What has happened in the last 5 months?

Answer 1

Since January 2011, the following world events have occurred:

• Japan experienced a horrific earthquake and tsunami, with the tsunami broadcast as it occurred (a rarity).
• Hawaii was spared a major tsunami after Japan had theirs, but every local news station had cameras placed to video what turned out to be a non-event.
• In February or March, the US could see a rare event -- the largest moon seen in many decades.
• A house in California was discovered holding massive explosives. Officials blew up the house, rather than risk going inside and having booby-traps kill officers.
• Towns in Alabama were almost wiped out by a string of tornadoes.
• Joplin Missouri and other midwest towns were virtually destroyed by an F5 tornado. Even the main hospital was almost completely destroyed. Two patients on ventilators died when the electricity failed and back up generators were destroyed by the tornado.
• Massive flooding in the midwest USA caused whole towns to evacuate. The Army Corp of Engineers decided to set charges and blow up some levees in northern states, in order to reduce the pressure on levees downstream on the Mississippi River and to limit damage to towns in Southern states. A substantial area of farm lands were deliberately flooded after the US Supreme Court agreed with the plan.
• Flooding is still an issue for some areas. The floods and high temps will affect prices of milk, grains, and produce.
• Over 1 million square miles of the USA experienced high temperatures over 95-F to 110-F (heat index) during part of July and August 2010. Many historical high-temp records were met or exceeded.
• For over 6 weeks, Florida news and TruTV / HLN were consumed with the Casey Anthony Trial. Ms. Anthony was found not guilty of killing her almost 3-year old daughter. This resulted in local uproar and protests. Ms. Anthony is reportedly in hiding at some undisclosed location. The judge who presided over her check-fraud charges believed he ordered that Ms. Anthony would serve 1 year probation after her jail time. But the probation office conducted her probation while she was in jail. Now, the Judge who presided over the murder trial must review case law and determine whether Ms. Anthony must (re) do probation. Ms. Anthony had received a letter Jan 24th stating her probation was over.
• Prince William and his new wife visited Canada and the US. They flew back to the UK on a commercial flight rather than a private jet.
• In the Netherlands, a man opened fire on a camp site, killing and wounding many children, teens and adults.
• Overseas, an American woman was given a re-trial on her murder conviction. She and her boyfriend, along with another man, were charged with killing a female roommate and all three had been convicted. The Court granted a re-trial. New testimony has shown that there may have been shoddy police work and mishandling of the evidence. No ruling has been made yet in this second trial.
• The US Congress temporarily averted a financial disaster around the first of August when Republicans, Democrats, and the President could not agree about how to raise the debt ceiling while reducing spending.
• The disagreement of US Leaders about how to raise the debt ceiling caused a decline in closing stock prices on Wall Street. Financial experts had predicted that if the US fails to pay its loans/interest, this failure will ripple through worldwide financial markets.
• Conflicts continue overseas. USA troops remain in Afghanistan.
• The US made it's last space shuttle trip and returned home. In the future, the US will rely on other countries to transport US astronauts into space.
• Although other cases have not made the news as much, several child abduction cases have been prominent during the summer of 2011 in the USA. In one case, a man in NY confessed to murdering and dismembering a boy who had gotten lost on the way home.
• In July, The Sea Shepherd organization's vessel, The Steve Irwin, was ordered held by a UK Court in response to a lawsuit brought by an overseas fishery company. The fishery company claimed damages to its nets and cages after the crew of The Steve Irwin set free hundreds of blue tuna. The Sea Shepherd crew, however, disagrees with that version of the story. After at first being ordered to make a 1.4+ (USD) bond, the bond was lowered to about half the original amount and The Steve Irwin vessel was permitted to leave Scotland, where it had been detained. The Steve Irwin is the flagship of the "campaigns" against illegal killing of whales and other marine species. Their journeys are documented in the television series, "Whale Wars", broadcast on Animal Planet.
• The Horn of Africa is experiencing one of the country's worst droughts. However, the region has had no government in a long time. Rebels prevent Aid from getting to the citizens, who are dying. Women, children, and infants are greatly affected. Women walk 10 to 20 miles to try to get to "relief centers". But little Aid is reaching any centers.

I'm sure I have omitted other newsworthy events.

In addition to major stories, life continued....

• babies were born
• people married
• couples bore children
• people died
• people rejoiced
• people cried....