Useful BBC review of the current Iran situation. It is all down now to internal politicking in Iran's elite. By no means all Iranian politicos accept that AhmadiNajad's election was fair. We shall see what emerges.Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has given Israel the nod in case they need to use Saudi airspace in an attack on Iran's nuclear facility. Apparently the Syrians also would not be displeased if the Iranian nuclear weapons effort met with an accident.Nuclear is more trouble than it is worth... Read Full Story

From today's Observer:"Jonathon Porritt, one of Britain's leading environmentalists, has attacked the Treasury for being "startlingly arrogant" and for dragging its feet over sustainability...This month Porritt steps down as chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, an independent government watchdog, after occupying the role since it was founded nine years ago.He said: "Looking back now, as I am in my last few days, I see a terrain of wasted opportunity. I am not saying the only re... Read Full Story

Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, is in Burma trying to persuade the generals to behave sensibly. Good for him, but he really needs to be working on a set of rules to make the process of becoming a dictatorship more difficult.The international community treats each dictator in an ad hoc way, as if it is somehow a unique event. As consciousness rises of the dictators' brutality, political pressure slowly rises, discussion ensues, and appeals to his (it is usually a him) better nature give w... Read Full Story

Exclusive: 'Get real' – Darling warns the bankers - UK Politics, UK - The Independent"Alistair Darling has warned bankers to stop backsliding into their bad old ways as he promised a much tougher regulatory system to prevent a repeat of last autumn's financial crisis."More NuLabour hot air. Words aplenty, action zilch. As with climate change, so with reining in the banksters. [See below].It's no good, we are going to get into the streets before we get meaningful change in this backward count... Read Full Story

Well I'll be dipped in dogshit. They just don't get it do they?The Treasury last week agreed a package worth up to £9.7m for RBS chief executive Stephen Hester, who will receive a bonus of more than £6m if he can double the people-owned RBS share price over the next thee years. "Lord" Myners grinds his aristocratic molars in impotent fury at this blatant disregard for political reality.Network Rail defied political pressure by paying bosses six-figure bonuses. The chief executive, Iain Couc... Read Full Story

Bees swarm Starlings swarm. Fishes swarm. Insects swarm. Humans swarm at Glastonbury. Sometimes a swampy swarm, sometimes dusty and hot with sunburn, sometimes just right. 2009 was nearly just right. This year the weather gods reminded us of their power at the beginning and the end, but left us to get on with enjoying it in the main. But Glastonbury is more than just a swarm of people, so many in the hypnotic crowds that you forget that each is an individual, their faces are doors each into a... Read Full Story

There is a view in circulation that the "West" has done much harm in its intervention in the affairs of other nations, and therefore that we in the West should let non-Western governments to do precisely what they please.This is a common view, and one that comes with a great deal of passion behind it. However, the position deserves a little analysis.The first part of the proposition is true to a large extent. Not all of our interventions have been malign, (the Sierra Leone intervention was ... Read Full Story

Petition here: to have the International Court of justice investigate Khamenei for crimes. Read Full Story

A Message to the International Community from Inside Iran:This was found in an undisclosed location. I have reproduced it here as sometimes I am unable to open the original page. The text is as follows:I apologise in advance for the tone and style of this letter to you. The people in Tehran of whom I speak on behalf are weak and tired. I hope you are able to clearly understand the message we are sending to you. This letter is a call to all people outside of Iran, both Persian expatriates and ... Read Full Story

Eddie Mair interviews a Dr Siabi (?sp.), a supporter of President AhmadiNajad, in America, and we are treated to a long rant against UK "interference" into Iran affairs, an admission of "minor irregularities" in the poll, and a bald assertion that the result was "irrefutable".In the interests of balance, we then interview the BBC reporter John Leyne, who quotes a couple of pieces of evidence, beginning with the impossible rapidity with which the Iranian authorities declared that the vote went... Read Full Story