Assad bleeds Syria dry on the country's bloodiest day yet [Future TV, Lebanon]

Presenter, Female #1
On the ground, the Syrian opposition marked "Tuesday's dawn of freedom." It also called for additional demonstrations tomorrow on a day dubbed 'Wednesday of national brotherhood." In conjunction, the regime escalated its military operations in Idlib, Homs, and Daraa, following the deaths of nearly 70 people at the hands of Assad's brigades, as confirmed by Syrian activists. In Damascus, the Syrian news agency said that 1,180 detainees, who were implicated in the incidents in Syria but who don't have blood on their hands, were released from jail.

Reporter, Female #2
Eight months have passed since the launch of the unprecedented protests on March 15, but the movement has not lost momentum. The blood that was shed and the lives that were smothered are fueling the revolution, with no signs of retreat or surrender on the horizon. In response to calls for marking the eight month anniversary of the anti-regime protests, supporters of the Syrian opposition took to the streets on a day dubbed "Tuesday's dawn of freedom." The protestors renewed their demands for toppling President Bashar Assad and his regime. Opposition websites released images of students rallying in Duma and chanting slogans in support of the revolution in the presence of security officers loyal to the regime. The protestors refused to obey the orders of security officers to board busses carrying Assad supporters. This mobilization comes as Syrian residents held funeral processions for the victims killed in the "day of prisoners'" protests. More than 60 protestors were killed by the gunfire of Assad's brigades. Most of them were killed in fierce clashes between defectors and the Syrian army in Daraa. Meanwhile, the opposition continues to mobilize and urge its supporters to stage massive demonstrations under the theme "Wednesday of national brotherhood," amid a dramatic military escalation on the ground. Opposition websites reported that Assad's brigades, backed by dozens of military vehicles and busses, stormed the area of al-Zabadani. In addition, a curfew was imposed in the city of Kafr Ruma in the countryside of Idlib, amid massive explosions. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that fierce clashes erupted between the conventional army and defectors in the area of Matana, killing several troops and injuring several others. Opposition sources said the city of Talbisa in Homs has been witnessing heavy gunfire since the early morning hours, amid reports that security forces are terrorizing residents and preventing them from leaving their homes. The Local Coordination Committees reported that a heavy gunfire erupted in the northern, western, and southern parts of the village of Hara in Daraa, where a new wave of army defections was reported. This news comes after reports of artillery shelling and gunfire launched by the 15th Army Division entrenched near the city of Sanamien. Incoming reports confirmed that the areas of Duma and Khirbat Ghazala in Huran continue to witness random sweeps. Security forces backed by the shabeha and bulldozers stormed the area of Khirbat Ghazala this morning. These developments on the ground followed massive nighttime demonstrations, which were organized to condemn the bloody Syrian prisoners' day. In another related development, activists expect hundreds of people to be killed this month, which would make it the bloodiest month since the spark of protests eight months ago.

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Yemen's Saleh vows to step down after 90 days, again [Al Jazeera, Qatar]

Presenter, Female #1
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he is ready to relinquish power based on the Gulf initiative, while setting a timetable to implement it and conduct elections. He hinted that he had no objection to stepping down within 90 or even 60 days.

Presenter, Male #1
In the Yemeni capital Sanaa, a massive demonstration took place demanding to try President Saleh and his associates on charges of killing peaceful protestors and shelling residential neighborhoods in Taiz, Arhab, and Sanaa. The protestors condemned the Gulf initiative and the political settlement, vowing to escalate their peaceful revolution.

Reporter, Male #2
The marches that flooded the streets of the Yemeni capital Sanaa reaffirmed the public's demands since the revolution began in February: trying President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his associates on charges of killing protestors and shelling residential neighborhoods in Sanaa, Taiz, Arhab, and other cities. The protestors condemned the Gulf initiative that has been brought to the scene. This march came a day after President Saleh announced in a statement that he is ready to step down in accordance with the Gulf initiative, but only after signing it and deciding on the relevant implementation mechanisms.

