This Week in Pictures: January 26 – January 31, 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

In Malaysia the state-owned 1MDB Fund set up for economic and social development became the center of a scandal last week as it was found to be missing up to $4bn with the Swiss Attorney General, Michael Lauber saying there were “serious indications that funds have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies”. His investigation found transfers had been made to the private Swiss bank accounts of several former public officials both in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

Social media giants Facebook and Instagram have both banned the private sale of firearms through their platform. Whilst official gun dealers can continue to use the services to sell their wares private sales, those without background checks, are no longer permitted. The move has been seen as falling into line with the new restrictions in gun purchasing introduced by President Obama by executive action some three weeks ago. The USA has 88.8 guns for every 100 citizens, some 270 million in all.

New research into the treatment of Cancer conducted by Dr. Torunn Yock from the Massachusetts General Hospital has found that the once controversial Proton Beam therapy used to treat some children against medical advice is as effective as traditional Photon (X-ray) therapy but has a markedly lower level of toxicity meaning that there are fewer negative impacts on both heart and lungs of the patient leading to a far better quality of life. The research shows Proton beam therapy a real alternative.

In sport Japanese wrestler Kaori Icho was beaten by Mongolian Student Orkhon Purevdorj, her first defeat in 189 matches, a run of victories that stretched some thirteen years back to 2003. The loss gives Olympic hopefuls some actual hope, but she has time to recover and come back to win gold, the question is, will she? You’ll have to read our daily news pages to find out, but in the meantime lets look again at some of the major stories we covered from around the world during the last seven days.

1. Jeff Saul launched an online gambling site allowing users to bet on stock movements.

2. We look at the Tennis match fixing scandal that has erupted at the Australian Open just as allegations are dredged up from the past.

3. Kenyan gambling authorities are not satisfied with the recently introduced taxation system.

4. GamingZion presented the history of the NFL structure changes since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.

5. We look at some of the books you can find at Bet365 as the England Cricket tour moves on the One Day International Series against South Africa.

6. The Jump 2016 contestants are ready for the off as the new series starts this Sunday but who should you wager on to leap into the lead this year?

7. New Jersey’s Governor and Atlantic City’s Mayor announced the state’s takeover of the city’s financials.

Meanwhile in Greece two second tier football teams protested the ever rising death toll amongst immigrants attempting to reach the country’s outlying islands. With the whistle blown for kick off players, subs and coaches of both AEL Larissa and Acharnaikos simply held their positions on the pitch and sat down “in memory of the hundreds of children who continue to lose their lives every day in the Aegian” according to a PA announcement made to the crowd which called the deaths ‘heinous crimes’.