This week, last year: 23rd – 29th October

Migrants and refugees leave the Jungle camp in Calais during its demolition on 26th October 2016. Photo: Thibault Camus / AP / PA Images

Our news highlights from 12 months past, for your weekly dose of Slow Journalism perspective…

Sun 23rd October 2016
Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe is formally acknowledged as a “co-writer” of William Shakespeare’s three Henry VI plays for the first time. A team of 23 academics opted to include the co-credit in The New Oxford Shakespeare.

“We had to 
eat rats” – Antonio Libref, a Filipino sailor held prisoner with 25 colleagues by Somali pirates for four years, describes his captivity. The pirates claim a ransom of £1.2 million was paid for the crew’s release.

Mon 24th October 2016
French police begin an operation to clear the ‘Jungle’ camp in Calais, France. The UN Refugee Agency welcomes the move.

Read our report on the fate of the Jungle camp’s residents as we speak to migrants and volunteers across northern France, four months after the Jungle’s demolition

Tue 25th October 2016
Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith resigns his west London seat after the cabinet backs a third Heathrow runway. The former mayoral candidate’s protest forces a by-election in his Richmond Park constituency.

Wed 26th October 2016
A green-eyed Afghan woman famous for appearing on the cover of National Geographic as a child refugee in 1985 is arrested in Pakistan for possessing false identity documents. If convicted, Sharbat Gula could face 14 years in jail.

Thu 27th October 2016
Two Yazidi women who escaped sexual enslavement by Isis are given the EU’s Sakharov human rights award. Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar’s campaigning about the plight of their community is praised as an “exceptional contribution” to human rights.

Fri 28th October 2016
FBI director James Comey sends a letter to members of Congress informing them of an investigation into newly seized emails sent by Hillary Clinton. The disclosure, 11 days before the US election, prompts accusations from Democrats of partisanship and breach of protocol.

Sat 29th October 2016
Mariano Rajoy is returned to office as prime minister of Spain. After ten months of political deadlock, the conservative wins a majority in an investiture vote as the socialist party abstains to avoid 
a third set of elections.

Posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2017 - Categories: Extras, The week that was.