Christmas around the world

Soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force pose with Santa Claus during a special meal on Christmas Day at a military base in Kabul, Afghanistan.   (Noorullah Shirzada / AFP/Getty Images)

Archbishop Jose Gomez, walking the halls that contain the most dangerous offenders at L.A. County’s Men’s Central Jail, greets inmates and hands out religious material.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Julie Butkus, a waitress at the Peppertree Cafe in Glendora, delivers breakfast on a recent morning shift. Butkus is known for engaging customers in conversations about all types of sports.
Read more: The waitress always wanted to be a sports commentator -- and she is  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Pope Francis kisses a statue of the baby Jesus during Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.  (Filippo Monteforte / AFP/Getty Images)

Santa Claus holds a beer as he walks with children at Brighton Beach in Melbourne, Australia, on Christmas Day.   (Scott Barbour / Getty Images)

Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Catherine, arrive for a traditional Christmas Day church service at Sandringham in eastern England.  (Adrian Dennis / AFP/ Getty Images)

Children line up to give gifts and flowers to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II after a traditional Christmas Day church service at Sandringham in eastern England.  (Adrian Dennis / AFP/Getty Images)

A participant in fancy dress jumps into the water during the Christmas Cup at Barcelona’s Port Vell. The traditional 200-meter swimming race gathered around 400 participants.  (Josep Lago / AFP/Getty Images)

Girls play with a snowman inside a plastic ball full of artificial snow at the Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  (Kamran Jebreili / Associated Press)

Worshipers from Nigeria pray at the Church of the Nativity, believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve.  (Majdi Mohammed / Associated Press)

A boy wears a festive hat as he exits Christmas Eve Mass, held early to allow people to return home before a 6 p.m. curfew in Bangui, the Central African Republic capital.  (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press)

A man spends Christmas Eve at the grave of a loved one who perished during Typhoon Haiyan in November, in the Philippine city of Tacloban.  (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

U.S. troops kneel in prayer during a Christmas Eve service at Bagram air base in Afghanistan.  (Rahmat Gul / Associated Press)

An Iranian woman looks at a display of Christmas ornaments in Tehran.   (Atta Kenare / AFP/Getty Images)

Indian children dressed as Santa Claus play near a Christmas-themed sand sculpture at Golden Sea Beach in Puri.  (Asit Kumar / AFP/Getty Images)

A meerkat stands guard on a present at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, where animals received Christmas-themed treats this week.  (William West / AFP/Getty Images)