Briefing

THE WEEK

THE STAR WARS TRAILER BROKE THE INTERNET

$530 million

The record divorce settlement between British billionaire Chris Hohn and his U.S.-born wife

‘We have a lot to do. And there isn’t much time to accomplish it.

HARRY REID, Senate majority leader, threatening to keep lawmakers in session into the Christmas holiday if work on funding the government isn’t finished

Cyber Monday

Sales for the online- shopping day were up 17%, setting a new record of over $2 billion

GOOD WEEK

BAD WEEK

Black Friday

Sales during the Thanksgiving weekend were forecast to drop by 11%

‘If Europe does not want to complete this, then it will not be completed.’

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President, announcing that because European regulators were “not constructive” about granting permits, he’s scrapping a planned pipeline to send more natural gas to Europe

462,125

The number of people who signed up for health insurance during the first week of Obamacare enrollment in November, up from about 106,000 in the first week last year

‘A simmering distrust … exists between too many police departments and too many communities of color.’

BARACK OBAMA, describing what he called the national problem laid bare by the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., over the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer

‘Ray told the honest truth.’

JANAY RICE, wife of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, refuting the NFL’s allegation that her husband was initially “ambiguous” about whether he had hit her; his indefinite suspension was lifted by an arbitrator Nov. 28

300,000

Number of chickens killed in the Netherlands as a precaution against the bird flu strain H5N8

‘The wheelchair and the computer voice would fit the part.’

STEPHEN HAWKING, renowned physicist and subject of the biopic The Theory of Everything, on why his ideal acting role would be “a baddie in a James Bond film”

Sources: Wall Street Journal; New York Times; CNN; BBC; Today; HHS; Wired