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Ticker: Mega Millions jackpot grows to $820 million with a possible cash payout of $422 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

Mega Millions has upped the ante by another $100 million.The lack of a jackpot winner in the lottery game’s latest drawing on Friday night sent the top prize soaring to an estimated $820 million.The numbers drawn late Friday were: 29, 40, 47, 50, 57 and gold Mega Ball 25. No tickets were sold hitting all those numbers for the estimated grand prize of $720 million.The estimated $820 million in the next drawing on Tuesday night would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesdays drawing is an estimated $422 million.The potential jackpot is the fifth largest in the history of the game.Unemployment rates near record lows in half of US statesHalf of U.S. states were experiencing record-low unemployment — or very close to it — in June, underscoring the strength of the nation’s labor market.The unemployment rates in 25 states are currently at or within 0.1 percentage point of a r...

Mets lean on bullpen to take first game of doubleheader against Red Sox

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

BOSTON — The Mets had to rely on a bullpen that has been anything but reliable this summer, but they withstood the Boston Red Sox in the continuation of Friday night’s game to take the series opener 5-4 on Saturday afternoon.Rain delayed and then suspended the first game of a three-game series. Every win is absolutely crucial for the Mets right now as they attempt to climb out of a hole of their own creation and get back to playoff contention before the Aug. 1 trade deadline. This one certainly didn’t come easy, but it counted and that’s all that mattered.The Mets started the game without outfielder Tommy Pham, who stayed in New York to undergo more imaging on a tight right groin and had trouble getting to Boston because of the same storms that suspended the game Friday night. Utility infielder Luis Guillorme left the game in the bottom of the sixth when a hard chopper by Rafael Devers took a bad hop and he twisted himself up trying to get to the ball on the ...

Extreme heat pushes airlines to shed fuel, limit passengers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

High temperatures pounding parts of the U.S. are forcing airlines to adjust operations in the hardest-hit cities, reducing fuel or baggage — and in some cases shedding passengers — to help aircraft operate.Allegiant Airlines, a unit of Allegiant Travel Co., said it will delay flights if there’s a threat to passenger safety or comfort as temperatures in the Southwest continue to hit records. In Las Vegas, where Allegiant is based, excessive heat advisories have been extended through Sunday, and temperatures have been above 100 degrees F since June 30, according to National Weather Service data.High temperatures make air less dense, reducing engine performance and the amount of lift produced at a given speed. That generally means lower takeoff weights and longer takeoff distances are needed to produce sufficient lift. As a result, carriers are having to reduce pounds on the planes.On July 17, several Delta Air Lines Inc. passengers voluntarily got off a flight from Las Vegas to Atlant...

July is on track to be the hottest month on record – and things are about to get warmer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

July is shaping up to be the planet’s hottest month on record as global warming, El Nino and regional heat waves conspire to push civilization into uncharted thermal territory, experts say.As a sizzling heat dome spread misery over the American Southwest, and hospitals reported increasing numbers of heat-related illnesses, government officials told reporters this week that it was increasingly likely that July would rank as the hottest month ever recorded, and that 2023 and 2024 may end up being the hottest years ever.“We are seeing unprecedented changes all over the world — the heat waves that we are seeing in the U.S., in Europe, in China are demolishing records left, right and center,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.“This last June was the warmest June on record, and we anticipate, with the understanding of what’s going on on a day-by-day basis, that July is likely to be the warmest absolute month on r...

Gerrit Cole’s dominance, late home runs by DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton lead Yankees to 5-2 win over Royals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

Gerrit Cole pitched to a new catcher Saturday against the Royals, but the results were largely the same for the red-hot Yankees ace.Working with Ben Rortvedt for the first time, Cole overpowered the young Kansas City lineup with 10 strikeouts over 6.1 innings in a 5-2 Yankees win in the Bronx. Cole exited in the seventh inning with the game tied, 2-2, and DJ LeMahieu led off the bottom of the frame with a go-ahead solo home run that proved to be the difference.Giancarlo Stanton added a two-run blast in the eighth inning to complete the Yankees’ scoring.Saturday marked Cole’s second consecutive game with double-digit strikeouts and fourth overall this season. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last nine starts — a stretch in which he’s hurled at least six innings in all but one outing.The sharp performance was the latest in a standout season for Cole, who started this month’s All-Star Game for the American League. He boasts a 9-2 recor...

