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Connect the World

New Greek Government Faces Huge Challenges; Rwandan Government Denies Charges Of Helping Rebels In Congo

Aired June 20, 2012 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tonight on Connect the World, after weeks in limbo, Greece ushers in a new government. Vowing to give hope to the Greek people, Antonis Samaras is sworn in as the country's new prime minister.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World.

VERJEE: As Greece's new government gets to work, the fear moves to Spain. Tonight, how desperation is forcing many Spaniards to turn to the Red Cross.

Also tonight, her country is accused of fueling a violent rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda foreign minister will speak to me live from Kigali. What the Dalai Lama told reporters about his friendship with Prince Charles and President Bush.

Tonight, Greece's new prime minister is huddling with his coalition partners. They're hashing out details of a new government. It is only hours old. And word of key cabinet appointments could break at any time. Big money is at stake, again. The new leaders will have to go cap in hand in a hurry to persuade international lenders to renegotiate Greece's bailout. Matthew Chance joins us now live from Athens.

Matthew, what are the challenges now?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are some enormous challenges, Zain. First and foremost, the coalition parties, the New Democracy, the PASOK, the socialists, and the much smaller Democratic Left, they are still negotiating into the evening here as to what the platform of their coalition will be. They all want to a lesser or greater extent some changes in the terms of the austerity plans, the bailout deal that's been imposed to some extent on Greece by its international creditors. But they haven't yet set down on paper exactly what they're going to ask for.

Then, of course, since they ask for it, it's by no means certain they're going to get anything that they want. So that's going to be one of the challenges.

Another challenge that they're confronted with is who is going to be the face of this government. We've got Antonis Samaras sworn in today as the country's prime minister. There has not been any other cabinet ministers that have actually been named yet. Both of those two smaller coalition parties rejecting the idea, at least initially in negotiations, of having any of their MPs take on some of the more high profile cabinet positions, usually of course it's the other way around. Not this time, because the expectation is because of the deep economic reforms, the austerity reforms that have to be imposed here and implemented, it's going to be a very unpopular government indeed.

Well, joining me now to discuss that is Professor Costas Lapavitsas from London's School of Oriental and African studies. So thank you for being with us, professor.

When this government was elected a few nights ago, there was a sort of collective sigh of relief amongst bankers, amongst European states and around the world, is that sigh of relief justified?

COSTAS LAPAVITSAS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Well, the good thing is that Greece avoided a catastrophic, chaotic exit from the EuroZone and the banking crisis that might have come with it, but that is certainly a good thing for Greece and for Europe.

But this government is at best a sideways step, not a step forward. It's not a government that in my judgment will deliver what it thinks it can, and it's not the government that's likely to last very long.

CHANCE: What does this government need to do to try and get the Greek economy back on track? Is there anything it can do?

LAPAVITSAS: It is very hard to see what this government can do. In fact, as long as it continues to operate within the terms of the bailout. I mean, essentially this government has accepted -- has accepted that austerity will continue. It has accepted that privatization and liberalization are the way forward. And all he wants to do is tweak the terms a little bit, get a bit of an extension, a little bit of lengthening of the period over which he might deliver these cuts.

But in essence, the policy is the same. And if he has failed over two-and-a-half years I think it is likely to fail again. The economy is much weaker than before. It has contracted by 6.5 percent in the first quarter of this year. The future doesn't look very good for this government at all.

CHANCE: All right. Professor Lapavitsas, thank you very much for being with us.

There you have it, Zain, a very pessimistic view from that economist here. Professor Lapavitsas from the London School of Oriental and African Studies. A view, I expect, shared by many Greeks as well that are watching this political situation.

Back to you.

VERJEE: CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance reporting from Athens. Thanks, Matthew.

Well in Spain the government over there is scrambling to reassure investors that it doesn't need a full blown bailout as the country's borrowing costs rise to stress banks getting a $125 billion injection from the EuroZone. And last month, Spain's only problem, thousands of striking miners in the north began marching to Madrid today to protest over government cuts, they say are destroying their industry.

Spain's anti-austerity protests are not the only fallout from the country's economic crisis. When you hear the words Red Cross you might think of things like natural disasters or war zones, but Spain's recession is so tough its Red Cross has had to come to the rescue with food aid for the unemployed.

Madrid bureau chief Al Goodman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Valentin Garcia lost his job as a waiter two years ago in Spain's deep economic crisis. Since last year, he's been coming to the local Red Cross to get food.

