Seven Days

A glance at the week that was

The numbers

$4.05 bn

The amount Disney has paid for Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise.

8,000

Estimated number of families left homeless by Hurricane Sandy in Haiti, where 54 people were killed.

2,000

Number of jobs Eircom plans to cut by 2014.

90%

The proportion of of northern Europeans who would vote for Barack Obama if they could, according to a survey by YouGov.

16

The new voting age in Argentina, down from 18.

500

Age of the Sistine Chapel (below), which reached the landmark half-millennium on Wednesday.

Give us our gold, Says Germany

With nearly half of Germany’s sovereign gold reserves stored in vaults deep below the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, there is growing pressure from some voices there to make sure the 1,536 metric tons of gold bars are safe, and not because of the risk of hurricane-related flooding. To placate the conspiracy theorists who believe all the foreign gold reserves have disappeared, the Bundesbank plans to repatriate 150 tons of it.

We now know

The

Seán FitzPatrick puppet

has been written out of Anglo: The Musical. Lawyers warned it might prejudice FitzPatrick’s trial.

It's possible to cancel Halloween, at least in New Jersey, where the governor, Chris Christie, postponed celebrations in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Gardaí in Dublin are now equipped with Segway scooters, donated by the Dublin City Business Association.

Most read on irishtimes.com

1Signs that your mammy may be Irish

2Is Dublin 8 the new gay village?

3Girl dies after bullying claim

4Theres little special about being Irish, no matter how many certs you have

516 dead as Superstorm Sandy hits US east coast

6On the Record: Why Bon Jovi at Slane Castle will be the yawn gig of 2013

7Is there a new face of atheism?

8NI prison officer dies in ambush

9Saving lives, losing respect: how 'consultant' became a dirty word

10Qualified Bent could get Ireland out of a tight spot

Rankings for Oct 26th-Nov 2nd