This Week in Pictures: November 15th-21st, 2016

There were some massive breaking news stories last week and you may well have missed them so here’s a look back at some of the most important.

In Kanpur, northern India, 127 people were reported killed in a rail accident that also injured at least 150 more. The worst crash on the rail system since 2010 the express train derailed near the village of Purwa leaving hundreds of people trapped in overturned carriages of the service travelling from Indore to Patna. Emergency services were hampered in their efforts due to the rural and remote location of the crash, with the National Disaster Response Force and the army closely involved.

In Rio de Janeiro at least 12 died to execution-style murders, gun-battles and shoot-outs across a city that mere months ago staged the Olympic Games. With the Cidade de Deus favela the center of this latest trouble, police operations against local gangs met fierce resistance including the possible shooting down of a police helicopter. The precise cause of the crash that killed four officers is still under investigation and would be the first helicopter in Rio brought down by gunfire since 2009.

In France voting got underway in the first round of primary elections to choose who will represent the political right-wing in the country’s presidential election with a run off contest between candidates in May of 2017. The leader of the National Front, Marine Le Pen is expected to make through to that stage but is thought unlikely to win, however since the election of Donald Trump in the US many commentators have suggested France will be next to see a rise in populist politics.

In sports Andy Murray won the ATP Finals to finish 2016 as Tennis world number one having beaten Novak Djokovic in just an hour and 42 minutes in a demolishing 6-3 6-4 much against the predictions of pundits pre-match. The question is can the dour Scot manage to retain his No.1 ranking into the new year? You’ll have to read our daily news pages to find out, but in the meantime here’s a look at some of the big stories from around the world we covered over the last seven days.

1. Intertops is already allowing their members to bet on the 2016-17 Stanley Cup Winner.

2. Bitcoin gambling saw a surge after Donald Trump was elected President.

3. The UK Government may allow Wales to ban FOBT’s inside their borders.

4. Russia has decided to cut taxes for all online sportsbooks.

5. PaddyPower is already allowing their members to bet on the 2017 Eurovision contest.

6. You can begin placing bets on the 2017 Academy Awards.

7. We take a look at the best picks for the upcoming game between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.

Meanwhile President Elect Donald Trump continued to demonstrate all the class and sophistication that his campaign was a byword for, by Tweeting his views on the portrayal of him by Alec Baldwin on the NBC show Saturday Night Live. The next President of the United States complained “It is a totally one-sided, biased show – nothing funny at all.” He then went on to completely confuse the news media’s duty for balanced reporting with a comedy show’s duty to make people laugh by musing “Equal time for us?”. Mr Trump continued to pick members of his cabinet last week.