The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad News of 2016

2016 was a year that we won't soon forget, no matter how hard we try. The year saw so many incidents that defied expectation that by the end no one knew what to expect. The year saw everything from terrorist attacks and natural disaster to celebrity deaths and political shake ups. Lets take a look back at the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year that was 2016.

Headlines

Senseless deaths were the biggest headlines of 2016 with Terrorist attacks by ISIS from the Berlin Christmas Market by a rogue truck driver in a similar attack as that in Nice, France. Brussels suffered a bomb attack as did New York City's Chelsea district. But that wasn't all with war still raging the refugee crisis grew while others struggled in Aleppo. Police shootings and race relations continued to deteriorate in the US with loses on both sides along with mass shootings still the norm. There were also the deaths of supreme court justice Antonin Scalia and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Politics was one of the biggest topics of the year across the globe with the US Election shocking everyone when Donald Trump won the electoral college. Turkey faced a political coup that failed within hours but the repercussions have yet to subside. Corruption in politics was everywhere from China to Russia and even South Korea.

Then there was mother nature, natural disaster claimed thousands of lives from earthquakes in Italy, Indonesia and New Zealand to hurricanes in the US and Haiti. While the environment may have claimed lives it too was under threat with climate change taking center stage and under threat from a new administration along with environmentalists fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Business

On the global front Brexit became a reality with a vote that took everyone by surprise. Trumps new path to the presidency impacted the business world with his wild tweets sending markets in all directions, not to mention Trumps comments on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The "Fight of $15" also made news with minimum wage taking center stage in the States and lets not forget the Panama papers scandal that reached every country all the way to the highest echelons.

On the business front we saw Theranos, once the darling on the stock market, suffer horribly with regulators decimating the company. Drug manufacturers also made news with price hikes from Martin Shkreli to EpiPen. While the VW scandal whimpered along as it faced fines along with Wells Fargo and it's $185 million settlement with federal regulators.

Sports

One of the biggest sporting events took place in the form of the Summer Olympics in Rio which managed to host a decent enough event and the Cubs shocked everyone by winning their first World Series. Along with events there were also shocking revelations with stories of sexual abuse in the world of English soccer along with the FIFA corruption scandal continuing it's downward trend.

Athletes made headlines and for all the wrong reasons with Ryan Lochte caught in a lie at the Olympics that spiraled out of control. Then there were the sad losses with the death of Muhammad Ali and the Chapecoense plane crash which claimed the lives of the Brazilian soccer team.

Entertainment

Celebrities made headlines in 2016 with celebrity deaths rocking the world as we lost icons across all fields of entertainment. While the list itself is beyond comprehension the following stole headlines from David Bowie, George Michael, Prince, Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Leonard Cohen to Carrie Fisher and more. Along with celebrity deaths were shocking divorces which saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie aka Brangelina break up after years together and Johnny Depp going through a nasty public divorce from Amber Heard.

Outside of the depressing entertainer news the usual awards ceremonies took place with controversy surrounding the Oscars and it's lack of diversity. The Golden Globes had their moments while the Grammy's saw the usual celebs taking top honors.

Technology

In the technology world we saw tech giants like Apple in court over EU taxes along with battles against the FBI. Google was in court over anti competitive behaviour but continued to innovate with self driving cars. Facebook had a shaky year with the law as well and struggled with ads and blockers. The online world also made headlines with hacking affecting individual websites and all the way up to the US election and political parties being targeted.

On the scientific front we saw Nobel prizes handed out for cellular cannibalism and more while progress was made in combating ebola with a new vaccine. Out in space no one could hear the screams of 2016. Various probes made their way among the heavens and others crashed on planets. But it was the detection of gravitational waves that set the scientific community on fire.

Style

Fashion Weeks were the only glimmer of hope in 2016 with New York kicking things off each time to much fan fare. London Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week proved to be strong in the middle half while Paris Fashion Week capped off the seasons in the usual French way.

There was controversy after Donald Trump won the US electoral college with some designers deciding to boycott Trumps wife, Melania by refusing to dress her. The fashion world also experienced loses in the form of Nasty Girl filing for bankruptcy and the death of Sonia Rykiel and Bill Cunningham.

Experts Threaten Trumps White House Dreams

US Election Shocks Everyone

November saw the US political system thrown into chaos when Donald Trump caused a major upset beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential Election. All polls had shown Clinton in the lead by massive margins leaving Trump as a distant contender. However, come election day things turned with the so called "hidden majority" coming out to vote, not only that, but voting for Trump.

Days before the election FBI director James B. Comey announced another investigation into Clintons emails thanks to Anthony Weiner. The Clinton campaign has since claimed the investigation is one of the reasons for the loss. Another issue that has since sprung up was the rise of fake news on social media with Facebook being raked over the coals for allowing it's spread and Twitter fighting an army of bots and alt-right accounts.

The New Zeitgeist Shaping the World

As we've seen around the world people are pushing back against the establishment. With the Arab Spring in the Middle East to the Brexit vote to leave the European Union and the ANC losing the midterm elections in South Africa. People around the globe are turning their backs on politicians seen as separate from everyone else. Was it only a matter of time before the US was subject to the same wave of change?

