Presenter, Male #1
Dozens of people were killed and dozens of others were wounded in a series of terrorist attacks that rocked the area of Jaramana in the countryside of Damascus and Daraa's suburb of Busra al-Sham. Meanwhile, warplanes launched air strikes across various regions in Aleppo, Idlib, and Homs.

Reporter, Female #1
Three booby-trapped car explosions rocked Syria. Two of the blasts were launched in the mostly Christian and Druze city of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, killing or injuring dozens of people, and causing substantial property damage to nearby shops and residential buildings. According to the official SANA news agency, terrorists detonated this morning two booby-trapped cars with a large quantity of explosives in the city of Jaramana's main square.

Guest, Male #2
When your time is up, it's over. But we remain steadfast, and Jaramana remains steadfast. Jaramana and all of Syria are in good spirits.

Guest, Male #3
No matter what they do, our nation will keep living, and our people will prevail.

Reporter, Female #1
The third explosion targeted the city of Busra al-Sham in the countryside of Daraa, inflicting casualties. In another development, the Syrian Observatory said that opposition fighters shot down a warplane, most likely a MiG or a Sukhoi, in the area of Daret Ezza in the countryside of Aleppo. The report was also confirmed by an Agence France-Presse journalist who was near the scene of the plane crash. The Observatory said that the plane was directly hit by a surface-to-air missile. The "Ahrar Daret Ezza" brigades, a group that's affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane.

Guest, Male #4
Today, we repelled a MiG warplane belonging to the regime and al-Assad forces. We were able to shoot it down with God's help.

Reporter, Female #1
The Observatory said that warplanes carried out air strikes on the city of Daraya in the countryside of Damascus, and the fields adjacent to the Kafr Susa neighborhood in western Damascus. In addition, the air strikes targeted several areas in the provinces of Idlib and Homs. Meanwhile, the Anadolu news agency said that earlier this week a group of NATO experts arrived to Turkey to visit the sites where Patriot anti-missile batteries are expected to be deployed along the Syrian border, as requested by the Turkish government.

Press TV reports that US President Barack Obama has come under a fresh round of criticism for his assassination drone war policies, amid revelations from The New York Times that shortly before his reelection, he ordered the preparation of a rule book for drone strikes overseas in case he would not win a second term, so that the new president would have restrictions in carrying out assassination drone strikes. Since Obama's reelection, the drone rule book project has lost its urgency.

Gunmen dressed in military uniforms opened fire on a car and shot dead a Saudi diplomat and his bodyguard in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The diplomat was an official of the Saudi Embassy's military section in Yemen. Experts in Yemen widely believe that the militant group Ansar al-Sharia was behind the attack. The group kidnapped the Saudi deputy counsel in the port city of Aden earlier this year. Ansar al-Sharia is known to strongly oppose Saudi intervention in Yemeni affairs.

Presenter, Male #1
In Afghanistan, the dangers threatening the security and safety of citizens aren't limited to the fight between Afghan and NATO forces on one hand, and the armed Taliban on the other. The central government is unable to impose order and security in a number of Afghan provinces. Among them is the province of Takhar, situated in northeastern Afghanistan, and inhabited by an Uzbek and Tajik majority, and a Pashtu minority.

Reporter, Male #2
This distant province from Kabul is under the control of warlords who take advantage of their weapons, money, and influence to impose their will on others. They are also able to reach agreements with leaders such as this one, who controls several villages with around 100 soldiers under his command.

Guest, Male #3
I do not carry a weapon to harm normal citizens, but to protect my family from the Taliban and smugglers. I can no longer give up my weapons because I have many enemies.

Reporter, Male #2
Other leaders have diverted the flow of the main river to run their electric generators. It denied many villages access to water vital for their crops. The influence of warlords extends to the capital, Kabul, where this woman now resides. She fled her village after a local warlord killed her father, and threatened to forcibly marry her young daughter.

Guest, Female #1
Five years have passed since we sought refuge in Kabul. I cannot return to my village and to my belongings, because warlords have weapons, money, and close ties everywhere.

Reporter, Male #2
While hope prevailed that the government that succeeded the Taliban would be able to curb the influence of warlords, many believe the government of Hamid Karzai didn't make any efforts in that direction.

Guest, Female #2 (Balkis Roshan, Member of the Afghan Senate)
Many of the high-level government leaders are warlords. Their fighters instill fear in people. I am aware that they rob the land, rape women, and kill people without punishment. If the government punished them, they would stop committing these crimes.