The line forms here in Trace Cantos (ph), a suburb of Madrid. Most people asked us not to show their faces. Garcia says he agreed to talk only because he hopes it might help him find a job.

VALENTIN GARCIA, UNEMPLOYED WAITER (through translator): I am willing to work at any hour. I have experience in working any shift. I am not asking much. If there is just part-time work, fine, at any hour, any job, even if I have to learn it from scratch. That's all I ask.

GOODMAN: He's 48, has worked since he was a teenager and lives alone. And his unemployment benefits have run out.

GARCIA (through translator): Right now, my mother is helping me. But as we say, I am bleeding. And I don't want this situation.

GOODMAN: Neither do they. Spain's Red Cross for years has given food to homeless people or poor immigrants, but with Spain's jobless rate now over 24 percent, so many more are in need.

JOSE CHAI, SPANISH RED CROSS: Now people who are what I would call normal middle class are coming and asking for help.

GOODMAN: Ready to take anything they can get.

There's spaghetti. There's rice. There's soup. There's juice. Over here there's flour. Just a variety of the basic food stuffs that is expected to last them for awhile.

But this handout is given only once a month to each family. And it's not much. These Red Cross volunteers say they're surprised to see so many Spaniards asking for help.

JULIA DOCASAL, RED CROSS VOLUNTEER (through translator): There used to be fewer people, but now there are a lot. They don't have jobs.

CHAI: It's a little scary, because you realize that it can happen to you, you realize it's happening to friends, to family, to neighbors, and it can happen to yourself. And nobody is safe from the crisis.

GOODMAN: Garcia says he never expected to find himself in this situation. He isn't optimistic.

GARCIA (through translator): They talk about years, maybe next year or in 2014 it might get a little better. But what are people like us supposed to do until 2014?

GOODMAN: Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Like Spain, Greece has seen tremendous hardships throughout this crisis. Economics expert Costas Lapavitsas is back with us from Athens.

Let's put a human face on this, on what's been going on in Greece. And just describe to our audience around the world the day to day impact the average person in Greece?

LAPAVITSAS: Well, there is first of all a humanitarian crisis in Athens. People should be very clear about this. There's difficulty people have with accessing medicine, particularly pensioners, but also immigrants. So it's a serious humanitarian crisis.

There are also difficulties -- people have obtaining sufficient food in many respects. People are pretending they've got enough to cover all their needs, but really they're facing huge difficulties in feeding themselves. There are difficulties in clothing themselves. There are difficulties in going out and in engaging normal activities that Greeks have come to expect as a civilized society. And this is likely to get much, much more in all the urban centers.

Athens in particularly bad, but other urban centers across the country are facing similar problems.

VERJEE: Where do they -- where do you see the future of the euro? Dead or alive?

LAPAVITSAS: The euro is very badly put together, very poorly run monetary union. It's a union that was put together without clear thought devoted to it. And I don't think it's going to last in its present form. It will take tremendous, major structural change for the euro to survive now. This couldn't be possible two, two-and-a-half years ago, but there's a crisis -- it's now become an incredible task. It would need a Marshall plan for peripheral countries. It would need Germany to change its economic policy dramatically. It would need debt cancellation. It will need major banking reform. All these things must happen if the euro is to survive.

Now I don't think this is very likely. So therefore the most likely outcome is that there will be some kind of breakup, some kind of breakup which no one can predict. But the situation is very bad for peripheral countries. And there is where the break-up might begin to emerge. Some exit of one or two countries, Greece, Spain, Portugal, we'll have to wait and see what form it takes. Unless European leaders and world leaders are wise about this, the results will be catastrophic for the world economic.

But let me put it to you differently, up to now the discussion has been how to rescue the euro and there have been many debates upon it. I think the discussion now should move to how to manage the dismantling of the euro, how to manage the breakup, because if it happens in a chaotic way things will be very bad for the world economy indeed.

VERJEE: Painting a dire situation over there in Athens, economics expert Costas Lapavitsas, thank you so much for your perspective. We appreciate it.

Still to come tonight on Connect the World, are these the faces of war criminals? We're going to talk to the Rwandan foreign minister about the renewed violence over the border in eastern Congo.

Also, just when it seems Egypt's transition to democracy can't possibly get more complicated or worse, it does. Why voters will have to wait even longer to find out who they elected president.

And the no goal that led to a U-turn. FIFA's president makes a surprising statement on goal line technology.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: It's estimated around 45,000 people are killed in conflict every month in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And there are warnings that it's about to get a lot worse. UN human rights chief Navi Pillay says the leaders of a mutiny in the east could be the worst perpetrators of abuses in the world. And Human Rights Watch says that there is evidence the Rwandan military is supporting the violence.

