

A Thai Greenpeace activist wearing a gas mask holds a protest banner at the Ministry of Energy in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday. Greenpeace called upon Thailand's energy minister to divert all energy-related investments away from the nuclear energy option, and to invest instead in research, development and uptake of clean renewable energy. Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters
A seal pup enjoys the sun at the station for abandoned seals in Norddeich, northern Germany, on Wednesday. More than 60 pups are housed at the station and will be released into the North Sea in a few weeks. Focke Strangmann/AP
Spain's Rafael Nadal makes a backhand return during his quarterfinal match against Sweden's Robin Soderling at Wimbledon on June 30. Jon Super/AP
Firefighters battle a three-alarm blaze on East 31st Street early Wednesday in Paterson, N.J. According to officials, one person is dead and several others are unaccounted for in the fire that swept through three homes. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Bill Tomkins/AP
President Obama stands with Racine, Wis., Mayor John Dickert as he makes an unscheduled stop at O and H Bakery and tries a "Kringle," on Wednesday. Charles Dharapak/AP
Andean dancers from Peru's southern province of Puno perform during street celebrations for Saint Peter's Day at downtown Lima, Peru, on Tuesday. Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters
A bulldozer moves salt at Rio Tinto's Dampier Salt facility in Port Hedland, north of Perth, Australia. The nation's government has pitched a compromise to mining firms about a controversial tax, a newspaper said, on June 30. Tim Wimborne/Reuters
A large tar ball, one of many, sits on the beach near DeBuys Road in Biloxi, Miss., on Tuesday. Amanda McCoy/The Sun Herald/AP
Oil waves come ashore in Orange Beach, Ala., on Wednesday. Heavy seas from hurricane Alex helped push more oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill towards the Florida and Alabama coasts. Dave Martin/AP
On Wednesday, children cartwheel on a beach in Mumbai as monsoon clouds gather in the background. India's monsoon rains have not advanced to new areas in the past 10 days, but are likely to do so in the next two days, an official at the weather office said on Monday. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
A local resident stops to watch the progress of a wild bush fire in a rural area outside Rustenburg, South Africa, on Wednesday. Residents near Rustenberg, one of the nine host cities for the World Cup, face a regular threat of wildfires during the year's dry months. Rebecca Blackwell/AP
US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan smiles during testimony on the third day of her US Senate confirmation hearings in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Wednesday. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
A man runs in the wind and rain as the effects of hurricane Alex are felt on the Texas coast on Wednesday in South Padre Island, Texas. Eric Gay/AP
Cameron Geiselman sits on his dad, Brock, as he photographs a sea of flags on the National Mall in Washington on Wednesday. The flags were placed by The Sierra Club to call for the nation's freedom from oil. Carolyn Kaster/AP