The Big Stories of July 2016

Welcome to the second half of the year featuring terrorist attacks, sporting scandals and more to round off the big stories of July 2016.

Headline News

We begin again with brutality in the form of mass murder when a deranged terrorist drove a truck through a crowd of people in Nice, France killing innocent people along with a hostage situation at a church. But that wasn't all for July with police shootings in the US resulting in protests and attacks on the police themselves and an attempted coup in Turkey fell apart sending the military scrambling for the borders. The month then ended with a young man in Munich going on a shooting spree along with bombings in Baghdad and Germany. And if all the wasn't bad enough the US Election's held Armageddon themed conventions to scare people into voting for them.

Business News

The business world saw Yahoo being sold for a pitiful $5billion for the one time technology giant while Nintendo stocks went on a roller coaster ride with the success of Pokemon Go. Elsewhere Europe tried to tackle the issue of Brexit and VW continued to piece together it's shattered reputation all the while the taxman stood by with his hand stretched out.

Sports News

July was the month of sports with Wimbledon coming to an end with wins from Serena Williams and Andy Murray along with the Euro 2016 which saw Portugal take the title. While some came to an end other events continued with the Tour de France experiencing a bizarre set of accidents while the controversy around the Olympics in Rio continued and doping bans addressed by Russia.

Entertainment News

The entertainment world kicked things off with the BET Awards followed by Emmy nominations. Later celebrities were besieged by nerds at the annual Comic-Con which saw new movies launched and celebrities questioned by fans.

Technology News

Google was back under fire from Europe for various issues while Microsoft joined them on the hot seat for tracking users with Windows 10. Facebook didn't fare much better with law suits from the families of terrorist victims and controversial sales of guns via their platform.

Where in the World - Paris Attacks

The world was stunned with unprecedented attacks on the City of Lights from multiple gunmen and suicide bombers attacking multiple targets in Paris, France.

Attacks

The attacks took place on Friday night with multiple attacks carried out by multiple terrorists. The attackers targeted people sitting outside Paris' famous cafe's and restaurants along with a music concert and a soccer game between France and Germany. Of the 130 that died many were attending a concert in Bataclan. Later it was discovered the attacks had been orchestrated by ISIS with the leader scurrying away.

Response

Internationally there was condemnation from world leaders and pledges of support for France with condolences coming from all corners. After the initial attacks France began a man hunt for the terrorists that escaped along with neighbouring nations. The manhunt resulted in the organizer pinned down in an apartment block who eventually died along with others including a female cousin of his who set off a suicide vest she was wearing.

With such a brazen attack by ISIS France was left no choice but to intensify strikes on ISIS with a declaration of war with other world leaders calling for more action.

For more on the Evolving story make sure you Follow the Paris Attacks Storyboard.

Need to Know - #‎JeSuisCharlie‬ (I am Charlie)

A shocking act of violence rocked the beginning of 2015 when 12 people were executed by terrorists at the headquarters of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Attack

2 gunmen entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo where they confronted a women and her young daughter forcing her to provide the security code to access the magazines office. The gunmen called out the victims by name searching for their targets. Entering the morning meeting the gunmen executed the magazines editor, police bodyguard followed by several cartoonists.

Leaving the building the gunmen were confronted by police who opened fire but were outgunned by the heavily armored terrorists. A wounded officer lying on the ground was approached by the 2 gunmen and executed with a gunshot to the head before leaving. The speed and proficiency of the attack are thought to be due to training by Al Qaeda.

Response

Sympathy rolled in from all corners with the people of Paris standing together with signs of "Je Suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) along with support from the international community with other journalists and cartoonists posting their work as a show of support.

French police released the identities of the 2 gunmen and began the manhunt while 1 of the suspects handed himself in. The getaway car used by the gunmen was later found abandoned and another vehicle stolen while the Police conduct terror raids in search of the terrorists.

Since the attack survivors at the magazine insist they will continue with a million copy edition.

What Happened? 2014 Business News

Business experienced the usual ups and downs in 2014 but it was the actions of high powered individuals that impacted entire nations.

Politics

Russia suffered severe economic sanctions for it's involvement in Crimea but it was the falling oil price, due to OPEC's decision not to cut production, that was the final blow making the most impact on Russia's oil driven economy along with the Rouple. The US government had a busy year with Ben Bernanke being grilled about the decisions leading to the AIG bailout and politics narrowly avoided another shutdown when a $1.1 trillion bill was signed at the last minute. Protests in Hong Kong's business district nearly crippled the region and ended up costing retailers millions while in South America Argentina defaulted on it's loans for a second time ignoring a US courts ruling.

In the world of taxes Frances ridiculous 75% tax on millionaires was dropped while in the States over 30,000 IRS emails previously thought lost were found regarding the accusation that the IRS was targeting individuals based on their political views. Parts of Europe implemented what was termed the Google tax in an attempt to squeeze more from foreign companies operating in Europe and finally it seems European nations really had it out for Google trying to have the internet behemoth split.

Companies

Some companies probably wished for a quicker end to the year with not one but two high profile incidents, MH370 and MH17, Malasian airlines stock took a massive knock and had to be suspended at one stage. GM was on Capital Hill due to the large number of recalls due to safety issues with their vehicles. The hacking of Sony Entertainment's network caused havoc with confidential documents being released in droves bringing speculation of possible sales of assets while a previously targeted company, Target, faced a lawsuit over last years holiday hacks that saw 110 million customer details stolen. Not everyone managed to escape their fate with more former Madoff aides heading to prison and Uber was in the spotlight after an exec wanted to snoop on a journalist to discredit her work.

It wasn't all doom and gloom with the technology world seeing Alibaba make it's grand listing with the largest tech IPO ever. Apple had an interesting year with successful new products like the iPhone 6 and it's new smart watch which isn't available just yet but it also ran into issues with an Apple employee class action lawsuit and was the unwilling participant in many "die-ins" staged in protest of police brutality. Burger King successfully acquired Canada's Tim Hortons in a move to cut it's tax exposure and minimum wages made the spotlight with Walmart claiming to do away with it.

Banks

Years after they sent the world economy into a tailspin the European Central Banks conducted a health test and found everything to be fine. However things weren't over with banks still facing billion dollar fines from the US and UK for their involvement in the Libor scandal.

JPMorgan faced a class action lawsuit over $10 billion of mortgage-backed securities and finally Barclays faced a suit by the SEC over "dark pools".