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.

Today marks the forty-second year since the National Guard fired on a crowd of unarmed students, killing four. The deaths were the result of the students protesting the war in South East Asia which had escalated with an invasion of Cambodia and this culminated the third day of protests at the campus. The killings marked a decided reversal of support for the War in Vietnam. Now the overwhelming majority of Americans were against our role in the war, wanted it over and wanted us out. And now there were dead students to add to the outrage.

As well as the news from Kent State, also came news from Cambodia, the Vietnam War as well as a report on the sale of the Prop Department at MGM Studios. Run of the mill news for an otherwise unremarkable day.

Somehow, the rest of it really didn't matter. What mattered was how the spirit of protest was met with violent resistance by, of all people, our own National Guard. And how something went terribly wrong.

As reported by David Brinkley on The NBC Nightly News for May 4, 1970.

(Vietnam War Protest May 9,1970 - The reflecting pool was going into overflow)

With the recent deaths at Kent State still sending shock waves all over the country, over 100,000 protesters converged on Washington D.C. and held the largest Anti-War protest rally yet. For the most part it was a peaceful rally. It was during this rally that President Nixon snuck out of the White House at five in the morning for a much publicized mingle with the crowd. Our recent turn of events in Cambodia made protesting the war an almost daily occurrence, with demonstrations going on all over the county.

How long these rally's would stay peaceful was only a matter of time, and less than four days later the outbreak of violence at Jackson State would add another dimension in the protest movement.

Here is an NBC Special report on the Washington D.D. Protest as it was held on that day, May 1970.

(Laying the Cornerstone for the UN Building October 24, 1949)

Further evidence it's impossible to find a week where nothing happened. I've tried. Sixty years ago this week we had deaths, inquiries, strikes, political aspirations and the laying of the cornerstone for construction of the United Nations building in New York. President Truman added his two cents.

Pres. Truman: “I should like to speak of one other problem, which is of major concern to the United Nations. That is the control of atomic energy. The establishment of the United Nations Atomic Energy Committee . . . Commission was one of the first acts of the first session of the General Assembly. That commission worked for three years on the problem. It developed a plan of control which reflected valuable contributions by almost every country represented on the commission. This is a good plan. We support this plan. And will continue to support it unless or until a better or more effective plan is put forward.”

All in all - just another week that wound up on October 29th. And we somehow survived.