UN rights envoy to probe violence against Rohingyas in Myanmar [Al Jazeera, Qatar]

Presenter, Female #1
A United Nations human rights envoy arrived in Myanmar in the first such visit to evaluate the situation in the country amid allegations of ethnic violence and a crackdown by the government and the Buddhist majority against the Muslim Rohingya minority. Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, sent the president of Myanmar and the UN secretary-general letters calling for an end to the ethnic cleaning of the Rohingya minority in the country.

Reporter, Male #1
In Myanmar, the Muslims are angry. The number of people killed, displaced, and hungry in Arakan Province is rising. They say the crackdown against them was heightened during Ramadan. The presence of this man is the first practical action in Myanmar. His name is Tomas Ojea, and he is the UN special rapporteur on human rights. The host country was keen to welcome him with flowers that he held in front of the cameras. But he is here to investigate the claim that bloodshed has been ongoing for months.

Reporter, Male #1
The UN envoy will meet with a number of politicians, and human rights activists, and workers. He will also devote part of his time to meet with the leader of the opposition. In the sad province of Arakan, the Rohingya Muslims are stranded. And even during Ramadan, religious scholars and Islamic law students are targets as dozens have been detained. Outside, sympathizers and human rights advocates are angry, and have been issuing one statement after the next. However, it seems that no solution is yet at hand, and everyone is still condemning and denouncing what is happening. No one has been able to even deliver humanitarian aid, or stop the catastrophe.

Reporter, Male #1
Time after time, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation issues letters of condemnation to Myanmar due to its treatment of the Muslim minority. But the Asian state that is a member of the ASEAN organizations pays no attention to the calls. Myanmar's president insists that he does not recognize the Muslims in his country, as if they do not exist, implying that those who want them can take them. There is no excuse for such expulsions and human rights denials.

Reporter, Male #1
In a meeting held on Friday for the representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Geneva, the secretary-general sent urgent letters to those responsible in Myanmar, including the president and the opposition. He also called on the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to put an end to this plight.

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Kashmiri women struggle to make their voices heard after decades of conflict [Press TV, Iran]

Life for women in Indian-administered Kashmir is extremely hard. Decades of conflict, domestic violence, and mental diseases have taken a toll on Kashmiri women. Data from international organizations show that women in the territory are the biggest victims of violence in the world. Press TV takes a closer look at the plight of women in Kashmir.

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US presidential candidate Romney hits the campaign trail in Israel [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Female #1
A Palestinian was martyred and two others were wounded by the gunfire of the Israeli occupation army at an entrance gate into occupied Jerusalem. Palestinian sources said the wounded were transported to Ramallah Hospital. Meanwhile, the occupation's authority refused to hand over the martyr's body. A witness clarified that the military checkpoint at Jerusalem's eastern entrance opened fire at the car the victims were riding in.

Presenter, Female #1
American Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, expressed his support for what he considered to be Israeli concerns over the Iranian nuclear program. During his visit to the occupied Palestinian territories, Romney assured his support for Tel Aviv, declaring Jerusalem as the capital of the Israeli entity.

Reporter, Female #2
It seems the American presidential race has moved its base from its home country to the Israeli occupation entity, turning it into a platform to win the support of American Jews and Israel's backers in the United States, and gather the endorsement of the occupation entity's leaders. It started earlier this week with Obama, who put on a show in his Oval Office in the White House by signing the enhanced security cooperation act with the Zionist entity. During the ceremony, Obama was surrounded by representatives of the Zionist lobby, AIPAC, and a number of congressmen, confirming Washington's solid support for the entity.

Reporter, Female #2
As for his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, who worries about lagging behind his Democratic rival, he personally went to occupied Palestine to portray himself as a better friend to the Zionist lobby than President Obama. Romney's visit had a busy schedule that included visits with the entity's leaders, speeches, a visit to the Wailing Wall among crowds of Israelis, and making promises and statements that appeal to Israelis.

Guest, Male #1 (Mitt Romney, Republican Presidential Candidate)
We are very concerned about the development of the Iranian nuclear issue. We feel that it is unacceptable for Iran to become a nuclear state because it poses a threat to Israel and the world.

Reporter, Female #2
Romney used Jerusalem to target the Israeli mindset and its historic ambitions in hopes of receiving more votes, so he announced that this holy city is the capital of the Israeli entity.

