Alexis Pinturault of France (L) clears a gate as he skis against Romed Baumann of Austria to win the men's parallel slalom City Event of the Alpine Skiing World Cup in Moscow, Russia. (Reuters)

velers of the Academicos do Grande Rio samba school perform during the second night of Carnival at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AFP)

'Gilles of Binche' dance during a carnival parade in the city centre of Binche, Belgium. The Carnival of Binche dates back to around the 14th Century, with the clown-like Gilles performing their traditional dances to the sound of drums to ward off evil spirits with their sticks. (AP)

Chandra Bahadur Dangi, a 72-year-old Nepali who claims to be the world's shortest man at 56 centimetres (22 inches) in height, walks near his home in Reemkholi village in Dang district, some 540 kilometres southwest of Kathmandu. Dangi will embark to the capital city as Guinness World Records experts are due to arrive in Nepal to measure a 72-year-old claiming to be the world's shortest man. (AFP)

An Afghan demonstrator holds a copy of a half-burnt Quran, allegedly set on fire by US soldiers, at the gate of Bagram airbase during a protest against Koran desecration at Bagram, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Kabul. (AFP)

A Somali herder tends to his camels by the side of the road near the town of Dhobley, currently under control by Kenyan military and Somali government forces, in Somalia. Kenya's military has been fighting inside Somalia in an ongoing offensive against militant group al-Shabab since October. (AP)

Ethnic Tibetan women pray around the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe county, Gansu Province, ahead of the Tibetan New Year which begins on February 22, 2012. (Reuters)

Clothing, lying in heaps at the site of a neighborhood destroyed by the March 11, 2011 tsunami, is piled up by clearing crews in Rikuzentakata, Japan. (AP)

A lone spectator watches an Olympic qualifier field hockey match between Poland and Italy in New Delhi, India. (AP)