China Manufacturing Cools as Mini-Stimulus Effect 'Fading Fast'

An industrial area, with a power plant, south of Yangzhou's downtown, China

China's key manufacturing sector cooled in August as domestic demand and exports slowed, indicating that the country's third-quarter growth momentum has decelerated contrary to expectations.

The National Bureau of Statistics' (NBS) manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) declined to 51.1 in August from 51.7 in July. Economists had expected a PMI reading of 51.2 for the month.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

Meanwhile, the final HSBC/Markit PMI that represents mostly export-oriented small and medium enterprises, declined to 50.2 in August from July's 18-month high of 51.7.

China official PMI vs. HSBC PMI

According to the NBS survey, output, employment, new orders, delivery time and raw material inventory all declined during the month.

The HSBC survey showed both output and new order growth slowed and job shedding in the sector persisted.

External demand showed improvement, according to the HSBC index, but domestic demand looked more subdued.

Following the weak data, economists called for further easing of monetary and fiscal policies to sustain the country's rate of growth.

"We think the economy still faces considerable downside risks to growth in the second half of the year, which warrant further policy easing to ensure a steady growth recovery," said Hongbin Qu, chief economist at HSBC.

Economists at ANZ Bank noted that the effect of the "mini stimulus" in the last few months is "fading fast".

They noted the deceleration of growth was also due to the extremely weak credit data in July and continued weakness in the property market. Meanwhile, some high frequency real activity data, such as power generation and crude steel output, also point to slowed growth momentum.

"As the risk of failing to deliver the growth target of 7.5% has heightened, the authorities will likely act again and launch more supportive policies," they said.

"In addition, we view that these targeted monetary easing measures have not fundamentally arrested the current slowdown. We maintain our call that the authorities will need to cut RRR on large commercial banks in order to reduce China's funding costs fundamentally."

British Mother of Two Joins ISIS and Pledges to 'Behead Christians with a Blunt Knife'

On an account attributed to Umm Hussain al-Britani, this pictured was posted showing a female fighter holding an AK-47Twitter

A British mother-of-two who once fronted an all-girl rock band is believed to have gone to Syria to join Islamist terror group ISIS.

The Muslim convert has threatened to "behead Christians with a blunt knife."

Calling herself Umm Hussain al-Britani, she has been identified by investigators as Sally Jones, from Chatham in Kent.

It's believed she was married to British computer hacker-turned jihadi Junaid Hussain, after an online romance. The couple travelled separately to Syria to join the Islamic State

On August 10, Umm Hussain tweeted that she had made it to the 'Caliphate' after being stuck in Idlib, north-western Syria, for seven months.

In messages that have since been deleted from her Twitter account, she warned: "You Christians all need beheading with a nice blunt knife and stuck on the railings at raqqa ... Come here I'll do it for you!"

In her former life before ISIS, Sally Jones fronted an all girl rock band.Facebook

A probe in to her online activities have linked her to an address in Medway, while neighbours have also identified her from pictures used in Umm Hussain's online accounts.

One neighbour described her as "scatty" and another said she was interested in "black magic" and witchcraft and had a love for cats.

Before joining the terrorist group, in her life as Sally Jones she fronted an all girl rock band. A video on YouTube from the early 1990s shows Jones fronting an all-girl band while wearing a leather mini-skirt.

On Twitter, Umm Hussain's account follows only five other feeds, one of which is an account about cats in the Islamic State and another related to the pets.

Umm Hussain's husband escaped to Syria last year while on police bail, and has been posting extremist messages on social media pledging to conquer the world and kill infidels.

Sally Jones, now Umm Hussain al-Britani (left) married British computer hacker-turned jihadi Junaid Hussain.Twitter

He was accompanied by Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 24, a former rapper from west London who is believed to have been on MI5's radar.

In 2012, Hussain was jailed for stealing personal information from Tony Blair, and is thought to be putting his hacking skills to use adding to the militants' huge war chest.

Hussain is originally from Birmingham and tweets behind the alias Abu Hussain al-Britani. He has been pictured online posing with a scarf over his face and a rifle in his hands. He has since become a potential suspect in the beheading of the American journalist James Foley.

Iraq: ISIS Release Video Showing Children Brandishing Arms at 'Juniior Jihadis' Training Camp

Chidlren look on as a child assembles an automatic gun.CNN

Terror group ISIS have released a video showing children as young as ten at a training camp for "junior jihadi's."

