This Week in Pictures: October 4th – 10th, 2016

With so many big news stories breaking around the world last week, we take a moment to look back at some of the most significant.

In the United States presidential candidate Donald Trump became embroiled in yet another scandal last week as a tape of the supposed billionaire making disparaging comments about women and seemingly confessing to sexual assault surfaced in the media. Although the Trump campaign wrote his abhorrent behavior off as “locker room talk” the graphic language used left the orange Republican on the defensive as he took on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the second televised debate.

In Russia the lower house of Parliament ratified an agreement between their nation and Syria that allows for the Russian Air Force to retain the Khmeimim Air Base indefinitely, making way for a permanent Russian military presence in the region. The US reaction was for John Kerry (secretary of state) to call for an immediate investigation of alleged Russian “War Crimes” in Syria and make a formal accusation that Russian hackers were trying to pervert the course of the US general election.

In the Caribbean Hurricane Matthew left a trail of destruction across the region as the largest storm in at least a decade swept North placing several US States on an emergency footing, causing widespread evacuations in costal areas and taking the lives of 16 Americans. Far worse hit was the island of Haiti, the poorest country in the region, which saw approximately 900 people lose their lives and fears grow of a cholera outbreak in the wake of the disaster with some 60,000 people in temporary shelters.

In sports Nico Rosberg won the Japanese Grand Prix to extend his lead in the Formula One World Championship. His ninth win of the season places him some 33 points ahead of team mate, rival and current world champion, Lewis Hamilton who only managed third place, but the question is does that mean he’ll be number one at the season’s end? 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 last week.

1. We look ahead to British Champions Day at Ascot betting there will be some great races and some excellent betting opportunities in this traditional end-of- the-season event.

…where all the kings horses and all the hats are (Photo:vipticketsandcorporatehospitality.co.uk)

Not again… (Photo: Pinterest)

Best place to play on the go.

The devil goes for the Oilers (Photo: Nick lahama/AP)

Do you think The Rock was a safe bet back in the day? (Photo: WWE)

What? The man is practically a saint… (Photo: FHM)

Already looking better than Man City’s players (Photo: Tom Oldham)

Meanwhile in Japan a bear in the Gunma Prefecture chose the wrong human to attack last week as his victim turned out to be sixty three year old Atsushi Aoki, a karate expert. Despite towering over Mr. Aoki at 6ft 3ins on its hind legs and knocking him to the ground the spry fisherman quickly got to his feet and, instead of running, set about the bear with his martial arts skill, punching it between the eyes and causing it to retreat allowing him to escape and get treatment for his wounds at a local hospital.