In a landmark decision during a busy week in Washington, the Supreme Court of the United States today made a pair of rulings that favor gay marriage, overturning the federal Defense of Marriage Act and rejecting the appeal of a California marriage ban. While the American community receives the news, we're reminded that other nations sit on different points of the gay marriage spectrum: in 2010, Iceland's prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir became the first head of government to enter into a same sex marriage, wedding her civil partner on June 27 that year.

One recent wedding which has garnered plenty of headlines this week is that of George Lucas, to his bride Mellody Hobson. It's the second marriage for the "Star Wars" creator and what a life the two of them should expect to share together as a power couple: Hobson is the president of Ariel Investments and chairman of Dreamworks Animation while Lucas, of course, just so happens to sit atop the largest personal fortune made from a film franchise with his net worth of $3.9 million (£2.54 million). I wonder if his "I Do" went anything like this.

In Brazil, national soccer team manager Luiz Felipe Scolari hopes that a trophy for the Seleção in the Confederations Cup can unite the home nation, which has undergone heavy civil unrest in recent weeks. As of publishing, the semi-final between Brazil and Uruguay had not yet gone to full time, but already Brazil has broken a record this competition: with three group stage victories, it's now 10 consecutive Confederations Cup wins for the Canarinha, the most ever in the competition.

Lastly, in this cinema age of franchises, it's no surprise that the iconic '90s movie "Independence Day" is getting a sequel made. Good news for fans of the first one: Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman have agreed to come back for the second installment. Bad news: Will Smith has not and probably will not. It will be interesting to see how the film does without its superstar protagonist. Smith's career has made him such a megastar that at two separate points he held the record for highest annual earnings for a film actor, reaching a peak of $80 million (£52.2 million) in 2008.