Reporter, Male #2
NATO forces are getting ready to withdraw from Afghanistan by late 2014. They will hand over security responsibilities to the Afghan forces to continue the fight against the Taliban. However, establishing comprehensive peace in Afghanistan also requires confronting the warlords, whose influence expands to all areas of the Afghan countryside.

Presenter, Male #1
A report by the National Center for Human Rights in Jordan monitored the beating, torture, and humiliation of protesters arrested during demonstrations calling for reform in the last two weeks. According to the opposition, the issue of the arrestees is being tackled by the Jordanian street, amid criticism that the state continues to resort to the security solution to solve its problems.

Reporter, Male #2
As their children stood on the streets to call for reforming the system, family members are now standing at government entrances to call for the release of prisoners detained over the protests that were named the November Breeze by their participants.

Reporter, Male #2
The National Center for Human Rights, which is a state-funded independent institution, met with 89 prisoners to find out the truth of the events. In its report, 66 prisoners said they were beaten, humiliated, or mistreated during their arrest.

Reporter, Male #2
Fifty-three prisoners said they were tortured and humiliated at security centers before they were transferred to prison. The National Center team saw evidence of beatings through obvious bruises and marks on the bodies of 13 prisoners. The report revealed that there were 50 injuries among the security forces, and that the perpetrators were not identified.

Guest, Male #3
In this stage conviction is difficult, but we have evidence and preliminary information that civilians were abused while in the custody of the public security and Darak forces.

Reporter, Male #2
The National Center's report monitors and documents the torture that the prisoners of the protests were subjected to. The criticism is increasingly pointed at the government and security agencies due to human rights violations inside and outside of prisons.

Reporter, Male #2
Fifty-year-old Ola Safi sat on the ground of Dakhliya Square to protest inflation, corruption, and tyranny. She resisted Darak forces when they were breaking up the sit-in and she was handcuffed and arrested. The National Center's report cited that there were signs of bruises on her body, and that she was beaten during her arrest and questioning.

Reporter, Male #2
Ola is the first woman to get arrested since the beginning of the Jordanian protests that called for reform two years ago. She lives in a poor neighborhood at the al-Mahatta refugee camp in the center of the capital Amman. She is not a political activist, and she takes care of her mother who's very ill and cannot walk.

Guest, Female #1
She takes care of me, and she fulfills her duties towards me. She gives me a bath and puts me to sleep. I cannot move, I cannot move without her.

Reporter, Male #2
The National Center for Human Rights noted that the harsh treatment of detainees were more significant in other governorates, and not only in Amman. Reformers say those who stole the wealth of the country are free, while those calling for reforms are imprisoned and tortured. Hassan al-Shobak, Al Jazeera, Amman.

Presenter, Male #1
Hundreds are continuing their open-ended sit-in in Tahrir Square to protest against the constitutional declaration issued by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. On a different note, the Cairo Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation decided to suspend their work until the constitutional declaration is revoked. As for the Supreme Constitutional Court, it accused the Egyptian president of waging a campaign against it. It also demanded that he present proof of the allegations made against the court.

Reporter, Female #1
The constitutional declaration issued by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is still mobilizing protesters in Tahrir Square. The open-ended sit-in, which has been ongoing for a few days, is growing in the midst of calls for a larger rally this Friday under the slogan, "The martyrs' dream." The slogan indicates that rallies will continue until fulfilling the martyrs' dreams of human freedom and dignity. This, according to the Popular Current that called for this protest alongside other political forces.

Reporter, Female #1
Meanwhile, for the first time in its history, the Court of Cassation in Egypt decided to suspend its work until the constitutional declaration is revoked. As for the Supreme Constitutional Court, it accused Morsi of waging a campaign against it. It also denied rumors that it intends to isolate him.

Guest, Male #1 (Maher Sami, Vice President of the Supreme Constitutional Court)
The court will not be intimidated by threats, intimidation or extortion. And it will not submit to any pressure exerted on it from any party, no matter how strong and sharp it may be. It is prepared to confront all of that, no matter how prohibitive the measures or high the price, even if it costs the lives of the judges.

Reporter, Female #1
It is not simple for the presidency to respond to these protests and the accompanying judicial positions. The Egyptian scene, in its entirety, has many questions about what may happen next. Jami Boulous, BBC.

Presenter, Male #1
The Palestinian delegation to the United Nations submitted a resolution asking for an observer state status for Palestine at the United Nations. The General Assembly will vote on the resolution on Thursday. The project aims to receive non-member observer state status for Palestine at the United Nations, and hopes that the Security Council will consider favorably the Palestinian request for full membership at the United Nations.

