This week, last year: 13th – 19th November
Emmanuel Macron in dutiful finance-minister mode at an economic summit in July 2016. Photo: Pablo Tupin-Noriega/Wikimedia Commons
Our news highlights from 12 months past, for your weekly dose of Slow Journalism perspective…
Sun 13th November 2016
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos announces a host of modifications to the peace deal with leftist rebels Farc, after the original accord was narrowly rejected in a national referendum on 2nd October.
Mon 14th November 2016
An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hits New Zealand killing two people and leaving thousands stranded. The aftershocks cause around 100,000 landslides and cut off the South Island town of Kaikoura from emergency services.
“I am a direct descendant of royalty” — Danny Dyer discovers he is related to two kings and Thomas Cromwell. The EastEnders actor tells Radio Times he received the genealogical surprise while filming BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?, in which his ancestry is traced to William the Conqueror and Edward III.
Tue 15th November 2016
Oxford Dictionaries names “post-truth” as its International Word of the Year for 2016. Citing the influence of the UK’s EU referendum and the US election, the publisher said use of the term had increased by 2,000 percent from 2015.
An Egyptian court overturns the death sentence against former president Mohamed Morsi and orders a retrial. The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood was overthrown and arrested in 2013, and in 2015 was tried in connection with a jail break during the Arab Spring uprising.
Wed 16th November 2016
The UK Office for National Statistics reveals that
the number of Eastern Europeans working in Britain surged by 46,000 between June and September, apparently as a result of the EU referendum.
“How many others are there?” — Andy Woodward, a 43-year-old former professional footballer, waives his anonymity to speak about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child at Crewe Alexandra. Woodward details his abuse at the hands of Barry Bennell, a youth coach who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1998, in the hope that others will come forward.
Former French economy minister Emmanuel Macron announces he is running for president. Although he served in François Hollande’s Socialist Party until August, he will run as an independent, vowing a “democratic revolution” if he wins.
Thu 17th November 2016
It’s revealed that a 14-year-old British girl has been permitted by the High Court to be cryogenically frozen after her death. The teenager, known only as JS, had terminal cancer but won the right to have her body preserved, in the hope that future medical advances could bring her back to life. She is due to be frozen in liquid nitrogen at the Cryonics Institute
in Detroit, US.
Fri 18th November 2016
The UK government awards a 66 percent increase in income to the Queen in order to raise £369 million to refurbish Buckingham Palace. The repairs will take place over a ten-year period and are to begin in April 2017.
Serbia’s deputy prime minister, Ivica Dacic, issues a statement to the UN Security Council denouncing Kosovo’s claim to ownership of the Trepca mines. Dacic warns the Kosovan legislators’ “illegal” actions “are not in the interest of regional peace and stability at all.”
Photo: James Hill
The last functioning hospital in rebel- held east Aleppo is destroyed during a campaign of government and Russian airstrikes, which kills at least 64 people over three days. Staff and patients are evacuated, leaving up to 250,000 residents without access to surgery.
Sat 19th November 2016
The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government declares a 48-hour ceasefire in its war with Houthi rebels. The international coalition says the truce can be extended as long as humanitarian aid is granted safe passage
into areas held by rebels.
Nasa launches GOES-16, the most sophisticated weather satellite ever built.
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