Guest, Male #3 (Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemeni President)
The Gulf initiative came and we welcomed it, and we will all cooperate with it in a positive way. It was signed by the leadership of the General People's Congress party, and it needs to be signed by the president. The president's signature is welcomed, but we want the mechanisms first.

Reporter, Male #2
The Yemeni president's statements came at the end of UN envoy Jamal Bin Omar's visit to Yemen. He held talks with various political groups as part of what he described as efforts to push the political process forward in order to reach a political settlement based on the Gulf initiative and enter the transitional phase as soon as possible. It is too early to speak of the results of Bin Omar's talks, however, the dispute appears to be obvious now. The opposition wants President Saleh to sign the initiative first then talk about its implementation mechanisms, contrary to what the president calls for. However, the Gulf initiative, which is currently being discussed as the basis for the upcoming settlement, has never gained the approval of protestors. Protests still take place on a daily basis in numerous Yemeni cities, raising a clear, specific, and unified demand: Saleh's departure without any conditions or protection, and a trial against him and the symbols of his regime for the acts of violence they committed against the people, which continues to this day. Saleh has repeatedly procrastinated in signing the Gulf initiative for reasons pertaining to disputed details. The outcome of UN envoy Jamal Bin Omar's visit depends on the Gulf initiative and the public opinion of the rebelling street which not only rejects the Gulf initiative, but also rejects any political deal providing President Saleh an exit without trial. These parallel events keep Yemen stalled in the face of many possibilities, just like always.

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Bahrain escalates legal crackdowns, as opposition denies links to alleged terror plot [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Male #1
Dozens of Bahraini employees staged a sit-in at the Ministry of Labor in the country's central region for the seventh consecutive day to protest their arbitrary termination after taking part in the recent protests. The rally comes in response to a call issued by activists on social media websites. Several employees from the public and private sectors took part in the sit-in. The employees were fired from their jobs based on their political orientation and after taking part in peaceful demonstrations last March. The ministry's officials refused to meet with the protestors. The Bahraini Wasat newspaper said that it has received a 'flood' of phone calls from the residents of Maamir and Nuwaidarat complaining about the suffocating gas surrounding their homes. The newspaper quoted the residents saying that poison gas is seeping into their homes, prompting many to leave their homes. The residents confirmed that several children were transported to hospitals after suffering from gas inhalation. Some residents said the gas is from the factories that were built near the residential neighborhoods in Maamir and Nuwaidarat. Experts told the newspaper that the factories are posing a threat to residents in the area. Meanwhile, a Bahraini court handed prison terms ranging from six months to a year to residents accused of taking part in peaceful protests. In another development, the Bahraini Appellate Court has adjourned the trial of the women arrested in Manama's City Center mall until Wednesday.

Reporter, Male #2
As the crisis continues to rage in Bahrain, so do the campaign of crackdowns. In the latest campaign, the authority deployed its judiciary to quell the citizens. The criminal court in Manama issued prison terms ranging from six months to a year to residents accused of taking part in the recent peaceful protests. The Appellate Court has adjourned the trial of the women who were arrested in Manama's City Center mall until Wednesday. The defendants' attorney, Reem Khalaf, filed a complaint during the court's session citing acts of abuse committed against her clients.

Guest, Female #1 (Reem Khalaf, Attorney for the women detained in city mall case)
What the court did, not this one but the preliminary court, was a blatant violation of our rights as a defense team. The court refused to hear any of our complaints, and it keeps postponing the trial for review. The case is being built with evidence provided by the district attorney's office. None of the evidence provided by the defense team has been admitted. The court is refusing to listen to any of our witnesses.

