Last Week in Pictures: March 19-25

There was a whole raft of big news stories that broke around the world last week so in case you missed anything important here’s a quick run down of some of the most important headlines.

In the United States embattled President Donald Trump found himself one lawyer short last week as his attorney, John Dowd, resigned having concluded this client was no longer following his advice having lost confidence in him. Trump made efforts to recruit Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing to his team, announcing he’d hired them, however there were “conflicts” cited as making this impossible. The conflicts were not made public and the investigation into Trump’s collusion with Russia continued.

In France a radical Islamist gunman, 25 year old Redouane Lakdim, killed three people including a policeman last week when he took hostages in a Supermarket in Trebes and demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam, a jailed terrorist responsible for the 2015 attacks in Paris including at the Bataclan theatre. He was shot dead by police at the scene. Sixteen people were injured during the siege, two of them seriously. The dead policeman Arnaud Beltrame was hailed as a hero for his selfless sacrifice.

On the German/Danish border last week former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was detained by German authorities as he attempted to reach Belgium (where he lives in self imposed exile). Acting on a warrant issued by the Madrid government Mr Puigdemont is accused of sedition and rebellion for organizing the referendum in the Catalan region in which two million people voted for independence from the rest of Spain. If found guilty Mr Puigdemont could face a jail term of up to thirty years.

In sports the Australian Cricket team is faced a massive public backlash last week when Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera obviously ball tampering, something Steve Smith (team Captain) then had to admit he knew of in advance. With their reputation in tatters and their team in disarray Australian cricket is facing a crisis, but will they recover from it and sweep it all under the carpet? You’ll have to read our daily news pages to find out but in the meantime here’s a look at last week’s big stories.

1. Maximum FOBT Stakes Need Slashing Suggests UK Quango

2. Will History Repeat Itself? Bet on Volcanic Eruptions in 2018

3. What Will Happen to Gibraltar’s Gambling Business after Brexit?

4. Formula One Odds Favor The Usual Suspects Again This Year

Meanwhile across eastern Europe skiers were surprised to find snow across the region a strange shade of orange last week. Russia, Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria all reported the strange phenomenon, as did Ukraine, with many observers making wry comparisons with the surface of Mars. Meteorologists explained that desert sands carried aloft by storms in the Sahara had caused normal rain and snow to be tinted with the brown/orange hue, and that it happens, on average, about once every five years or so.