Reporter, Male #2
Tomorrow, the United Nations and the Palestinians are awaiting a day that was described by Riyad Mansour, Palestine's permanent observer at the United Nations, as historic for the Palestinian people's struggle, humanity, and the history of the United Nations. This was a reference to November 29, a day on which Palestinians will present their request to expand their membership in the United Nations. Mansour said the aim of the Palestinian project is to find favorable conditions to end the Israeli occupation, and to establish a Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Reporter, Male #2
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived to New York last night for this purpose. He will give a speech in front of state representatives, and the General Assembly will vote on the resolution that is expected to receive the required majority, as it enjoys wide support among the 193-member states at the UN General Assembly.

Reporter, Male #2
The Palestinian delegation to the United Nations presented the resolution requesting an observer state status for Palestine at the United Nations. The project also includes the Palestinians' aspiration that the Security Council will favorably consider nominating Palestine to receive full member status at the United Nations. The Palestinian project confirmed the urgent need to resume and speed up the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority over the border issues and the situation of occupied Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security, and water. It also stressed the need to find a peaceful compromise in the Middle East that would put an end to the occupation, and would achieve a two-state solution.

Guest, Male #3
We are confidently going to the United Nations. God willing, all of the people who love peace, all of the countries that sympathize with international legitimacy, and all of the countries that believe in the Palestinian people's right to self-determination will support us.

Reporter, Male #2
Indications of the voting process were public, as the UN General Assembly's social, humanitarian and cultural affairs committee adopted a project titled, "The Palestinian People's right to self-determination."

Reporter, Male #2
One hundred seventy-three countries are expected to vote in favor of the resolution, seven more than last year. On the other hand, seven countries are expected to vote against raising Palestine's representation at the United Nations to a non-member observer status. Among those countries, besides Israel, are the United States, Canada, and the Marshall Islands.

IBA reports that the Israeli Embassy in Washington has released an animated video that ridicules Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' statehood bid at the United Nations. Abbas is seen driving a bus toward a cliff, despite numerous warnings that it could kill the peace process.

IBA reports that underscoring the European Union's commitment to Palestinian statehood, member states today pledged 11.5 million euros to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. EU Representative John Gatt-Rutter said that they had intense discussions with the Palestinian leadership to explore the timing and methods with which the Palestinians would approach the United Nations, and added that whatever the Palestinians decide, the EU will continue with its support to them.

IBA reports that in Hungary, one thousand people protested outside the parliament in Budapest after an extremist right-wing politician, Marton Gyongyosi, urged the government to draw up lists of Jews in the country because they pose a risk to Hungarian national security. Most were not Jewish, and some were prominent lawmakers. Gyongyosi is a prominent young leader of Hungary's third-largest political party, the far-right Jobbik party, which runs an unarmed vigilante group called "The Hungarian Guard," aimed at generating fear among minority groups.

Presenter, Male #1
In the Iraqi city of Erbil, the Kurdish film festival is ongoing for the third consecutive day. Most of the participating films tackle the issue of violence against women as their main theme.

Reporter, Male #2
A noteworthy collection of films were presented as part of the events of the third day of the Kurdish film festival, which continued to host its activities in a media hall in the city of Erbil, with the attendance of a large number of producers, artists, intellectuals, and those interested in the arts and theater.

Guest, Male #2 (Ali Ahmed, Artist)
This very beautiful festival takes up the issue of violence against women, and this day is considered to be a global festival. What is important is that Erbil's cinema management took up the issue. I see a beautiful, successful festival with simple stories. It's nice to see their encouragement for the artistic movement, and their interest in speaking about violence against women. Today, and thanks to God, is the third day of the festival, which is ongoing from morning to evening.

Reporter, Male #3
On the agenda of the festival's third day are two films shown for the first time during the morning, and 16 short films in the evening. The films' themes are varied, but they are united in bringing up a serious issue, and that is to raise awareness in society of the importance of confronting violence in all its forms, specifically against women.

Guest, Male #4 (Saed Abdullah, Production Manager in the Iraqi Cinema Department)
Every director and author has their own view and their own tendencies. Yet in all cases, all the issues and thoughts pour into one source, which is respect for women. And this festival is evidence that we, as Kurdish people, are interested in women's issues and rights, women's obligations toward men, and men's obligations toward women.

Reporter, Male #2
A collection of special and interesting films were shown during the events and activities of the third day of the Kurdish film festival, and they were praised by the festival's participants and attendees.

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