Pictures of the day from The Huffington Post brings you the very best news and sports images from around the world, chosen and created by our own photo editors, Elliot Wagland, Tahira Mirza and Michael Cripps.
pix of the day
(01 of24)
Deputy First Minister John Swinney (front right) during a mass at St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow for people affected by the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy. (credit:Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
(02 of24)
Prince Harry showed off his football skills when he joined Norfolk villagers for a Christmas Eve football match.Harry is spending part of the festive period with other members of the Royal Family who are enjoying a traditional break at the Queen's private Norfolk estate of Sandringham. (credit:PA)
(03 of24)
Prince Harry showed off his football skills when he joined Norfolk villagers for a Christmas Eve football match.Harry is spending part of the festive period with other members of the Royal Family who are enjoying a traditional break at the Queen's private Norfolk estate of Sandringham. (credit:PA)
(04 of24)
People hold up their money as they try to buy meat from butchers at the annual Christmas Eve auction at Smithfield Market in central London on December 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images)
(05 of24)
People buy meat and turkeys from butchers during the annual Christmas Eve auction at Smithfield Market in central London on December 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images)
(06 of24)
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, left, extends his hand to Hollywood actor Richard Gere, second right, as he leaves after the day's teaching on Lam Rim at the Gaden Jangtse Thoesam Norling Monastery in Mundgod in Southern Indian state of Karnataka, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Lam Rim is a Tibetan Buddhist scripture, which talk about the 18 stages of the path to enlightenment. (AP Photo/Tenzin Choejor) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(07 of24)
Passengers arrive at Terminal 5 in Heathrow Airport in advance of the Christmas break. (credit:Steve Parsons/PA Wire)
(08 of24)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, left, talk during the meeting of the State Council in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. The meeting of the State Council focused on government efforts to support culture. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(09 of24)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 24: A protester kneels down in front of a police officer outside a building taken over by squatters from a group calling themselves 'Love Activists' on December 24, 2014 in London, England. Previously leased by the Royal Bank of Scotland group, the squatters plan to open the building on Christmas Day and provide a free lunch for homeless people in a protest against the housing crisis. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) (credit:Carl Court via Getty Images)
(10 of24)
The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery have delighted onlookers this morning by donning Christmas gear as they rode out. The troop left their barracks in Woolwich and trotted through South East London streets on the way to Morden College in Blackheath where local people were able to see them up close as mulled wine and mince pies were served. The event has become a new Christmas tradition since the Troop moved to purpose built barracks in Woolwich in February 2012 (credit:Rex)
(11 of24)
An Iraqi Christian boy, who fled the violence in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, poses for a photo wearing a Father Christmas hat in the grounds of Mar Elia Chaldean Catholic Church, where many displaced Christians have erected tents, in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq on December 24, 2014. For many faithful across the region, the Christmas festivities will be tinged with sadness following a year of bloodshed marked by a surge in the persecution of Christians that has drawn international condemnation. AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:SAFIN HAMED via Getty Images)
(12 of24)
British boxer Amir Khan holds his shorts as he addresses media representatives during a press conference in Islamabad on December 24, 2014. Amir Khan has promised help to rebuild a Pakistani school where 150 people were massacred by the Taliban in the country's deadliest ever terror attack. Khan, who has Pakistani roots, travelled to the troubled country to show solidarity with the victims and their families. A team of heavily armed Pakistani Taliban gunmen stormed the army-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar last week, slaughtering 150 people including 134 children. AFP PHOTO/ Aamir QURESHI (Photo credit should read AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AAMIR QURESHI via Getty Images)
(13 of24)
PERALIYA, SRI LANKA - DECEMBER 24: Sri Lankan tsunami survivor fishermen pull a fishing net on the beach on December 24, 2014 in Peraliya, Sri Lanka. The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami following the Indian Ocean Earthquake killed approximately 230,000 people across fourteen countries. Sri Lankan authorities reported approximately 35,000 confirmed deaths by tsunami. The village of Peraliya was the worst single site of casualties where a train was swept away killing over a thousand people. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images) (credit:Buddhika Weerasinghe via Getty Images)
(14 of24)
PERALIYA, SRI LANKA - DECEMBER 24: Sri Lankan tsunami survivor fishermen pull a fishing net on the beach on December 24, 2014 in Peraliya, Sri Lanka. The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami following the Indian Ocean Earthquake killed approximately 230,000 people across fourteen countries. Sri Lankan authorities reported approximately 35,000 confirmed deaths by tsunami. The village of Peraliya was the worst single site of casualties where a train was swept away killing over a thousand people. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images) (credit:Buddhika Weerasinghe via Getty Images)
(15 of24)
A figurine depicting Pope Francis is displayed along with other Nativity Scene figurines at a market in Marseille on Christmas Eve on December 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO / BORIS HORVAT (Photo credit should read BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:BORIS HORVAT via Getty Images)
(16 of24)
Rihanna sighting on December 24, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Josiah Kamau/BuzzFoto/FilmMagic) (credit:Josiah Kamau via Getty Images)
(17 of24)
A worker in Santa Claus costume cleans windows outside a shopping mall along Tokyo's waterfront on December 24, 2014. The costume was worn as part of a Christmas promotional event to attract shoppers. (credit:YOSHIKAZU TSUNO via Getty Images)
(18 of24)
Workers in Santa Claus (R) and reindeer (L) costumes are pictured as they clean windows outside a shopping mall along Tokyo's waterfront on December 24, 2014. The costumes were worn as part of a Christmas promotional event to attract shoppers. (credit:YOSHIKAZU TSUNO via Getty Images)
(19 of24)
An Aurora is seen on the horizon behind Bamburgh Lighthouse in Northumberland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday December 24, 2014. (credit:Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
(20 of24)
An Indonesian conservation of natural resources agency official lends a hand to Riska, a six-year-old orangutan, during its removal from a villager's warehouse in Leupung, Aceh Besar district, in Aceh, on December 24, 2014. Riska had been living in the warehouse for two years and was being brought to a conservation program for rehabilitation before being release into the wild. The critically-endangered primates population are dwindling rapidly due to poaching and rapid destruction of their forest habitat that is being converted into palm oil plantations. AFP PHOTO / Chaideer MAHYUDDIN (Photo credit should read CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN via Getty Images)
(21 of24)
JILIN, CHINA - DECEMBER 24: (CHINA OUT) Heavy haze envelops the city on December 24, 2014 in Jilin, Jilin province of China. Heavy haze hit Jilin on Wednesday. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images) (credit:ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)
(22 of24)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 23: Anti-NYPD protesters march through Fifth Avenue, Manhattan on December 23, 2014 in New York City. Despite calls from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to curb protests until after the funerals of slain NYPD officers, demonstrators took to the streets to exercise their rights. (Photo by Bilgin S. Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(23 of24)
Prince Harry showed off his football skills when he joined Norfolk villagers for a Christmas Eve football match.Harry is spending part of the festive period with other members of the Royal Family who are enjoying a traditional break at the Queen's private Norfolk estate of Sandringham. (credit:PA)
(24 of24)
Activists of the Assam Tea Tribes Student Association (ATTSA) block the NH-52 road with burning tyres during a protest against the attacks on villagers by militants from the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in four locations, at Baghmari in the Sonitpur district of northeastern Assam state on December 24, 2014. At least 56 people including children died in a series of militant attacks in Assam, Indian police said December 24, as the rebels dramatically intensified a long-running separatist campaign in the tea-growing state. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:STRDEL via Getty Images)