Portrait of the year | 31 December 2016

January

The cost of an annual season ticket from Cheltenham to London rose to £9,800. Oil fell below $30 a barrel, compared with more than $100 in January 2014. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that once his negotiations with the EU were done, ministers could campaign for either side in the referendum on Britain’s continued membership. Junior doctors went on strike for 24 hours. In Germany, women protested in the street after gangs of men of Arab or North African appearance assaulted dozens of women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve. David Bowie died two days after releasing an album, Blackstar, on his 69th birthday.

February

The World Health Organisation declared the Zika virus a global public health emergency. Junior doctors went on strike for another day. Boris Johnson came out in favour of leaving the EU. King Abdullah said that Jordan, with 1.4 million refugees from Syria, needed help. About 110,000 migrants crossed the sea to Europe in the first six weeks of the year.