Mega Millions: A long shot at $355 million
Gamblers lined up Tuesday at newsstands and gas stations in 41 states and Washington, D.C., hoping to overcome astronomical odds and win one of the largest jackpots in U.S. lottery history.
"The odds are 1 in 176 million," said Carolyn Hapeman, a spokeswoman for New York State's lottery division. "But plenty of people have done it before."
The winner of the $355 million Mega Millions jackpot can accept it two ways: as a $224 million lump sum or as 26 annual payments before taxes. Uncle Sam and state and local governments all get their piece, said Hapeman, adding that most winners go for the cash option.
The promise of sudden riches has put dollar signs in the eyes of lottery players.
"Help my family, give some to my church, enjoy my life," said Jose Guzman, a hotel worker from New Jersey and Mega Millions player, when asked what he would do with the jackpot.
The winner, or winners, will be announced Tuesday night -- assuming that there is a jackpot winner. There hasn't been one since Nov. 25, when a winning $25 million ticket -- as yet unclaimed -- was bought in Broadview Heights, Ohio, according to the Mega Millions website.
In order to win, players have to hit the first five numbers plus the so-called mega ball. Players who hit the first five numbers without the mega ball win $250,000.
There have been several quarter-million winners, but no jackpot winner, allowing the jackpot to grow over time. It will continue to grow if no one strikes all six numbers on Tuesday.
The largest U.S. jackpot ever, $390 million in Mega Millions, was won on March 6, 2007, split by two people from Georgia and New Jersey.
The second-largest jackpot -- and the largest ever in the other big multi-state lottery, Powerball -- was $365 million won by ConAgra Foods co-workers in Nebraska on Feb. 18, 2006.
Many of the winners, including the ones from New York, are required to make a public appearance after they win, but after that they can fade from public view, according to Hapeman.
Curse of the lottery
Some winners don't live happily ever after. The so-called lottery curse, popularized by the corpulent character "Hurley" on ABC's show "Lost," has ruined at least a dozen winners over the years who couldn't handle the sudden influx of fortune and fame.
The most infamous case is that of Andrew "Jack" Whittaker, a construction company owner from West Virginia who won $315 million from Powerball in 2002.
Already a millionaire before he won the lottery, Whittaker pledged part of the winnings to his church.
But it all went downhill from there, according to published reports.
Whittaker's post-lottery problems are said to have included lawsuits, divorce, drunk driving, the theft of a cash-stuffed briefcase in a strip club, and the untimely deaths of his daughter and granddaughter.
Hapeman said the curse hasn't touched any lottery winners from New York, the most recent being Garina Fearon of Brooklyn, a corrections officer who won a $54 million jackpot from Mega Millions on Sept. 17.
"When I saw I had the numbers I started running, jumping and screaming all over the parking lot," said Fearon, according to Mega Millions. "Everyone saw me running around. They must have thought I was crazy or something."
BP shares jump 6% on takeover reports
BP shares have surged almost 6% after reports that rival Royal Dutch Shell considered a takeover bid following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Speculation that BP may not need to tap all of its $20bn (£13bn) compensation fund also helped to push the company's shares up by 27 pence to 493p.
The Daily Mail newspaper reported that Shell mulled a bid for BP when its shares slumped because of the spill.
The share price rise comes despite a sharp fall in the price of oil.
US light crude fell by $2.17, or 2.4%, to $89.38 a barrel in Tuesday trading, while London Brent dropped by $1.55, or 1.6%, to $923.29 a barrel.
Oil prices have hit two-year highs in recent days, partly because of increased demand due to the cold weather in the US and Europe and continuing optimism about the global recovery.
Dividend return
The Mail reported that Shell decided against a bid for BP as it was unwilling to risk taking responsibility for the potentially unlimited liabilities from the spill.
However, Shell management did agree to bid for BP if another oil giant, such as the US's Exxon Mobil, launched a takeover attempt, the report said.
Reports also suggest that Kenneth Feinberg, the US lawyer responsible for BP's compensation fund, suggested that $10bn might be enough to pay the victims of the spill.
"These reports may give investors reason to believe that a dividend could be brought back sooner rather than later, and that could have quite a positive impact on the share price," said David Hart at Westhouse Securities.
BP was forced to suspend dividend payments last year following pressure from the US government.
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf in April killed 11 workers and spilled millions of barrels of oil over several months.
The oil leak became the worst environmental disaster in US history.
Bank of America pays Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $2.6bn
Bank of America has agreed to pay US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about $2.6bn (£1.7bn) to settle claims it sold them bad home loans.
