This Week in Pictures: January 19 – January 25, 2016

With so many massive news stories breaking around the world last week we take the time to review some of the most important.

The Eastern coast of the United States saw a blizzard effect 20 states and over 85,000,000 Americans, dumping up to three feet of snow pushed by winds of up to 50mph. A travel ban was put in place as white-out conditions ensued and 200,000 people lost power. New York saw the second highest snowfall since records began, merely 0.1 inches short of the record, and 19 people are reported to have died due to the adverse conditions. In total 10 states declared emergencies with some coastal towns evacuated.

The annual World Economic Forum took place in Davos, Switzerland, last week. Within tight security the business and political leaders of the planet met to discuss slowing Chinese growth figures, the European migration crisis, and exceedingly low oil and steel prices. The subject of terrorism was also discussed at length in what many observers have noted was a very downbeat incarnation of the event. The 85% male event also took time out to discuss the economic empowerment of women. Laughable.

Several nations across South America have declared states of emergencies after an outbreak of the Zika Virus that is transmitted by mosquito bites and has been linked to birth defects and disorders of the central nervous system. Scientists estimate up to 1.5 million people could be infected in Brazil alone and with several foreign tourists already diagnosed with the infection, although authorities played down any risk to those attending the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The CDC has warned against travel to 14 nations.

In sport the biggest sponsor of World Athletics has pulled it’s sponsorship deal with the IAAF four years earlier than contracted due to the ongoing doping scandal that has swept through the sport. Their withdrawal will cost the IAAF approximately $30 million in revenues over the next four years, the question is will they pull their money out of the corrupt entity that is FIFA too? You’ll have to read our daily news pages to find out, but in the meantime here’s the big stories we covered over the last week.

1. We laughed at Tennis being victim to the latest sporting scandal that accuses numerous top players of gambling related match-fixing.

2. The bookies are going to close their books on this one soon enough so if you want to bet on which of The Voice UK judges will have the winner under their wing, now’s the time.

3. Casumo player won £2 million just days after joining the online social casino.

4. Lotto Palace offered an easy way to purchase tickets for popular lotteries like the Powerball or Euro Jackpot.

5. DraftKings and FanDuel spent USD 100,000 to lobby for the legalization of daily fantasy sports in the US.

6. GamingZion collected the least fair players as a kind of a celebration for the newly introduced green cards, which appreciates sportsmanship.

7. NetEnt slots paid out EUR 7,4 million to three lucky online casino players in January.

Meanwhile in the UK the Home Office was left red faced after a press release announcing a new language exam for immigrants coming to the country was found to contain a glaring misspelling of the world “Language” in the title. The controversial test would see Muslim women tested on their language skills some two and half years after arriving in the country with Prime Minister David Cameron saying failure could lead to their deportation, which could well break up families. The typo has been corrected.