The video shows the youngsters brandishing military weapons and firing machine guns while masked in balaclavas.

Children look on as a small child struggles to control an automatic weapon, as he fires it.

Another boy is seen expertly assembling a weapon, while children watch in the background.

It also shows the young children taking an oath pledging an allegiance to the Islamic State.

A small child is asked on camera what he would like to say to infidels.

He replies: "Infidels... you are to be killed."

CNN

It is thought the video is aimed at recruiting more children and young people to the militant group, who in recent months have taken over swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq as their murderous onslaught continues.

A boy, who managed to flee from one of the training camps, told CNN how ISIS tried to recruit him when he was 13 issuing threats to behead his father if he attempted to intervene.

The boy revealed he was forced to attend the camp, where he joined other children for exercise, studied about the Quran and took courses on weapons. He revealed that the children were often forced to watch gruesome videos of beheadings and torture.

"When we go to the mosque, they order us to come the next day at a specific time and place to [watch] heads cut off, lashings or stonings.

"We saw a young man who did not fast for Ramadan, so they crucified him for three days, and we saw a woman being stoned [to death] because she committed adultery."

CNN

The boy managed to escape the camp after his father pulled him out. He and his family then fled to safety in Turkey.

The Islamic State also released a decapitation video yesterday in which they threatened America with more beheadings of hostages.

Just hours earlier Islamic State had released shocking footage of the mass execution of 300 Syrian national army soldiers in the Syrian Desert titled '2ndAmessagetoAmerica.'

The group's first warning ten days ago was entitled 'A Message to America' and showed the decapitation of American journalist James Foley.

CNN

The video comes after David Cameron announced yesterday that more armed police will patrol Britain's streets to counter the threat posed by fanatics returning from Iraq and Syria.

He warned that the return of hundreds of extremists from Iraq to the UK, posed a greater threat to British security than Al Qaeda or the IRA ever did.

His comments came as Theresa May announced the official terror threat level had been raised to 'severe' – the second-highest state – for the first time in three years.

Jewish Lev Tahor Sect 'Forced From' Guatemalan Village

Children of the Lev Tahor in San Juan La Laguna. (Reuters)

An Orthodox Jewish community has been forced from a village in a remote Guatemalan countryside, after a dispute with members of the local indigenous Mayan people became increasingly venomous.

Mayan elders asked the Lev Tahor community to leave the village of San Juan La Laguna, which is about 150km west of capital Guatemala City.

They claimed the Jews had shunned the other villagers, and attempted to impose their customs and religion. On Friday the Lev Tahor loaded their luggage and bags onto buses bound for the capital.

"We are a people of peace and in order to avoid an incident we've already begun to leave," Lev Tahor member Misael Santos told the AFP news agency.

"We have a right to be there, but they threatened us with lynching if we don't leave," he added.

The Lev Tahor members said that they had been subjected to verbal abuse, and threats had been made to cut off their water and electricity supplies since they arrived from Canada in March.

A man from the Lev Tahor sect loads bags onto a bus, as the community depart San Juan La Laguna.(Reuters)

Their customs clashed with those of the locals, who claimed that the Lev Tahor were trying to undermine their Catholic faith.

"We felt intimidated by them in the streets. We thought they wanted to change our religion and customs," village elder Miguel Vasquez Cholotio told Reuters.

Founded in the 1980s by Israeli Shlomo Helbrans, the group practices a fundamentalist form of Judaism. Their name means "Pure Heart" in Hebrew.

In Canada, critics and relatives of group members accused Lev Tahor of keeping children in unsanitary conditions, underage marriage and physical abuse.

The group will not settle in Israel, as they regard the Jews as a people in exile.

Oil Logs Second Straight Monthly Loss on Supply and Demand Concerns

Pipelines and crude oil storage tanks at an oil refinery in Zawia, 55km west of Tripoli, Libya.(Reuters)

Crude oil futures rose on 29 August, and finished higher for the week, as upbeat US economic data and the Russia-Ukraine conflict buoyed prices.

However, concerns surrounding abundant supplies and weak global demand pulled down prices for the month as a whole, the second successive monthly loss.

Brent October contract finished 73 cents, or 0.7%, higher at $103.19 a barrel on Friday.

The European benchmark finished 0.9% higher for the week as a whole, but shed 2.7% in August.

US October contract finished $1.41, or 1.5%, higher at $95.96 a barrel on Friday.

Light, sweet crude finished 2.5% higher for the week, but shed 2.3% in August.

Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity markets at BNP Paribas, told MarketWatch that the oil market faced a rangebound future "where any bounces in volatility are opportunities to sell into".

Earlier, Commerzbank Corporates and Markets said in a note to clients: "Brent reacted hardly at all to the latest escalation of the Ukraine-Russia conflict and is continuing to trade below $103 per barrel. After all, it is extremely unlikely that Russia would suspend oil shipments in the event that further sanctions were to be imposed. Instead, the already subdued oil demand could dwindle yet further."

"According to consultant firm Oil Movements, [Opec] shipments in the four weeks to 13 September will decline by 340,000 barrels per day as compared to the previous four-week period.

(Reuters)

"Oil Movements attributes this to lower demand due, among other things, to upcoming maintenance work in European and American refineries, an economic slowdown in Asia and lower US imports due to growing US production. There is currently nothing on the supply side to argue in favour of a price recovery, either. According to a Reuters survey, [Opec] oil production in August climbed by 90,000 to 30.15 million barrels per day, primarily on the back of increased oil production in Libya and Angola.

"This was partially offset by lower production in Iraq, though this was not due to the ongoing fighting in the north of the country but to weather-related delays in the south. ARA gasoil stocks continued their upswing this week and, according to PJK International, grew by a further 11,000 to 2.752 million tons. This puts them at their highest level in nearly 2½ years, which suggests that Western Europe is amply supplied with middle distillates," Commerzbank added.

BREAKING: Military 'Coup' Under Way in Africa's Lesotho

Military coup is reportedly under way in Africa's LesothoGoogle Maps

Military personnel are storming government buildings in Africa's landlocked Lesotho in what is suspected to be a coup attempt.

Gunfire has erupted as the troops attempted to seize the police headquarters and other government buildings.

"Military police have surrounded State House and there are reports of gunfire," an unnamed diplomat from the Lesotho capital Maseru told Reuters.

Private radio stations have reportedly been told to shut down in Africa's mountainous kingdom.

Earlier in June, the country's first coalition government, comprising three main political parties, is said to have collapsed.

Lesotho's International Relations Department spokesperson Clayson Monyela was quoted as saying: "The department will either convene a media briefing or issue a statement later today regarding the situation in Lesotho."

Gold Prices to Contend with Economic News and Geopolitical Tensions

Gold prices to contend with geopolitical tensions and economic news next week.Reuters

Gold prices could trade sideways next week with the precious metal having to contend with geopolitical pressures and economic news.

As many as nine of 22 analysts polled in a Kitco Gold Survey said they expected gold prices to trade higher next week, while six predicted that prices will drop and seven forecast prices to trade sideways.

Any further escalation of geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, Iraq or the Middle East will boost the yellow metal's safe-haven status.

Prices will also take their cues from the outcome of 4 September's ECB meeting and a US nonfarm jobs report due on 5 September.

Adrian Day, CEO, Adrian Day Asset Management said: "With heightened tension in Ukraine and the possibility of a US strike on ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) inside Syria, with all that might mean, there will be a strong bid under gold. This follows a period when geopolitical tensions appeared to be easing, so we are looking for gold to continue to recover from early August sell-off."

Richard Baker, Editor, Eureka Miner Report, said: "Other than geopolitical spurts, it is unlikely that gold can sustain higher prices in a broadly declining commodity market. My present commodity value of gold when compared to oil, copper and silver is $1,215 suggesting the yellow metal is carrying a $70 per ounce premium to this aggregate. As this premium declines, gold will approach its commodity value in the range of $1,100 to $1,210 per ounce by year-end."

Gold Ends Higher

US gold futures for delivery in December finished $3 lower at $1,287.40 an ounce on 29 August.

Prices inched up 0.6% for the week as a whole.

Spot gold traded 0.3% lower at $1,286 an ounce.

Afghan Taliban Attack in Jalalabad Leaves At Least Six Dead

An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier keeps watch at the gate of a British-run military training academy Camp Qargha, in Kabul.(Reuters)

At least six people have been killed in a suspected suicide car bomb attack by the Afghan Taliban on an intelligence compound in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

More than 40 people, including several civilians, are reported to be injured in the dawn attack which was followed by intense gunfire.

Police have confirmed the attack but did not provide further details. The number of militant casualties is also yet to be ascertained.