There had been fears the bank would be forced to buy back billions of dollars of mortgage loan investments.
"These actions resolve substantial legacy issues in the best interest of our shareholders," the bank's boss Brian Moynihan said.
Shares in the US's biggest bank closed up 6.5% following the announcement.
The bank said it had made a cash payment of $1.28bn to Freddie Mac and one of $1.34bn to Fannie Mae on 31 December.
It said these payments "extinguish all outstanding and potential mortgage" claims made against it by Freddie Mac, and "substantially resolves" those made by Fannie Mae.
"Bank of America believes that it has addressed its remaining exposure to repurchase obligations for residential mortgage loans sold directly to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," the bank said.
The claims relate to loans sold by Countrywide Financial Corporation, which Bank of America bought in 2008.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said the loans were made without meeting investors' underwriting requirements, such as income levels and home values.
"This significant agreement with Bank of America is a fair and responsible resolution of these outstanding claims," said Fannie Mae boss Michael Williams.
Porsche shares surge on hopes of VW merger
Shares in German carmaker Porsche have soared after a US judge dismissed a lawsuit that had threatened to de-rail a planned merger with Volkswagen
Two hedge funds claimed more than $2bn (£1.3bn) in damages over a 2008 deal in which Porsche bought a stake in VW.
But last week, a judge dismissed claims by funds Elliott Associates and Black Diamond of securities fraud by Porsche.
Shares in Porsche, trading for the first time since the judge's decision, jumped 7.5%, while VW shares rose 2.5%.
Earlier in the session, Porsche shares were up 12%.
"We regard this [decision] as positive news for Porsche shareholders as the biggest risk to the merger with VW has been removed," Credit Suisse analysts said in research note.
The lawsuit had delayed VW's attempts to merge with Porsche, which is also planning a 5bn euros (£4.3bn) rights issue.
The hedge funds had alleged they lost out when Porsche covertly bought a stake in Volkswagen using swap instruments as part of a plan to take over Europe's largest carmaker.
When Porsche's stakebuilding was revealed in October 2008, VW shares soared and the company briefly became the world's biggest business by market value.
Hedge funds that had bet on VW's share price falling lost money.
The planned merger of the two carmakers also received a boost after Martin Winterkorn agreed to extend his contract as chief executive of VW until the end of 2016.
Mr Winterkorn is one of the architects of the deal.
Convicted killer could inherit victim's assets
A man imprisoned for killing his mother-in-law in 2008 could soon inherit his victim's assets, valued at a minimum of $250,000, authorities said.
The strange twist of fate was made possible after the death of Deanna Palladino, wife of convicted killer Brandon Palladino and sole inheritor of her slain mother's assets, according to Suffolk County court documents.
The money she inherited from her mother, Dianne Edwards, could soon become the inheritance of her husband, who is awaiting formal sentencing for Edwards' killing at Suffolk County jail in Long Island, New York, according to District Attorney spokesman Robert Clifford.
Palladino pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on October 12, in exchange for a plea deal, Clifford said.
He is expected to face up to 25 years in prison, Clifford added.
But the possibility that Palladino could become the new owner of Edwards' assets has outraged some of Edwards' family members.
"He's going to benefit from this crime, he's going to profit from a murder," said Donna Larsen, Edwards' sister. "When he gets out of jail and is in his 40s, he's going to have a quarter-million dollars to move on with his life after murdering somebody."
Edwards' brother-in-law, Andy Larsen, said, "It's terrible that you have to fight a killer for the victim's assets when he's a confessed murderer and he's going to be profiting from the crime."
Repeated attempts to reach Palladino's attorney, Raymond Perini, for comment were not successful.
Dennis Lemke, an attorney advising Larsen, said he is going to do "whatever is necessary to make sure the money doesn't get into the hands of the murderer."
He said "a person can't benefit from their own criminal conduct, so the Larsens have to prove that the daughter was in fact involved in Edwards' murder."
Police would not comment whether Deanna Palladino was suspected in the death of her mother, and did not provide evidence that supports Lemke's allegation.
Assassination of Pakistan's Salman Taseer condemned
There has been strong international condemnation of the assassination of one of Pakistan's best-known liberal politicians in the capital Islamabad.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regretted the death of Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province, saying he had promoted tolerance.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called his death "a loss for Pakistan".
Mr Taseer was shot dead by one of his bodyguards angered over the governor's opposition to blasphemy laws.
The governor - a senior member of the governing Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - had recently angered Islamists by appealing for a Christian woman, sentenced to death for blasphemy, to be pardoned.
