Midday Roundup: Liberals win landmark Canadian election

Landslide. In what Canadian news outlets are calling a “Liberal wave,” the country’s voters threw out the conservative government and gave the Liberal Party a sound majority in Parliament. The new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, 43, follows in the footsteps of his charismatic and well-known father, who served as prime minster between 1968 and 1984, with one brief interruption. Justin Trudeau was born while his father was in office and had his future predicted by former U.S. President Richard Nixon, who toasted him during a state visit to Canada. “Tonight we’ll dispense with the formalities,” Nixon said then. “I’d like to toast the future prime minister of Canada: to Justin Pierre Trudeau.” The new prime minster was just 4 months old at the time. Trudeau campaigned on a promise to raise taxes on the rich and run government deficits for three years to boost spending. Although he supports the Keystone XL pipeline, as did his conservative predecessor, he wants to see Canada cut its carbon emissions.

Sin issue. Police in St. Louis are investigating fires intentionally set at six predominantly African-American churches in the past few weeks. At each church, the arsonist set fire to the building’s front doors. No one has been injured yet, although investigators say it’s only a matter of time. Some of the fires did little damage, but one church was nearly destroyed by the blaze. Officials have said the incidents could be classified as hate crimes, motivated by either race or religion. But at least one pastor identified a deeper problem. “This is a spiritually sick person,” said the Rev. David Triggs, whose New Life Missionary Baptist Church was set on fire Saturday. “This is a sin issue. It’s not a race issue.” Several pastors said they prayed for the arsonist during Sunday services.

Dangerous decision. Lawyers for the estate of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle are going to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today to argue what legal experts say could be a landmark free speech case. In his autobiography, made into a hit movie after his death, Kyle told a story about having an altercation with former pro-wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura. The two men, both former Navy SEALs, were at a wake for a fallen SEAL when Ventura allegedly made negative remarks about the group. Ventura filed a defamation suit, claiming Kyle’s story ruined his reputation in the SEAL community. A jury awarded him $1.8 million in damages. But the Kyle estate’s attorneys and prominent legal scholars say the judge gave the jury improper instructions about what constitutes defamation. If the decision stands, it would set a dangerous precedent for other free speech cases, they say.

Security request denied. New details are emerging on the failure to secure the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. A cable sent by Ambassador Chris Stevens on July 9, 2012, two months before the deadly attack that killed him and three other Americans, reveals the ambassador’s warnings in his own words. “Overall security conditions continue to be unpredictable, with large numbers of armed groups and individuals not under control of the central government,” he wrote. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who chairs the Benghazi special committee, said Stevens began pleading for more security as soon as he arrived. In the July 9 cable, Stevens noted the security levels fell short of State Department standards. He asked for a minimum of 13 armed guards for “transportation security and incident response capability.” That plea and many other similar requests were denied.

Safe place? Acting Afghan Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai claims the Doctors Without Borders hospital mistakenly targeted by U.S. forces earlier this month was being used by Taliban fighters as a “safe place.” Stanekzai claims a Taliban flag was on display in the hospital. The attack was requested by Afghan forces, according to Gen. John Campbell, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The attack killed 22 people and injured many others. But Doctors Without Borders denies any Taliban fighters were in the hospital, although it acknowledges treating wounded Taliban after the attack. The group’s director, Christopher Stokes, called the strike “a great breach of international humanitarian law and, therefore, a war crime.” In the days leading up to the Oct. 3 attack, U.S. special operations analysts came to believe the hospital was being used by Taliban to coordinate operations. Investigations by NATO, the Afghan government, and the U.S. military are ongoing.

WORLD Radio’s Kent Covington and The Associated Press contributed to this report.