In Pictures: Christmas Day celebrations around the world

A lifesaver dons a Santa hat (Rick Rycroft/AP)

Festive traditions around the world have tentatively returned after 2020 celebrations were hampered by coronavirus restrictions.

All over the globe families and communities are marking the day, as Australians took to the beach, Christians across the Middle East headed to church and, for some, the shopping continue

Devotees wearing face masks attend a Christmas Day Mass at a church in Manila, Philippines (Aaron Favila/AP)

A police officer stands guard outside at a church in Colombo, Sri Lanka (Eranga Jayawardena/AP)

A motorcyclist joins the fun in the Ginza shopping street in Tokyo (Hiro Komae/AP)

Palestinian Christians wait to pray at the midnight Mass (Adel Hana/AP)

A Christian boy with his mother at midnight Mass at a church in Karachi, Pakistan (Fareed Khan/AP)

A shopping centre in Beijing, China (Ng Han Guan/AP)

A police officer stands guard at St Anthony’s Church in Lahore (KM Chaudary/AP)

Priests and clergy walk in a procession at the Cathedral-Basilica in Vilnius, Lithuania (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)

An Iraqi Christian woman lights candles at St Teresa’s Church in Basra, Iraq (Nabil al-Jurani/AP)

Catholic nuns from the Sisters of Bethlehem pray at Beit Jamal Monastery near Beit Shemesh, Israel (Oded Balilty/AP)