Friday in Pictures: December 18

President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the White House Brady Press Briefing Room in Washington, on Dec. 18, 2015. Obama sought to lay the groundwork Friday for his last year in office by vowing not to fade in the background but instead use his remaining months to push longstanding goals to fruition.

Bostjan Kline of Slovenia competes in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Men's Super G on Friday in Val Gardena, northern Italy.

Children use a refrigerator as a boat to cross a flooded alley in Candaba, Pampanga, north of Manila on Friday. Vast swathes of farmlands inundated by Typhoon Koppu in October were flooded again this week by rains from Typhoon Melor and the flooding could worsen or spread to other areas as second storm in less than a week threatens the country.

A Palestinian protester hurls a rock at Israeli security forces during clashes near Shejaiya, an eastern district of Gaza City along the border with Israel on Friday.

Coal miners finish the final shift before closure at the Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, northern England, on Friday. The shutdown of the mine in Yorkshire in northern England closes a 200-year chapter of Britain's industrial history.

The Prince Felipe science museum is reflected as people queue to attend a campaign rally led by Spanish Prime Minister and People's Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy at the City of Arts and Sciences ahead of Spain's general election in Valencia, Spain, on Friday.

An Israeli border police vehicle shoots tear gas at Palestinians during clashes on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday.

Israeli security forces fire tear gas and different kinds of bullets towards Palestinian stone throwers during clashes following a demonstration next to the Israeli controversial separation wall in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday.

A California sea lion catches a fish thrown by its keeper in the enclosure at the zoo in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on Friday.

People walk on the beach of Biarritz, southwestern France, along the Atlantic ocean on Friday.