Egypt's Morsi takes presidential oath in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square [New TV, Lebanon]

Presenter, Female #1
Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi took an oath before the Egyptian people in Tahrir Square, and vowed to respect the constitution and the law. He also prayed in al-Azhar Mosque.

Guest Male #1 (Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian President)
I love you very much! All of you, I love you all. I stand with you today to salute all of the revolutionaries in all of Egypt's squares. And before I salute them, I salute our righteous martyrs. I declare my respect, my love, and my appreciation for our artists, innovators, and intellectuals, and for our media figures, who are loyal to Egypt.

Reporter, Female #2
In the evening, he took an oath to begin his term under the eyes of the Military Council; and away from the formalities and the usual protocol, the Egyptian president-elect chose to address his opponents before his supporters. He went to Tahrir Square, which is packed with Egyptians denouncing military rule. He spoke to them in their language, saluted them, made jokes, and promised to be equally within reach for all.

Guest, Male #3
I swear by God that I will sincerely protect the republican system, that I respect the constitution and the rule of law, and that I will look after the interests of the people, and protect the independence of the nation and the safety of its territory.

Guest, Male #3
There is no power above people power. Today, you are the source of this power. You give this power to whomever you want, and you withhold it from whomever you want.

Reporter, Female #2
Morsi began his presidential term from al-Azhar al-Sharif Mosque, where he performed Friday prayers amongst thousands of Egyptians. The holy mosque was packed with Egyptians who welcomed him in their own ways. Al-Azhar's courtyard held a demonstration giving their allegiance to the president-elect, on a Friday that Egyptians named "The Friday of Handing over Power." Friday preacher Sheikh Mohamed al-Qawsi's speech called for the Egyptian president to preserve the prestigious status of al-Azhar. He also cautioned him against excluding any political faction.

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Kashmir calm under curfew after fire destroys Sufi shrine [Press TV, Iran]

A strict curfew persists into the fourth consecutive day in Indian-ruled Kashmir, after a fire burned down an ancient Sufi shrine. An accusing finger is pointed at New Delhi, but officials are trying to avoid anti-India protests in the region. The government has placed most of the pro-independence leadership under house arrest, including the Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Bashir-ud-Din.

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Saudi women launch Facebook campaign to end driving ban [BBC Arabic, UK]

Presenter, Male #1
The "My Right to Dignity" campaign, in which many Saudi women are active, continues to promote "The Friday of Women Driving." It is an attempt to urge the women in the kingdom, and those in solidarity with them, to drive in the streets of the kingdom today, in order to push for a lift of the driving ban imposed on them. It is a ban among many others, social and political, that are imposed on Saudi women.

Reporter, Female #1
The information available in this video uploaded to YouTube may not be sufficient to teach women in Saudi Arabia how to drive. But it may suffice for the needs of those who want to drive and are not able to learn abroad. The kingdom doesn't allow women to drive cars, and even if the law supposedly allows it, tradition, which is built on social norms that revolve around what the Saudi man and the religious authorities allow, appears to be more powerful.

Reporter, Female #1
This video, provided by the "My right to dignity" campaign on their Facebook page, calls for giving women more social rights, which in the end mostly funnels into their political rights. This group encouraged Saudi women to drive cars on a Friday titled "The Friday of Saudi Women Driving."

Reporter, Female #1
The campaign was very active on Twitter as well, and tweets that motivate women to demand their political rights first, flooded the site. Some point out the contradiction between the talk of developing the role of women, as well as working to ease her integration into the Saudi job market, and limiting her freedom of transportation.

Reporter, Female #1
As for those who oppose these calls, they believe that the goal of this campaign to ignite chaos. These claims were all too similar to the ones echoed in countries that have witnessed change under the framework of what is called the Arab Spring; statements such as the terms "conspiracy" and "foreign agenda."

Reporter, Female #1
Marwa Saleh, a Saudi citizen from the Eastern Province, says that there are many cases of girls who were forced to leave work, or to not come in for a long time, because they were not able to drive after their driver quit.

Guest, Female #2 (Marwa Saleh, Saudi Businesswoman)
Here in Saudi, we do not have the infrastructure for public transportation, not even in big cities, so imagine what it's like in small cities. Cars are the only method of transportation available. Because the Saudi woman does not just stay home. She works, she has social activities to attend to, she is mobile, but her mobility depends on having a driver, a foreigner in most cases, so he can facilitate her transportation. And she doesn'tt have the choice to let him go.