A Daring Electoral College Could Change History

While Trump won based on the needed vote for the electoral college it was Clinton who won the popular vote with 1.7million more votes in total. This is only the 4th time in history a candidate who won the popular vote did not win the election. While some experts are telling Clinton to challenge the vote due to technical issues others in the electoral college may shake things up with Democrats preparing for a "faithless vote". As much as Trump ran on the Republican ticket he did not make any friends in the process with many in the Republican party distancing themselves from him. Could super delegates with conservative views also step in and fight Trump? Since the backlash began an unexpected friend has emerged in the form of Jill Stein who has been raising money to force a recount in swing states with Wisconsin already agreeing to a recount.

Trumps Fight or Flight Response

With recounts imminent and the Electoral College in question Trump has taken to his favourite medium and responded on Twitter. Trump has since claimed the recount movement is a "scam" and that he actually won the popular vote but lost it due to "illegal votes". No word on if he will push for his on investigation regarding the illegal votes.

The Big Stories of October 2016

Halloween wasn't the only scary thing this October with revelations about political candidates in the US to the internet under attack.

Headlines

The big news this month was around the US Election and Donald Trumps remarks about sexually assaulting women sending his campaign into a nose dive. The battle against ISIS raged on with battles for control of Mosul putting ISIS on the back foot. In Europe the refugee crisis saw the infamous "Jungle" in Calais being torn down by authorities. Elsewhere nature took it's toll with natural disasters claiming lives in Haiti and more. One of the only positives came in the form of 150 countries agreeing on a climate change deal.

Business

Samsung saw their share price plummet after the drama around the Galaxy Note 7 exploding and having to be recalled twice while VW's emissions scandal settlement was approved by a judge. Meanwhile Brexit was still in the news with leaders around Europe discussing the way forward.

Technology

The internet suffered one of its biggest attacks when multiple devices that make up IoT, or the Internet of Things, were used to take down infrastructure sending many high profile sites offline while Samsung fared no better with the exploding Galaxy Note 7 wreaking havoc on their stock price and reputation.

The Big Stories of September 2016

Headlines

The world saw the refugee struggle continue with France pushing to shut down the infamous "Jungle" refugee camp while out at sea hundreds died when a ship capsized. Typhoons in China killed dozens this month while Italy tried to rebuild after last months devastating earthquakes. Over in the US, New York City was rocked by explosions in the Chelsea district by homemade bombs, the suspect was arrested two days later. We saw another mass shooting, this time at a Washington Mall and the US Election heated up with the first debates pitting Clinton vs Trump. Charlotte, North Carolina was rocked by protests after another unarmed black man was shot by police.

Business

Carrying over from the world of politics Donald Trump faced criticism for not providing his tax returns while in Europe they pushed for multi national corporations to pay more in taxes. The VW scandal was still in the news with management suspensions and investor lawsuits while China hosted the G20. Elsewhere Twitter gained attention with news of it's possible sale while Deutsche Bank had investors worried after it was hit with a massive fine.

Sports

In the world of sports we saw the Paralympics showcase the best in perseverance against all odds while the US Open had some shockers with the Williams sister losing out. US protests made their way on to the field with NFL players refusing to stand for the national anthem due to police shootings.

Entertainment

The Emmy Awards saw the usual winners with Game of Thrones taking top honors while young talent also took to the stage with Rami Malek and Tatiana Maslany winning for best leads. In sad news famous celebrity couple Brangelina announced a divorce while the case against Bill Cosby continued with the judge allowing phone records.

Technology

Cyber crime was in the news with the Democrat party emails being hacked to the medical records of athletes being stolen but they were nothing compared to Yahoo's announcement that over 500 million accounts had been hacked. Elsewhere we saw the launch of the iPhone 7 which was met with skepticism and the month ended with Elon Musk announcing plans to colonize Mars.

Style

Finally in the fashion world it was time for the seasonal showings in the form of New York Fashion Week leading the way followed by London Fashion Week and then on to Milan Fashion Week and finally ending with Paris Fashion Week.

What Happened at Rio Olympics 2016

August has come and gone along with the biggest event in sports, the Olympics. This years Rio Olympics were undoubtedly the most controversial from athletes not attending to concerns about Zika and crime to the political climate in Brazil. There's no doubt this years Olympics was going to be talked about.

Breaking Records

There were clear favourites with Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt living up to the hype and setting new records and growing their medal counts. Surprises came in the form of younger unknown swimmers and new world records on the race tracks.

Breaking Bones

As with any event when you push yourself there are bound to be injuries. There were some scary crashes and dislocated elbows, Gymnasts snapped bones in their legs and divers seriously bruised their egos.

Controversy

While certain aspects of Rio's instability did feature with muggings, shootings and green pools it was the Olympics itself which brought it's own controversy as the Russian's fought to have their athletes accepted and the Olympics torch itself came under threat. However, the Gold for most ludicrous controversy went to US swimmer Ryan Lochte.