Israel’s assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon represents a dramatic broadening of the yearlong war in the Middle East. How Iran’s most important regional ally responds will determine the postwar balance of power between Israel and Iran.

• Nobel Peace Prize: The Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo was honored for its work by atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the use of nuclear weapons. 
• Darién Gap crossings rise: The number of migrants navigating a rugged jungle passage between Colombia and Panama increased 51% in September over August. Most were Venezuelans.
• Outsourcing migrant processing centers: Under a five-year agreement signed last November, up to 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania. 
• Electing judges in Mexico: Mexican senators passed regulations stipulating how a judicial overhaul that reforms the country’s constitution will be implemented to popularly elect judges. The legislation now goes to the lower house of Congress. 
• More Kenyan troops to Haiti: Kenya will send 600 additional police officers in November to bolster an international anti-gang mission. Heavily armed gangs, which control most of the capital, have continued to gain territory.

Read these news briefs.

When hurricanes hit near an election, it’s known to reduce voter turnout. But election officials in North Carolina and Georgia are racing to address the challenge. In one county, ballots might be cast in tents.

As Florida regroups from Wednesday’s Hurricane Milton, it’s been two weeks since Hurricane Helene roared into the Appalachian Mountains. How a wrecked region recovers will depend on local resilience. And it’s there.

“Migrant crime” has become a central refrain of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy. Democrats say the claims are overblown. Here we explain recent high-profile criminal cases and how researchers assess immigrant crime rates.

In Gaza, the Monitor has relied on Ghada Abdulfattah to be our readers’ eyes and ears. She spoke with two Monitor staffers – one in the Middle East, another in Boston – about handling that unfathomable assignment for a year, and now more.

Women free divers in South Korea don’t view age as a limitation. The director of a new documentary discusses their determination, and how it helps them persevere in the centuries-old tradition they uphold.

Every year starting at about this time, tens of thousands of American children mail a letter to Santa asking for a holiday present – often not for themselves. And ever since 1912, local post offices have invited people – in selfless anonymity – to fulfill those wishes by donating a requested gift.

Known as Operation Santa, the program keeps expanding. Four years ago, it went nationwide. This year, the U.S. Postal Service teamed up with Toys R Us to allow these secret donors – “adopters” – to easily buy the gifts online.

This nurturing of generosity by strangers is akin to Toys for Tots, run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, or the Angel Tree program, run by the Salvation Army. They are bellwethers on how much people are willing to give without being identified. Call it kindness without kudos, or pure love.

In big-money philanthropy, too, anonymous giving to either a cause or a group of people has gained more traction. Special consultants, such as one called Silent Donor, now advise wealthy people on how to keep donations private. In many cases, anonymous funders are simply humble enough not to seek credit and wise enough to allow recipients not to become beholden to them. Often, a gift given under the radar encourages self-reliance.

In the digital age, however, more donors want privacy to avoid solicitations or harassment by those opposed to a particular cause receiving money. “The current climate of cultural divisiveness has transformed the act of donating into a public and oftentimes politicized spectacle,” stated a 2022 report by the Philanthropy Roundtable. The Supreme Court has had to rule against those trying to trample on the freedoms of generous donors.

Many religions make a case for anonymous giving. Maimonides, a 12th-century Jewish scholar, ranked it high on his eight-rung ladder of types of giving. Jesus advised followers to give to needy people, and “Do not announce it with trumpets.” Pride in giving is seen as barely giving.

Does anonymous giving inspire people to give? A 2019 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied found that to be the case. Rates of “unobserved altruism” can often be higher than if the donation were to be publicly recognized. Donors may be confused about their motives if they anticipate or receive praise. The possibility of public recognition reduces donations by as much as 20%.

The Postal Service’s Operation Santa keeps mum on who donates holiday gifts to children. All the better as it helps ensure such giving is from the heart. The “From” on the gift tag is nameless. That is to say, selfless.