"The first attacker detonated his explosives at the gate of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) office in Jalalabad city at 05:00 AM to open way for his colleague," Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, governor's spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Intelligence offices and buildings of security forces are often targeted by the Taliban insurgents, who are trying to capitalise on the recent political turmoil over the election of a new president.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been posing a major challenge for Afghan security forces that are set to take over from the outgoing Nato troops.

Prime Minister David Cameron Warns UK Terror Attack is 'Highly Likely'

Cameron has warned that the IS militants cannot be appeased and Britain is at high risk of a terror attack.AFP / Getty Images

David Cameron has said today that a terror attack on the UK is now 'highly likely.'

The government has raised the official threat level from substantial to severe amid growing fears over the number of extremists returning to the UK from Iraq and Syria, where Islamic State (IS) have seized large swathes of territory.

Security forces have stated that there is no intelligence to suggest a terror attack is imminent, but the UK remains a target for the extremist militants.

At a press conference at Downing Street, the Prime Minister said that IS posed a "greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before.

"We could be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a NATO member," he said.

“The root cause of this threat to our security is quite clear. It is a poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism that is condemned by all faiths and faith leaders.”

- PM David Cameron

"My first priority as Prime Minister is to make sure we do everything possible to keep our people safe. The ambition to create an extremist caliphate in the heart of Iraq and Syria is a threat to our own security here in the UK.

"The terrorist threat was not created by the Iraq war 10 years ago. It existed even before the horrific attacks on 9/11, themselves some time before the war.

"This threat cannot be solved simply by dealing with perceived grievances over Western foreign policy. Nor can it be dealt with by addressing poverty, dictatorship or instability in the region - as important as these things are.

"The root cause of this threat to our security is quite clear. It is a poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism that is condemned by all faiths and faith leaders."

He stressed that the Government had already taken steps to counter the threat of jihadists returning to Britain to commit atrocities, but recognised that it had become clear that there was still a need to fill 'gaps in our armoury'.

He also announced new legislation to make it easier to remove extremists' passports if there are concerns they will travel to the Middle East to join IS.

Government officials believe at least 500 Britons have gone to fight in Syria and potentially Iraq.

Home Secretary Theresa May had earlier stated that while there is no information to suggest an attack is imminent, the public should be vigilant.

"We face a real and serious threat in the UK from international terrorism. The increase in the threat level is related to developments in Syria and Iraq where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the West.

"Some of those plots are likely to involve foreign fighters who have travelled there from the UK and Europe to take part in those conflicts. We face a real and serious threat in the UK from international terrorism.

"I would urge the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police."

It is feared that IS terrorists may target high profile events in the UK.

Haras Rafiq from counter-extremist think tank the Quilliam Foundation, said: "Next week we have a very important Nato conference in Wales. It would be right to suggest that ISIS may well want to target high-profile targets like that.

"The danger is also from a wider aspect in terms of European fighters. We talk about Britain having a large number of fighters out there, but per captia Belgium is the worst offender. The threat is not just from Britain it's from a wider European perspective."

Police forces say they will increase their patrols in response to the raising of the terror threat and have advised transport hubs and sports stadiums to increase their vigilance and security checks. Airports will also be subject to the heightened threat level increase.

National Policing Lead for Counter-Terrorism, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, urged the public to report any suspicious activity. "We need communities and families to bring to our attention anyone they perceive may be vulnerable, a danger or escalating towards terrorism," he said. .

Meanwhile, the White House has said it does not expect to raise the US terror threat level.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.

Burmese Beauty Queen on the Run with £120,000 Tiara After Being Stripped of Title

May Myat Noe has run off with the Miss Asia Pacific World crown.You Tube

A Burmese beauty queen has run away with a £120,000 jewelled tiara after being dethroned as Miss Asia Pacific World.

May Myat Noe, 18, won the title in May, but was at odds with the organisers of the pageant from the outset, failing to comply with the very particular demands expected of the title holder.

The pageant committee reportedly wanted Noe to undergo a breast enhancement surgery in order to secure her a record deal.

David Kim, director of media for Miss Asia Pacific World, said: "We thought she should be more beautiful ... so as soon as she arrived we sent her to the hospital to operate on her breasts."

Kim explained that the competition's sponsors had paid £6,000 for her breast enhancement. "It's our responsibility. If she has no good nose, then maybe, if she likes, we can operate on her nose. If it's breasts, then breasts."

The pageant organisers paid for a 10-day trip for her and her mother to Seoul, South Korea, for the surgical procedure, but Noe remained in Seoul for three months, at the expense of the pageant.

