Business week in pictures

The Deep Water Horizon oil spill took its toll on BP shares, which plunged on Tuesday Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters Photograph: Sean Gardner/guardian.co.uk In a catastrophic week, the company faced a US criminal inquiry ... Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images Photograph: Win McNamee/guardian.co.uk ... faced demands from US senators to suspend its dividend ... (Pictured: BP chief executive Tony Hayward looks out of a helicopter window during recovery operations over the Gulf of Mexico) Photograph: Sean Gardner/AP Photograph: Sean Gardner/guardian.co.uk .. and received offers of help from, among others, Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron . (Pictured: Technicians use a robotic arm at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil leak) Photograph: BP/Reuters Photograph: BP/guardian.co.uk Prudential bosses suffered the embarrassment of withdrawing its offer for the Asian arm of insurer AIG , a failed takeover that is likely to cost £450m Photograph: Bobby Yip/Reuters Photograph: Bobby Yip/guardian.co.uk Coerced into appearing by a subpoena, America's second-richest man Warren Buffett made a reluctant trip to New York to give evidence to the US financial crisis inquiry commission, which is investigating ratings agencies' top-grade ranking of doomed mortgage-backed securities during the run-up to a catastrophic housing market collapse Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/guardian.co.uk JP Morgan has been fined £33m by the Financial Services Authority – the largest-ever fine from the regulator – for basic compliance failures which meant the bank had not protected client money by segregating it from its own funds over a seven-year period Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP Photograph: Mark Lennihan/guardian.co.uk Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is challenging the European Union compensation regime for airline passengers by refusing to pay 'ludicrous' claims from holidaymakers resulting from the volcanic ash crisis Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Carl De Souza/guardian.co.uk SABMiller, the brewer behind Peroni and Grolsch, and the controversial backers of the first boycott-busting rebel cricket tour of apartheid South Africa 28 years ago, will this month spend millions of pounds on football World Cup celebrations – much of it in 550 township taverns and 10 FIFA fan zones – as well as sponsoring the tournament's predominantly black home team Photograph: David Parry/One Red Eye Photograph: David Parry/guardian.co.uk Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, pocketed over £5.2m in salary and bonus last year as the supermarket group notched up a 10% increase in profits to make a record £3.4bn Photograph: David Levene Photograph: guardian.co.uk Network Rail said it had made a strong start towards meeting tough savings targets over the next five years, in the wake of a critical progress report from the rail industry watchdog Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Photograph: Dan Kitwood/guardian.co.uk George Osborne (left) will risk a schism with the Liberal Democrats, including chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander (right), when he strips the Financial Services Authority of the majority of its powers in a shakeup of City regulation to be announced later this month Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/guardian.co.uk The UK's recovery is likely to lag European neighbours France and Germany this year, according to economists at Standard & Poor's, who warn this morning that uncertainty around gaping budget deficits could hurt growth throughout the region Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images Photograph: Matt Cardy/guardian.co.uk Fashion retailer New Look said that it may still attempt a stock market flotation despite the uncertain trading outlook faced by retailers ahead of an expected increase in VAT Photograph: New Look Photograph: guardian.co.uk