In pictures: Eyewitness February 2009

Mumbai, India, 26 February 2009: Slumdog Millionaire's star Rubina Ali is welcomed home to the slums of Mumbai after her trip to the Oscars. She lives in a one-room hut next to the open area used as the slum toilet Photograph: Arko Datta/Reuters

Democratic Republic of the Congo, 24 February 2009: Orphans at Kizito orphanage in north-eastern Congo, victims of the conflict between various groups that has been simmering in the country for years Photograph: Finbarr O'reilly/Reuters

Cape Town, South Africa, 23 February 2009: A farm worker attends to a fire in Sommerset West. The fire spread quickly through the area fueled by winds Photograph: Pieter Bauermeister/AFP/Getty Images

Paulo, Brazil, 22 February 2009: Drummers of Mocidade Alegre samba school parade at the Sambadrome, as part of Carnival celebrations Photograph: Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 18 February 2009: An Acadêmicos do Grande Rio member works on a float for Samba City, where Rio de Janeiro’s leading samba schools are preparing for the city’s carnival Photograph: Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images

London, UK, 18 February 2009: People in early 20th century costume sit in rowing boats at Golden Lane swimming pool to watch a high-defi nition screening of Titanic to celebrate the 2009 Oscars Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty

Hong Kong, China, 17 February 2009: Frenchman Alain Robert scales the 62-storey Cheung Kong Centre, one of Hong Kong’s tallest buildings, yesterday, where he unfurled a global warming protest banner Photograph: Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images

Sandarwa, Afghanistan, 16 February 2009: Girls attending school in eastern Afghanistan. Elsewhere the Taliban has killed, burned and threatened girls who sought education Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

St Moritz, Switzerland, 15 February 2009: Jockeys compete in the Grand Prix Chervo, a 1,700-metre dash across the frozen lake of St Moritz, on the second weekend of the White Turf races. Photograph: Arno Balzarini/EPA

Kinglake, Australia, 12 February 2009: The burned out remains of a house, one of several thousand thought to have been destroyed by bushfires Photograph: Mark Dadswell/Getty

London, UK, 9 February 2009: Specimen slides at the Hunterian museum, Royal College of Surgeons, some of which were brought back by Charles Darwin on the Beagle. Today is the 200th anniversary of his birth Photograph: David Levene

Kinglake, Australia, 8 February 2009: Aerial shot of burned out trees destroyed in the Australia bushfires, which have claimed nearly 100 lives and wiped out entire towns, making it the country’s worst fire disaster Photograph: Mark Smith/AFP/Getty Images

Brighton, UK, 6 February 2009: Snow covering the remains of the West Pier at Brighton. The photographer uses extremely long exposures, in this case four minutes, at night to capture the beautiful and often unseen auras of industrial structures. This image was shot early on Monday, about 15 minutes after it stopped snowing. The snow looks so bright because it is reflecting the strong street lights on the shore behind the camera Photograph: Toby Smith/Getty Images