“Everyone knows she is no longer the queen, but she thinks as long as she keeps this crown she's the winner. She's not.”

- David Kim, director of media for Miss Asia Pacific World

Noe was given tickets for a flight back to the Burmese capital Rangoon, but did not show up. According to Malaysian news sites she cunningly duped the organisers by boarding an earlier plane.

She is still said to be in possession of the jewel-encrusted Swarovski tiara, worth between £60,000 and £120,000.

The furious pageant organisers are now demanding the valuable headpiece back.

In a statement, they said that she "lied and never had respect for the main organisation, the national director, the manager, media or fans who made her the winner."

Mr Kim said: "Everyone knows she is no longer the queen, but she thinks as long as she keeps this crown she's the winner. She's not."

Meanwhile, Noe's picture has been removed from the pageant's official website with the announcement that she has been officially dethroned.

It is believed that the beauty queen will hold a press conference soon to present her version of events.

Burma started sending contestants to international beauty pageants for the first time in decades in 2012, following half-century of military rule and self-imposed isolation.

Ebola: Senegal Becomes Fifth Affected West African Country

Health specialists work in an isolation ward for patients at the Doctors Without Borders facility in Guékedou, southern Guinea(SEYLLOU/AFP/Getty Images)

Senegal has become the fifth African country affected by Ebola as its government confirmed a man infected with the virus was receiving treatment at a Dakar hospital.

The Ministry of Health said the university student arrived in the Senegalese capital from neighbouring Guinea, where the outbreak is said to have begun in December 2013.

It was not immediately clear how and when the student crossed to Sengal as the border with Guinea was shut last week and flights and ships have also been cancelled due to the outbreak that has killed more 1,500 people.

Health minister Awa Marie Coll Seck said the infected individual booked himself into a Dakar hospital giving no indication he might have Ebola.

Health authorities were later alerted by their Guinean counterparts that they had lost track of a man who had been exposed to the deadly virus through contact with sick people.

The man had disappeared three weeks earlier and might have travelled to Senegal, an epidemiological surveillance team in Guinea said.

The student was soon traced and a test confirmed he has Ebola, Seck said. He was immediately placed in quarantine and the World Health Organization (WHO) was been alerted.

Meanwhile, the UN health agency said more than 500 new cases were reported in the past week, the highest increase in reports since the outbreak started.

More than 3,000 people have contracted the virus and the WHO has warned the number could reach 20,000. Beside Senegal and Guinea, cases have been reported in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

"Emergency action needs to be taken to reverse the situation to avoid a catastrophe," said Dr Tom Frieden, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases in the world and does not have a cure.

The symptoms of the virus include fever, sore throat, diarrhoea, internal and external bleeding. It has a fatality rate approaching 90% (53% in the current epidemic).

The current outbreak has been described by the WHO as the worst that has occurred since the virus was first encountered in 1976.

Police Seize 6.5 Tonnes of Cocaine in Peru's Largest Ever Drugs Bust

Cocaine seized by police in Huanchaco, Peru. (Reuters)

Peruvian authorities have seized a record 6.5 tonnes of cocaine in a quiet coastal resort, which they claim traffickers planned to smuggle into Europe concealed as a coal consignment.

The cocaine was captured in a warehouse in Huanchaco, near the city of Trujillo in northern Peru, according to president Ollanta Humala.

It was packed into brick-sized packets, and glued inside chunks of coal, images provided by the government showed.

Agents with the US Drug Enforcement Administration co-operated with Peruvian police on a six-week surveillance operation before the raid.

Police are still examining the load, which they originally estimated to be half as large.

Seven Peruvians and two Mexicans were arrested in the raid.

"This is, without doubt, the most important blow to drug trafficking in the history of the republic," announced Humala.

Cocaine seized by police in Huanchaco, Peru. Packets were concealed in hollowed out coal bricks. (Reuters)

The companies linked to the planned smuggling operation have been exporting coal to Spain and Belgium since at least 2011, said police.

The suspects are likely to belong to a key global drug cartel, said interior minister Daniel Urresti.

According to the US and the UN, Peru is currently the world's largest grower of coca, the plant used to make cocaine.

Peru overtook Colombia as the world's main supplier of cocaine plants in 2012.

The haul is dwarfed though by 12 tonnes of the drug seized by Colombian authorities along the Mira River in 2005.