In just a moment we're going to be speaking to the Rwandan foreign minister, but first this report from Nima Elbagir.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Refugees crossing the Democratic Republic of Congo's borders with Rwanda. They will join the thousands who have already sought refuge in neighboring countries fleeing a new outbreak of violence in DRC's restive eastern region.

With Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga awaiting sentencing for war crimes at the International Criminal Court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chamber concludes that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mr. Thomas Lubanga Dieto (ph) is guilty of the crimes of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years...

ELBAGIR: Hopes had risen that perhaps the DRC could finally turn the page on its violent past. Instead, all too familiar specters have returned like Bosco Ntaganda, Lubanga's old (inaudible). Lubanga and Ntaganda were indicted by the ICC for crimes committed during Congo's so-called second war in which 5.4 million people were believed to have been killed.

This latest fighting broke out when forces loyal to Ntaganda in the national army mutinied after the Congolese government announced they intended to bring Ntaganda, also wanted by the ICC, to justice. The fighting is raising concerns that after the last time the Congolese parties went to war, the conflict threatened to destabilize the entire region.

Another specter believed long buried is the allegation of Rwandan military support for Ntaganda and his forces, an allegation that the Rwandan government fervently denied, but which Human Rights Watch told us they have a growing body of evidence to support.

ANNEKE VAN WOUDENBERG, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Human Rights Watch have been documenting now for about six weeks the support coming from certain Rwandan military officers to Bosco Ntaganda and the new (inaudible) in eastern Congo. And it is deeply troubling when we have found that Rwandan military officials have been providing him and his troops with weapons, ammunition and with about 200 to 300 recruits so individuals who were recruited inside Rwandan that Rwandan military officials have escorted across the border into Congo.

ELBAGIR: Human Rights Watch stopped short of alleging official government sanction of this support, but they do say they believe it's ongoing.

WOUDENBERG: Something that is deeply troubling, and I have to say something which we continue to document day in, day out including now as I'm here in eastern Congo.

ELBAGIR: The Rwandan government has called these allegations dangerous and simplistic. But what is undeniable is that Ntaganda and his mutinies are getting support from somewhere. And as the battles show no sign of abating, it's crucial for the Congo and the region that that where is proven and stopped before time runs out.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: As you saw in that report the violence is mainly focused in the regions bordering Rwanda.

Joining me now is Rwanda's foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo.

Thank you so much for being with us on the show.

You heard those allegations from Human Rights Watch. Is Rwanda sending fighters and weapons to Congolese rebels or not?

LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO, RWANDAN FOREIGN MINISTER: And the answer is definitely not, absolutely not, but I will address those allegations in a second. If you allow me to say that for anybody who cares to understand and know what's going on in eastern DRC. It is an extremely dangerous trend to keep bringing Rwanda in the picture. There are serious problems in the DRC. Rwanda has been involved in providing support. It has happened in the past. This is nothing new.

But the trend to keep referring to Rwanda as the cause or the enabler of this issue is not bringing back peace and it is becoming very dangerous for some of the citizens in the communities in eastern DRC. Human Rights Watch is an organization that is playing a very destructive role in this conflict.

VERJEE: It's not only Human Rights Watch, though, that is pointing the finger at Rwanda. There's a leaked United Nations report too that's pointing the finger at Rwanda military officials. And Human Rights Watch is insisting, and why would they if they didn't have the evidence, that they continue to document information that points the finger at Rwanda. Why would they do that if they were lying?

MUSHIKIWABO: Well, there's something important to understand, and that is that Human Rights Watch all the UN mission in Congo have been acting irresponsibly. The UN mission in Congo has been there for 13 years. We are back to square one. So in my opinion they have to make somebody responsible for their failure.

Human Rights Watch has put out reports that are basically rumors. And we have challenged Human Rights Watch since there have been report to show evidence -- hearsay, what people think, what they pick up left and right is not evidence. And to take a country that has worked tirelessly, the history of peace between Rwanda and DRC as well (inaudible) and trying to take the responsibility of the DRC transferred on Rwanda is what is causing this problem not to end.

VERJEE: If it's not Rwanda's fault, which you are insisting, then whose fault is it? I mean, who is arming the rebel fighters in eastern Congo?

MUSHIKIWABO: The rebel fighters in eastern Congo are armed. They have been fighting. They have their own arms before. But this is probably a question to ask the DRC and not Rwanda.

