10 things you need to know today: November 9, 2015

(Image credit: AP Photo/Mark Baker)

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1. Suu Kyi's party says it won Myanmar elections in a landslide
2. Professors join Missouri protests over race issues
3. Obama and Netanyahu meet for first time since Iran deal
4. Prominent Egyptian journalist and human rights leader detained
5. Climate change could push 100 million into poverty, World Bank says
6. Catalonia lawmakers approve plan for breaking away from Spain
7. Violence erupts at Australian detention center after escaped refugee's death
8. Two freight trains derail in Wisconsin
9. Michigan city elects first council with Muslim majority
10. Trump gives SNL a ratings boost

published 9 November 2015

1. Suu Kyi's party says it won Myanmar elections in a landslide

A spokesman for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) said that it had won about 70 percent of the votes already counted in Myanmar's first free nationwide election in 25 years. In her first public comments since the Sunday election, Suu Kyi said it was "still a bit early to congratulate" the winners, but the military-backed ruling party conceded defeat. Authorities are expected to release preliminary results Monday, and a final tally Tuesday. The military is guaranteed a quarter of the seats.

A faculty group at the University of Missouri called for a walkout on Monday and Tuesday in support of student activists who say Tim Wolfe, the unversity system president, has not adequately addressed a series of race-related incidents on campus. The show of solidarity by professors came shortly after more than 30 Missouri football players said they were refusing to play until Wolfe resigns or is terminated. A student group started the protests in October, and Gov. Jay Nixon said Sunday the "concerns must be addressed."

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President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are meeting in the White House on Monday in their first face-to-face talk in more than a year. Obama and Netanyahu will work on mending relations that were severely strained over the Iran nuclear deal, which Netanyahu, in a March address, urged Congress to reject. In the meeting, Obama is expected to push for a renewed commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Netanyahu reportedly wants progress toward a new 10-year military aid package.

Egyptian military intelligence on Sunday detained a prominent journalist, Hossam Bahgat, and questioned him for more than nine hours. Bahgat, 37, remained in custody early Monday, and reportedly could be charged with publishing false information. Bahgat founded the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in 2002, and since the military overthrew president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 he has posted investigations challenging government statements. Amnesty International called his detention "yet another nail in the coffin" of free expression in Egypt.

Unless something is done to curb climate change, global warming will drive 100 million people into poverty by 2030, according to a report released by the World Bank on Sunday. Poor people face elevated danger of "shocks" from crop failure and soaring food prices caused by flooding, drought, and other extreme weather patterns that are expected to become increasingly frequent. It will be impossible to achieve the goal of ending poverty unless countries "dramatically reduce harmful emissions," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

Lawmakers in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region on Monday approved launching a new push for independence in defiance of the national government. The Together for Yes coalition and leftist CUP party, which won a combined 72 of the regional parliament's 135 seats in September, approved an 18-month roadmap toward secession. Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy last month vowed to use "all political and legal means" to stop any independence bid.

Rioting broke out at Australia's Christmas Island Immigration Detention Facility on Sunday after what started as a peaceful protest over the death of an Iranian Kurd, who escaped Saturday and was found dead Sunday at the bottom of a cliff. Authorities said fires set inside might have damaged the medical, educational, and athletic facilities. The situation remained "tense" overnight but negotiations were underway to resolve the disturbance "peacefully and as soon as possible," officials said.

The city of Hamtramck, Michigan, has made history by electing its first city council with a Muslim majority. It is believed to be the first American town to do so, said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter. Hamtramck, pop. 22,000, is an enclave of Detroit that has historically been a predominantly Polish-Catholic community, but with immigration the Arab population has soared to roughly 50 percent in recent decades.

Donald Trump's hosting gig on Saturday Night Live might have been panned by critics, but it pushed the comedy show's overnight rating to the highest level since 2012, according to NBC. The official numbers aren't in yet, but the Republican presidential candidate and billionaire businessman's episode appears to have drawn an audience of nearly 10 million. The season premiere, hosted by Miley Cyrus and featuring an appearance by Hillary Clinton, had 6.3 million viewers.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.