Prime Minister David Cameron said 2012 has been an "extraordinary year" for Britain in which the country "showed the world what we're made of" with the London Games and Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee.
While people around the world celebrate the arrival of Christmas, residents of a refugee camp in Haiti say hunger and want will mark the holiday, like every other day of the year.
Greece opened its Christmas stockings early this year with an unexpected debt rating boon and European Central Bank support but analysts warn that risks remain in the troubled nation's fragile fiscal recovery.
President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner held surprise talks Thursday, as time ran short for hopes of a pre-Christmas deal to solve a fiscal crisis that could cause a recession.
Gangsters in one of Canada's most crime-ridden cities can expect a special greeting card this Christmas -- from a local police chief dressed as jolly Santa Claus and packing heat.
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for a pre-Christmas deal with Republicans to avert a year-end tax and deficit crunch, as pressure mounted from the business world and stock markets fluttered.
Disney is known for traditional holiday-season movies about princesses and fairy tales -- but this year it has turned to the world of video games for its latest animated blockbuster.
