Dispatches

Nov. 8

More than half a century after harsh domination began by Burma’s military junta, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy headed to a decisive victory in national parliamentary elections. As both the speaker of parliament and leading presidential hopeful Shwe Mann conceded defeat, NLD supporters braved rain in Yangon, the capital of Burma (also known as Myanmar), to celebrate a landslide victory. Suu Kyi is legally barred from taking over as head of state but vowed her role in a new government would be “above the president.”

Suspect crash

Oct. 31

Leading heads of state struggled to say the word “bomb” after a Russian passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. The charter plane carrying tourists from Sharm el-Sheikh appeared certain to have exploded midair, but investigators and Egypt’s military doubted the Islamic State’s early claim to blowing it up. As evidence mounted, Great Britain suspended flights to the resort, stranding thousands of British vacationers, and President Barack Obama acknowledged “a possibility” of a bomb on board. Admitting a terrorist attack downed the plane would be a black eye for U.S. and Russian efforts to defeat ISIS and a knockout punch to Egyptian tourism.

Royal victory

Nov. 1

The Kansas City Royals defeated the New York Mets four games to one to become World Series champions 30 years after the franchise’s only other World Series title in 1985. The team showed a knack in the postseason for comebacks, winning seven games in which they had trailed by at least two runs. In the World Series, the Royals had been behind in all five games and won three games in which they had trailed in the 8th inning or later, the first World Series champions to accomplish that feat. “We never think about, ‘OK, the game is over,’” said series MVP Salvador Perez. “No, we always compete to the last out.”

Coach benched

Oct. 28

The Bremerton, Wash., School District placed assistant football coach Joe Kennedy on paid leave after he defied the district and prayed on the field after a Bremerton High School football game. The district said it could be liable to lawsuits from those who see the prayers as government-sponsored religious acts. But Kennedy says he has never asked anyone to join him in his midfield prayers and students and players join him only because they choose to do so. The Liberty Institute is representing Kennedy in a lawsuit against the district. “No reasonable observer,” wrote the institute’s Hiram Sasser, “could conclude that a football coach who waits until the game is over and the players have left the field and then walks to midfield to say a short, private, personal prayer is speaking on behalf of the state.”

Dam disaster

Nov. 6

Following two days of hard rain, two dams burst in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, releasing a 65-foot-high wall of water that destroyed Bento Rodrigues, a village of 600, killing at least 13 residents. The dams held back wastewater from the nearby Samarco iron ore mine, and villagers had barely 25 minutes to escape before a sludge of water and iron settled over their homes. “There’s nothing left in my village, just memories,” Soraia Souza, 24, told the Reuters news service.