Business week in pictures

Indian Left Party activists pose with bows and arrows during a protest against the World Trade Organisation in New Delhi. The world's rich countries need to embark on a huge transfer of funds to developing countries in order for both groups to grow richer and reduce their carbon emissions significantly, a United Nations report urges Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

Visitors walk past an exhibition stand for Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 at the Gamescom 2009 fair in Cologne. The hugely popular computer games Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty have helped Vivendi, Europe's largest entertainment group, record a sharp rise in profits Photograph: Ina Fassbender/Reuters

Environmental activists based at the Climate Camp in London blockaded the local headquarters of Royal Bank of Scotland, supergluing themselves together on the bank's trading floor as part of a series of direct-action protests around the City Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Johnnie Burn, from East Ayrshire council, delivers a petition urging Diageo to reconsider plans to pull out of the Johnnie Walker whisky bottling plant in Kilmarnock. The recovery in Britain's manufacturing sector unexpectedly stalled last month as companies continued to cut jobs and growth in new orders slowed. But activity in Britain's dominant services sector soared to a two-year high in July Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel is to stand trial next year over allegations that he cost the bank billions of euros through a series of rogue transactions Photograph: Martin Bureau/AFP

A Marvel Fantastic Four comic book for sale at St Mark's Comics store in New York City. The Walt Disney empire is to buy the superhero stable Marvel Entertainment for $4bn (£2.5bn) in a star-studded Hollywood deal that unites family names such as Mickey Mouse with lucrative characters including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

A four-wheel drive vehicle sits in a dumpster in Baltimore, Maryland. The US government's 'cash for clunkers' scheme has matched the success of its European counterparts, with more than 690,000 cars scrapped in favour of greener vehicles after drivers were offered rebates of up to $4,500 Photograph: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

The ultra-deepwater semi-submersible oil rig Deepwater Horizon, which drilled the Tiber well, in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has reopened the debate on when the 'peak oil' supply will be reached by announcing a big new discovery in the Gulf of Mexico which some believe could be as large as the Forties, the biggest field ever found in the North Sea Photograph: AP

DSG, the company behind the Dixons, PC World and Currys chains, has said that the worst of the high street slump is over after reporting a smaller drop in sales than feared Photograph: Graeme Robertson

Associate attorney general Tom Perrilli, centre, announces that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will pay a record $2.3bn settlement for illegal drug promotion. Pfizer, the world's largest drugs company, has been hit with the biggest criminal fine in US history as part of a $2.3bn settlement with federal prosecutors for mispromoting the painkiller Bextra and for paying kickbacks to compliant doctors Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images