The week in pictures: December 2nd – 8th, 2014

There were plenty of events to grab the headlines last week so lets look back at some of the biggest stories of the last seven days

In New York on Wednesday a grand jury announced it wouldn't be charging anyone over the death of the unarmed black man Eric Garner who was subdued by an officer with a choke hold that killed him despite the man audibly saying “I can't breathe” several times on the video of the incident taken on a phone by a witness. This lack of action, especially in light of the same lack of action in Ferguson, sparked off more protests, that included “die-ins” and crowds chanting “I can't breathe.” There is a growing crisis of confidence in the US justice system amongst its ethnic minorities.

The Philippines weathered Typhoon Hagupit last week with the massive storm sweeping across the country causing huge quantities of damage and at least three deaths. With wind-speeds of up to 106 miles per hour it is said that up to 60% of coastal structures in the path of the storm were destroyed and the low loss of life owes much to the preventive measures taken by the population who suffered a similar storm a year ago, it also speaks to the greatly more effective and rapid relief efforts.

Tragically the attempted rescue of hostages from the clutches of an Al Qaeda compound in Yemen ended in failure in the early hours of Saturday morning with the US photo journalist Luke Sommers and South African charity worker Piere Korkje executed by their captors during the rescue operation undertaken by US Special Forces. The failure has been greeted with dismay especially by the charity that said it had been close to finalizing a deal to have their worker released as they had already done for his wife.

In sport NFL players continued their contentious protests against the killings of unarmed black men by police in the United States, some adorning their cleats with slogans and Derrick Rose of the NBA also showed his support for the protests by wearing a suitably sloganed T-shirt, will they continue this divisive addition of politics to sport into this week? You'll have to take a look at our daily news pages to find out by in the meantime lets look back at some of the stories that snatched our headlines last week.

Meanwhile the eminent professor Stephen Hawking has warned that the development of computer based AI, or artificial intelligence could spell doom for the remains of humanity, and Israelis have been told they'll go to the polls to elect a new government on March 17th. Will this be another win for the political evergreen that is Benjamin Netanyahu? Head on over to our daily news pages to keep track of the campaign.

1. BetVictor launched some ads featuring England’s former football manager Sven Erikkson and BBC football presenter Mark Lawrenson.

2. Gaming Zion reported on how new UK online gambling taxes will affect providers licensed in the Isle of Man.

3. Newly appointed Paddy Power CEO started shaping his staff with new talent: Peter O’Donovan, Johnny Hartnett and Christian Woolfenden start work at the Paddies on January 1.

4. Sportech gives Premier League Punters excitement for Christmas with the new MatchXtra platform, which allows access to an impressive range of standard and prop bets.

5. Speculations are still going on whether the resignation of Richard Glynn as Ladbrokes’ CEO was voluntary.

6. Even Christian and Jewish leaders joined the Hindu community in their protest against the German-based Gauselmann Group naming a slots app after Lord Shiva..

7. Not even GamingZion could have predicted that Liverpool would be unable to defeat FC Basel at Anfield Road, resulting in elimination and the biggest upset of the Champions’ League group stage..