English

Book of the Year 2011 - Encyclopaedia Britannica

In 2010 much of the world continued to be fraught with tension and uncertainty. Troubling economic news dominated headlines worldwide, while other events—including the explosion of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which resulted in the spewing of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico—added to the bad news. Worries also emerged about cyberwarfare attacks on governments and the prospect of invasive species’ thriving in temperatures that were getting warmer by the year. In Yemen al-Qaeda stirred up trouble and gained a foothold in the south of the country by encouraging secessionists to break away from the north, and the militant group established a base from which to coordinate terrorist activities. In the U.S. the grassroots Tea Party movement brewed up a tempest in the political arena with its credo to oppose excessive taxation, immigration, and government intervention in the private sector. In Africa 17 countries, 14 of them former French colonies, marked the 50th anniversary of their independence. The earthquakes in Haiti and Chile brought to the fore the need for smart engineering of buildings to sustain the shocks from massive temblors. On the bright side, the Win

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