Fuel prices have plummeted this year, but airfares have remained high. The International Air Transport Association estimates that the world's airlines will rake in nearly $20 billion in profits this year. Brennan Linsley/AP hide caption

Curator Timothy Verdon says "Mary is unexpectedly fashionable" in Fra Filippo Lippi's Madonna and Child, painted in the 1460s. Provincia di Firenze, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence/National Museum of Women in the Arts hide caption

Syrian President Bashar Assad, shown here in July, appeared to be in a tough position at the beginning of the year. But many analysts say his hold on power grew stronger over the course of 2014, due in part to the U.S. bombing campaign against the Islamic State. SANA/AP hide caption

A man peddles plastic Christmas trees and lights in downtown Monrovia. John W. Poole/NPR hide caption

A sculpture at Britannia stadium in the English city of Stoke-on-Trent commemorates the Christmas Truce, a legendary soccer game played between German and British troops in December 1914. Rui Vieira/AP hide caption

Around Christmas, people around the world covet a Rudolph, Wis., postmark on their cards and letters. Carrie Antlfinger/AP hide caption

Elisa Carrero assists Julian Gauiria, of Paterson, N.J., with enrollment in the health insurance exchange in November. Signups continue to be brisk, health officials say. Tyson Trish/North Jersey/Landov hide caption

The hepatitis C medication Sovaldi, from Gilead Sciences, costs $1,000 per pill. It's just one of the new medications introduced in the past year that can cure the disease within weeks or months. Courtesy of Gilead Sciences via AP hide caption

Crate-digger and director Mitchell Kezin shows off one of his Christmas finds in a still from his documentary, Jingle Bell Rocks! Elaine Littman/Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories hide caption

The Waitresses' members were in the middle of a tour behind "I Know What Boys Like" when "Christmas Wrapping" took over the radio in 1981. David Corio/Redferns hide caption

The Alamo Drafthouse theater chain will show The Interview starting on Christmas Day. Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images hide caption