The week in pictures: June 16 – June 22, 2015

The last seven days saw no end of news stories breaking so lets take a look back at some of the most important

The United States saw a tragic mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, with nine of the congregation shot dead at the scene by a young white supremacist Dylann Roof who was later apprehended and has been charged with multiple counts of murder in an incident that has once again brought the issue of racism back to the headlines across the US. It has also once again raised concerns about gun control in the US with an executive of the National Rifle Association blaming the church for not allowing the congregation to carry weapons in hastily deleted comments.

The financial crisis in Greece reached new heights last week as the EU and the Greek government failed to reach agreement on a restructuring of debts accumulated by the bailout package. With the EU insisting on harsh economic austerity in a country already close to collapse, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have both refused to unlock bailout funds until Greece agrees to the EU's proposals. Greece has a deadline of June 30th to pay up 1.6 billion Euros and failure to do so would be a default on its debts and spark it's almost certain exit from the Euro Currency.

In politics casino-owning hairstyle, Donald Trump, threw his hat into the ring and officially declared his candidacy for President in the 2016 race for the White House. In a rambling speech the 69 year old both told the audience the American dream was dead, and that Mexicans were mostly gun runners, drug mules and rapists who had stolen the US' jobs. His solution involved the building of a wall between the two countries that he insisted Mexico would pay for. Portrayed as a self-aggrandizing buffoon by most of the media this vanity candidate is as likely to win the Presidency as you are, and you're not running.

In sport Andre Ward, the unbeaten American Super-Middleweight, returned from his 19 month absence from the ring with a bout against Paul Smith from Britain in his home city of Oakland. Smith's trainer threw in the towel in the 9th after the British boxer got cut and suffered a suspected broken nose. Will Ward capitalize on this successful reboot? You'll have to read our daily news pages to find out, in the meantime lets look back at some of the big stories we covered over the last seven days.

1. Finland sacks Paatelainen due to poor performance in the Euro Qualifiers.


2. AT&T is fined a whopping USD 100 million because it curtailed its unlimited data pack.


3. The Swedish prize giving body, Nobel, pull its cooperation with FIFA as the corruption investigations keep rolling on.


4. The Norwegian Women's National Team qualifies for the last 16 in the Women's World Cup in Canada.


5. Albania stand between Denmark and a place in the finals of European Qualifiers.


6. The World Poker Tour is sold to the Chinese gaming giant Ourgame Inernational Holdings for USD 35 million.


7. PokerStars heads a coalition for developing more responsible gambling environment in California.


Meanwhile the world is once again turned on its head by goings on in Los Angeles where an adopted cat called Tara was awarded an animal shelter's Hero Dog Award. The feline was presented the award after her owner, autistic six year old Jeremy Trianafilo, was attacked by a neighbor's dog as he rode his bike in the front yard, and the fiesty cat stepped in, biting the dog and forcing it to flee. The Society for the Prevention Of Cruelty to Animals presented her with it's 33rd annual award, suitably retitled for her species.