Tom Brakefield
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The BP oil spill has been in the news for more than a month now, and I hope it doesn't fade from the spotlight before the people and wildlife affected are able to return to a normal life (which will not be anytime soon, and that's kind of the point).
But in that month, a lot else has happened, too. From domestic politics to South Sudan's new president to adorable tidbits from the animal world, here's a quick sampler of world news over the last month.
Less-than-truthful politicians
Photo credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
...have come out of the woodwork. The Nation's John Nichols wrote about the now-former Indiana U.S. Representative Mark Souder's resignation: "Irony Alert: Another Advocate for Abstinence Quits Congress After His Failure to Abstain is Revealed." And Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was exposed for having lied about "serving in Vietnam." (He didn't serve in Vietnam.) Of course, he's not alone in lying regularly, The Times also reports, but that doesn't make it less shameful.
State primaries
Photo credit: AP Photo/Ed Reinke
States held primary elections. And Rand Paul, the Tea Party Republican who won the Kentucky Republican nomination for Senate, has caused a stir by saying he doesn't agree with certain parts of the Civil Rights Act.
Other oil spills
Photo credit: AP Photo/George Osodi, File
Nigeria, a regular supplier of oil to the U.S., sees oil spills pretty regularly. Reuters reports that recent damage to an Exxon pipeline was estimated to be leaking 100,000 barrels of oil per day for a week, though Exxon would not provide additional details of the damage (or clean-up or repair work). And early this month, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it spilled almost 14,000 tons of crude oil into the Niger Delta last year.
Farmers take over Paris
Photo credit: AP Photo/Bob Edme
French farmers turned Paris' famed Champs Elysees into a giant farm as part of a two-day event to highlight the financial problems they face because of falling prices for their produce. The strip was covered in 8,000 plots of earth, with 150,000 plants—including 650 fully-grown trees.
A 55,000 member-strong union known as the French Young Farmers, or Jeunes Agriculteurs—all under the age of 35—spent 4.2m euros on the event, which they put on to showcase aspects of farm production from breeding sheep to growing various kinds of crops.
They wanted to emphasize to the government and to the public what kind of work goes into the produce that we all eat and depend on as citizens and consumers.
More than a million people are thought to have showed up at the event, and the organizers are now talking about taking it overseas to cities from New York to Istanbul.
Atlantis blasts off for the last time
Photo credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier
The Atlantis space shuttle launched and has almost completed its 32nd and last-ever (probably) mission to the International Space Station, where it installed a module that will be used for cargo storage and as a docking port.
In other space news, two telecommunications satellites have been launched into orbit from the Ariane-5 rocket, which blasted off from the European Space Agency's launch center in Kourou, French Guiana, and operations have ended for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, after repeated unsuccessful attempts at communicating with the spacecraft.
Thailand clashes continue
Photo credit: AP Photo/Manish Swarup
Clashes in Thailand between the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts continue to cause some of the country's worst political violence in decades. Here, a girl is working in Bangkok to remove debris after a military crackdown on anti-government protesters.
New Supreme Court Justice... almost
Photo credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace John Stevens on the Supreme Court. If confirmed, she will not only be the court's youngest justice, but will also, for the first time, bring the female count to three. (Read TreeHugger's account of her record on green issues.)
South Sudan gets a new president
Photo credit: AP Photo/Pete Muller
Salva Kiir was sworn in as the first elected president of Sudan's semi-autonomous south. He won an election in April that was part of the peace deal that ended a 21-year civil war; Southern Sudan will vote next year on possible independence.
Young achievers
Photo credit: AP Photo/Binod Joshi, File
Thirteen year-old Jordan Romero became the youngest person ever to summit Mt. Everest.
Sloths...just because
Finally, to explain the relevance of the photo up top, Slothurday happened. In case you missed this video traveling around the internet this month, here are more sloths being adorable.
Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.
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Must See Aerial Footage of BP Oil Spill Shows 'The Gulf Bleeding' (Video)
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Gulf Spill: Shocking Marine Life Destruction and Angry Locals
