Briefing

THE WEEK

TENSIONS MOUNTED IN SYRIA

‘That would go against elementary logic.’

BASHAR ASSAD, Syrian President, refuting accusations that his troops used chemical weapons “in a place where its own forces are concentrated”

‘I didn’t like it when the left spent eight years trying to delegitimize President Bush … I don’t think we should be doing that to President Obama.’

BOBBY JINDAL, Louisiana’s Republican governor, on GOP calls to impeach the President

500%

Increase in U.S. college costs since 1985, almost double the uptick for health care, gasoline and housing

$40 million

Amount for which Donald Trump was sued by the New York attorney general, who alleged his Trump University had misrepresented its benefits

Yahoo

Passed Google in monthly page views for the first time in over two years

GOOD WEEK

BAD WEEK

Facebook

To pay compensation to members whose names were used in sponsored stories sans consent

‘I’M VERY ASHAMED.’

BO XILAI, ousted Chinese politician, during the closing statement of his trial; he is accused of bribery, embezzlement, abusing power, attempting to hide an aide’s defection and interfering in a murder investigation involving his wife

367

Pit bulls rescued after police busted a dogfighting ring spanning Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi

‘I was Hannah Montana’s mother … Where did I go wrong?’

BROOKE SHIELDS, who played mom to Miley Cyrus on the Disney Channel–years before the tween idol’s risqu* Video Music Awards routine

‘I do hope that some of my dissents will one day be the law.’

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, Supreme Court Justice, on her legacy regarding women’s rights; in the past, she’s dissented in rulings upholding the partial-birth-abortion ban and the statute of limitations on race- or gender-based pay-discrimination suits

Sources: BBC; Reuters (2); New York Times; Washington Post; Bloomberg; Meet the Press; Today show