Verbatim

‘The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.’

POPE FRANCIS, suggesting in his encyclical on the environment that a “revolution” is needed to combat climate change

Verizon

The telecom giant closed its deal to officially acquire AOL

GOOD WEEK

BAD WEEK

AT&T

The FCC fined it $100 million for slowing Internet speeds for millions of customers

‘THIS CAME FROM CLEARLY A BAD PLACE, A BAD URGE INSIDE ME.’

BRIAN WILLIAMS, explaining why he fabricated personal stories while he was the anchor of NBC Nightly News; Williams, who was permanently replaced by Lester Holt, will take on a new role at MSNBC

66

Number of people who rode a 42-ft. (12.8 m) surfboard in Huntington Beach, Calif., setting a new world record

1,297

Number of new cops New York City plans to add to its force of 35,000 with murders on the rise

‘IN THIS WORLD, WITH GREAT POWER THERE MUST ALSO COME–GREAT RESPONSIBILITY.’

ELENA KAGAN, Supreme Court Justice, quoting a Spider-Man comic in a decision that Marvel does not have to pay royalties to the inventor of a Spider-Man toy after its patent expired

$1.6 BILLION

Amount collected by airlines in the U.S. for checked bags and reservation changes in 2015’s first quarter, the most since bag fees were introduced in 2008

‘I find it to be shocking, disappointing and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.’

TAYLOR SWIFT, singer, criticizing Apple for not paying artists during the three-month trial period for its new streaming music service; the company reversed its policy less than 24 hours later

‘I forgive you.’

NADINE COLLIER, whose mother Ethel Lance was one of nine people killed in a shooting at an African-American church in Charleston, S.C., addressing suspect Dylann Roof at a bond hearing