Cheat Sheet - Phew! John Edwards Sex Tape to Be Destroyed

Today: 'Friends of Syria' Demand Action, Rick Santorum's Beltway Curse Is Hurting His 2012 Campaign, Maryland Senate Passes Gay Marriage February 24, 2012 WHEW! 1. Edwards Sex Tape to Be Destroyed All copies of a sex tape involving former presidential candidate John Edwards and his mistress Rielle Hunter will be destroyed within 30 days, after Hunter won ownership of the video in a court settlement Thursday. In the civil suit, Hunter had sued Edwards's former campaign aide Andrew Young who housed Hunter and pretended her baby were theirs in a coverup of the sex scandal during the 2008 White House campaign, claiming that he took the tape and other personal items from her and described the video in his tell-all book. Young relinquished ownership in the court settlement, and also agreed not to talk publicly about the tape anymore. Read it at Politico HELP 2. 'Friends of Syria' Demand Action Will this be the tipping point for some action on Syria? Foreign ministers from more than 50 countries, calling themselves the Friends of Syria, are holding their first meeting Friday to demand Syria allow international aid be delivered to civilians as the government continue brutal assaults on the city of Homs. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the opposition will arm itself and overthrow him if diplomacy fails. The summit in Tunisia is the first major international gathering there since the overthrow of President Ben Ali last year. Read it at Reuters CURSED 3. How Santorum's Record Is Hurting His Campaign Rick Santorum bills himself as a prolific senator defending the ugly compromises of Washington—but his record tells a far different story. The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz on how Rick's congressional experience is actually harming his campaign. Read it at The Daily Beast VICTORY 4. Maryland Senate Passes Gay Marriage Gay-marriage proponents celebrated another win in Maryland on Thursday after the state Senate approved a measure that would legalize same-sex unions. Gov. Martin O'Malley has vowed to sign the bill, which will make Maryland the eighth state to adopt gay marriage. Even though Maryland's legislation has a large Democratic majority, there was still quite a bit of opposition. Factions of lawmakers with Catholic and evangelical ties tried to block the bill. The Maryland House of Delegates voted last week to approve gay marriage by a thin margin—71 to 67. Despite one of the largest Democratic majorities in any state legislature, backers of gay marriage in Maryland had to overcome fierce opposition from blocks of African-American lawmakers and those with strong Catholic and evangelical views to cobble together coalitions big enough to pass both chambers. Read it at The Washington Post AFGHANISTAN 5. Nine Killed in Quran Protests Nine more people were killed on Friday in Afghanistan as the the outrage over the burning of Qurans by American troops continues. Protesters gathered in Kabul on Friday for the fourth day, with hundreds marching to the palace of President Hamid Karzai. The rallies turned violent Thursday, leaving at least eight people dead, including two U.S. soldiers. President Obama apologized to the Afghan people in a letter Thursday, but crowds of Afghans are unconvinced, as protests spread across the country. Read it at BBC ACCIDENT Dust to Blame for Marines' Crash? Investigation results still weeks away. MONEY Maher Gives $1M to Obama Super PAC Fund raised only $58K in January. COMA Dutch Prince In a Coma After being hit by an avalanche in Austria. 2012 Mild Drought Might Have Killed Mayans More than a thousand years ago. WEDDING BELLES Elizabeth Smart's Dream Husband Inside her Hawaiian wedding to a Scottish Prince Charming. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET The Yes List Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. A U.S.-Iran Conspiracy? by Leslie H. Gelb Virginia Blinks on Abortion Rule by Michelle Goldberg Clooney Could Lose! by Richard Rushfield

ABOUT US | CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBE Copyright 2012 The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company LLC 555 W. 18th Street , New York NY 10011 Privacy Policy

If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, click here to view this email in your Web browser. To ensure delivery of these emails, please add thedailybeast@e2.thedailybeast.com to your address book. If you have changed your mind and no longer wish to receive these emails, or think you have received this message in error, you can safely unsubscribe here.