December 18, 2015

A protester displays his painted hand as a sign of anger, during a demonstration calling for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Iraq, in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Turkey has had troops near Mosul since last year but the arrival of additional troops last week sparked an uproar.

An elderly local woman stands on a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos, next to a pile of life vests, after the arrival of refugees and migrants from the Turkish coast. European Union leaders on Thursday set a six-month deadline for deciding whether to push ahead with plans for a border guard agency that could deploy to member states unable or unwilling to manage their borders as thousands of migrants continue to arrive in Europe daily.

Members of the Qatari armed forces take part in Qatar's National Day celebrations in Doha.

Miners leave after working the final shift at Kellingley Colliery on its last day of operation in north Yorkshire, England. Kellingley is the last deep coal mine to close in England, bringing to an end centuries of coal mining in Britain.

A city archivist inspects a drawing at the Archives de Paris center, after being removed from an informal memorial at one of the sites of the November shooting attacks in Paris. The attacks killed 130 people in the French capital.

Children use a refrigerator as a boat to cross a flooded alley in Candaba, Pampanga, north of Manila, the Philippines. Vast swaths 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.

Palestinian stone-throwers run to take cover after Israeli security forces fired tear gas canisters during clashes following a demonstration next to the controversial Israeli separation wall in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

An image of Mother Teresa is seen on a candle used on Teresa's tomb during a special mass service in Kolkata, India. On Friday Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to the late nun, clearing the way for her elevation to sainthood.

French livery drivers block traffic during "Snail Operation" at Port Maillot, one of the entries to Paris. Drivers are protesting a drop in their rates, striking out again, against what they say is unfair competition by Uber and other companies.

Contestants perform during the dress rehearsal for the Miss World Grand Final in Sanya, southern Hainan province, China. The 65th edition of the Miss World Grand Final will kick off on Saturday.

A crib is displayed in Luceram, southeastern France, as part of the Circuit des Creches exhibition of several hundred manger scenes depicting the Christian nativity annually displayed in the streets of the medieval mountain village, north of Nice.

An image released Friday from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) shows a view of Earth from the spacecraft's vantage point in orbit around the moon. Earth appears to rise over the lunar horizon, with the center of the Earth just off the coast of Liberia (at 4.04 degrees North, 12.44 degrees West) in this composite image. The large tan area in the upper right is the Sahara Desert, and just beyond is Saudi Arabia.

A woman decorates a Christmas shop window in Kyiv, Ukraine.

People walk on the beach of Biarritz, southwestern France, along the Atlantic Ocean. Temperatures in southwestern France rose an unusual 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).