Day in pictures

1 of 12 A volunteer tries to quench the tail end of one of the forest fires that has ravaged south-eastern Spain.

2 of 12 A giant Pakistani national flag is unfurled in Karachi in preparation for Independence Day on Saturday.

3 of 12 A tourist photographs waves in Key West, Florida that herald the approach of Hurricane Charley.

4 of 12 Masai tribesmen in Nairobi, Kenya, demand the return of land ceded to British settlers under the colonial government about a century ago.

5 of 12 Demonstrators in Baghdad protesting a US-led assault on Najaf cheer as police stick posters of rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr in their car...

6 of 12 ...while in Tehran, armoured police protect the British embassy amid Iranian protests about the fighting in Iraq.

7 of 12 A more peaceful scene in the Swiss Alps - as a walker admires the scenery at the Chruez peak, Graubuenden canton.

8 of 12 An immigrant rests in the port at Fuerteventura after the shipwreck of a small boat 10 miles off the Canary Islands.

9 of 12 The Ashton Court balloon festival gets under way in Bristol, England.

10 of 12 Russian divers prepare for the Olympic Games.

11 of 12 Indonesian police burn confiscated illegal drugs in Jakarta.

12 of 12 Ukrainian Green Party activists protest against the building of a nuclear power station.