In pictures: Christmas around the world

BBC News Online looks at some striking images from around the world during the festive season.

Pope John Paul II held the traditional midnight Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican

In Spain, volunteers spent the day cleaning up beaches hit by oil slicks from the sunken tanker Prestige

The birth of Christ was also celebrated by the tiny Christian community in Iraq

Church services were carried out in Mexico (left picture) and Cyprus

In the Biblical town of Bethlehem, Palestinians protested against the Israeli occupation

Nato-led peacekeepers in Kosovo captured the festive mood

But there was definitely no White Christmas Down Under

Pittsburgh's Santa Claus posed on the USS Constellation in Gulf waters

And in Britain, traditional turkey with the trimmings was more important than the Queen's speech, according to a survey