The week at a glance ... Americas

Mexico City

Gay adoptions upheld: The Mexican Supreme Court this week upheld a Mexico City law allowing gay couples to adopt children. The ruling comes just a week after the court ruled that gay marriages conducted in Mexico City—which in March became the only Mexican city to legalize such unions—must be recognized in all of Mexico. In response, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico City called for the ouster of Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. “He and his government have created laws destructive to the family, laws that do worse damage than drug trafficking,” said Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the archdiocese.

San Andres, Colombia

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Plane crash ‘miracle’: A Boeing 737 crash-landed on a runway and broke into three pieces this week, yet only one of 131 people onboard died. “It was a miracle,” said Pedro Gallardo, governor of San Andres, the Colombian island in the Caribbean where the planeload of vacationers crashed. Aires airlines Flight 8250 was touching down on the runway in a thunderstorm when it skidded and broke apart, scattering passengers across the tarmac. “There were many people wounded, screaming,” said passenger Juan Carlos Hurtado. A 68-year-old woman, the sole fatality, apparently died of a heart attack. Officials suspect a lightning strike caused the crash.

Rio de Janeiro

Law is no joke: Brazilian comedians and satirists are staging street protests against a law that forbids jokes about politicians during the three months before elections. The law, which prohibits the use of “trickery, montages, or other features of audio or video in any way to degrade or ridicule a candidate, party, or coalition,” has been on the books since Brazil was ruled by military dictatorship—an era that ended 25 years ago. But this year’s campaign marks the first time that comedians have openly challenged it. “Do you know of any other democracy in the world with rules like this?” said Marcelo Tas, who hosts a weekly TV comedy show. “If you want to find a bigger joke, you would have to look to Monty Python.”