Briefing

THE WEEK

GAY COUPLES BEGAN MARRYING IN ALABAMA

‘This show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host.’

JON STEWART, host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, announcing that after 16 years on the anchor desk, he’ll leave the show this year

11

Number of weeks Taylor Swift’s 1989 topped the Billboard 200, making her the second woman to accomplish the feat twice

42%

Percentage of Americans who don’t support private ownership of drones, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll

‘He grudgingly accepted the counsel of more pragmatic folks like me.’

DAVID AXELROD, former political adviser to President Obama, saying in a new book that Obama, at the urging of Axelrod and others, misled the nation when he said he opposed gay marriage during the 2008 campaign

GOOD WEEK

Netflix

The video-streaming giant said it would expand into Cuba

BAD WEEK

Uber

Rape allegations against a driver led the company to add a panic button in India

‘BECK NEEDS TO RESPECT ARTISTRY, AND HE SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIS AWARD TO BEYONCÉ.’

KANYE WEST, rapper, declaring that Beyoncé was more deserving of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year

57

Number of blocks of cheese that a Tennessee couple was accused of stealing from a Walmart

‘I would be very uncomfortable if I saw it.’

MELANIE GRIFFITH, mother of Dakota Johnson, on why she won’t see the film adaptation of the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, which stars her daughter as the female lead

‘There is no temporary solution–this conflict must be resolved, not frozen.’

PETRO POROSHENKO, Ukrainian President, calling for an immediate cease-fire in his country’s eastern region, where pro-Russia separatists are battling Ukrainian military forces. World leaders gathered in Belarus on Feb. 11 to address the crisis

Sources: Reuters; AP; CBS; Believer: My Forty Years in Politics; Comedy Central; Billboard; E!; People