An escape route was set up by the United States government, under a 2006 program that offers American residency to Cuban medical workers posted overseas.

U.S. and Cuba at Odds Over Exodus of the Island’s Doctors

As President Obama pledged to intensify the anti-Islamic State campaign, he acknowledged the challenges in targeting militants who, in Raqqa, Syria, and elsewhere, inhabit the same spaces as civilians.

In ISIS Strategy, U.S. Weighs Risk to Civilians

Though the Jets lacked offensive continuity, they won against the Dallas Cowboys, to secure their first winning season since 2010, the last time they made the playoffs.

Stymied and Error-Prone, Jets Secure Winning Record

American money and diplomacy have opened opportunities for gay rights in Africa, but they have also made gay men and lesbians more visible and more vulnerable, critics say.

U.S. Support of Gay Rights in Africa May Have Done More Harm Than Good

The German publishing giant has snapped up stakes in online media companies, pivoted its news operations to cater to mobile readers and given its senior managers a crash course in start-up culture.

An Old-Media Empire, Axel Springer Reboots for the Digital Age

In an astounding display of cultural and commercial domination on a global scale, the Disney blockbuster earned roughly $517 million in ticket sales.

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Breaks Box Office Records

“I’m not making a policy film, I’m making a human film,” Mr. Moore says of his latest documentary, which is on the Oscar shortlist.

Michael Moore on His Movie, ‘Where to Invade Next’

Having raised rates this month for the first time in nearly a decade, the Federal Reserve does not have to look far for real-world examples of what to do if plans go awry.

Rates Are Going Up. What Could Go Wrong?

Trailing by 28 points in the third quarter, the Giants stormed back to tie the game, but Carolina kicked a field goal as time expired to win.

Panthers Withstand Giants’ Rally to Stay Undefeated

Tens of thousands of letters and drawings have been left at makeshift memorials after the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks.

In Paris, Archivists Preserve Tokens of Grief

In this book, Mr. Axelrod tells how an eye injury set off a search for self-discovery that included a spare life alone in the Vermont woods.

Review: ‘The Point of Vanishing,’ Howard Axelrod’s Memoir About Solitude

Lobbyists recently swooped in to add 54 words to a tax and spending bill of more than 2,000 pages that temporarily preserved a loophole sought by the hotel, restaurant and gambling industries, and billionaire Wall Street investors.

Hospitality and Gambling Interests Delay Closing of Billion-Dollar Tax Loophole

Consolidations in the ’90s led to lost cargo, derailments and billions of dollars lost, spurring rules on acquisitions. But these rules aren’t slowing Canadian Pacific’s pursuit of Norfolk Southern.

Regulations, Doubts and Concerns May Thwart Railway Mergers

Faster broadband speeds and bigger hard drives in game consoles are changing the way the video game business works.

As Downloads Take Over, a Turning Point for the Video Game Industry

An all-star team of Broadway professionals was recruited to teach yesterday’s dances to a young corps for a two-week program opening Monday at the Joyce Theater.

Dance Machine of the 21st Century Imparts Vintage Broadway Steps to a New Generation

The Treasury’s schedule of financing this week includes auctions on Monday and Tuesday.

Treasury Auctions Set for the Week of Dec. 21

Quotation of the Day for Sunday, December 20, 2015.

Quotation of the Day

Corrections appearing in print on Sunday, December 20, 2015.

Corrections: December 20, 2015

In an evening at Danspace Project, Ms. Waldman performed a solo, Ms. Monk was joined in vocal trios, and the two closed the program in duet.

Review: Meredith Monk and Anne Waldman, in Playful Collaboration

This HBO documentary on the Bolshoi Ballet, directed by Nick Read, tells the story of the 2013 acid attack on its artistic director, arranged by a soloist in the troupe.

Review: ‘Bolshoi Babylon,’ Russia’s Famed Ballet Troupe in a Scandal’s Glare

The conservative Popular Party and the main opposition Socialists both lost seats, putting the future of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in doubt.

Governing Party in Spain Loses Majority in Parliamentary Election

The killing of Samir Kuntar, in a government-held neighborhood of Damascus, underscored the complexity of Syria’s civil war and the long arms of its many players.

Commander of Hezbollah Freed by Israel Is Killed in Syria

At least 33 buildings are destroyed and 91 people are missing after a sea of earth struck an industrial district in the city of Shenzhen.

Landslide Hits Southern City, Sending Hundreds Fleeing, China Reports

Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi read about Steven Avery, the subject of their 10-part series, while they were graduate film students at Columbia University.

Behind ‘Making a Murderer,’ a New Documentary Series on Netflix

Town Hall was filled with French chanson in honor of the centennial of Piaf’s birthday, with Robert Osborne as M.C., Elaine Paige and others.

December 20, 2015

Headlines from December 20, 2015

U.S. and Cuba at Odds Over Exodus of the Island’s Doctors

In ISIS Strategy, U.S. Weighs Risk to Civilians

Stymied and Error-Prone, Jets Secure Winning Record

U.S. Support of Gay Rights in Africa May Have Done More Harm Than Good

An Old-Media Empire, Axel Springer Reboots for the Digital Age

Billboard 200

25

Purpose

That's Christmas To Me

Made In The A.M.

1989

Historical Context for December 20, 2015