In pictures: Eyewitness December 2009

Mike Parry and Adam Walters gather sprouts at Essington, Wolverhampton. A shortage was predicted after freezing weather ended harvesting in some areas Photograph: David Jones/guardian.co.uk

With horseracing in the UK hit by the severe weather, the gallops at Middleham and surrounding Pennines resembled a Christmas card as horses exercised in snow Photograph: John Giles/guardian.co.uk

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, 29 April 2009: Extracting salt from the Salar de Uyuni, the highest, at 3,653m and the largest (12,000 sq km) salt flat in the world, on the crest of the Andes in Bolivia. Photograph: Rene Clement/Polaris/eyevine Photograph: Rene Clement/guardian.co.uk

Police officers kneel before the coffins of four US colleagues who were shot dead at a coffee shop. Gunman Maurice Clemmons was later shot and killed Photograph: Stephen Brashear/guardian.co.uk

A woman is led away from the scene of a bomb attack which killed eight people near the Heetal hotel, in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of the Afghan capital. Photograph: Ahmad Masood/guardian.co.uk

Boys playing in an area of Mumbai made misty by fumigation to control the spread of mosquito-related diseases such as malaria and dengue Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/guardian.co.uk

Military academy cadets bow their heads, listening to the invocation, before President Obama speaks about plans for the ongoing campaign in Afghanistan Photograph: Justin Lane/guardian.co.uk

Babies sit in water-filled tubs to cool down after a baby massage class for mothers in the Netherlands. The “cooling down” is to simulate a womb-like environment Photograph: United Photos/guardian.co.uk

A queue outside a centre in Wuhan, central China, as candidates wait to take the qualifying exam to join the Chinese civil service. More than a million people compete for only 15,000 jobs each year Photograph: Shepherd Zhou/guardian.co.uk