What we're hearing right now

Need to Know: The "calm of the grave" is how one person interviewed by the BBC's Jeremy Bowen — still in Iran — described the scene in Tehran on Friday. There was also little in the way of official announcements, although official commentary flew thick and fast: President Barack Obama praised the bravery of Iranians who protested against a disputed election in the face of "outrageous" violence, while a hardline Iranian cleric called for the execution of leading "rioters."

One of the founders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, who's also a former deputy prime minister, has told NPR that what has happened in Iran amounts to a "military coup." Mohsen Sazegara also claims authorities know the election was rigged. Listen to that fascinating interview here.

Our own contributor, Cameron Abadi, wrote about his experiences in the last few days before becoming one of the last foreign journalists to leave the country under extreme psychological duress and the specter of arrest down to the moment he boarded the plane

Meantime the Google chief executive said regimes such as Iran's tried to impose media and internet blackouts at their "peril." Eric Schmidt said in Cannes that he hoped clips of the Iranian election protests posted on YouTube, allowing people in other countries to keep up with developments despite the government's media censorship, had helped to lessen the violence meted out by the authorities.

Want to Know: Ireland, a staunchly Catholic country, has recognized the legal rights of same-sex couples, giving people in long-term relationships many of the statutory rights of married couples. But it stopped short of recognizing civil marriage. 

Ought to know: In Lebanon, officials said Friday that Saad Hariri looked set to be officially designated as prime minister on Saturday after a majority of parliamentarians nominated the U.S.-backed politician to the post. The billionaire businessman and son of a slain former prime minister emerged as the favorite to lead Lebanon's government after his pro-Western coalition fended off a serious challenge from Iranian-backed Hezbollah in June 7 elections.

Just Because: "I can't imagine life without him. But I guess with God's help I'll learn," Tweets Dame Elizabeth Taylor referring to Michael Jackson, who died Thursday (in case you missed the Internet near meltdown caused by news of his untimely demise). It's ghoulish, granted, but it's out there, so here's the 911 call.

Wacky: Human rights activists are calling on Saudi Arabia to drop charges against 67 men arrested at a party for reportedly wearing women's clothes. One wonders what more trouble they might have been in had they been concealing their "gag" with burqas.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/general/090626/what-were-hearing-right-now