Dispatches

Oct. 23

A spate of Palestinian knife attacks against Israelis fueled a surge of street violence in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Israeli towns that left at least 10 Israelis and more than 50 Palestinians dead by late October. The knife attacks appeared to be motivated by Palestinian anger over access to the Temple Mount complex, a site revered by Jews and Muslims: Palestinians believed Israel planned to challenge a long-standing agreement governing Jewish visits to the site, a rumor Israeli officials denied. Some observers worried the Palestinians were staging a third intifada, or uprising, against Israel.

Monster storm

Oct. 23

With winds up to 200 mph, Hurricane Patricia ranked as the most powerful storm on record in the Western Hemisphere before it slammed into Mexico’s Pacific shoreline. But the storm caused far less damage than forecasters had feared, weakening rapidly after it made landfall on a sparsely populated coastal region. “God takes care of us,” one resident told USA Today. Wind and rain caused landslides and floods and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes. Mexico reported about half a dozen deaths.

North goes left

Oct. 19

Canadians handed their government over to the Liberal Party in a landslide election, ousting nine-year Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper and replacing him with Justin Trudeau, the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In contrast to Harper, who campaigned on a balanced budget plan, the younger Trudeau said he would run a budget deficit for three years in order to boost the economy. He plans to withdraw Canada’s participation in airstrikes against the radical Islamic State (ISIS) in the Middle East, and supports legal abortion, legal marijuana, and international action on climate change (but he supports the Keystone XL pipeline). The election vaulted Trudeau’s Liberal Party to a majority rule in Parliament with 184 seats, while the Conservatives emerged with just 99.

Friends in war

Oct. 20

A surprise meet-up in Moscow between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin showcased Russia’s surging influence in the Middle East. During the meeting Putin formally offered Assad his assistance in reaching a military and political solution to the 4½-year Syrian civil war that has killed as many as 300,000 people and displaced 11 million. Russia has irked U.S. leaders by inserting itself into the Syrian conflict, moving tanks and jets to the country in support of Assad, whose government the United States opposes. Since September Russia has bombed not only Islamic State targets but rebel groups fighting Assad—including “moderate” rebels backed by the Obama administration.

Fire resistant

Oct. 18

Police in St. Louis blamed arson for a disturbing series of fires at seven area churches in October. The fires, set to church doors at night, seemed to target predominately African-American congregations and neighborhoods. In a city that reeled with racial tensions during protests in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb, last year, Pastor David Triggs said the recent church attacks had united local Pentecostal, Baptist, and Catholic believers in solidarity. Triggs’ own church, New Life Missionary Baptist, was damaged in the arson attacks: Afterward, his church members held Sunday worship services on the lawn instead of in the sanctuary. “You can burn down the building, but you cannot break our body,” Triggs said.