For all the insanity going on in our particular neck of the woods, the rest of the world was having their set of circumstances. Mysterious Iranian scientists, terrorist Bombings in Kampala, Gay Marriage in Argentina and the continuing saga of the Dollar versus the Yuan.

And god gave us Tums.

(Shahram Amiri - In perfect Iranian fashion - a myriad of conflicting stories)

In a story that has more questions than answers, the saga of Shahram Airi, the Iranian scientist who disappeared for a year and suddenly resurfaced in Arizona gave the media a certain amount of pause this week. In this case it was the BBC World Service program Newshour from July 13 who gave us the story.

(Bomb scene in Kampala - watching the World Cup has never been so deadly)

The Sunday bombing of several establishments around the Ugandan capital of Kampala served the illustrate just how random and senseless these acts of violence are. Innocent people, caught up in watching the World Cup on TV's at various restaurants and bars around town were caught in a wave of mass murder as a series of explosions ripped through the Capitol leaving some 74 dead and hundreds injured. By the time of this newscast (Africa Today from the 13th) there were groups taking credit for the bombings and arrests had begun. The senseless acts continue.

(I guess you could say "Two Juans Make It Right"?)

Given Argentina's rather repressive past (military Junta's, overthrows, dictatorships) and a strong influence from the Catholic Church, you'd think the last country in the world to approve gay marriage en masse would be Argentina. But no. On Thursday, Argentina voted to allow Gay marriage to be a legal and binding in that South American country. BBC World Service Global News does a piece - there is also a longer piece featuring an interview (in Spanish) with Maria Rachid from the Federacion LGBT in Bueos Aires at the bottom of the page. The world is loaded with surprises.

(Mao is looking more like Ben Franklin every day)

Yes, there is something of a currency war going on between the U.S. and China - it probably doesn't get that much coverage via our MSM, but it's there and it's going on and BBC Business Daily did a piece on it Thursday.

(Torture allegations - the gift that keeps on giving)

It is highly likely we will never hear the end of allegations of torture by our military and the military of our allies over the next generation or so. So deep and entrenched and secret have these violations of human rights been that each time another set of allegations comes to the forefront it almost makes you wonder how it's all going to end. On this Saturday segment of the BBC Radio Four program The Today Program (no relation at ALL to the one over here), the allegations continue from former detainees at Guantanamo.

(Maria Rachid - pleased and relieved)

And finally, for our Spanish speaking friends (or if you just want to brush up) I am offering an interview done via Radio Nacional in Buenos Aires (a very cool website with a LOT of really useful news) this past Thursday featuring the President of Federacion LGBT Argentina Maria Rachid and her reaction to the passage of Gay Marriage legislation in Argentina.

Until next week . . .

Things were heating up and transitioning in the world this week. The Philippine Elections got started on Friday. The Thai protests turned deadly. The British elections drew a collective question mark and further advanced the drama with the resignation of Gordon Brown. The Australian Economy was juggling and the Canadian Navy was facing huge cutbacks (which, by the end of the week, didn't happen despite the cliff hangers). All in all, your typical non-dull week.

(Gordon Brown - capping a weird week with an abrupt departure)

Starting off the week was news of the abrupt departure of Prime Minister Gordon Brown amid a somewhat baffling election. As this segment of the BBC World Service Newshour from May 10th illustrates. Politics is far from dull in the UK.

(Money, it would appear, is the root of all money)

From ABC Radio National in Australia on May 11th, news from PM of the economic situation in Australia and what the government was doing to try and make sense out of it. Also included is some lively discussion on the current state of Australian affairs.

(Contrary to jokes about a guy in a rowboat with a shotgun . . .)

There was serious cause for alarm earlier in the week that the Canadian Government would be forced to make drastic cuts in it Navy, including eliminating training programs. As the CBC's World At Six from the 13th explained, it could have been disastrous. Luckily though, rumors of the Canadian Navy's death were premature as the feared cuts didn't materialize.

(Five deaths after the first day)

And finally, from the English Service of Radio France International on May 15th. As the elections began in the Philippines fears rose about potential violence and voter fraud as the country geared up for the first election using electronic voting. After the first day a reported five deaths resulted from election violence and by last check-in it looks like there may be another Aquino in the Presidential Palace.

So that was the week that was. If you weren't wild about this one, there's another one coming up in a day or two.

This was a busy week in the world. Riots in Greece with the added dimension of innocent deaths, the passing of a President in Nigeria and the swearing in of a new one. The concept of The Hung Parliament to get used to in Britain, and the ever-present oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico.

