This Week in Pictures: December 29, 2015 – January 04, 2016

There were no end of big news stories last week so lets take a moment to look back over some of the most important from the last seven days.

Billions of people around the world celebrated the New Year last week as a turmoil laden 2015 came to an end and events were held to mark the start of 2016. In Europe events were held under tight security following the terrorist attacks in Paris last year, with some being canceled and others scaled down. In Germany a tip off from the intelligence services forced the local police to close off the city’s main railways stations on New Year’s Eve, but thankfully no terrorist attack took place.

The international community expressed widespread dismay with the Saudi Arabian decision to execute outspoken Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr last week. Executed along with 46 others convicted of terror-related offenses or political activism, al-Nimr had long been a critic of the ruling Sunni elite and there was swift hostile reaction to his death with the Saudi embassy in Tehran set ablaze during a demonstration and experts predicted further significant Shia unrest across the region.

Last week saw another deadly gun attack in Israel with a gunman opening fire on a busy bar in Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv, killing two and wounding another seven, four of them seriously. Following a tip off from his father 29 year old Arab-Israeli Nashat Milhem was identified by authorities and a massive manhunt was launched. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the scene of the attack and said his government would “bolster law enforcement efforts” in the coming days.

In sport Sunderland took a turn beating this season’s whipping boys Aston Villa in a 3-1 battle between the two sides who both languish in the relegation zone of the English Premier League. With two from Defoe and one from van Aanholt the Black Cat’s win was comfortable but Gil did get one back for the Villa, the question is can either team escape a descent to the Championship? You’ll have to read our daily news pages to find out, but in the meantime here’s a look at the big stories we covered last week.

1. An Oklahoma tribe online casino was in the works after the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma received permission from the government to launch and operate an international website.

Announced for 2016… (Photo: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)

2. Phil Taylor was eliminated at the William Hill World Darts Championship on Day 12.

Out of the competition (Photo: The Telegraph)

3. Gambling Results’ made a short guide for La Liga Betting.

La Liga betting guide (Photo: La Liga)

4. Gambling Results made a plan for the Premier League Games from the First Weekend of 2016. Take a look at the odds.

Place you bets on one of the best football in Europe (Photo: premier League)

5. Cesc Fabregas’ transfer is nothing but a rumour and Guus Hiddink says all we hear is a bunch of lies.

Is Fabregas staying or going? (Photo: Daily Star)

6. Pep Guardiola faith was brought to our attention; he’s out of Bayern’s hair but what will happen of him?

Guardiola: where to ? (Photo: BBC)

7. László Horváth, a 15-year-old hockey player sang the national anthem for Hungary after the sound system was broke.

Horváth volunteered to sing the anthem Laszlo Horvath (Photo: kamloopsthisweek.com)

 
Meanwhile the planet got a timely message from the animal kingdom concerning conservation last week as Koko the Gorilla, who has been learning sign language for 43 years and is said to be able to understand over 1,000 different words released a video in which she said “I am gorilla. I am flowers, animals. I am nature. Koko love man. Earth Koko love. But man stupid… stupid! Koko sorry, Koko cry. Time hurry. Fix Earth! Help Earth! Hurry! Protect Earth. Nature watches you. Thank you.”