Reporter, Female #2
The Palestinian leadership objected to the statement, but its weak objections remained mere lip service. And while chief negotiator Saeb Erekat denounced describing occupied Jerusalem in such a manner, as well as the American election campaign's auctions at the expense of the Palestinian people, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Salam Fayyad received the American presidential candidate. He held a meeting with Romney that was described as semi-secret, and its details were not revealed. No meeting was held with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Fayyad sought to undermine the importance of not arranging a meeting between Abbas and Romney, suggesting there was a simple scheduling conflict.

Guest, Male #2 (Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister)
I had previously met with Mr. Romney twice, and when I meet with him, I do not meet with him on a personal basis. I meet with him as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, that is headed by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Reporter, Female #2
Romney concluded his visit to the occupied territories with a fundraiser. Most of the attendees were American Jews living in the Israeli entity. He is hoping that his statements will have an impact that would allow him to win the American presidential seat.

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Israeli cabinet meets to approve more measures for plugging massive budget hole [IBA, Israel]

The Israeli Cabinet is meeting to approve another series of financial measures, including billions of shekels in tax hikes and budget cuts, in order to plug a 12 billion shekel hole in the state's 2013 budget that is expected because of a drop in tax revenues. The measures are expected to pass, but not unanimously. The details of the measures were finalized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, and Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer.

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Sharp rise in number of settlers in West Bank and Jerusalem since 2011 [Palestine TV, Ramallah]

Presenter, Female #1
In response to the public prosecutor's request, the Israeli Supreme Court decided to postpone the evacuation of the Migron settlement outpost until August 21. The settlement is established on the lands of a number of citizens from the town of Dur al-Qara, north of Ramallah. According to the court, the deferment aims to look into the appeals of the settlers, who claim they received the lands on which the settlement was built from their owners.

Presenter, Female #1
Meanwhile, new data published by the Israeli Interior Ministry on the number of settlers in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem reveals a sharp increase in their number, rising by nearly 4.5 percent in one year. The report also reveals that the number of settlers in the West Bank has surpassed 650,000, including 300,000 settlers in occupied Jerusalem. Knesset member representing the extremist National Unity party, Yaakov Katz, said the plan is for the number of settlers in occupied Jerusalem to reach 400,000 before the upcoming scheduled elections.

Presenter, Female #1
Volunteers at the Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem, were able to film a video of an occupation soldier attacking a young man in Hebron, and breaking his nose. The soldiers had stopped a number of young men at the Beit Hadassah checkpoint in Hebron, and then beat 17-year-old Thaer Ghanam. The soldier also headbutted the young man in the face, and broke his nose. The B'Tselem organization said the boy was detained at an occupation army camp for several hours before he was released and transported to Hebron Hospital, where it was revealed that his nose was broken.

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Turkish military deploys convoy at Syrian border as battle for Aleppo intensifies [New TV, Lebanon]

Presenter, Female #1
In Syria, battles continued to rage in the city of Aleppo as regime forces confirmed they regained control of the Salah al-Din neighborhood. Paris is calling for an emergency meeting by the UN Security Council before the end of the week. The British Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Syrian charge d'affaires, Khaled al-Ayoubi, has resigned from his post, saying he is no longer willing to represent Bashar al-Assad's regime due to the acts of violence it has committed.

Reporter, Female #2
On this third day in the battle for Aleppo, the regime's army said it was able to regain parts of the Salah al-Din neighborhood. Syrian state TV aired footage of the army patrolling some of the neighborhood's streets and alleys. However, the armed opposition denied the report, confirming that regime forces were not able to advance one meter. The Free Syrian Army announced it captured the Anadan neighborhood that is a key strategic point located five kilometers northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syrian TV, the army has purged the al-Qarabis neighborhood in Homs and the areas of al-Sibaniyah and al-Shoufinyah in the countryside of Damascus from the armed groups.

Reporter, Female #2
In other developments, the Syrian Observatory confirmed that unknown gunmen have assassinated pilot Firas al-Safi by opening fire at him as he was traveling on the road to the Damascus International Airport. Firas is the son of pilot General Ibrahim al-Safi, who held senior positions in the Syrian leadership under the late President Hafez al-Assad.

Reporter, Female #2
Meanwhile, the Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said that his country is a brotherly state to Syria, and stands by it in the face of the conspiracy, until the victory of right against wrong. Ahmadinejad also expressed confidence that Syria will prevail due to the wise leadership of President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian people's support. Al-Moallem stressed that Syria is determined to foil the conspiracy facing the country, and to fight the armed terrorist groups that are committing criminal acts with the support of certain Arab and western countries, which are harboring and supplying them with weapons and money.

