The Week in Pictures: September 1 – September 7, 2015

There were a whole raft of big news stories last week so let’s take a time out to look back on some of the most important of the last seven days.

The migrant crisis in Europe continued last week as thousands of refugees in Hungary began trekking out of the country towards the Austrian border after a standoff with police outside a train station in Central Budapest. They marched on the M1 international motorway to Vienna, blocking traffic and leaving heaps of rubbish on the side of the road. Since they refused to comply with any attempt to control them short of live ammo, the Hungarian government then relaxed its restrictions on their movements. Upon news of a coming storm they were provided buses to move the majority of them to the Austrian border – which they left in an indescribable state. The Austrians allowed them free passage to Germany the preferred destination of many. Now both Germany and Austria are having second thoughts, demanding Hungary to stop and register them.

Kim Davis the Rowan County clerk that refused to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples was jailed last week for contempt of court. She will remain in jail until such time as she apologizes and agrees to comply with current US law, or promises not to interfere with other clerks issuing licenses. Ms. Davis refused to comply with the law on religious grounds saying it compromised her Christian values. That is somewhat odd and perhaps hypocritical, coming from a woman herself divorced three times.

In New Zealand Jean-Luc Kister, the diver that planted mines on the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior 30 years ago. has apologized on TVNZ for his part in the attack that killed photographer Fernando Pereira. The covert operation by DGSE to prevent Greenpeace protesting at French nuclear testing sites in the Pacific was conducted by a 12 man team, only two of which have stood trial for manslaughter, spending just two years behind bars after a deal with France.

In sport England cemented their place in the Euro 2016 finals with a six-nil win over San Marino with Wayne Rooney slotting home a penalty in the 13th minute to get the ball rolling and equal Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time goals for England record. The question is now, how long will the potato-headed striker have to wait to exceed it? Our daily news pages will keep you informed on that score, but in the meantime let’s look back over some of the big stories of the last seven days.

1. OK, now we’ve heard every version of the story. According to the latest version the Redskins plan to keep RG3 as their second string quarterback behind Cousins. Actually it could be PR for “we couldn’t find anyone to buy his expensive contract out”.

2. Patriots fans and amorous women can be relieved, the suspension of Patriots QB Tom Brady has been overturned by a federal district court. Everybody will be checking his balls at the season opener, surely.

3. Eight VIP casino rooms are closed down in Macau as China makes junket operations even more difficult. Not looking good for Macau.

4. The transfer window for football clubs ended in most leagues, with some interesting last minute purchases.

5. As already done in many other states, sport clubs in California request the state to be allowed to raise funds by selling raffles in their venues.

6. The backboard shattering giant, Darryl Dawkins diead tragically young. He was only 58 years old.

7. The national teams of Europe took care of Round 7 and 8 of their qualifiers this week. If you got them right, you made a heap of money, because some matches brought crazy upsets.

Meanwhile in the US the West Point military academy seems to have begun teaching cadets the art of friendly fire as the annual pillow fight, a tradition dating back to 1897, left thirty injured, 24 of them unconscious, some with dislocated shoulders and one with a broken nose. It is reported some pillow-cases were stuffed with hard objects instead of their usual soft contents, and that some cadets wore helmets and body armor to the event that marks the end of summer training.