Pictures of the Week: Best Photos of Past Seven Days

"Oh no, not bamboo for lunch again!" Bao Bao the giant panda is seen on her first birthday at the US National Zoo in Washington, DC(AFP)

Giant panda triplets are cared for as they turn one month-old at Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China(Reuters)

Emperor tamarin twins named Winnie and Piglet cling to their father at London Zoo's Rainforest Life exhibitZSL London Zoo

A vet gives medicine to a squirrel at the Simon Bolivar Zoo in San Jose, Costa Rica(AFP)

An aerial view of the Nepalese national flag formed by over 35,000 people in Kathmandu in a bid to break the world record, which was set in February 2014 when 28,957 people created the Pakistan flag in Lahore(AFP)

Dou Ziwang, an employee of a chilli processing factory, proposes to his girlfriend on hearts made of around 100,000 chillies, in Handan, Hebei province, China(Reuters)

Beyonce reacts as her husband Jay-Z carries their daughter Blue Ivy onstage to present the Video Vanguard Award during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards(Reuters)

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Chairman Bruce Rosenblum speaks as Sofia Vergara from "Modern Family" slowly spins on a turntable during the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles(Reuters)

Performers take part in a rain-soaked Notting Hill Carnival in west London(Getty)

Performers take part in a parade on the second day of the Notting Hill Carnival in London(AFP)

An artist performs during a fire festival in the village of Ratomka, Belarus(AFP)

Malmo supporters hold flares as they celebrate after winning their Champions League play-off second-leg match against Salzburg in Malmo(Reuters)

Assistant manager Ryan Giggs looks at coach Louis van Gaal after Manchester United lost 4-0 to League One minnows MK Dons in Milton Keynes(Getty)

Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge is challenged by Manchester City's Martin Demechelis and Vincent Kompany during their Premier League match at the Etihad stadium in Manchester(Reuters)

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo kisses his Best Player UEFA 2014 Award during the draw ceremony for the 2014/2015 Champions League in Monte Carlo(Reuters)

A black cat runs onto the pitch during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Elche CF at the Camp Nou stadium(AFP)

Shannon Gardiner of South Africa competes in the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-round qualification event at the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games(Getty)

Young members of a local karate federation perform during an exercise session at a summer training camp on a bank of the Yenisei River near the town of Divnogorsk, Siberia(Reuters)

USA's Kelly Slater rides a wave during the third day of the Billabong Pro Tahiti surf event(Gregory Boissy/AFP)

An aerial picture shows magma along a one-kilometre-long fissure in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of Bardarbunga volcano system in Iceland(Reuters)

Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano erupts near Banos. Tungurahua, which means "Throat of Fire" in the local Quechua language, has been classified as active since 1999(Reuters)

The sun emits a mid-level solar flare in this image captured by Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory(Nasa/Reuters)

A riot policeman is engulfed in flames as a molotov cocktail is thrown by a protester in San Cristobal, Venezuela(AFP)

A combination of pictures shows a missile that was fired by an Israeli aircraft hit the house of Palestinian senior Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azzam in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip(Reuters)

Palestinian men watch and then run as an Israeli bomb drops down and hits a building in Gaza(AFP)

An Israeli military armoured personnel carrier is loaded onto a truck as the army dismantles a deployment area near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip(AFP)

A Palestinian man walks past a fire in a street lined with shattered homes in Shejaiya in Gaza City(AFP)

Palestinians sit amidst the rubble of their house, which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli offensive, in the east of Gaza City(Reuters)

A militant holds a baby boy as Hamas celebrates "a victory" over Israel, in Gaza City(Reuters)

Children hold up guns as Palestinians gather in the streets of Gaza City to celebrate, after a deal was reached between Hamas and Israel to end seven weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip(AFP)

People watch as a fire consumes a school in Donetsk after shelling(AFP)

A group of Russian servicemen detained by Ukrainian authorities attend a news conference in Kiev. Ukraine said its forces had captured a group of Russian paratroopers who had crossed into Ukrainian territory on a "special mission" - but Moscow said they had ended up there by mistake(Reuters)

Russia's President Vladimir Putin reacts during a meeting with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko in the Belarussian capital Minsk(AFP)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel embraces the statue of Saint James in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain(Getty)

A gust of wind blows Pope Francis's mantle over his face as he leads the weekly general audience at St Peter's square in the Vatican(AFP)

Michael Brown Sr yells out as his son's coffin is lowered into the ground at St Peter's Cemetery in St Louis, Missouri(Reuters)