“Most post-election unrest detainees to be released by August 7th,” is the headline in Ettela’at, a pro-government Iranian daily. Instead of focusing on yesterday’s memorial which saw thousands take to the streets in memory of those who died in the post-election clampdown, the paper prefers to focus on the subversive nature of those detained in the past few weeks. “The arrested people are accused of having constant contacts with the terrorist Mojahedeen Khalq Organisation, bombing plots, carrying guns, carrying war grenades, attacking the police and Basij forces, attacking universities and military centres and sending pictures to enemy media and press as well as organising groups of hooligans.”

“Iran’s phoenix” is the headline of an opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune. The author says Persia’s ancient traditions bind Iranians to reject falsehood. Ayatollah Khamenei’s use of force will fail. He recalls a speech in 1998 by the reformist Ayatollah Khatami who invoked Toqueville, democracy, the virtuous side of American civilisation including the fact that liberty and faith do not clash but are complementary in the US. This speech laid a “philosophical foundation for bridging the political divide between the US and Iran. Like the mythical Persian Phoenix, Mr Khatami and the reformists carried many dreams on their wings… Now that Phoenix lies in ashes on the streets of Teheran.” But it will rise again, the author says because Khamenei is now isolated and exposed. He has wrapped himself in a tissue of lies; he has sanctified force in the name of religion. If and when Ahmedinejad does take the oath of office, Iranians won’t accept it.

The sad birthday of ETA is the front page of today’s France Soir. Two policemen were killed in a car bomb explosion on the island of Majorca. El Pais carries an article going back over ETA’s 50 year history. In the past, many democratic observers outside of Spain viewed ETA as responding somewhat legitimately to the oppression of Franco. It was a social and political movement, progressive and leftist in orientation. Franco certainly radicalised the Basque separatist movement with torture and state terror. The problem with ETA then is a problem that still exists. It’s a problem that existed too in 1936 in the Nazi era: the notion of beating your enemy at all costs... In this case the enemy is Spain and there’s no room for manoeuvre in this dangerous ideology which borders on a “political religion”, says the Spanish daily.

The American press is covering the beer Obama shared with Prof. Gates and the policeman who arrested him. “Why is Obama serving beer to the professor and the police officer?” asks Slate Magazine. Since the 70s the average voter has often been referred to as Joe Six Pack. Beer even made the cover of Newsweek magazine as part of a discussion of whether Obama would connect with the common man. Budweiser as Obama’s choice shows he was going for the most regular guy image he could find, the magazine notes. It was the police officer and the professor who opted for upmarket beers! USA Today notes that one person who wasn’t invited to the cold brew at the White House was Lucia Whalen, the woman who placed the 911 call. Her husband and lawyer said she did the right thing and the three highly trained guys who reacted badly are getting together for a beer. “I don’t know maybe it’s a guy thing,” he said. “She doesn’t drink beer anyway!”

Meanwhile in the world of music, we learn in the Independent that Whitney Houston is to fill the hole in the London O2 Arena’s schedule left by Michael Jackson’s death. Elsewhere, the Guardian informs us that the Pope is to bring out an album for Christmas. Entitled “Alma Mater”, it will feature the Pope singing a Marian prayer.

The poor summer in the UK is receiving coverage in the British press. The headlines say it all. The Guardian: “The Met Office thinks August will be wet. Buy futures in sun cream now!” The Daily Mail also takes a dig at the Met Office. It’s headline: “The Wet Office.”