— PRESIDENT OBAMA, answering the Atlantic‘s question: Who do you prefer: Jay-Z or Kanye? The President was further prodded by the Atlantic reporter, who referred to a previously leaked interview in which Obama dubbed West a “jackass.”
– A statement released Sunday evening by Costa Cruises indicates that they are scrutinizing the actions of captain Francesco Schettino, saying he “appears to have not followed standard Costa procedures.” The company is the owner of the Costa Concordia that ran aground off the coast of Italy late Friday. (via The Guardian)
— BRANKO MILANOVIC, a World Bank economist, explaining that half of the world’s richest people live in the U.S. (via CNN)
— MICHELLE OBAMA, telling Barbara Walters in a TV interview that if she were reincarnated, she would want to come back to life as Bo, her family’s Portuguese Water Dog
— LIU WEIMIN, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, on Christian Bale after the Batman star was roughed up by plainclothes police while trying to visit a human rights activist; Bale was in China to promote The Flowers of War, a movie the country has submitted for an Oscar. (via Reuters)
World leaders reacted cautiously to the sudden news Sunday night that Kim Jong-Il, the despotic leader of isolated North Korea, had died of a heart attack while traveling aboard a train within the country on Saturday.
After an arduous fight with esophageal cancer, Christopher Hitchens — journalist, writer, intellectual and prominent atheist — died Thursday at the age of 62.
—MICHELLE DUGGAR, mother featured on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, on losing her latest pregnancy to a miscarriage. The program showcases the life of the Duggar family and their 19 children (via People)
– HERMAN CAIN, former 2012 presidential candidate, capped off his concession speech Saturday with a quote from Pokemon: The Movie. He’s used the quote in the past, attributing it only to “a poet.” Cain quit the presidential race amid the “continued distraction” of allegations of sexual misconduct.
– LEON PANETTA, U.S. Defense Secretary, wrote in a letter to Dancing with the Stars champion J.R. Martinez, congratulating the Iraq War veteran on his win. Martinez was burned over 40% of his body in 2003 when he was hit by a roadside bomb.