And again -- and we have said it repeatedly in the last few weeks, let us not take the responsibility that should be with the international community and its mismanagement of the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide as well as the state responsibility that the Congo has towards its citizens, especially the communities in eastern DRC, and try to simplify this issue by saying that Rwanda is supporting the mutiny in eastern DRC. What reason would Rwanda have today?

VERJEE: Well, I'll give you the reason that they keep -- one of the reasons that comes up -- excuse me foreign minister -- is that Rwanda is just -- has the priority of protecting its economic interests in a region that's pretty rich in minerals. Your critics say that. You respond?

MUSHIKIWABO: I think that theory that has been tired, it's been put out for the last many years. Rwanda's economy for anybody who cares to know is driven by agriculture, by tourism. We have our own minerals. So, you know, to kind of always put out this poor excuses, Rwanda is not here expecting to grow economically by stealing from the DRC. And again, these are all claims that have found no evidence. And for any country like Rwanda with all the efforts we have put in to building peace in the region. And in fact around the continent and the world, there is no rationale whatsoever.

So -- but again, the international community is responsible. The DRC government is responsible. And we would like those two parties to take responsibility before things get worse. As well speaking tonight we have 11 Rwandan young men who were dumped tonight at the border with the DRC. They have been beaten. They have been starved. They were kept for three weeks and which is report such as the one by Human Rights Watch that are causing so much harm to the people in the region and especially of the people of Rwandan descent.

VERJEE: Live from Kigali, Rwanda's foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo. Thank you so much for joining us and giving us the Rwandan's perspective. Appreciate it.

We're going to take a short break now, but when we come back it's been a dramatic day in the French city of Toulouse. We're going to bring you more details on the hostage drama that unfolded.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: A standoff in Toulouse has ended with all of the hostages safe. A gunmen claiming to have links to al Qaeda stormed a bank taking four people hostage. Now he released two of them during the day, the other two were rescued when armed police entered the building.

CNN's Dan Rivers reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can see this area of Toulouse is still in lock down after that six hour siege. Of course everyone here fearful that this was a repeat of the terrible events in March. It's taken place just a few hundred meters from where Mohammed Merah was holed up for three days then.

This time it appears it was a man with mental problems who had gone into a bank, took four people hostage, two are released. And then at about a quarter to five local time police went in and freed the remaining two hostages and injured the man.

They were at pains to point out that they did everything they could to take him alive, a criticism that was leveled at them over their handling of Mohammed Merah in March. But people here have told us they can't believe that for a second time violence has visited this normally quiet area of Toulouse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We're soon going to become like Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Chicago, why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator: Because there's so much shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's an area of Toulouse that's normally very peaceful. Not much happens here. And now we've had two major incidents in the space of a short time. And I wouldn't want to get used to it.

RIVERS: Initially denying claims there were religious motivations for his actions, but later the authorities said his claims were badly defined and badly expressed. It appears in this case there was no al Qaeda connection.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Toulouse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Here's a look now at some of the other stories connecting our world tonight. Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited the dreamy spires of Oxford University today. She collected an honorary doctorate she was awarded nearly 20 years ago.

The honor was bestowed in 1993, but Suu Kyi couldn't collect it because she was under house arrest. She studied at Oxford as a young woman, graduating with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics in 1967.

Pakistan's lawmakers will meet on Friday to elect a new prime minister. Nominations for the post are due tomorrow, but so far no clear candidates emerged to replace Yousef Raza Gilani. Gilani was declared ineligible by the supreme court on Tuesday for failing to reopen corruption charges against the president. The new PM will immediately face court demands to get the graft charges underway.

Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei was stopped from attending his own court hearing earlier today. Now, according to the activist, police began surrounding his house last night, and they warned him, do not go to court.

His wife went to the hearing in his place to dispute tax evasion charges that they say are politically motivated. Chinese officials have declined to comment, saying only that the country is ruled by law.

Coming up here on CNN, FIFA president Sepp Blatter makes a U-Turn on goal line technology. What did he have to say about this? We'll tell you in about 15 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: A very warm welcome to our viewers across Europe and around the world. Hi, I'm Zain Verjee. Let's take a look at the latest headlines from CNN.

State media say Greece's new government will be sworn in on Thursday. The new prime minister, Antonis Samaras, has already taken his oath of office. Now, he's working tonight with his coalition partners, and they're really trying to nail down key cabinet appointments. Mr. Samaras promises to do all he can to pull the country out of the debt crisis.

