In pictures: Eyewitness January 2009

Washington DC, US, 28 January 2009: President Barack Obama returns to the White House after a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Germany, 8 January 2009: A barge cuts a channel through ice boulders floating on the river Elbe. Germany, this month, registered its coldest weather in more than 20 years with lows of -30C in the first week. As the ice set in, breakers freed boats on the Elbe and ferries were halted Photograph: Aufwind-Luftbilder

Concan, US, 29 January 2009: Mexican free-tailed bats emerge at dusk from their roost inside a cave near Concan in Texas Hill Country. Some roosts are known to contain millions of bats Photograph: David Kjaer/naturepl.com

Shanghai, China, 12 January 2009: The Longchang apartments at 362 Longchang Road are home to hundreds of Shanghai residents, many of whom live on low incomes. Built around a courtyard, buildings like this were characteristic of Shanghai in the city’s former colonial days but are now few in number Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

Washington DC, US, 20 January 2009: Barack and Michelle Obama dance on a replica of the presidential seal at the Commander-in-Chief's ball at the National Museum Building in Washington DC. There were 10 official balls and scores more unofficial ones Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters

Washington DC, US, 20 January 2009: Barack Obama decends towards the podium to give his inaugural address as the 44th president of the United States on the West Front of the Capitol building in Washington Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters

Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, 17 January 2009: Homeless Palestinian children at a UN school in Beit Lahiya that was shelled by Israelis Photograph: Abid Katib/Getty Images

Vatican City, 14 January 2009: Pope Benedict at his weekly general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall yesterday. He is to appear at this week’s World Meeting of Families in Mexico by video link Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

Washington, US, 13 January 2009: Hillary Clinton takes her seat at the Senate foreign relations committee for her confirmation hearing as secretary of state. Confirmation is expected tomorrow Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

Hartlepool, UK, 12 January 2009: A man scrapes sea coal from a beach. Several tonnes of the material is dumped on the shore from seams out to sea and provides income for those prepared to brave the elements Photograph: John Giles/PA

Kinderdijk, Netherlands, 10 January 2009: Skaters at the Unesco World Heritage site in Kinderdijk. Across the Netherlands, an estimated 2.3 million skaters have been out on frozen canals and lakes Photograph: Michael Kooren/Reuters

Sofia, Bulgaria, 6 January 2009: Bulgarians jump into a lake in Sofia to mark the Feat of the Epiphany. A year of good health is said to be in store for the first man to grab a cross thrown into the water by a priest Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

7 January 2009: Fern-like steller dendrite snowflake. The image of the snow crystal was captured in the seconds after it fell to earth. It was collected and photographed through a microscope by the world's leading snow crystal scientist, Kenneth Libbrecht. Snowflakes, by Kenneth Libbrecht, is published by Voyager Press at £9.99 Photograph: Kenneth Libbrecht/Barcroft Media

Argentina, 3 January 2009: Flamingos over a lake near Santa Rosa, where drivers in the 2009 Dakar Rally - the first to be staged in South America - set off in the second leg of their race Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images