"I had the opportunity to meet Governor Taseer in Pakistan and I admired his work to promote tolerance and the education of Pakistan's future generations," said Mrs Clinton in a statement.
"His death is a great loss. The United States remains committed to helping the government and people of Pakistan as they persevere in their campaign to bring peace and stability to their country."
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "shocked" by the killing.
Pakistan's high commissioner to London, Wajid Shamshul Hassan, told the BBC's Newshour programme that the assassination exposed the divisions in his country.
"It has shown that you can be held hostage by a minority of religious people and they can do whatever they want. That is not the way we are going to allow in the country," he said.
"We will be tough on them. Unless we get rid of such people in our society, unless we purge them from the various security agencies, you can't feel that justice will be done."
Witnesses said Mr Taseer, 66, was riddled with bullets from an automatic rifle as he returned to his car at the Kohsar Market, a shopping centre in Islamabad.
Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik said the guard - named as Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri - had confessed to the killing.
Mr Malik told a news conference: "The police guard who killed him says he did this because Mr Taseer recently defended the proposed amendments to the blasphemy law. This is what he told the police after surrendering himself.
"But we are investigating to find out whether it was his individual act or whether someone else was also behind it," he added.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared three days of national mourning and appealed for calm. He also ordered an immediate inquiry into Mr Taseer's killing.
Mr Taseer's body has been taken to Punjab's capital, Lahore, where a state funeral will be held.
Mr Taseer - a close associate of President Asif Ali Zardari - made headlines by appealing for the pardon of Christian woman Asia Bibi who had been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Pakistan instability
Friends of the governor say he knew he was risking his life by speaking out.
"Salman's murder has given [us] an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to his ideals," Mr Hassan told the BBC.
"He talked to [Asia Bibi] because he wanted to send a message of assurance to the minorities that we will not allow injustice to happen against them."
Mr Taseer's death is the most high-profile assassination in Pakistan since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in December 2007.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says Mr Taseer was one of Pakistan's most important political figures and his death will add further instability to the country.
PPP supporters wept and shouted as the governor's coffin was driven away from a hospital in Islamabad.
Dozens took to the streets in Lahore, burning tyres and blocking traffic. There were also protests in the central city of Multan.
Queensland city Rockhampton hitting flood peak
Flood preparations in the inundated Australian city of Rockhampton are being put to the test as river levels hit their peak.
The River Fitzroy which flows through the Queensland city is at 9.2m (30ft) and expected to hit 9.4m, having already swamped hundreds of acres.
Officials say more than 400 homes will be flooded and another 4,000 will have water pouring through their gardens.
Many residents have already evacuated, some forced to do so by police.
More than 100 people spent the night in an emergency evacuation centre.
City Mayor Brad Carter said the waters were expected to remain at their peak level for about two days.
"Then as it starts to drop and flatten out, it is likely to be about 10 days or so that it could stay at about the 8.5m mark, which indicates that we will have significant water inundation for the best part of ... two weeks," he said.
Many of the city's historic buildings are being protected by piles of sandbags.
The city's main road to the north is still open but the airport is closed. Supplies are being flown by military cargo plane to a town north of Rockhampton and taken on by road or barge.
Mr Carter said residents had reported seeing snakes moving through the water looking for dry ground and some saltwater crocodiles had also been spotted in the Fitzroy River.
"We do not think they are a risk to public safety if people keep out of the waters, but if people do enter the waters their safety cannot be guaranteed," he told The Australian newspaper.
As the waters rose on Wednesday, Queensland's cabinet was meeting in emergency session to discuss its response to the crisis.
State Premier Anna Bligh said: "Given the scale and size of this disaster... we will continue to have major issues to deal with throughout January.
"There are literally thousands of Queenslanders who need our support."
More than a week of heavy rain has created a huge inland sea across Queensland which is now draining towards the ocean along the state's river systems, causing chaos in its wake.
Officials have said the flooded area is the size of France and Germany combined and 200,000 people have been affected. At least three deaths have been blamed on the floods so far.
South of Rockhampton, floodwaters are threatening St George where officials predict 80% of the town could be inundated next week.
To make matters worse, more rain is forecast for the state.
On Wednesday meteorologists issued a severe thunderstorm warning for southern areas, saying "very heavy rainfall, flash flooding" were likely, with St George among the locations that could be affected.
Student protest footage released by Met Police
Police have released CCTV footage of people they wish to interview after Prince Charles's car was attacked during December's student protests.
The Metropolitan Police have issued the pictures taken from cameras in the Regent Street and Oxford Circus area of London on Thursday 9 December.
A convoy, including a car carrying the prince and the Duchess of Cornwall, was attacked in the area.