Reporter, Female #2
Al-Moallem also met with the head of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, and the Speaker of the Iranian Shura Council, Ali Larijani, and briefed them them on the current situation in Syria. Meanwhile, the head of the UN observer's mission in Syria, General Babacar Gaye, said his team is working toward the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution and the plan of the UN envoy, Kofi Annan.

Guest, Male #2 (General Babacar Gaye, Head of the UN Observer Mission in Syria)
The Syrian government committed to Annan's plan, and the crisis in Syria couldn't be resolved except by an agreement between the Syrian people and their leadership.

Reporter, Female #2
Politically, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, whose country is due to assume the UN Council's rotating presidency, expressed fear that a massacre may unfold in Aleppo and warned that the conflict may easily spread to neighboring countries.

Guest, Male #2 (Laurent Fabius, French Foreign Minister)
We will make a request before the end of this week for a Security Council meeting, probably on the ministerial level, to try to stop the massacres and to prepare a political transition.

Reporter, Female #2
Meanwhile, the Turkish army sent new military reinforcements to the Kilis area along the Syrian border.

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Kurdish forces prevent Iraqi army from advancing near Syrian border [Al-Iraqiya TV, Iraq]

Presenter, Female #1
In Iraq, the al-Sadr movement's liberal bloc said the latest dispute between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army over the security deployment was expected, given the lack of reforms of the respective tasks of the federal government and the government of the Kurdistan region.

Presenter, Male #1
The bloc's secretary general, Diaa al-Asadi, told al-Markaz al-Khabary, an Iraqi media outlet, that all political parties are to blame for the unclear powers and responsibilities of Baghdad and Erbil, and warned of the implications of political disputes. It is a new chapter in the political scene as diverging stances are being adopted; they range between pacification and the call for reforms.

Presenter, Female #1
This comes following the latest position adopted by the presidency of the Iraqi Kurdistan province that led to the deployment of Iraqi military forces at the border with Syria. A number of parliamentarians have called for a questioning of the president of the province over his stance on the military deployment.

Reporter, Male #2
In light of the last position of the leadership of the Iraqi Kurdistan province to deploy Iraqi military forces at the border with Syria to maintain the peace, many parliamentarians are demanding that the president of the province be questioned. This time, the Iraqi political scene has shifted between those who are calling for pacification and moving forward with reform, and those who want a unified position against this action that is considered unconstitutional. The constitution granted the federal government the power to deploy Iraqi forces in any part of Iraq.

Guest, Male #3 (Sharwan Waeli, National Alliance Representative)
The government is supposed to act. It is being blamed, and will be held responsible in case it fails to do so, because the security situation is under threat now. The government is supposed to take precautionary measures. We must decrease the number of these statements that many are issuing and always creating more problems, be it from the federal government or the provinces, or between Iraq and neighboring countries. We must decrease the importance of these unnecessary statements.

Reporter, Male #2
Representatives of the Kurdistan alliance defended the position of the president of the Kurdistan region. They said it was a reaction to the province and the federal government's coordination committee, that was not informed of the deployment of Iraqi armed forces.

Guest, Female #2 (Ashwaq al-Jaf, Kurdistan Alliance MP)
If forces are deployed to any disputed areas, the coordination committee must be informed. There was a precedent, and at the time of the turmoil in the city of Jalawla and al-Saadiya, Peshmerga forces were used, but they did not enter the city. They remained at the border until they received the approval of the coordination committee, the Iraqi Defense Ministry, and the Peshmerga Ministry.

Reporter, Male #2
And with that, the call for reform presented by the national alliance remains the last hope to solve the crisis.

Guest, Male #4 (Zuhair al-Araji, Independent MP)
We are waiting for the completion of the reform call by our brothers at the National Alliance, and to present it to other political blocs, and not only focus on the larger political blocs.

Guest, Male #5 (Adel Fahad al-Shirshab, National Alliance MP)
Reform and dialogue is the right path. This is why the National Alliance initiated the calls for reform. This option is not the end, but the beginning of the project.

Reporter, Male #2
The bickering between the two sides is dominating the Iraqi political scene, despite the calls for pacification and the belief by most political blocs that reform is the best path towards a solution. From Baghdad, Razak al-Geli, Al-Iraqiya.