I joined BBC Radio Wales this morning in more discussion of the agreement, signed by President Obama yesterday, to raise the US Government's debt ceiling.
The lessons from the chat, which also includes the Vice-Chair of Republicans Abroad, were beyond the content of the broadcast.
1. At least in British media, consideration of the events is almost exclusively on politics, and within that, on "Who won? Who lost?" with a view to the 2012 Presidential election. There is little attention to the economic significance of developments.
2. There is an unwitting illustration of the difficulties for the US in the current episode -- even as some have pointed to the partisan manoeuvring and posturing that led to a debt problem becoming a crisis, the focus of the Republican participant in this brief conversation is to ensure that all the blame resides with the Democrats and President Obama (and, conversely, that any credit and good intentions are held by the GOP).
1930 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Khodnevis features a conversation between former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, on trial today in Cairo, and the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei:
PANEL 1 --- KHAMENEI TO MUBARAK: Everything is quiet here! How lucky I am! How ill-fated you are!
PANEL 2 --- THIEF TO KHAMENEI (inside the sack): What's up, Seyed Ali?
Daraa:Nwa:Martyrdom of Yazan Reyad Jahmany&several wounded by the security ammunition, many ppl r still trapped in the mosque
2013 GMT: We're gathering videos of tonight's protests in Syria, but we're also hearing reports of violent crackdowns in Homs, the area around the Al-Rahman Mosque in Al-Tabait, Lattakia, and this report from Midan, an important neighborhood in the center of Damascus where some activists are reporting casualties:
#Midan ive seen about 15 ambulances storm past me already, i think they are using them to detain ppl.
The 15 members of the council are now seeking final approval of the wording from their respective governments - when that comes, they will formally adopt the statement later on Wednesday, correspondents say.
UPDATE 1335 GMT: We struggled to find good video of last night's protests in Aleppo, but now we have found a clip of good quality:
Welcome to another night of Ramadan. Already, the opposition, and the regime, have established a routine. Each night, protesters attend Taraweeh Prayers, leave their mosques, and march through the streets. Each night, the Syrian regime beats, arrests, tear gasses, and shoots civilians.
And for the second night in a row, we have posted videos from the night.
We start with live-streaming audio from Hama, where the Syrian military shells the city with tanks. Just moments before the stream drops out, a loud explosion can be heard nearby and intense chanting can also be heard:
2056 GMT: We close the liveblog with this last collection of audio and video. We will be collecting night protest videos and posting them either late tonight or early tomorrow. {Editor's note --- collection now moved to separate entry, "Syria Video Special: Another Defiant Night of Ramadan Protests".]
2015 GMT: A loud, and large, group of protesters leave a mosque and pour into the streets of Midan, in the heart if Damascus tonight:
Artillery shelling of Hama on 8-1-2011 before/when people break their fast- Vid was uploaded today
UPDATE 1245 GMT: James Miller here, with two additional updates about this first, and now infamous clip.
The first is that if you compare the audio from the original to the audio of the State TV version, the State TV version is worse (the state TV version starts at about 08:22). They have added a low-level buzz, and then the audio drops out and the buzz swells. As an audio professional in a previous life, I can testify that a battery operated camera will not get an audio buzz, only a broadcast camera, and it never sounds like that. It is our assessment that the Syrian State TV is obviously, and clumsily, doctored.
The second update comes from the Guardian's Paul Owen, who links to us and provides a translation for the video:
Some of (the bodies) seemed to have had their throats slit - (are) being thrown into the Al-A'assi river by Shabiha ("ghosts" – pro-Assad militia). The dead people are described in the caption as "heroes of Hama". The people around the Shabiha can be heard encouraging them, and insulting and cursing the dead people. The Shabiha shout "God is greatest" as they throw the bodies in the river. "Don't film" is also heard.
The video was uploaded on 31 July. The Arabic caption reads: "Is there any crime worse than killing someone and then throwing the body in the river? Where are human rights? Where is world opinion? Where is Amnesty International?" There is no way to properly verify the clip. Many thanks to my colleague Mona Mahmood for translation.
UPDATE 0830 GMT: And now a twist in the tale....
This 11-minute clip from Syrian state TV starts with footage which claimed to be of gunmen in Hama shooting at military from the streets and rooftops.
It is the final minutes, however, that are of immediate interest. The clip uses the same footage, posted by James Miller below, of what has been claimed as pro-Assad "thugs" throwing the bodies of protesters into a river near Hama. On state TV, however, the footage is protesters throwing dead troops over the bridge --- the sound has the men talking about the bodies as "soldiers".
A photograph of two fellows --- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (right) and his Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai --- in deep contemplation. But what of this empty space between them?
A wise man once told me there were two things in this world you do not want to see made: sausages and a political deal.
And so it is with the news that that the legislative and executive branches of the US Government have reached agreement on lifting the US debt ceiling, a step which should have been a formality. We are being treated to congratulatory statements by America’s political leaders of common sense prevailing and of the spirit of compromise.
Ali Larijani, Ahmadinejad, Khamenei1950 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A petition, launched by Physicians for Human Rights, has called for the release of Dr Arash Alaei, a specialist in the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS, from prison.
Alaei was arrested with his brother and fellow specialist Kamiar in June 2008 for allegedly trying to overthrow the Islamic regime. They participated in several international HIV treatment programmes and conferences held in the US.
Kamiar was released in October but Arash, 42, remains in prison completing a six-year sentence.
The petition has been signed by prominent medics, including two Nobel prize laureates, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Sir Richard J Roberts. Susannah Sirkin, PHR's deputy director, explained:
[The Alaeis'] landmark efforts to bring patients, communities and families together to reduce stigma and provide comprehensive Aids prevention and treatment are remarkable and remain singular achievements in healthcare in Iran. We only hope that Dr Arash Alaei can be freed to continue this critical and groundbreaking work.
In 2008 the UN Programme on HIV/AIDS described Iran's needle-exchange programme, developed by the Alaei brothers, as one of the "clear examples of courageous, visionary leadership in the response to HIV".
Al Jazeera describes what happened early on Monday, as the Egyptian military cleared Tahrir Square, Cairo, of all protesters, breaking the long-standing sit-in protest there:
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 15:12
I joined BBC Radio Wales this morning in more discussion of the agreement, signed by President Obama yesterday, to raise the US Government's debt ceiling.
