President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Sasha and Malia, walk on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 24,2009, towards Marine One helicopter as they left the White House in Washington to spend Christmas and New Years Day in Hawaii.
Santa's Little Helper
A young "Santa Claus" helper gets used to her coat before the arrival of China's top negotiator with Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, at the famed tourist resort area of Sun Moon Lake, central Taiwan, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. Chen is in Taiwan for a week's worth of cross strait negotiations aimed to boost economic and trade relations with his counterpart Chiang Pin-kun. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
Custody Saga Nears End
Sean Goldman 9, arrives at the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hugging his Brazilian stepfather, Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. He is set to return with his father, David Goldman, to the United States after a bitter five-year custody battle.
Volcano Threat
Lava cascades down the slopes of Mayon volcano in a continuing mild eruption as viewed from Legazpi, Philippines, at dusk on Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. Volcanologists warned that the weeklong moderate eruption of the 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) Mayon could escalate within days as the volcano belched out 20 grayish ash columns Thursday, some a mile (1.5 kilometers) high.
Health Care Reform Passes Senate
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden leave the podium in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009, after the Senate passed the health care reform bill.
Holy Day
Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves with ceremonial chains during the festival of Ashoura at the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. Iraqi officials say 13 people have been killed and as many as 70 injured in staggered bombings apparently targeting pilgrims preparing for Shiite Islam's most solemn holiday, which marks the seventh-century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein.
Prayers in Bethlehem
Ethiopian Christian pilgrims pray inside the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009.