This Week in Pictures: November 22nd to 28th, 2016

Big news stories broke throughout last week so lets take a moment or two to look back at some of the most important to hit the headlines over the last seven days.

In France the right-wing of French politics entered into the run of phase to see which candidate will square off in the Presidential Election next year. In the end it was former Prime Minister Francois Fillon who beat out his rival from Bordeaux, mayor Alain Juppe, who won the vote by a large margin having apparently tapped into the “rightwing mood”. The social conservative is now the favourite to see off far-right extremist Marine Le Pen and become the next President of France.

In Cuba one of the icons of the 20th Century, Fidel Castro, died at the age of 90 following a career as one of the world’s longest serving leaders. Born in 1926 his rise to power and the constant war of words with the United States shaped the global landscape, surviving numerous assassination attempts and holding firm during the Missile Crisis. Well known for his lengthy oratory, especially at the podium Castro will be remembered either as hero or villain depending upon your politics.

In China 13 people have been arrested following investigations into a collapse of scaffolding during the construction of a new power station at Fengcheng, in Jiangxi province, that killed 74 people, the majority of whom had been working some hundreds of feet up the internal wall of a cooling tower when the support structure gave way. A culture of corruption and the engineering firm Hebei Yineng, who have a poor record on worker safety, is being held responsible for the deaths.

In sports Mercedes Nico Rosberg finally became Formula One World Champion cruising to an easy second place behind former champion Lewis Hamilton at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi to win the season by five points. The question now is whether or not Formula One can retain an audience with such a dull individual as its major exponent? You’ll have to read our daily news pages to find out in due course but in the meantime here’s some of the big stories we covered last week.

1. We take a look at Marine Le Pen’s odds to win the French Presidency.

2. Royal Panda Casino is offering their members huge cash prizes playing online roulette games.

3. We take whether Sweden’s national football team can still qualify for the World Cup.

4. Legendary UK footballer Steven Gerrard has retired from the sport.

5. NetBet Casino is offering their members the chance to win a brand new free Ferrari.

6. We take a look at perhaps the scariest slot game on the internet.

7. Some of the top NFL Super Bowl betting underdog’s odds are examined.

Meanwhile in Russia Putin’s Spokesman may have something to say on behalf of someone dearer to him than Vlad after his wife took part in an ice dance routine on network television in which she and her partner dressed as holocaust prisoners right down to the yellow stars on their striped uniform. Tatiana Navka is a world champion ice skater, however her excuse that the routine was based on “Life Is Beautiful” gained very little traction among an understandably negative public reaction beyond the audience in the studio. Judge for yourself…….