The World in Pictures

The new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport is presented at a Volkswagen event, ahead of the Paris Motor Show 2008 in Paris, France, 01 October 2008. The 2008 Paris Motor Show will take place from 04 to 19 October 2008, in Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles in France.  EPA/ULI DECK

A devotee to the Chinese Shrine of Sapam has his face pierced by sharp sticks during the street procession to mark the annual Vegetarian Festival in Phuket island, Thailand, 01 October  2008. The annual traditional Chinese vegetarian festival held during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar emphasizes merit making and ritual cleansing of the body to mark the nine days long festival features with face-piercing spirit mediums strict vegetarianism.  EPA/YONGYOT PRUKSARAK

Indian Muslims offer prayers at Jama Masjid on the occasion of Eid-al-Fitr in New Delhi, India on 2 October 2008. Eid Al Fitr marks the end of Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.  EPA/HARISH TYAGI

British artist Marc Quinn's solid gold sculpture of British supermodel Kate Moss at the British Museum in London, Britain, 02 October 2008. Quinn's 50kg solid gold statue of Moss in yogic pose was unveiled to the public for the first time 02 October. Siren, a GBP1.5 million (1.9 million Euros) solid gold sculpture, is one of several contemporary sculptures in the exhibition Statuephilia.  EPA/ANDY RAIN

A wave power plant inaugurated off the shores of Povoa de Varzim, Portugal, on 23 September 2008. The project uses floating tubes, whose bobbing motion pumps hydraulic fluid to drive generators, are moored to the seabed three miles off Portugal's northern coast, generating a total of 2.25 megawatts, enough to supply 1,500 households with electricity.  EPA/JOAO ABREU MIRANDA  © 2008

A young Palestinian plays with homemade sparklers after breaking their fast in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 23 September 2008. Muslims throughout the world are celebrating the holy fasting month of Ramadan during which they observe fast from dawn until dusk  EPA/ALI ALI

Dutch 9-years old Kasper Veldhuijzen with a giant mushroom on 23 September 2008 which he discovered last week with his father Huub in the forest in Eefde in eastern Netherlands, The mushroom, a Bovista gigantea, measures 60 centimetres.  EPA/HUUB VELDHUIJZEN

Traders at the Lehman Brothers desk work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, NYC, USA, 18 September 2008 Wall Street is still nervous that there are more significant financial companies to fall despite the US Federal Reserve and other major global institutions pumping 180 billion dollars into the market to stem the credit crisis. EPA/STPHEN CHERNIN

Ship 'MS Sonnenkoenigin' (lit.: Summer Queen) is being christened with a bottle of champagne attached to a helicopter offshore Friedrichshafen, Germany, 18 September 2008. With a length of barely 70 meters 'Sonnenkoenigin', which is owned by a German enterpriser but cruises under the flag of Austria, is the largest ship to ever have sailed on Lake Constance. Up to 1,000 passengers may be transported on the so-called event ship.  EPA/STEFAN PUCHNER

A single house is left standing on the waterfront near Gilchrist, Texas, USA on 14 September 2008 following the destruction along the Texas coast. As Hurricane Ike slowed to a tropical depression after carving a path of destruction through Texas, rescuers were using everything from dump trucks to boats and helicopters to reach stranded residents. The victims, many of whom had ignored mandatory evacuation orders, were trapped on rooftops or amid debris in unstable houses without electricity or clean water.  EPA/SMILEY N. POOL/ POOL