The World in Pictures

July 24 2014 8:35 PM

A patient wearing a costume representing the Motherland poses before a parade, as part of Independence Day celebrations at the Larco Herrera psychiatric hospital in Lima. According to staff, the hospital was founded in 1917 and is the biggest of its kind in Peru, currently housing more than 450 patients. Peru will celebrate its Independence Day on July 28.

Guns are seen on a shelf before being destroyed at the police headquarters in Tegucigalpa. According to local media, police authorities destroyed about 3,100 weapons, some confiscated from organised crime activity and others that were owned by police but discarded due to the lack of use.

A pro-net neutrality Internet activist attends a rally in the neighborhood where U.S. President Barack Obama attended a fundraiser in Los Angeles, California.

A man holds a mezcal bottle called "The Shaman's Spell" during a news conference in Mexico City. The "The Shaman's Spell" bottle, finished in crystal and bathed in 100 percent pure platinum, is valued at 55,000 euros according to the international liquor brand designer Fernando Altamirano Ruiz. "The Shaman's Spell" is the first Bottle Art object in the world to contain Black Mezcal.

Eight year old Neil Sawant plays with a circuit board in the Interactive Science Playground at the Festival Of Curiosity at Smock Alley Theater in Dublin.

A man takes a picture of his girlfriend in front of 'Bobo,' a 'Transformers-inspired' sculpture constructed from scrap metal in Podgorica. Danilo Baletic, 22, makes sculptures of his childhood cartoon heroes from scrap metal. In the last two years, he has made seven 'Transformers' that are placed on the streets of Montenegro's capital Podgorica as part of an exhibition called "Transformers defending Podgorica."

Flags of Cuba and the U.S are seen on the top of scoreboard near pictures of Cuba's former President Fidel Castro at a baseball stadium in Matanzas province. The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team is visiting for a five-game series against Cuba that started on Wednesday. The series is held in the western provinces of Matanzas and Pinar del Rio.

Rescue personnel survey the wreckage of a TransAsia Airways turboprop plane that crashed, on Taiwan's offshore island Penghu. The leaders of rivals China and Taiwan expressed condolences on Thursday for victims of the plane that crashed during a thunderstorm killing 48 people, including two French nationals.

Maia Blackman, dressed as Lorne from the television series Angel, attends this year's Comic-Con International Convention in San Diego, California.

Candidates of the Miss Las Pinas Water Lily beauty pageant pose with their gowns made from dried water lilies during a media presentation in Las Pinas city, south of Manila. According to the event organiser, the contest is part of events to celebrate the city's annual Water Lily festival. Local residents make gowns, bags and ornaments from parts of the aquatic plant as a source of livelihood.

Palestinians ride in a truck as they flee their houses from Israeli shelling during Israeli ground offensive east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel won a partial reprieve from the economic pain of its Gaza war with the lifting of a U.S. ban on commercial flights to Tel Aviv, while continued fighting pushed the Palestinian death toll over 700. A truce remained elusive despite intensive mediation efforts.

A diver reads a description of the exhibits in Historical Underwater Park in Mali Losinj, Croatia. The park features 11 different exponents, placed between 5 and 15 metres deep in the water, which testify the rich history of Losinj island and its region.

A bolt of lightning strikes over Tokyo skyscrapers at dusk.