Trump Organization settles Michael Cohen lawsuit over unpaid legal bills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s company and his former longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen have settled a lawsuit over Cohen’s claims that he was unfairly stuck with big legal bills after getting entangled in investigations into the former president.Lawyers for the two sides disclosed the settlement during a video conference with the judge Friday, three days before Cohen’s 2019 lawsuit was slated to go to trial in a Manhattan state court. Details of the agreement were not made public.Cohen said Friday the matter “has been resolved in a manner satisfactory to all parties,” and his attorney, Lauren Handelsman, said the terms were confidential. Messages seeking comment were left with lawyers for Trump’s company, the Trump Organization.The legal fees lawsuit was one of the more obscure branches of the thicket of legal troubles surrounding Trump and his company. Still, the trial stood to give a platform to Cohen — an ardent Trump loyalist who became an outspoken antagonist — and to pu...

Man wanted for violent assault of Halton police officer during traffic stop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

Halton police are searching for a 31-year-old man who assaulted an officer during a traffic stop early Saturday morning in Burlington. Police say the officer pulled over a vehicle on Plains Road and was in the process of arresting the driver on suspicion of drug charges when a “violent struggle” began resulting in the officer suffering serious but non-life threatening injuries. The driver fled the scene in the vehicle and his whereabouts are unknown. Police say Matthew Flannigan is wanted on charges of drug possession, assaulting a police officer and dangerous operation of a vehicle. He’s described as five-foot-nine with brown braided hair. He was last seen driving a blue 2021 Honda CRV with license plate CVFS 405. Police say the officer has been treated and since released from hospital.

Mississippi senator says tutu photo is misused in campaign. He’s raising money for cancer research

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Republican state Sen. Jeremy England says he intentionally wore what he considers a “very embarrassing” Halloween costume to raise money for breast cancer research — a shiny pink bodysuit with a short pink skirt.Now, England says a photo of him in the outfit has been misused, with a slur directed at him, in an increasingly divisive GOP primary as he supports Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann for reelection.A person backing one of Hosemann’s opponents posted an image of the tutu-clad England on Twitter along with a comment: “Hosemann and his groomer weirdos.”“I consider that to be some of the worst, dirty form of politics — which is, of course, where we are now in this race,” England told The Associated Press.“Groomer” is commonly used to describe how sex offenders initiate contact with their victims. The word has become ubiquitous in American politics as certain conservatives try to equate certain educational materials with pornography or ...

Man convicted in stray-bullet killing of Puerto Rican Olympian’s mom in her Connecticut home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

A Connecticut man has been convicted of murder in the stray-bullet killing of the mother of a two-time Olympian rifle shooter from Puerto Rico.A jury found Franklin Robinson, 40, guilty Friday in the death of Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi. The 56-year-old was in her sewing and crafts room in Waterbury when a bullet flew through a wall and hit her in the head on April 9, 2022.Martinez Antongiorgi’s daughter, Yarimar Mercado Martinez, competed for the family’s native Puerto Rico at the 2016 and pandemic-delayed 2020 Games. The athlete was in Brazil for a competition when her mother was killed.A message seeking comment was sent to her Saturday. At the time of her mother’s death, she anguished in social media posts that she “couldn’t even say goodbye.” “Why you? Why this way? You were just sitting in your little house sewing, as you always did,” she wrote.According to trial testimony, a jealous Robinson was gunning for a man who had said hello to Robinson’s gi...

Hundreds of thousands march on Jerusalem to try and halt judicial overhaul

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:50:00 GMT

Tens of thousands of protesters marched into Jerusalem on Saturday evening and hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities in a last-ditch show of force aimed at blocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul.Also Saturday, more than 100 of Israel’s former security chiefs signed a letter pleading with the Israeli premier to halt the legislation, and thousands of additional military reservists said they would no longer report for duty, in a protest against the plan.In scorching heat that reached 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit), the procession into Jerusalem turned the city’s main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags as marchers completed the last leg of a four-day, 70 kilometer (45-mile) trek from Tel Aviv to Israel’s parliament.The marchers, who grew from hundreds to thousands as the march progressed, were welcomed in Jerusalem by throngs of cheering protesters before...