[Transcript]  Mosaic News - 06/22/12: World News from the Middle East [VIDEO]

Presenter, Male #1
A wave of popular rage is sweeping the Sudanese capital following calls to launch protests from local mosques in condemnation of the deteriorating economic conditions and to demand change. Yesterday, fierce confrontations broke out between Sudanese police and al-Khartoum University students. Anti-riot police used batons and fired tear gas and rubber bullets, in a new development described by the Sudanese opposition as "the first step towards change." Our correspondent Sami al-Shinawi reports from al-Khartoum.

Reporter, Male #2
Under the two slogans "Freedom" and "The downfall of the regime," students from al-Khartoum University took to the street across the capital and surrounding areas. The demonstrations were sparked by the economic crisis that deepened after al-Khartoum ended its fuel subsidies, which directly impact the price of goods.

Guest, Male #3 (Abu Bakr Abed Razeq, Change Now Movement)
Our main demand is for the regime to leave. Yes, there might be an economic crisis due to the corruption and mismanagement, but the desire of the ruling National Congress to stay in power means an end to our nation.

Reporter, Male #2
The use of batons, rubber bullets, and tear gas by anti-riot police to disperse the demonstrations has failed to prevent the activists from continuing their rallies. The activists vowed to continue their protests until their two demands are met, namely the implementation of economic reforms and the downfall of al-Bashir's regime. This scene, which is unfamiliar to Khartoum, may further fuel the tense relationship between the people and the government.

Guest, Male #4 (Talal Ismael, Writer and Journalist)
I expect the confrontations to dominate the next political phase in Sudan. This means a confrontation between the government and the opposition, and between the armed movements and the government. A confrontation may also ensue between the political circles and the government over the latter's decision to raise prices and lift fuel subsidies. Again, a confrontation will be the theme of the next political phase.

Reporter, Male #2
The winds of change are blowing in Sudan, as confirmed by the opposition that is hoping to attain democracy in response to mounting pressure by the Sudanese street. The scene of demonstrations in al-Khartoum is continuing to spread from one area to another. According to observers, this scene may turn into an act of civil disobedience if not quickly contained by the ruling regime through reforms aimed at absorbing the shock of the Sudanese street. Sami al-Shinawi, Dubai TV, al-Khartoum.

Presenter, Male #1
Several Palestinians and Israeli and foreign solidarity activists were injured after they were attacked by Israeli occupation soldiers in the village of Susiya in southern Hebron. Occupation soldiers used sound grenades to crack down on the march, in which hundreds participated to protest the demolition orders issued by the occupation forces to 58 houses, a medical clinic, and a school in the village.

Reporter, Female #1
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers confronted Palestinians and Israeli and foreign solidarity activists. They used tear gas and sound grenades to block a demonstration held to condemn the occupation's policy against the village of Susiya in southern Hebron.

Guest Male #2 (Nasr Nawagaa, Member of Committee to Defend the Village of Susiya)
They evicted us from our land, and demolished our homes, and every time they come they evict us. This land is ours, and no matter how much they demolish and what they say, this land will always be ours.

Reporter, Female #1
The demonstrations started after Israeli demolition orders were issued against the village. Its residents say, if implemented, the demolition will displace over 300 Palestinians who already lack basic living necessities.

Guest, Male #3
There are 58 buildings in Susiya that are under threat of demolition. These buildings had a three-day deadline that was extended until Sunday. There is a clinic and a school, and about 120 people. We are standing today on the outskirts of the original village from which we were displaced in 1986. We will send the occupation the message that we are here, and we are even demanding to go back to our original village.

Reporter, Female #1
The suffering of the residents of the village and nearby towns, and those cordoned off with 12 settlements, led tens of Israelis to protest. They confirmed they will stay with the families of the village to prevent the demolition orders from being carried out. If they are implemented, the village will be erased from existence.

Guest, Female #2 (Maya Zifelger, Israeli Solidarity Activist)
What is happening here is illegitimate; the Israeli government protects the settlers who seized the homes of the original village. And it deprives the Palestinians from electricity and water, while providing all services to the settlers. We came here from Tel Aviv, Jaffa, and Jerusalem to confirm that this is immoral. The soldiers did not use bullets today because we are here.

Reporter, Female #1
Fifteen thousand settlers live in Hebron Province, in 28 settlements and 5 settlement outposts inside the city and its villages. Peaceful popular resistance is confronting an occupation that does not hesitate to use all types of weapons to suppress and displace the Palestinians, and to seize whatever is left of their land. Scenes of the Palestinian Nakba, or catastrophe, continue in all their forms. Jibar al-Budayri, Al Jazeera, from the village of Susiya in southern occupied Hebron.

