Morning Must Reads: November 5

What’s Next for Republicans

Republicans won a decisive victory Tuesday night, winning at least 52 seats to gain control of the Senate for the first time since 2006. Now comes the hard part: governing with President Barack Obama and positioning the party for 2016

Guide to the 2016 GOP Primary

As the starting gun sounds on the presidential election in two years, all signs point to an unwieldy pack of Republican candidates

Voters Lit Up for Marijuana

Legalization activists won victory in various pot measures during the midterm election. TIME rounds up the 2014 marijuana votes

Benedict Cumberbatch Is Getting Hitched

The Sherlock actor has announced his engagement to actress Sophie Hunter in an old-school newspaper classified ad. Cumberbatch, 38, who is also the voice of Smaug the dragon in the Hobbit trilogy, had largely kept his relationship with Hunter, 36, out of the media

Government Requests for Facebook User Data Up 24%

Government requests for user information rose by 24% between the second half of 2013 and the first half of 2014, while the number of government requests for content restriction rose by 19%, according to a new report by the social-media giant

Amnesty International Accuses Israel of War Crimes

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the accusations, adding that “investigations are currently under way by several bodies inside and outside the Israel Defense Forces, into over 90 incidents” that occured during the war against Hamas in Gaza this summer

Taylor Swift’s 1989 Has a Huge Week

Swift’s chart-topping album sold 1.287 million copies in its first seven days of release — that’s more than any other album since 2002, when rapper Eminem shifted 1.322 million copies in a week of The Eminem Show

WNBA Star Brittney Griner Cut But OK After Knife Attack

American basketball player Brittney Griner was lightly injured in Shenyang, China, on Monday after a knife-wielding man attacked her and two teammates as they were boarding a team bus. “The guy was clearly either mentally ill or very drunk,” she said afterward

Here’s Where Ice Bucket Challenge Money Is Going

New research projects dedicated to solving ALS have begun to receive millions of dollars in additional funding thanks to this year’s Ice Bucket Challenge. The funding marks the ALS Association’s first move toward distributing the $115 million it raised to fight the disease

Dunham Lawyers Threaten Lawsuit Over Abuse Allegations

Lena Dunham’s lawyers have threatened a suit over an article claiming that a passage from her new memoir indicates she had sexually abused her sister. “Childhood sexual abuse is a life-shattering event for so many,” Dunham tells TIME

C-3PO Says Star Wars: Episode VII May Be Best Sequel

Star Wars alum Anthony Daniels took to Twitter to share his excitement about Star Wars: Episode VII, the first installment of a sequel trilogy in which he’ll reprise his role as the voice of C-3PO. Daniels hinted that the new film may be better than Empire Strikes Back

Vikings’ Adrian Peterson Pleads No Contest to Misdemeanor

Per terms of the agreement between Peterson and the prosecution, the plea makes no reference to family violence or violence against a minor. Peterson must pay a $4,000 fine, will be placed on probation and will be ordered to perform 80 hours of community service

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