Reporter, Female #1
But who answered this heated call online? There was at least one woman who drove her car in Buraidah in al-Qaseem Province. Advocates for women's driving rights insist that the key to the car may be the key to change in the kingdom. Naglaa Abu Marei, BBC.

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HRW calls on Bahrain to end attacks on peaceful protestors [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Female #1
Political groups in Bahrain called on the people to come out in a march today, Friday, under the slogan "We will not leave the squares", to affirm that they will continue protesting until the revolution's goals are achieved. Human Rights Watch called on the authorities in al-Manama to end their attacks on the peaceful protestors immediately.

Reporter, Male #1
Here in Jabal Habshi, west of the Bahraini capital al-Manama, there is a massive sit-in organized by the Bahraini opposition, with the theme "Torture is a crime against humanity." Participants in this massive rally confirmed the systematic torture in Bahraini prisons, and the brutality of the regime in dealing with peaceful protestors who demand freedom and democracy. Participants in the sit-in condemned the impunity granted by the Bahraini regime, which is backed by the Saudi occupation and its Western allies.

Guest, Male #2 (Hassan al-Marzouq, Revolutionary Activist and Former Prisoner)
The revolution continues, and will not end until our legitimate demands are met. Our top demand is an elected government that will put an end to corruption, tyranny, sectarian discrimination, and those who fuel the fire of sectarianism.

Reporter, Male #1
The protests and demonstrations that call for toppling the regime, and for prosecuting those responsible for killing protestors in many Bahraini cities and villages, have not ended. Massive demonstrations broke out under the slogan "Loyalty to the martyrs' blood," in Ma'ameer, Bilad al-Qadeem, Sitra, Samaheej, and other areas. The protestors affirmed they will continue the revolution until the downfall of the regime.

Reporter, Male #1
Regime forces continued their barbaric repression of the protestors. They raided the citizens' houses and shops in the village of al-Akar, and smashed their possessions. The forces also fired tear gas into a group of women inside this house.

Reporter, Male #1
The regime's brutal approach in dealing with the protestors prompted Human Rights Watch to demand that the regime immediately end its attacks on demonstrators. In a statement, the organization noted that Bahraini police forces use tear gas and stun grenades against the dissidents, and they stressed that the assaults on peaceful protestors must end.

Reporter, Male #1
In addition, the organization stated that they examined a video clip showing stun grenades and other bombs launched on the protestors from a close distance. It also denounced the regime's continuing prevention of international human rights organizations from entering the country to investigate cases of human rights violations there.

Reporter, Male #1
Meanwhile, the Islamic Action Society in Bahrain said in a statement that the torture cases in Bahrain are sufficient evidence for the regime's way of legitimizing its authority through terrorization and conquest. The society called on all human rights and international organizations to get involved in order to prevent the Bahraini regime from committing additional violations, indicating that an intervention from international groups has become necessary.

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Syria continues shelling of protest areas as new massacre unfolds in Duma [Future TV, Lebanon]

Presenter, Male #1
In Syria, as dissidents rigorously marked the Friday of "We trust God's victory," Assad's brigades intensified their military campaign and repressive operations in most Syrian cities and towns, killing 36 people.

Reporter, Male #2
"We trust God's victory" is the slogan started by the Syrian opposition's supporters to express their faith in the victory of their revolution over the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Reporter, Male #2
Tens of thousands of Syrians descended upon the streets in most Syrian cities and towns. As usual, Assad's brigades and shabeha encircled mosques and opened fire, killing and wounding dozens. The protestors chanted anti-regime slogans and demanded to continue the revolution until the downfall of Assad. The opposition's supporters also held funerals for a number of victims who were killed in the bloody operations carried out by Assad's brigades in various areas.

Reporter, Male #2
On the ground, Assad's brigades continued their massacres against civilians, most recently in the city of Duma in the countryside of Damascus. The brigades gathered four families in one house and opened fire on them, leaving dozens dead, including women and children.

Reporter, Male #2
In addition, violent shelling was launched by Assad's brigades on cities and towns in Homs, Idlib, Dara'a, and Deir az-Zour. In turn, the Free Syrian Army resisted the attackers and inflicted heavy losses on them. Activists uploaded images online showing a combat helicopter shot down by the Free Army. Notably, Colonel Mithqani Nua'ini, chief of a strategic tank reserve, has defected, and announced he will join the Free Syrian Army.