Presenter, Female #1
Widespread disease, destruction, and a lack of food and medicine is the status of Yemen's southern provinces, after having been afflicted by war and armed conflicts.

Presenter, Male #1
Amid this painful reality, fear of an increasing number of refugees is growing, after battles intensified between the Yemeni army and al-Qaeda elements. From Sanaa, our correspondent Ibrahim al-Motaa reports.

Reporter, Male #2
This is the state of the security and humanitarian conditions in Yemen's southern provinces, the result of heated battles between the Yemeni army and armed elements of al-Qaeda.

Reporter, Male #2
While hosting the director of the Agency for International Development, President Hadi confirmed the severity of the humanitarian situation in the southern provinces remains at it worst. It is a humanitarian crisis that threatens the lives of over half a million refugees who were displaced by battles that caused widespread destruction to the southern regions' infrastructure.

Guest Male #3 (Abdul Rahman Bursan, Human Rights Activist)
People here in southern Yemen, whether they are refugees from Abyan Province or from the areas that saw major battles, are suffering a lot. They have no access to housing or food. There is widespread disease among children, like diarrhea and the flu. The weather during the summer also adds to their suffering since there are no air conditioners. So they are suffering from the heat, as well as from the lack of food, clothes and shelter.

Reporter, Male #2
Southern provinces are enduring never-ending suffering, as al-Qaeda elements threaten the security and stability of these regions. Military sources confirm that the Yemeni air force conducted air raids targeting terrorist leaders in Abyan Province. This comes in the framework of targeting the remaining terrorist elements in these regions. But the continued air raids against al-Qaeda elements that planted many land mines are leading to an increase in the number of refugees despite the army's recent victories.

Guest, Male #4 (Essar al-Saqafi, Media Activist)
The air strikes, lack of security, destabilization of Abyan Province, the spread of land mines in all areas, residential, non-residential and agriculture land, are the main reasons for the refugees' displacement. And all these issues create an obstacle to their return to their homes.

Reporter, Male #2
In the past few months, the armed confrontations in the north created over 31 thousand refugees, according to official sources. They are living a difficult humanitarian situation that isn't very different from the one refugees in southern provinces are enduring. This confirms that the humanitarian situation of Yemeni refugees requires more international support to resolve the crisis.

Reporter, Male #2
Refugees in Yemen are experiencing difficult humanitarian challenges as a result of the ongoing battles that still continue today despite the army's victories. So the refugees' situation remains the most important in Yemen amid the country's political, security, and humanitarian challenges. Ibrahim al-Motaa, Al-Forat, Sanaa.

Presenter, Male #1
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Syria apologized for shooting down a Turkish warplane. He indicated the two pilots in the plane are still alive. The Turkish army's General Staff had announced it lost contact with one of its aircraft over the eastern part of the Mediterranean.

Presenter, Male #1
The plane took off from Malatya in eastern Turkey, and its communication was cut off in western Hatay Province north of Syria. Our BBC correspondent in Syria quoted eyewitnesses claiming the plane fell near the Kasaba region.

Presenter, Male #1
UN-Arab League Joint Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan warned that the failure of his mission will not only reflect negatively on the United Nations, but also on all relevant parties. Annan reiterated his call on all fighting sides to put down their weapons. Annan made the statement in Switzerland's city of Geneva during a joint press conference with General Robert Mood.

Guest, Male #2 (Kofi Annan, UN-Arab League Envoy to Syria)
We are trying to press and push to see if we can get the parties to take steps to end the violence before we get to that stage. I don't think we are there yet.

Reporter, Male #3
Less than a week after the international observers' mission was suspended, the number of casualties in Syria increased,and the violence escalated. In the town of Darat Azzah in the countryside of Aleppo, 26 loyalists to the Syrian government were killed, and their photos were uploaded online. They were described as members of the shabeha, the name given to the militias loyal to the regime.

Reporter, Male #3
Syrian dissidents demonstrated on Friday with slogans calling on Arab people to support them after their government's failure to do so, according to activists. Demonstrations swept across a number of regions, including the Syrian capital and the city of Aleppo, where casualties were reported. One day ago, over 150 people were killed there by the gunfire of government forces, according to the opposition.

Reporter, Male #3
The defections of a number of officers from the Syrian army, including a colonel and pilot, brought more momentum to the activists, who started saying that the opposition has taken control of large parts of the country.

