This week around the world

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti speak as they meet on the terrace of the Chancellery in Berlin. European leaders must improve co-ordination with Brussels and the European Central Bank over the next months as critical events loom, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

China's Lu Dong trains during the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Aquatics Centre. Dong, who does not have arms, went on to win a gold medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke S-6 event in the evening session.

Fuel storage tanks are seen on fire at Amuay oil refinery in Punto Fijo in the Peninsula of Paraguana, Venezuela. A fire burned for a third day in two fuel storage tanks at Venezuela's biggest refinery on Monday, putting in doubt plans to quickly restart the facility after one of the worst accidents to hit the global oil industry for decades.

Paramilitary policemen jump up above their fellow policemen's arms as they take part in a psychological training in Tongling, China.

Palestinian boys play on a beach in Gaza City on a summer's day.

People chat in a pub as a television shows Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik sitting in court as a judge reads his verdict in Oslo. Breivik was jailed for a maximum term on Friday when judges declared him sane enough to answer for the murder of 77 people last year, drawing a smirk of triumph from the self-styled warrior against Islam.

Shyaam, 28, holds a headset to a fortune telling machine as he calls out to customers at Juhu Beach in Mumbai, India.

Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, reacts as she stands in front of family photos of herself while taking the stage to address the second session of the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks during the third session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Monica Cabbler poses for a friend with a camera in front of the American flag after US President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event at the Charlottesville, Virginia.

Visitors walk through the "infinity room" before a public memorial service for U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

A soldier looks on as supporters of the ruling Angola MPLA party attend the party's last rally for the parliamentary elections in Camama, outside the capital Luanda.

Fireworks explode over the cauldron in the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Children walk past police officers of the Peacekeeping Unit Programn line during their inauguration ceremony at Vila Cruzeiro slum in Rio de Janeiro.

A man sleeps while sitting inside a subway train in a suburban area of Shanghai.