EA staff, or at least the Americans among them, enjoyed Independence Day on Wednesday; however, there was still a bit of work to be done.
It appears that our British friends are still trying to repress the memory that the US made a successful break-away in 1776. (Or is it that they do not want to reveal the secret that they were happy to get rid of the American colonists?)
I had a light-hearted chat with BBC West Midlands about the American Revolution, the sequels (you know, the British burning down the White House in 1814), and today --- will President Obama be celebrating the next 4th of July in office?
2046 GMT: Excuse of the Day. Earlier today (see 1103 GMT) we reported on the curious episode where State TV's website suddenly pulled a poll when 63% of respondents favoured giving up enrichment of uranium if sanctions would be relieved. Well, here comes the explanation....
The TV report Wednesday said the actual figure who favoured suspension of enrichment] was 24 percent, and the rest favored retaliation against the West with measures like closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key to exporting oil from the Gulf.
1823 GMT: Bahrain. Gulf News Daily reports that three of the seven men accused of attacking security forces with Molotov cocktails in Abu Qawa in February --- seriously injuring one policeman --- were in prison at the time of the attack, according to their defence lawyer. The paper quotes lawyer Shazlan Khamis as having told the High Criminal Court yesterday:
My three clients were convicted of participating in an illegal gathering and were in jail at the time of the attack, the investigating officer had initially claimed they were on the run, but that's not true because they were jailed.
The investigating officer on the case says that "secret sources" revealed to him the identity of all seven men, adding that "they were already in jail for another case when we questioned them."
1815 GMT:Bahrain. A final verdict was expected today in the case of the 28 Bahraini medical professionals facing misdemeanour charges (see 0615 entry). However, in court the judge postponed the case until September 4th, reports Human Rights First, adding that the delay is so the judge can "consider allegations of torture against the medics during their detention last year". Commenting on the decision, Brian Dooley of Human Rights First said:
“Justice delayed is justice denied even longer for these medics who should not be on trial in the first place. Today’s delay shows the dictatorship is refusing to listen to international calls for reform by continuing with these politically-motivated trials. The medics should all have been acquitted today and investigations opened into who tortured them in custody.”
The NGO also quotes the reaction of neurosurgeon Nabeel Hameed, one of the 28:
Our suffering continues and our future is unclear. All the medics are disappointed as it means our lives continue in suspended animation.
Background on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
Even as they promised to hand authority to elected leaders, Egypt’s ruling generals were planning with one of the nation’s top judges to preserve their political power and block the rise of the Islamists, the judge said.
Tahani el-Gebali, deputy president of the Supreme Constitutional Court, said she advised the generals not to cede authority to civilians until a Constitution was written. The Supreme Court then issued a decision that allowed the military to dissolve the first fairly elected Parliament in Egypt’s history and assure that the generals could oversee drafting of a Constitution.
The price of chicken went up 30% last month alone, while the Financial Times reports that grain is up 55.8%; fruit 66.6%, and vegetables 99.5%.
Economic sanctions against Iran have made life more complex. There is more and more news of pressure on vulnerable classes shared on social media and from sources inside Iran. Aftab News writes:
Although the government has always spoken of the positive effect of the subsidies in reducing the gap between classes and reducing poverty, the reality in present day Iran reveals a different trend. In his latest announcement, the head of the Competition Council stated that urban households with a monthly income of less than 946 thousand tomans (almost 480 USD) fall below the poverty line.”
This announcement is based on data collected two years ago. The cost of living has risen significantly since.
1954 GMT: One Mistaken Story is Unfortunate, Two Is... (Egypt Edition). Last week, Fars carried a disputed headline story that it had interviewed new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. The claim spiralled into an open fight with State news agency IRNA, which denounced Fars' fake conversation with Morsi.
Now Morsi's spokesman Yasser Ali has denied the report, carried in Fars and other Iranian media, that Morsi will visit Tehran in August and discuss bilateral relations with President Ahmadinejad.
The story was apparently based on a news report in Lebanese daily Al-Safir, which published Tuesday morning that Morsi planned to visit Iran to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.
2005 GMT:Syria. Another interesting pickup by Bill Neely, who is in Damascus and has been to Douma today. He notes that while he has not personally witnessed this, he has seen and heard the shells fall and believes this is real:
Bahraini police video of raids on houses last week
The regime is hoping for a big PR success from its claim, launched last week, of a major find of explosives in raids on houses.
At the same time, the Bahraini Minister of Interior was in London for meetings with British officials, including Foreign Officer Minister of State Lord Howell. Whether or not the trip is connected to the campaign, Britain's security services and the BBC's Frank Gardner give a big boost to the regime today....
Former detainees and defectors have identified the locations, agencies responsible, torture methods used, and, in many cases, the commanders in charge of 27 detention facilities run by Syrian intelligence agencies....The systematic patterns of ill-treatment and torture that Human Rights Watch documented clearly point to a state policy of torture and ill-treatment and therefore constitute a crime against humanity.
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Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 6:09
EA staff, or at least the Americans among them, enjoyed Independence Day on Wednesday; however, there was still a bit of work to be done. 