Egyptian state media say election officials are delaying results of the historic presidential runoff. It was supposed to announce the winner on Thursday, but they say there are still investigations of reported election violations that have been filed by both presidential candidates.

French police say all of the hostages taken at a bank in southern France have been freed, and the man who was holding them at gunpoint is wounded. Sources describe the gunman as "very agitated." He claimed to be a member of al Qaeda.

London police say WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange violated his bail and faces arrest after he sought refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London. Assange has requested political asylum in Ecuador. He's trying to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning on sexual assault allegations.

Adding to the uncertainty today in Egypt, the true condition of Hosni Mubarak's health seems to depend, really, on who you ask. An attorney for the ousted Egyptian president says that he is now off life support and his health is getting better. He dismisses a state media report yesterday that declared Mubarak clinically dead.

Egypt's military rulers dismissed it, too, but they say his health is deteriorating and he is in critical condition. Mubarak was moved from prison to a military hospital Tuesday night.

So, not only is there all this confusion over Mubarak's health, but also confusion over who'll be his successor and when he's going to be named, not to mention the confusion over the future of Parliament, because it was dismissed by the military.

I think it's safe to say that this is not what Egyptian revolutionaries had in mind when they toppled Mubarak last year. Let's bring in Fawaz Gerges for some perspective here. He's a distinguished author and the director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics.

Well, nobody thought we would see this. What a total mess. And Mubaraks' health situation -- how are we supposed to read this? What's going on?

FAWAZ GERGES, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST CENTRE, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: It's a mess. It's a big mess. And I think many Egyptians have become very cynical. They accuse the ruling generals of basically engineering, trying to divert attention from an attempt to hijack the revolution, from their attempt, basically, to monopolize power.

And I think we cannot really blame, Zain, Egyptians for being too cynical, for being -- basically blaming the military for the mess that Egypt finds itself. After all, I would argue that the ruling generals have mastered the art of miscalculation.

In the last one year and a half, Zain, they have gone to great lengths to maintain the existing system, to prevent the transition to a more inclusive system and to monopolize power, as well.

VERJEE: Fawaz, just take a look at these pictures that we're seeing on TV right now. This may as well have been from last February. This is the scene in Tahrir Square, people angry, frustrated, the protesters are out by the thousands. Are we going to see a re-revolution or a de- revolution or -- politically?

GERGES: I think the reason why I said that the ruling generals, SCAF, have really mastered the art of miscalculation, they have managed to unite all the disparate elements of the revolution. The Muslim Brotherhood --

VERJEE: So, everybody hates them.

GERGES: Absolutely. In fact, initially, Zain, the military was perceived as what? The guardian of the revolution. The military now is perceived as what? The hijacker of the revolution. And now, liberals, secularists, the Muslim Brotherhood, are all united. But you see, it's basically a new coalition against the ruling generals.

VERJEE: How are they going to settle this?

GERGES: Well, first of all, what we need to understand is that there is a major, major severe crisis in Egypt. And this particular crisis, basically, is a product of what SCAF has been trying to do in the last 16 months.

And when I say the military, I'm not talking about officers and soldiers.

VERJEE: Right.

GERGES: I'm talking about authority. The attempt -- the effort to monopolize power, to prevent the transition to a new particular order. The reality is, this will not stand. You have now a new awareness. You have a psychological rupture in Egypt. Egyptians will not allow the military to basically maintain the existing system in Egypt.

VERJEE: And Tahrir Square, as we're looking at these live pictures, has so much symbolism for the entire Middle East. Just that piece of real estate and what it represented. But with what's happening in Egypt right now, are there other countries in the Middle East looking at the situation and also clamping down? For example, Kuwait, that annulled its election results?

GERGES: You're absolutely correct. The reason why we're focusing a great deal about Egypt, Egypt is the most populous Arab state. Egypt is the capital of the cultural production of the Arab world. What happens in Egypt happens in the rest of the Arab world.

The reality is, Zain -- and this is really my critical point for your viewers -- the current struggle is no longer about Mubarak the man. Mubarak regardless of whether he lives or dies --

VERJEE: Right.

GERGES: -- is really passe. The current struggle is about the Mubarak bitter legacy. It's about dismantling the system that he basically constructed over 30 years. And what I mean by the system, the night walks, the ruling generals, what they call the "fat cats" --

VERJEE: Right.

GERGES: -- the existing authoritarian order. This is what you see, and this is what you're seeing almost --

VERJEE: And what we're seeing happening in Egypt today, are Egyptians better or worse off?

