yes, there has been a long day of speeches here at the united nations. passionately held positions on both sides, the palestinian representative saying that granting palestine full membership status would give hope to the palestinian people. the response from the israeli ambassador here saying, six months on from the hamas attacks it would simply be a reward for terra. the us position, as you say, has long been known. it argues that granting palestine full status would be premature, that it should not come ahead of a negotiated settlement. a bilateral agreement between palestine and israel. but nonetheless, although that was the us position, it was clear it did not want, if it could possibly avoid it that it had to do what it did today. there are reports of pretty intense