Dispatches

Egyptians murdered

Christians in Egypt mourned after Muslim militants in Libya associated with ISIS released a video showing the beheading of captured Egyptian Copts. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared a week of mourning in the nation for the 21 slain Christians, and Egypt’s military carried out a series of airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya. Said the military in a statement: “Avenging Egyptian blood and punishing criminals and murderers is our right and duty.”

Feb. 13

Winter extremes

Deadly cold temperatures and relentless winter storms hit many parts of the country in mid-February. Boston, by Feb. 17, had recorded 95 inches of snow, making the month already the snowiest on record for the city. And as New England recovered from its fourth winter storm in a month, officials declared states of emergency in parts of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia as ice and snow brought down power lines and left tens of thousands without power. Temperatures in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula reportedly hit minus 27.

Feb. 13

Dueling courts

Most counties across Alabama began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples less than a week after Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy S. Moore ordered probate judges in the state not to do so. Moore argued that a federal district court’s overturning of Alabama’s marriage law was illegitimate.Most of the state’s probate judges, however, followed the federal order in the face of threatened lawsuits from gay activists. “There’s really no point in inviting lawsuits,” Judge Rocky Ridings of Marion County told The New York Times. “There’s no point in making attorneys rich and going on to lose anyway.”

Feb. 14

Terror in Denmark

A Muslim extremist attacked a free speech event at a Copenhagen cafe, killing one man and wounding three police officers. Later in the day, he killed one man and wounded two police officers near a synagogue in the Danish capital. Police later shot dead Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, 22, in the city’s Norrebro district after he opened fire on them. Police charged two other men, whom they did not name, with helping El-Hussein carry out the attacks. In the wake of the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed calls for Jews in Europe to immigrate to Israel.

Feb. 11

Chaos in Yemen

The United States, France, and Great Britain evacuated their embassies in Sanaa, Yemen, as an anti-American Shiite militia group grabbed power. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States “will explore options for a return to Sanaa when the situation on the ground improves.” Tens of thousands of protesters in the central city of Taiz, which the Shiite rebels had not taken, rallied against the seizure of power. Analysts said a civil war, with opponents of the Iranian-backed Shiites joining forces with al-Qaeda in Yemen, could begin soon.

Feb. 10

Taking leave

NBC suspended NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams for six months without pay in the wake of revelations that he had serially misrepresented his experiences while embedded with U.S. military forces. Williams had claimed on several occasions that he was in a helicopter that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was in fact in a helicopter that traveled one hour behind the one that was hit. As Williams’ suspension began, critics began to question other stories Williams has told, including a claim that he was once embedded with the Navy’s elite and highly secretive SEAL Team 6.

Feb. 10

Killed by a madman

Raleigh and Chapel Hill, N.C., mourned the execution-style deaths of three Muslim college students. Police charged Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, with the first degree murders of Deah Barakat, 23, wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. The self-described “gun-toting atheist” was almost always angry, neighbors said, and often over condo parking. Vigils and Muslim prayers spread around the country and world in solidarity. The FBI opened an inquiry, and President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent condolences. About 5,500 attended an outdoor funeral prayer outside North Carolina State University.