Reporter, Male #2
For her part, attorney Zahra'a Masoud asked the court to disclose the documents and evidence on which the charges are based, as well as allow the defense witnesses to testify. On the ground, the regime's forces on Muharaf Island seized a secondary girls' school bus on charges that one of the students chanted anti-regime slogans, prompting families of the detainees to rush to the police station in Samaheej. Politically, al-Wefaq Society expressed dismay over the authority's warning of the presence of underground cells, plots, and mobilizations in the country. Al-Wefaq confirmed that the Bahraini people's mobilization is peaceful and wide-spread, and that their demands are specific and known to the public. It also called on the authority to meet the international community's demands by implementing serious reforms and expediting democratic transformation in the country, affirming that the winds of change are coming to the region no matter what.

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Moroccan police crack down on Sahrawi protestors [Algérie TV, Algeria]

Presenter, Male #1
The Sahrawi people continue to suffer from the Moroccan occupation's repression. New images emerging from the occupied ad-Dakhla governorate show a Sahrawi female citizen being severely beaten by Moroccan police, causing her to lose her eyesight. This took place in light of the deterioration of the refugees' situation due to scarce aid. Our correspondent Fawzi Eitali reports.

Reporter, Male #2
Her only crime was chanting for "self-determination" in her occupied country and only one part of her tragedy is revealed in these leaked images. Lella Busoula lost her eyesight while being abused by Moroccan police, but her vision shines through the faith and rightfulness of the cause.

Guest, Female #1 (Lella Busoula, Sahwari)
We were peacefully chanting slogans, peacefully. And Moroccan aggression interfered. Even if I were to regain my eyesight, I would not abandon my goal.

Reporter, Male #2
And from inside the occupation, she cries out in the face of an unjust siege imposed to conceal the scale of violations that may parallel those that took place in Gdeim Izik.

Guest, Male #3 (Abdelkader Taleb, Prime Minister of Sahrawi)
They attacked residential neighborhoods and killed Sahrawis. A number of people were martyred. They burned houses and cars, and did not spare anyone.

Reporter, Male #2
On the eastern side of the separation wall, a different kind of suffering is endured every day by the Sahrawi refugees due to the scarcity of aid. The Sahrawi Red Crescent's containers are almost completely empty of essential supplies.

Guest, Male #4 (Yehyah Bouhabayni, Head of Sahwari Red Crescent)
We are sending out an urgent call to the international community to pay more attention to the situation of Sahrawi refugees and provide enough aid so that the refugees can have their most basic needs met.

Guest, Female #2
The support from organizations is scarce.

Guest, Male #3
The humanitarian aid delivered to the refugee camp is always very scarce.

Guest, Female #3
People have lost weight due to the lack of nutrition.

Reporter, Male #2
The Sahrawi people are tormented between the fists of repression and harassment in the occupied regions, and the clamps of displacement and the scarcity aid in the refugee camps. The alarm bell is sounding on both sides.

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Tel Aviv to invite bids for over 800 East Jerusalem settler units [Press TV, Iran]

Israel plans to call contenders for the construction of 800 settlement units in East Jerusalem al Quds. According to the Housing Ministry, the buildings will be constructed in two settlement neighborhoods and the tendering process will begin in one or two months. The new construction plans come as the Palestinian Authority is trying to secure UN recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state with al Quds as its capital. Israel's settlement activities were a major factor in the collapse of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and are expected to further endanger the prospect of negotiations.

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Israeli troops demolish four Palestinian homes in West Bank [Press TV, Iran]

Israeli troops have demolished four Palestinian homes near the city of Giriko in the West Bank. Israel says the houses were razed as they were built without permit and endangered a nearby archeological site. An Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman has said the land is to be used by Israeli settlement Yeriko, located nearby. One of the property owners says this is his third house demolished by Israel since 2004. A UN report has warned that the demolitions have alarmingly increased in the West Bank in the first half of this year with 356 structures razed and 700 Palestinians displaced. It also says the demolitions seem to be concentrated in areas targeted for settlement expansion.

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Australian papers portray BDS against Israel as anti-Semitic [Press TV, Iran]

An adjudication by the Australian Press council has found that articles published by an Australian newspaper have inaccurately portrayed the boycott Israel movement in Australia as anti-Semitic. The Australian Press Council has found that articles published in the Australian newspaper in July this year relating to boycott Israel protests, were in breach of the council's standards of practice. The string of protests took place outside a number of Max Brenner cafes around the country. The franchise café is owned by an Israeli confectionary company, the Strauss group, that prides itself on its support for the Israeli military. BDS protesters affirm that Max Brenner is a legitimate target of their campaign.

