Новости за 23.12.2016

A coalition aircraft swooped over the Mosul neighborhood, and Qusai and his family made their move. “When we saw the plane was in the sky and ISIS shooting at it, we knew it was time to go,” he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. The militants would not be paying attention to his escaping family, said the father of three, including a newborn.

By day, the Assyrian men patrol the edges of this largely empty town outside Mosul, known as the capital of Iraq’s Christian community before thousands of its residents were forced to flee advancing Islamic State fighters more than two years ago.

To some it’s a blatant religious symbol, 40 feet tall, sitting on a median in the center of a busy highway intersection on government-owned land. To others, it is a 91-year-old piece of history, a symbol of honor, service and peace and a landmark to be preserved.

The recent investigation into massive fraud involving California National Guard bonuses revealed a lack of oversight in how the incentives were spent in California and elsewhere. During the height of the wars, some Army National Guard state bureaus were paying incentives without confirming whether soldiers were eligible, according to Army audits.

A new rule allowing advanced practice nurses to work without doctor supervision at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals drew praise from a host of groups representing health care providers — with the exception of one.

Commissary-brand pasta sauce or breakfast cereal? It could be a reality for military shoppers next year. The changes will mean new choices and some deals for shoppers. But they also signal a profound transformation of commissaries behind the scenes

To address staffing shortages across the country, the Department of Veterans Affairs will allow thousands of advanced practice nurses nationwide to treat patients without physician supervision.

The U.N. Security Council defeated a U.S.-sponsored resolution that would have imposed an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on South Sudan on Friday, rejecting arguments that it would help diminish fighting and avoid mass atrocities.

West African leaders will send troops into Gambia if its longtime ruler who lost elections does not step down next month, the president of the Economic Community of West African States said Friday.

A year ago, U.S. commanders estimated the strength of the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan at between 1,500 and 3,000 members, Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland said.

Russia's defense minister says a military police battalion has been deployed to eastern Aleppo.

From the perspective of major veteran service organizations, the roadblock to critical reforms of benefits and services are budget controls that the veteran committees must operate under.

For more than 30 years, Kathryn Woodward has attended an interdenominational worship service each week at the World War II-era Memorial Chapel on Fort Jackson. Today, the chapel, along with all other World War II-era wooden buildings on Army installations across the country, is slated for demolition.

Near the beginning of Martin Scorsese’s shattering “Silence,” two young Jesuit missionaries shiver in a cottage far from their Portuguese homeland, taking shelter from the rain and the watchful eyes of those to whom they have sought to bring their gospel. The year is 1639, and Japan is in the midst of its Edo period, an era of strict isolationism and intense hostility toward Christianity, whose many adherents have been subjected to mass torture and execution.

North Korea on Friday mocked outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over his apparent ambitions to run for South Korean president, calling him an opportunistic "chameleon in a human mask" who's dreaming a "hollow dream."

President-elect Donald Trump has re-opened the debate over nuclear proliferation, calling for the United States to "greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability" until the rest of the world "comes to its senses" regarding nuclear weapons.

Seventeen of the 146 medical centers earned 5-star ratings, the highest given, and 10 received one-star ratings. Five medical centers had a “large decline” in quality.Check the chart below to see how your local center stacks up.

After hours of tense negotiations, two Libyans who hijacked a plane from Libya to Malta and threatened to blow it up surrendered peacefully Friday, allowing 118 passengers and crew to leave the plane before walking out themselves with the last of the crew.

The Tunisian man suspected in a deadly attack on a Christmas market in Berlin was killed in a shootout with police in Milan, ending a Europe-wide manhunt. According to a report Friday, the Islamic State-linked news agency, Amaq, released a video that alleges to show Amri swearing allegiance the militant group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Syrian rebels outside Aleppo on Friday shelled a neighborhood in the northern city, killing three people in the first bombardment since government forces took control of the whole city after opposition fighters in the eastern parts withdrew, state TV reported.

Islamic State released a video showing two Turkish soldiers chained and then burned to death by Turkish-speaking jihadists, prompting Turkey's government to block access to Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday praised U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for "keenly" feeling public sentiment to win the election and denied the White House's claims of Russia's meddling in the vote.

Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture or distribute highly addictive pain pills have hired dozens of officials from the top levels of the Drug Enforcement Administration during the past decade.

The performers on this year’s lead actor roundtable all shared a deep commitment to their roles, their directors and a sense of adventure in pursuing their work. Whether in stories based in fact or created whole cloth, these performers bring a feeling of emotional honesty and truth.

U.S. Special Operations Command will take a new, leading role coordinating the Pentagon's effort to counter weapons of mass destruction, reinvigorating a long-running debate about how the U.S. military should handle threats posed by everything from nuclear weapons to chemical agents such as mustard and sarin.