Guest, Male #3
I pronounce my defection from the Syrian Arab Army, and will join the joint command of the Free Syrian Army in the country. This is for the following reasons: First, the Syrian Arab Army has strayed from its duty of protecting the nation, despite the oath that it took.

Reporter, Male #2
At the Syrian-Turkish border, the Free Army discovered that the regime has amassed about 170 tanks north of Aleppo City near the border, where Turkey has also deployed military vehicles and anti-aircraft weaponry.

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Former Hamas leader Ibrahim Hamed indicted on 46 counts of murder [IBA, Israel]

Former head of the Hamas wing in the West Bank, Ibrahim Hamed, has been convicted by a military court of 46 counts of murder. Hamed had been one of the most wanted fugitives in the West Bank. He was arrested by the Palestinian Authority, but was released in 2001, and went on to participate in numerous terrorist attacks on Jerusalem, such as the bombing of Zion Square and the attacks on Moment Café and Hebrew University. Israeli security forces apprehended Hamed in 2006.

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Israeli foreign minister calls Arab MK a 'terrorist' [IBA, Israel]

A fiery verbal exchange occurred between Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Arab MK Taleb al-Sana, during a visit to the Bedouin village of al-Zarnouk in the Negev. Al-Sana accused Lieberman of incitement against the Bedouin population, while the foreign minister charged al-Sana of being a member of a terrorist organization and a supporter of President Bashar al-Assad.

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Israel: African migrants have two weeks to leave before arrests begin [IBA, Israel]

Deportation of illegal African migrants continues; Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced that an estimated 2,000 migrants from the Ivory Coast now have two weeks to willingly leave the country before authorities begin arresting them. Yishai said that those who voluntarily leave will receive USD 500 per adult and USD 100 per child.

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Iraqi cities hit by wave of deadly bomb attacks [Al-Forat TV, Iraq]

Presenter, Female #1
Seventeen people were martyred or wounded when three booby-trapped cars exploded in the area of Shatea al-Taji in northern Baghdad. A security source confirmed that three booby trapped cars exploded, which resulted in the deaths of two people; 15 others suffered from various injuries. Nearby cars were damaged. The source added that ambulances hurried to the scene to transport the wounded to a nearby hospital. Security forces cordoned off the area in anticipation of more explosions.

Presenter, Female #1
In Baqubah, an explosive device placed on the side of the road detonated, striking a Kia minibus; as a result, three civilians were injured. And in southern Fallujah, a booby-trapped car exploded on al-Seteen Street in the area of al-Shohadaa. Three soldiers were critically wounded.

Presenter, Female #1
Unidentified armed gunmen blasted a gas pipeline using an explosive device in Ninawa Province.

Presenter, Female #1
A source at the Ninawa operations command center confirmed in a press statement that the pipeline links al-Batna and the Haql Ain oil well near Zomara. Without adding more information, the source indicated that oil pumping through the pipeline was delayed for nearly three hours before a specialized team fixed it, and then the pumping resumed.

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Armed clashes escalate in Mali amid humanitarian catastrophe [Algerie TV, Algeria]

Presenter, Female #1
Leaders in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are meeting today in Cote d'Ivoire to discuss the Mali crisis. Developments on the ground have accelerated after armed clashes broke out in Mali, while the humanitarian situation for refugees continues to deteriorate. Buala Ma'aluj reports.

Reporter, Male #1
The city of Gao is falling into the clutches of what is called "The Movement for Oneness and Jihad", after its armed confrontations with the separatist movement Azawad killed over 20 people and injured dozens. The former allies in the war against Mali's central government are now in conflict with each other, amid regional and international polarization on the planned measures to recover Mali's sovereignty over the region. Countries in western Africa and the African Union are calling for a military intervention to restore the unification of the Mali territories.

Reporter, Male #1
Meanwhile, Algeria reiterates its commitment to a political solution through negotiations, in order to avert armed conflict in the region, which will attract international powers seeking a foothold there. Some Western parties want the Azawad Movement to be involved in the West's campaign of fighting the so-called al-Qaeda group in the Sahel region, while others are looking to control natural resources.

Reporter, Male #1
The complexity of the Mali crisis also created a humanitarian crisis that affects nearly 300 thousand refugees who fled their homes to more secure areas or to neighboring countries. The scale of this catastrophe prompted the UN Refugee Agency to send out an urgent call to care for these refugees.