President's new elf care plans

Barack Obama and his family get into the festive spirit at the annual Christmas in Washington concert. The President said he welcomed the chance "to spread some joy and sing along with artists who have much better voices than we do".

Sunday's event raised funds for the Children's National Medical Centre, and Mr Obama presented books to four of its former patients who were dressed as elves.

The most notable guest was the South Korean rapper Psy, who apologised last week for a 2004 song in which he spoke of killing US troops. Psy said the track, "Dear America", was his "deeply emotional reaction to the war in Iraq".