GERGES: Well, the question is -- and this is another great question you're asking -- almost 50 percent of Egyptians voted for Ahmed Shafik. Ahmed Shafik is a remnant, part of the --

VERJEE: Why would they do that?

GERGES: And that's the question. Many people, even my students at the London School of Economics say, why do at least 10 million Egyptians vote for Ahmed Shafik? Not because they want the hated regime -- Mubarak regime to return.

Millions of Egyptians are suffering economically. You have 43 percent of the 8 million Egyptians who live either in poverty or below the poverty line. Egyptians are exhausted. They want normalcy, they want bread and butter.

And what Ahmed Shafik has basically promised to do what? To deliver peace and order and bread and butter --

VERJEE: And the Brothers can't do that?

GERGES: Well, the Brotherhood basically, obviously, they have won. And that's why tomorrow's -- I mean, the announcement of the next president -- if Ahmed Shafik is declared the president, which I doubt very much, Egypt would implode. This would provide the spark that would ignite the biggest fire in Egypt and the region.

VERJEE: Fawaz Gerges, a distinguished author, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics, it's always a pleasure, Fawaz.

GERGES: My pleasure, Zain. Thanks.

VERJEE: Thank you so much. Coming up a little later in the program, hugs and laughter. Need a little bit of that from Tibet's spiritual leader as he meets the future king of Britain, and he has a few words for him, and they're kind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: An apparent referee error has cost a Euro 2012 co-host a chance at home glory. Ukraine thought they had equalized when Marko Devic's shot squeezed under England goalkeeper Joe Hart. Although defender John Terry cleared the ball, the TV replays clearly showed it had crossed the line.

Now, that's -- there have been all these calls for better goal line technology. Don Riddell joins us from CNN Center. He's been studying that goal line and knows a lot about that technology. I even watched a little bit of that match, Don. Don't be shocked. What are people saying about what happened?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think we will find that this incident is going to end up being the straw that broke the camel's back, Zain, and we probably will see the introduction of some kind of goal line technology later this year.

Actually, FIFA, the world governing body of football, are meeting in Zurich just a few days after the end of this tournament on July the 5th, and they're going to decide if they're going to go with one or other version of goal line technology, or not at all. But I think after this, it's looking very likely.

TV replays, Zain, showed clearly that this ball was across the line. Now, that might not have kept Ukraine in the tournament, because they needed to beat England, and at the time, they were a goal down.

But goals do change matches, and if the score had become one-all, then Ukraine may very well have gone on to win the game.

Now, the FIFA president Sepp Blatter didn't used to be in favor of goal line technology, but following last night's game, he put this on Twitter. He said, "GLT" -- goal line technology -- "is no longer an alternative but a necessity." He pretty much changed his mind after England were robbed of a goal in the World Cup against Germany a couple of years ago.

UEFA are dead against it. Michel Platini, he doesn't want to see goal line technology introduced because he says once you bring that in, you're really opening up some kind of Pandora's box, because then there will be calls for assistance in determining off sides, fouls, and penalties.

It means that the game will be stop/start, stop/start, a 90-minute game will take two and a half or three hours, and football fans don't really want that, do they?

VERJEE: No, they don't. They want a good clean game, as long as it goes their way.

RIDDELL: Yes, absolutely.

VERJEE: Don, let's turn to the NBA, a sport close to my heart. LeBron James is closing in on his first-ever league title, right? But is that going to silence critics?

RIDDELL: Yes. I think it will, to be honest. He's had a lot of critics. That usually happens when you're the tallest poppy, and he's the biggest star in the NBA. But he hasn't won an NBA ring. He's now playing in his third NBA finals, he lost with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he came up short with Miami against Dallas last year.

But he really is carrying this team on his back. There's a great phrase, Zain: if you want something done properly, you've got to do it yourself. And LeBron really has stepped up in this post-season. He's been posting some huge numbers.

Last night, he scored 26 points, and he was just one rebound off a triple-double. He had averaged over 30 points right throughout the post- season. He is answering his critics, and he is leading his team.

And they now have a 3-1 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder. No team has come back from a deficit like that, Zain, since 1966. So, it would appear that the Heat are closing in on what would be LeBron James' first championship ring.

VERJEE: There was also this really weird incident in baseball last night in the United States. What happened?