Guest, Female #1
The regime is losing its tight control of Damascus and the entire country, especially after a colonel and pilot defected and fled to Jordan. It is even losing its grip on the air force, and not just on the ground. Sixty percent of the Syrian territory is no longer under the ruling regime's control.

Reporter, Male #3
However, the Syrian army and forces loyal to the government are continuing their operations and expanding their scope. The artillery shelling continued on Friday in many regions, from Idlib to Dara'a, passing through Deir az-Zour and the countryside of Aleppo and Hama.

Reporter, Male #3
In the countryside of Damascus, both opposition activists and their opponents said on social networking sites that the Syrian army and security forces carried out operations during the day, clashed violently with the opposition, then withdrew as night fell. This explosive situation is placing more pressure on the political efforts to solve the crisis. It coincides with talks to hold negotiations between the major powers involved in the Syrian issue to reach a consensus on a solution. However, no clear trajectory has been laid out for such a solution yet, while the bloodshed continues in Syria. Wael Hajjar, BBC.

Presenter, Male #1
The death toll of the Taliban attack that targeted a hotel near the Afghan capital Kabul has risen to 16, in addition to dozens of injured. Gunmen held tens of people hostage inside the hotel before NATO-backed security forces launched an attack that killed the five gunmen and freed the hostages.

Reporter, Male #1
Here, near the Afghan capital Kabul, and specifically in this hotel located by the side of Qargha Lake, a fierce battle erupted from floor to floor, after Taliban gunmen stormed the hotel and held civilians hostage. Taliban sources say the civilians are foreigners.

Guest, Male #2 (Mohamed Agha, Owner of the Hotel)
My son called me and told me they are stuck inside the hotel, and the situation is hard.

Reporter, Male #1
The operation that began last night was stopped by Afghan security forces that stormed the hotel and freed a number of hostages after killing some of the attackers. The Afghan Interior Ministry said it believes the attack was meticulously planned.

Guest, Male #3 (Nasir Ahmed, Local Official)
Two of my brothers work in the hotel, and they managed to escape.

Reporter, Male #1
The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying foreigners and wealthy Afghans use the hotel to hold obscene parties. Attacks have escalated across Afghanistan in the past few days. Political observers believe this explosive situation reflects the mounting security challenges the Afghan government is facing as the withdrawal of foreign forces nears; it is scheduled for next year.

Presenter, Female #1
Joining us from Kabul is writer and political analyst Habib Hakimi. Mr. Hakimi, why do you believe this operation, or attack, was carried out? And apart from the reasons announced by the Taliban, in your opinion, what are the reasons for this attack?

Guest, Male #5
Of course, everything is a target for the Taliban movement, especially anything that is linked to the Afghan government, and sometimes their targets are not linked to the government or the foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Guest, Male #5
In the past years, the Taliban movement has attacked similar sites many times, killing a lot of civilians. In this attack, all those who were killed in the hotel were civilians, not one military officer or political official, nor any prominent figure in the Afghan government was killed.

Guest, Male #5
So I think is a terrorist operation and a criminal act in the truest sense of the word. It is worth mentioning that a number of women were among the killed. I have visited this hotel many times; it is used by families and civilians who go there for dinner, lunch, and so on.

Egyptian media says the Election Commission is expected to declare former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq winner of the presidential runoff. Ahram Online says government sources are saying Shafiq will be announced the winner Sunday evening. The news website also says that Western diplomats in Cairo have been told about the decision.

Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is saying it will give a firm response to those who want to harm the public interest. The ruling general says that it was the two presidential runoff candidates who caused division in the country. They said Shafiq and Morsy's move to declare victory ahead of official results had heightened tensions in the country.

In Israel, clashes erupted between police and social activists who attempted to erect tents on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard during their campaign to revive last summer's mass social protest movement. Activist and spokeswoman Dafni Leef was placed under arrest along with several other members after resisting security forces who were acting to prevent them from setting up in the area.

The tense security situation in southern Israel continued with more firing of rockets from Gaza. Two mortars hit the Eshkol Regional Council this morning, and three other Qassam rockets were fired into Israel overnight, and the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted a Grad rocket launched into Ashkelon; no injuries or damage were reported.

Israel has lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations over the continuing rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip. Ambassador Ron Prosor told the UN that there can be no peace or quiet in Gaza as long as rockets continue to strike Israel.

Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told US President Barack Obama that he is cautiously optimistic over the possibility of renewing peace talks with the Palestinians after the formation of a larger national coalition government in Israel has opened a window of opportunity to restart negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. The Kadima leader expressed his comments during a meeting with US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon at the White House when Obama stopped by for an unscheduled visit.

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