President Barack Obama stated that he supported same-sex couples and believes that they should be able to marry. Vice president Joe Biden and cabinet member Arne Duncan had also came out in support of same-sex marriage previously. His announcement of this position marked the first time a sitting US president had publicly been in favor of the controversial topic.

The Thorp processing plant in Sellafield experienced a leakage of about twenty tons of nuclear material. The dangerous materials leaked through a crack in a pipe but were contained and did not impose a risk to the public, however the estimated cost to repair the damage was expected to fall heavily on taxpayers.