RIDDELL: Yes. The Rays were playing Washington and Joel Peralta is a pitcher for the Rays, but he used to play for Washington. And we had this curious moment during the game when the Washington team asked the umpires to check Peralta's glove, because they had an inkling that he was cheating, that he was using pine tar.

Now, batters are allowed to use this. They're allowed to put it on their gloves to get extra grip. But pitchers, Zain, are not. So, he was found to be guilty of cheating. He was ejected from the game.

But a cynic would say only in baseball can you have a guy that's been found of cheating that feels he has some kind of right to complain, and it really seems to be the case that because he used to play for Washington, I guess they knew what he was up to.

And so, when he's playing for a new team and he runs into them, they're like, "Oh, go and check this guy out, because we kind of know what he's up to." So, they're all hot under the collar that they've basically been exposed really through insider knowledge.

VERJEE: Don Riddell. Thanks so much for that. Great to see you, Don.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. When we come back, the phone app that gives you, well, let's just say a sixth sense about people around you. The question is, do you really want to know what it has to say? We'll tell you how it works. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Imagine a world where your phone tells you all about the people around you, in a restaurant, in the street, or in a shop: who they are and what you have in common with them. It's pretty much a virtual sixth sense.

Well, you don't need to imagine, because the technology -- ta da! -- is here. I caught up with Paul Davison, he's the young entrepreneur behind the app known as Highlight, and he told me how it works.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL DAVISON, CEO, HIGHLIGHT: So, Highlight's a mobile app that helps you learn more about the people around you. So, the basic idea is that if you're standing near me, and you're privacy settings allow for it, and you have the app installed, your profile will show up on my phone.

It's sort of like being able to look around a place and just see a little one-pager floating above everyone's head.

VERJEE: But do I want that? Do I want details about everyone here around me? How does that help me or make my life better?

DAVISON: Imagine that you're standing next to someone and you know you've met them but you can't remember their name.

VERJEE: Yes.

DAVISON: You can look at Highlight and just see what their name is. Or maybe you're walking down the street, and it can notify you and say, oh, your friends with that cafe right there. Or it might just sort of notify you what you have in common with all the people in the room.

VERJEE: So, if you don't want to be seen --

DAVISON: Yes

VERJEE: -- then you don't have to necessarily turn it on the Facebook or --

DAVISON: No -- yes, absolutely. So, Highlight's entirely opt-in. So, you'll only show up on my phone if you've also installed the app. You can turn it off anytime you want to turn it off. One thing to understand is, you can't track their location after they leave.

VERJEE: Right.

DAVISON: It's really like being able to stand here and look around at people and see that little bubble floating above their heads.

VERJEE: Well, some people might say that's just too much.

DAVISON: Yes.

VERJEE: Too much information, too -- I don't want to be that accessible.

DAVISON: We love to share. We do this on the web all the time, we do it in real life. We wear t-shirts and hats of our favorite bands and sports teams.

VERJEE: This is just a way of connecting rather than being isolated in the environment --

DAVISON: Exactly.

VERJEE: -- that you're in. That's kind of what you're going for.

DAVISON: It lets you share a little profile --

VERJEE: Yes.

DAVISON: -- to the people around you.

VERJEE: And what's been the best part of this?

DAVISON: I think the best part is running into people from other parts of the world and hearing the crazy stories about the connections that it's surfaced. So, one person just told me that he ran into a friend who was in town from Brazil and was a block away, and he had no idea he was in town before.

VERJEE: Yes.

DAVISON: Another woman told me the other day that she's interviewed ten people because of Highlight.

VERJEE: Wow.

DAVISON: People have -- yes, they have -- people have really interesting stories about crazy connections. People from ten years ago and old friends --

VERJEE: Wow, that's something we --

DAVISON: -- and new people that they didn't know that have these really unusual connections to them.

VERJEE: Well, I'm definitely going to take a closer look at Highlight. But I'm going to go right now, and don't follow me.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: That gives you an idea of the kind of innovations that have been highlighted here in London at Europe's biggest technology conference, Le Web. Paul, who's one of the hottest people an entrepreneurs over in Silicon Valley was actually among the speakers at the event founded by Loic Le Meur, who joins me now from -- to talk to me a little bit about this.

LOIC LE MEUR, FOUNDER, LE WEB: Yes, Le Web is the largest tech conference in Europe, and we just had two incredible days where you have all those connected objects. This is what's coming.

You have Google Glass, you have the app on your phone that will show you where your friends are. We had a watch that will connect to your phone and show you what's happening around you. Basically it tells you hidden things that you could not detect before. It's faster than real time. You need a hotel room, you get it right now.