(BP - trying to dig out of a hole, one fathom at a time)

From the CBC Radio One program The Current on May 5th, the ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the PR campaign BP has been working on to get out from under a searing light. The promise of "we'll pay for everything" seems to be missing the point. But then, in the "never-never land" of big business, all things return to normal at the sign of a fat check, or so it would be hoped.

(A street in Athens this week - anger of Hellenic proportions, but then it turned pointless)

Via the BBC World Service Newshour for May 5th. The riots in Greece took an ugly turn with the deaths of three innocent bank employees, one a pregnant woman, when the bank they were working in was torched by rioters on this Wednesday. The anger turned to revulsion but the crisis continued.

(The late President Umaru Yar'Adua of Nigeria - genuinely liked everywhere)

It had been eluded to for some time, but Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua had been stricken with Cancer for a while and had not been seen in public for months. When Nigerian Radio broke the news of his passing it sent a wave of sadness and resigned shock throughout Africa, as was reported on May 6th by this special edition of Africa Today from the BBC Africa Service.

(Newly sworn in Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan - even the name is optimistic)

Within hours of Yar'Adua's passing, Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as the new President of Nigeria, at least for the next six months before the official elections begin. BBC World Service Global News for May 6th reported on the swearing in and the future for Nigeria. Also in the broadcast are reports of new tunnel activity in the Gaza region. The Middle East is never too far away from new drama.

(Britain's answer to Joe The Plumber - A Pullet Surprise)

And finally, as the General election in Britain ended with a Hung Parliament, pundits and crystal ball gazers on both sides of the Atlantic are twisting like pretzels to figure out what it all means. As this BBC Five Live Story Of The Day from May 7th illustrates, the arduous task of coalition building and negotiation now takes place . . well, until the next election in six months time. And by then the world may have spun further off its axis.

And so went this week. Even though you may have slept through it there's still next week to consider. Or not.

(Rashomon - how many ways to interpret an event? Can we count them?)

With the events in the Middle East of the last 24 hours, and reading the comments posted about it, it seems there are as many ways to interpret an event as incidents taking place in the event itself. I was reminded by one writer to my colleague David Neiwert's post that "as many as sixteen" and "at least sixteen" held wildly different connotations. And were these observations based on the fog of events, the political beliefs of the players, or the simple choice of words? And how these observations translate into reactions on the parts of the viewers and listeners.

So I thought I would take a quick roundup of the English speaking broadcast media throughout the world and get a sampling of how the event was interpreted. Certainly isn't scientific. Some of the reported is decidedly slanted (i.e. the Israel National Radio segment is an extreme example), but you get an idea of just how many views can be had when an international incident takes place.

Let's start with the BBC World Service Newshour, probably one of the most widely listened to broadcasts throughout the world and how they saw it.

RTE, the national radio network of Ireland offers their interpretation of events, which coincide with a member of the Irish government taking part in the flotilla and how the Irish view this event.

CBC's Hourly newscast from 12 noon (EDT) today. Israeli Prime Minister Natanyahu was visiting Canada before his arrival in the U.S. later this week, which was cut short because of the event.

ABC Radio National's PM newscast gives their view on the event.

Closer to the source, Kol Israel, considered the more moderate of Israeli news outlets gives a matter-of-fact description of events in their 10:30 am newscast

And finally, Israel National Radio considered (even by them) to be the most right wing and extreme of radio outlets in the world, offers their views on the event with a 45 minute wrapup.

Somewhere in all of this is probably where the truth of the event lies. The Turkish media, broadcasting the event live and non-stop since it broke does not have English broadcasts available. Needless to say, the event will continue to unfold over the next several hours and days and no doubt the opinions and observations will grow and galvanize as well.

One event seen six different ways.

(Earthquake in China - a rather jumpy few weeks in the world)

In case you were curious, there were other things going on in the world today. China is the latest in what seems to be a swarm of earthquakes larger than 5.0 going on throughout the world. The consensus of opinion is evenly divided as to whether this is normal or the harbinger of things to come. Either way, the world is still shaking. The elections in Sudan have been going on. The British election season is heating up and the Poles are still in mourning over the loss of Lech Kaczynski and 95 others over the weekend. A state funeral is expected to take place on Sunday with President Obama and most of the world's dignitaries in attendance.

So here are two capsules of the days news. Above is from Newshour at 1300 GMT from BBC World Service and below is the External Service (English) of Radio Poland.

(at last count, the wait was nine hours)

A busy day. And the rest of the world could care less about Sarah Palin's speaking demands.