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Ex-Iranian official says Israel behind blast at military base [IBA, Israel]

New allegations today that Israel carried out this week's attack on a missile base in Iran. A man who once headed a Iranian state-run organization and who has close ties to the ruling regime in Tehran was quoted by Britain's Guardian newspaper as saying he believes the explosion was part of the covert war against Iran led by Israel. This follows a report yesterday in Time Magazine that quoted a Western intelligence source who also insisted that Mossad was behind the attack. Officially, Iran said the blast was an accident as explosives were being transferred from one area to another.

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Shimon Peres calls Iran 'spoiled' and 'morally corrupt' [IBA, Israel]

"Iran is morally corrupt and spoiled." Those comments are from President Shimon Peres, who told CNN that "what is needed is an attack on Iran's moral foundations". Peres said that he would not suggest beginning with military operations on Iran, but would prefer to see tighter economic sanctions and more political pressure put on the country.

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TLC debuts new reality show "All-American Muslim" [BBC Arabic, UK]

Presenter, Male #1
Americans are used watching reality TV shows. A new reality show by the American TV channel TLC titled "All-American Muslim" follows five American Muslim families in an attempt to bridge the gap in public opinions on Muslims. Wafa Jiba'a reports from Washington.

Reporter, Female #2
"All-American Muslim" is the latest innovation of reality TV in the United States. Starring in the show are five Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan. The camera crew follows these families, recording eight episodes of the most intimate details of their lives, their joys and sorrows, and the challenges they face for being Muslim. The show presents various characters in an attempt to show the cultural diversity among Muslims, though all of them face the stereotypes they have been stuck with since September 11. In the show, we follow Amin's family, a Muslim family who agreed to marry their daughter Shadia to an American man who converted to Islam despite opposition from his mother. We also see Nadir and Nawal al-Oudi, a young couple expecting their first child. In a completely different example, we follow Nina Bazzi, an open-minded blonde girl confronting her conservative community and family.

Guest, Female #2 (Nina Bazzi, Show Participant)
Another Muslim may think that I'm not fully Muslim. But I don't believe that I need to show my religion through my clothing. I don't wear a hijab, and I'm a strong woman, so people don't know how to interact with me.

Reporter, Female #1
Mike Ja'afar, a police officer, is living the American dream with his small family. He faces judgments from his senior colleagues simply because he is Muslim. The fifth family is that of Fouad Ziban, who coaches a high school football team. In the show, Fouad says his major challenge is meeting the demands of football as a sport in a school where 90 percent of its students are Muslims who conform to religious duties such as fasting during Ramadan. The target audience of the TV show "All-American Muslim" is the American general public, but its debut attracted attention from a large number of Arab and Muslim viewers whose opinions varied on the program. They held panel discussions on social networking sites such as Facebook.

Guest, Male #2
The show did a great job portraying them as Arabs, Muslims, and Americans. It shows the details of what they do in their daily lives.

Guest, Male #3
There's many other cultures out there that are non-Arab and they're facing what the Arabs are facing. I don't have a problem with the show except that it should change its name from "All-American Muslim" to "All-American Arab."

Guest, Male #4
I have to commend TLC for this historic work. It showed the Arabs and Muslims in a positive way.

Reporter, Female #1
Dearborn has the largest Arab community in the United States. One-third of its residents are of Arab origins, and this is why it was selected. Muslims in America have been subject to harassment since the September 11 incident. While ten years have passed since the September 11 attacks, a public poll conducted by the Institute for Religious Research shows that one out of two Americans is annoyed when they see a woman wearing a niqab or men praying in airports. According to the poll, 68 percent of Americans never mingle with Muslims. Wafa Jiba'a, BBC, Washington.