1 February 2013 Last updated at 16:07 ET

Tweets of the week: Space monkeys, Chuck Hagel and Ed Koch

For the week ending 1 February, here is a look at the news in America - all in 140 characters or fewer.

1. What can be said about giving a loving sendoff to Hillary Clinton and Liz Lemon in the same week? Oh I know: Blerg.

CNN contributor Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar). This week, Clinton stepped down as Secretary of State, while 30 Rock - which created the iconic character Liz Lemon and her universal term of distaste, "blerg" - aired its last show.

2. Virginia considers dropping ban on unmarried couples cohabitating, but draws the line at skirts that are above the ankle.

Copywriter Mark Campbell (@MrWordsWorth). Virginia state legislatures announced plans to amend the law, dating back to the 1880s, and make it legal for non-married couples to live together.

3. Who knew Dan Marino could keep a secret better than the CIA director? #oy

Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi), filmmaker and daughter of the Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. This week, it was revealed that former football great Dan Marino kept secret for seven years a love child - an impressive feat considering former CIA director David Petraeus was undone by revelations of an extramarital affair.

4. Hagel sounds like kind of a jerk and a dummy... which I think would be par for most U.S. Senators.

Political humour writer Frank J Flemming (@IMAO_). Former Senator Chuck Hagel floundered during a particularly partisan round of questioning at his Senate confirmation hearing to become secretary of defence.

5. Iran space monkey was actually Ben Affleck and six U.S. embassy employees disguised as a monkey.

Gawker writer Adrian Chen (@adrianchen). Though the week began with news that Iran had successfully launched a monkey into space, by week's end the story was exposed as a hoax.

6. Breaking: Fed does nothing new, after signalling it would do nothing new.

Economics reporter Sudeep Reddy (@reddy) is not impressed by the Federal reserve's decision to hold steady on interest rates.

7. No one is talking about the obvious culprit here: Buzzfeed's irresponsible glorification of cats.

Journalist Jason Fagone (@jfagone) points fingers after a new study found cats were responsible for billions of animal deaths.

8. If you haven't been targeted by the Chinese hackers lately, you are probably not working hard enough. Just saying.

Author Evgeny Morozov (@evgenymorozov). It was revealed this week that the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal had their computers infiltrated by Chinese hackers.

9. Ed Koch, the greatest and most flawed politician I ever saw -- died. I somehow never thought he would.

Politico writer Glenn Thrush (@glennthrush) mourns the death of former New York City mayor Koch, who passed away at 88.

10. Markey: I wish Scott Brown well in bqhatevwr he does next.

Talking Points Memo writer Brian Beuler (@brianbeuler) Former senator Scott Brown announced he would not be running to fill John Kerry's vacated senate seat, meaning a likely victory for Democrat Ed Markey. Though Brown was considered a likely candidate, he was also in the news this week for a series of cryptic tweets sent from his Twitter account, often featuring the word "whatever" but once using the now-viral term "bqhatevwr ".