingham Palace. That's CONNECT THE WORLD, all right here next week on CNN.
Well, there is little doubt that Japan is seeing some dark days. Up next, the art project that is shining a new dawn on the devastated country. Stick around for this and find out how you can play a part.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Sifting through what remains of his home for the first time since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, this Japanese student was among those who are returning briefly to their devastated neighborhoods to salvage what they can of their belongings six weeks on.
Well, they are among the homeless forced to live in little more than boxes in emergency shelters, cooking, sleeping and living in cramped conditions. How long? They simply don't know.
The cleanup operation continues. So, too, of course, the search from some 14,000 people still missing. The numbers are quite remarkable, aren't they, indeed?
The country is seeing some really dark days. But a Japanese-born artist now living in the US is using her creativity to inspire a new dawn in her homeland. I recently spoke to Drue Kataoka about her Global Sunrise Project. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DRUE KATAOKA, ARTIST, SUNRISE 2011: Well, I was devastated by the news of the earthquake and tsunami. I have family and friends in Japan, and I wanted to create an artistic response. And I thought of the myth of Amaterasu. She's the sun goddess of Japan, the mother of Japan. In Shinto mythology, the emperor and the Japanese people descend from her.
And as the myth goes, she had quarreled with her brother, the god of storm and sea and death, and she hid in a cave, and it wasn't until the gods coaxed her out of that cave that sun and light returned and happiness returned to the world.
And I was struck by the parallel with the Tohoku earthquake, which really is a moment of darkness for Japan. So, I decided to paint Amaterasu turning away from us, but just about to turn towards us, more radiant and shining than ever.
The painting is really the promise of a new global sunrise for Japan.
ANDERSON: You're describing your own artwork, and yet you call this participatory art. You've encouraged others to get involved. Just explain how.
KATAOKA: Yes, I thought it would be very exciting to invite people from all over the world, from Africa, from Asia, from Europe, to send in a photo of the sun over their city. And if you're watching right now, you can send a digital photo to sunrise2011art@gmail.com.
And then every couple of days, I gather those suns, and I am arranging them into one big global composite sunrise. Superimposed on that is my Japanese brush painting of Amaterasu the sun goddess.
ANDERSON: I know you've been through these photos time and time again. Talk me through some of your favorites, if you will.
KATAOKA: I'm moved by a photo of the sun over Mt. Fuji shot by a Toshiba executive the day of the earthquake. There are photos from Tokyo of the sun burning brightly the day after the earthquake.
There's photos from Mganduweni, South Africa, AIDS orphans at the Two Sisters Orphanage with a very hopeful sun that they're sending their positive energy to Japan. There are suns from Memphis and New Orleans, San Francisco, London, Brussels, Dubai, Dabos.
ANDERSON: Fabulous. The project, of course, also a way to raise funds. So, how can people help here?
KATAOKA: Well, we've created a commemorative t-shirt called Sunrise 2011, and if you go to drue.net, that's D-R-U-E dot net, you can follow a link where you can purchase a t-shirt where all the profits go to the Japanese Red Cross.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: All right. And if you missed that, head to our Facebook page, facebook.com/CNNconnect. There, you will find a link to Drue's site and everything you need to know about how to take part. What an amazing project.
Well, it's hard enough to win a national championship football trophy, but as Real Madrid learned on Wednesday night, it's even harder, apparently, to hang onto it. Quite literally.
Take a look at our Parting Shots tonight. It happened while the team celebrated its win over archrivals Barcelona. Yes, that's the King's Cup itself, slipping from the grip of defender Sergio Ramos and landing under the wheels of the bus. But the incident didn't appear to dampen the spirit of the fans.
No official word on whether the cup or the reputation of Ramos sustained any permanent damage.
I'm Becky Anderson, that is your wold connected. Thank you for watching. The world news headlines and "BackStory" will follow this short break. Don't go away.
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