The protests were in response to the rise in tuition fees.
The Met's Operation Malone team is investigating the violence in the capital that day.
Police say the newly-released images and footage show a woman striking the royal car and causing damage to one of the convoy vehicles.
In one picture, the woman is seen with a man, whom police also wish to trace as a potential witness.
Officers are also keen to trace two men seen separately attacking the royal car.
Det Ch Supt Matthew Horne, who is leading the Operation Malone team, said: "We believe that most of the people whose pictures we have released may have committed serious offences of violent disorder and criminal damage in this area and urge them, or anybody who knows them, to come forward and speak to us.
"We understand the importance of the right to protest, but people who break the law and endanger those who wish to protest peacefully by committing criminal offences must face the inevitable consequences of their actions.
"I would like to remind anybody involved in attacks of violence that we will investigate them and do everything in our power to bring them before a court.
"Those who are convicted of an offence will have to face the consequences of having a criminal record, which could have a potential impact on their future employment and travel."
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were travelling to the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium in a distinctive Rolls-Royce Phantom VI when the incident occurred.
Their car was surrounded by as many as 20 demonstrators on Regent Street. One of the vehicle's windows was smashed and paint was thrown at it.
At least three metal dustbins were also hurled at two other cars in the convoy and the duchess was poked in the ribs through an open window. White paint was also thrown over the vehicle.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson ordered an internal review into the incident, which has been presented to Home Secretary Theresa May.
Operation Malone detectives are collating and trawling through hours of CCTV and footage gathered by police during the protests, to identify people for potential prosecution.
Labour and Tories clash over VAT increase
Chancellor George Osborne has defended the VAT increase from 17.5% to 20%, saying it could boost employment and was better than raising income tax.
But Labour leader Ed Miliband urged the government to apologise for suggesting that the rate rise was a "progressive" policy.
The VAT rise, which came into effect on Tuesday, will bring in an extra £13bn in revenue, the Treasury says.
Food, children's clothing, newspapers and magazines are not subject to VAT.
It is the second increase in a year, after Labour chancellor Alistair Darling restored the 17.5% rate last January, having temporarily reduced it to 15% for 13 months to stimulate the economy.
Research by the Centre for Retail Research and online shopping group Kelkoo has suggested that retail sales will fall by about £2.2bn in the first three months of the year as a result of the rise in VAT.
The British Retail Consortium has also warned that the rise, announced in the June Budget, may have squeezed the traditional January sales period into a concentrated burst around the New Year.
But Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I didn't come into politics and become chancellor of the exchequer wanting to increase taxes. I'm actually someone who believes we want to try and lower taxes in this country.
"But when you've got a very large budget deficit and you've in the middle of a European sovereign debt crisis - and you've decided that at least part of dealing with the deficit has to come from tax rises - then I think VAT presents itself as the choice."
He added: "If you look at the population and how much they spend, then VAT is progressive."
Mr Osborne also said the VAT rise was a "tough but necessary step towards Britain's economic recovery", and that 20% was "a reasonable rate to set, given the very difficult situation we find ourselves in".
He added that he regarded the increase as "permanent" and it would "increase employment" because it would increase confidence that the government was tackling the budget deficit.
But, in an interview with the BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent, Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Miliband said: "David Cameron admitted before the election that VAT rises are unfair.
"Everyone knows that poor and middle-income households will be hit hardest. He should come out and apologise for misleading the British people."
Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson said: "This is a broken promise - this was the big issue of the general election campaign."
The change affects any VAT-registered business which sells or purchases goods or services that are subject to the standard rate.
High-ranking Chinese politician arrives in Antigua-Barbuda
China's highest ranking female politician, Madame Liu Yandong, arrived in Antigua on Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and other senior government officials.
The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) reported that she is accompanied by six ministers and vice ministers from the Chinese government.
The visitors paid a courtesy call on Governor General Dame Louise Lake-Tack on Friday and also had discussions with Spencer. They will sign bilateral agreements, which Ambassador David Shoul said will relate to the recently announced financing for a new airport terminal, and the donation of several computers to the Ministry of Education.
In the Throne Speech in December, Lake-Tack reported that the government of Antigua and Barbuda and the government of China, through the Ministry of Tourism, have signed off on a preliminary schematic design on the construction of a new airport terminal for Antigua and Barbuda.
"This project will cost approximately US$45 million, to be funded by the EXIM Bank of the People's Republic of China. The terms of the arrangement consist of a 30 percent interest free grant and a 70 percent concessionary loan at 2 percent interest, with a five year moratorium. Construction will commence in the first half of 2011," she said.