Belarusians dressed as Fathers Frost compete during festive celebrations of Christmas and forthcoming New Year in Minsk, Belarus
Iraqi Christian children light candles at Saint Teriza church after Christmas Day mass in Basra, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008. Christmas Day was this year for the first time declared an official holiday in Iraq. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
From the left, U.S. Army Cpt. A.J. Boyes, and 1st Sgt Conrad and Cpt. Todd Looney distribute Christmas presents to the soldiers at combat outpost Ford in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq
Grotto in the Church of St. Catherine
U.S. soldiers take breakfast during a ceremony on Christmas at a U.S. air base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan
the beach of Warnemuende, northern Germany
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