Dispatches

Sept. 8

U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Kim Davis free five days after he jailed the Rowan County, Ky., clerk for contempt of court. Davis had refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, arguing the act would violate her conscience, but she lost her appeals for a religious accommodation. Davis became a Christian four years ago, and cannot be fired because she is an elected official. After her release from jail, she thanked thousands of rallied supporters and said she wanted to “give God the glory.” The judge ordered Davis not to interfere with deputy clerks who had begun to issue gay marriage licenses in her absence. Appearing back at work the following Monday, Davis said she would obey the order only if the licenses did not bear her name or title.

Crane collapse

Sept. 11

In Mecca, a Friday afternoon of prayers and religious devotion turned into a scene of bloody carnage when a large construction crane toppled in high winds onto the roof of the Grand Mosque. Falling steel and chunks of concrete killed at least 111 mosque visitors and injured more than 200 others. The disaster occurred 10 days before the start of the hajj, an annual pilgrimage expected to bring 2 million Muslims to Mecca this year. The Grand Mosque is the holiest site in Islam and houses the Kaaba, a stone cube marking a shrine Muslims claim was built by the patriarch Abraham. Saudi officials have stumbled with crowd safety in the past: During the 2006 hajj more than 300 pilgrims died in a stampede.

Tension in Turkey

Sept. 9

Unraveling relations between Turks and minority Kurds in Turkey pushed the country into civil unrest in September, with Turks vandalizing and burning Kurdish-owned businesses and political party offices and staging more than 800 nationalist demonstrations in a single week. The unrest came in response to deadly attacks on Turkish security forces by the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan directed troops and airstrikes against PKK targets in Turkey and northern Iraq, but some observers say Erdogan has used the conflict to oppress Kurdish civilians and political opponents despite their disavowal of the PKK. The conflict is troubling for another reason: Both Turkey and neighboring Kurds in Iraq are U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS.