Global Picture from July 1 - July 7

Logan Breyer, 2, gazes up his soldier father on the day he is to be deployed to Iraq from Fort Bragg, N.C. To prepare families and soldiers for the difficulties ahead, military officials try to address the thoughts and questions that occupy the minds of soldiers, and their loved ones, as they ship out for war. How does a family prepare for an endeavor in which death or disfigurement is not merely an occupational hazard, but an actuarial certainty for a small but predictable number? How does a commander motivate his troops for a war that a majority of Americans have written off as a lost cause?  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Is it gluttony? Is it visceral elasticity? Is it amusing, horrifying or both? It’s the annual Nathan’s hot dog eating contest on Coney Island Wednesday, when former champ Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, left, was swallowed up by Joey Chestnut of San Jose, center, who consumed a record 66 dogs and buns in 12 minutes. Chicagoan Patrick Bertoletti, right, was an also-ran. Also-ate. Whatever.  (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)

Also celebrating independence this week is Belarus, whose troops marched in an Independence Day parade in Minsk on Tuesday. Although Belarus was under the control of the Soviet Union in 1944, July 3 marks independence because it’s the the date that year when Minsk was liberated by the Red Army from the Nazi invaders.  (Sergei Grits / AP)

Rupert Grint is consumed by fans upon arrival in London’s Leicester Square Wednesday for the European premiere of his latest film, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” The ginger-haired actor plays Ron Weasley, Harry Potter’s best friend and fellow student at Hogwarts, the wizarding school.  (SHAUN CURRY / AFP)

Environmental activists covered with mud express their displeasure against energy firm Lapindo Brantas on a street in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday. The company was exploring for gas in East Java when a disastrous “mud volano” forced some 15,000 people from their homes. Mud has been spewing for more than a year, inundating 1,500 acres of land and leaving victims furious. The Indonesian government has ordered Lapindo Brantas to compensate families affected by the toxic flow.  (Jewel Samad / AFP)

In a tragic turn of events last month, a police officer shot 12-year-old DeAuntae Farrow to death because he thought the boy was holding a gun. He was not. His funeral was Sunday at Civic Auditorium in West Memphis, Ark., where his aunt, Beverly Farrow, collapsed in grief before the start of services.  (Jim Weber / The Commercial Appeal)

After heavy rains pelted Calcutta, India, on Tuesday, streets were turned into rivers. Residents including this hand rickshaw puller found navigation difficult, and several people lost their lives. By Friday, at least 16 people in the city had died in the flooding caused by the rain, and at least 140 people were killed this week by flooding elsewhere in India.  (Bikas Das / AP)

Police officers and protesters clash as the authorities attempt to arrest an activist with the Socialist Unity Centre of India in Calcutta on Monday. At least 29 female activists of the left opposition SUCI were arrested during a fractious demonstration in front of the West Bengal assembly. The crowd was demanding exemplary punishment for an alleged rapist/murderer.  (Bikas Das / AP)