VERJEE: Wow. Tell us a little bit more about the watch, because that was one big gadget -- one gadget that people were also curious about.

LE MEUR: Yes, it's -- it's very hot because the Pebble Watch first was funded entirely by the future customers of the watch. So, they raised $10 million without any investor. That has never happened in technology in Silicon Valley that we brought here.

VERJEE: Wow.

LE MEUR: And that watch will tell you how fast you run, connecting to your phone, and what was really fascinating about it, like the iPhone and the Android platforms, you can code apps for it. So, we will -- we're entering an era of connected objects which we'll have everywhere.

On your phone, there are 14 censors. It senses temperature --

VERJEE: Right.

LE MEUR: It senses a lot of different things you don't know about.

VERJEE: Are we getting too teched out at some point? When is enough enough? Or for someone like you, it's never enough, but for someone like me, I've already got enough devices. It's kind of tiring to keep up with all of them. Do I need all this?

LE MEUR: You don't need it. You don't need a phone, by the way. You don't need a SmartPhone, either.

VERJEE: Yes, I do.

LE MEUR: If you leave work, they need to call you.

VERJEE: Well, maybe that's the thing. Ten years ago, we thought we could live without it, now we can't.

LE MEUR: Exactly.

VEJEE: But you're looking at a lot of the new stuff that will be the way of the future.

LE MEUR: Right. Well, it's an entire industry which is being created. Some companies, such as Facebook, or 3,000 or 4,000 employees, and same with Zynga. So, we are creating an entire new industry here. So, I think the needs are being created as the technology evolves.

VERJEE: What does it do to our basic communication skills? Technology makes us efficient, sexy gadgets, really can do amazing things. But we don't really talk to one another as much anymore.

LE MEUR: Well, voice is going down.

VERJEE: We have a lot of ADD people around here.

LE MEUR: I'm really pleased that we talked together tonight. But voice is definitely going down. People text more and more, text and e- mail.

VERJEE: Yes, right.

LE MEUR: That is the new thing happening. And for sure we will have devices and objects that will do a lot of things for us, like a self- driving car, for example.

VERJEE: Right. Oh, I'd love that, actually.

LE MEUR: It's coming.

VERJEE: All right! All right!

LE MEUR: We're really doing it.

VERJEE: Fabulous! You're a serial entrepreneur, right?

LE MEUR: Yes.

VERJEE: What --

LE MEUR: I created five start-ups.

VERJEE: That's incredible. What are some of the hottest things on the horizon that you're looking at?

LE MEUR: Right now, I think one of the hottest space is definitely objects connected, that's definitely one --

VERJEE: Right. Right.

LE MEUR: -- which is very interesting. Another one is in finance, there's a revolution going on with a company that can help you raise money, like we said about Kickstarter, you go, you put your project there --

VERJEE: Right.

LE MEUR: -- and you say you need this to finance it. And in the case of Pebble Watch, they financed it in 30 days, they raised $10 million.

VERJEE: Wow.

LE MEUR: But also at personal level --

VERJEE: Yes.

LE MEUR: -- you can get a loan without a bank. There's a company there also --

VERJEE: Right.

LE MEUR: -- that does this. So, I think it's really what we call crowd sourcing. So we connect people together, and we let them act really, really fast. So, I think those are two areas which are extremely exciting. And all is on the Cloud, as we call it, everything going there.

I'd really like anything connected to my body, my brain. It's a help. You need -- you say you're not -- you don't need it, but you actually live better with it. That's what I think of projects you can see, because memory needs some help. I store everything in the Cloud.

VERJEE: All right. Well, you can keep your head in the Clouds, then. But you're doing pretty well. Congratulations on all the great stuff. And thank you so much. We appreciate that, Loic Le Meur, thanks so much.

LE MEUR: Thank you, Zain.

VERJEE: In tonight's Parting Shots, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall welcome the Dalai Lama to their home earlier today. During a tour of the gardens, they made an impromptu stop by a group of journalists, and the Dalai Lama had a few words to say about his old mate the prince of Wales.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THE DALAI LAMA: I always look on the human level, not their rank or something. So, like President Bush, I always look on a human level. So, I felt he's a wonderful, nice person, very straightforward, no formality. From the first meeting, I developed something, very closeness feeling.

Now, here, this gentleman, right from the beginning, I felt a very nice person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

VERJEE: Dalai Lama. I'm Zain Verjee, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thanks so much for watching. The world headlines are up next after this short break. This is CNN.

END