AUSTRALIA

As Prince Philip recovers from emergency heart surgery this Christmas, it's unsurprising that Queen's Elizabeth II's 59th annual holiday message is a poignant one of family, strength and community spirit. Read a full text of her Christmas message, watch her video here, and find links to all her Christmas broadcasts since 1952.

NORAD teamed up with Google Earth once again in 2011, tracking Father Christmas' progress around the world as volunteers fielded 100,000 calls. As NORAD reports a record holiday, find out how the Santa Tracker got started, and check out 2011's best Google Earth videos tracking Santa's progress, from the Great Wall and Taj Mahal to Hilo, Hawaii.

A 1941 fruit-cake was sold to a lucky online bidder in Arizona for $525 on Thursday, the proceeds of which will be sent to the homeless in the region. Made 70-years ago by The Kroger Co, the cake returned unopened back to the company store in the year 1971.

At just before six p.m. Eastern Time, Santa had visited more than 1.1 billion homes around the world and had just left Slovakia heading for Austria. By the end of his trip, Santa will visit more than three billion homes in the world.

According to the Google Earth and NORAD Santa Tracker 2011, Santa got underway on his journey around the world early on Christmas Eve. By 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, NORAD had Santa at Canberra, Australia, heading for Hobart Tasmania before making his way tonight to the United States.

Lawyers for actor Mel Gibson and his estranged wife Robyn submitted a proposed divorce settlement to a judge on Friday, moving the pair closer to finalizing their split after 31 years of marriage.

Here's a surprising 'free gift' from the sky above, ahead of Christmas - Comet Lovejoy was unexpectedly spotted falling into the horizon vertically. NASA Commander Dan Burbank, who was photographing lightning storm over the Pacific Ocean had captured this surprising and fantastic scene at the International Space Station on Wednesday.

The first time was luck. The second time, coincidence. The third time...well fine, he's a supermodel magnet. After dating Gisele Bündchen and Bar Refaeli, 37-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio nabbed himself another supermodel girlfriend; This time he's dating Victoria's Secret model Erin Heatherton.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will look into a mysterious space ball, which dropped onto an African village in Namibia in mid-November. The hollow ball is reportedly made of a metal alloy known to man.

Asia'a markets rose more than 1 percent and U.S. index futures also gained on Friday, as signs of a strengthening economy in the United States encouraged a year-end bounce for riskier assets.

Asian stocks rose more than 1 percent and U.S. index futures also gained on Friday, as signs of a strengthening economy in the United States encouraged a year-end bounce for riskier assets.

Asian stocks edged up Friday, as signs of a strengthening economy in the United States encouraged a modest year-end rally in riskier assets.

Weakening economies and falling prices of rival smartphones are hurting sales of Apple iPhones across Europe, data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech showed on Thursday.

Fears over the safety of silicone breast implants made by a now defunct French firm spread to Australia, South America and across Europe on Thursday as French officials prepared to decide if thousands of women should have their implants surgically removed.

Catalyst Metals Ltd. agreed to evaluate a gold mine in southeastern Australia for up to 12 months with the option of acquiring a stake in the property, Catalyst said Thursday.

Weakening economies and falling prices of rival smartphones are hurting sales of Apple iPhones across Europe, data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech showed on Thursda

Aussie Teen Jailed for 13 Years for Stabbing Murder of an International Student in Melbourne

The long-awaited launch of the iPhone 4S has helped Apple win market share in the United States and Britain, although it is losing ground in the rest of Europe, data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech showed on Thursday.

India, even if you won't hear them say it, have never had a better chance of clinching their first test series triumph in Australia than over the next month against a host nation in the turmoil of transition.

An Australian teenage boy was sentenced to up to 13 years jail on Thursday for murdering an Indian student in 2010, an attack which ignited a diplomatic crisis and damaged the nation's international student sector, the third largest export earner.

Think of wine critic Robert Parker as the E.F. Hutton of fermented grapes. When he talks, oenophiles listen.