Two Winners in Record Powerball Jackpot

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Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $579 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.


Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not be announcing a town until later this morning. Powerball's website reports the other winning ticket was purchased in Arizona.


The winning numbers for the jackpot were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29. The Powerball was 6.


Before the numbers were drawn on Wednesday, the jackpot swelled to $579.9 million, making the cash option $379.8 million.


An additional 8,924,123 players won smaller prizes, according to Powerball's website.


"There were 58 winners of $1 million and there were eight winners of $2 million. So a total of $74 million," said Chuck Strutt, Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.


In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners


Hopeful players bought tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute up until an hour before the deadline of 11 p.m. ET, according to lottery officials.


The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner. That fact, plus the doubling in price of a Powerball ticket, accounted for the unprecedented richness of the pot.


"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman at the game's headquarters in Iowa. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."






AP Photo/Patrick Semansky









That proved true. The total, she said, began taking "huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." It then jumped another $50 million.


The biggest Powerball pot on record until now -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers.
As the latest pot swelled, lottery officials said they began getting phone calls from all around the world.


"When it gets this big," said Neubauer, "we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."


The answer she has to give them, she said, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."


About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one.
Asked if there's anything a player can do to improve his or her odds of winning, Neubauer said there isn't -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.


Lottery officials put the odds of winning the $579 Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.


Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provided additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he said; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.


Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi noted that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.


"But let's suppose," he said, "that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born."


The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning.


Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi said he usually plays the lottery.


When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets," he said. "It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."


So, did he buy two tickets this time?


"I couldn't," he told ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.


ABC News Radio contributed to this report.



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Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

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When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown.


Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued dozens of reports examining the flaws and offering recommendations to improve the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund, the Wall Street regulatory reform law and the initiatives to prevent housing foreclosures.

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Man fined for molesting woman at bus stop

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SINGAPORE: A 62-year-old gardener was fined $3,000 on Wednesday for molesting a woman at a bus stop outside Peace Centre in Sophia Road.

Low Hock Leng admitted that he brushed the upper inner thigh of the 32-year-old woman at about 1pm on March 3 this year.

The court heard that Low had earlier brushed against her left shoulder when he walked past her at the bus stop, which was not crowded.

The woman thought it was accidental and did not confront him.

Five minutes later, as she was about to board a bus, Low walked towards her and brushed against her upper inner thigh with his right hand.

The victim shouted at him, grabbed his bag when he tried to flee and detained him with the help of a passer-by.

For using criminal force with the intention to outrage modesty, Low could have been jailed up to two years, fined and caned.

- CNA/de



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FDI logjam: Kamal Nath meets Sushma, Jaitley; opposition adamant on vote

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NEW DELHI: Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday met BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley to end the logjam over foreign investment in retail, a day after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) firmed up its numbers in parliament.

Earlier in the day, Kamal Nath met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

"Opposition is sticking to its demand that a discussion on FDI in retail should be under rule that entails voting," Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday.

The government on Tuesday expressed confidence that it has the numbers to counter the opposition in a parliament debate on FDI in retail.

There have been disruptions in the house by the Bharatiya Janata Party and others parties over the government pushing FDI in retail. The opposition is for a debate under rules that entail voting.

(With inputs from PTI, IANS)

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

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Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Study Finds Most Pork Contaminated

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Nov 27, 2012 6:24pm








A sample of raw pork products from supermarkets around the United States found that yersinia enterocolitica, a lesser-known food-borne pathogen, was present in 69 percent of the products tested, according to a study released today by Consumer Reports.


The  bacteria  infects more than 100,000 Americans a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but  for every case that is confirmed with a laboratory test, about 120 more cases escape diagnosis. Symptoms can include fever, cramps and bloody diarrhea.


For its sample, Consumer Reports included the same pork products millions of Americans buy every day at their supermarkets. The study included 148 pork chops and 50 ground pork samples from around the United States.


In the samples tested, 69 percent tested positive for yersinia and 11 percent for enterococcus, which can indicate fecal contamination that can lead to urinary-tract infections. Salmonella and listeria, the more well-known bacterium, registered at 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.


“The results were concerning,”  Urvashi Rangan, one of the authors of the report, told ABCNews.com. “It’s hard to say that there was no problem.  It shows that there needs to be better hygiene at animal plants. Yersinia wasn’t even being monitored for.”


In a written statement, the Pork Producer’s Council questioned the methods used by Consumer Reports, saying the number of samples tested, 198, did  ”not provide a nationally informative estimate of the true prevalence of the cited bacteria on meat.”


Despite the findings, Rangan said  it’s good to know that the bacteria can be killed by cooking the pork properly and by being vigilant about cross-contamination.


Pork cuts should be cooked to 145 degrees, while ground pork needs to reach a temperature of 160 degrees to kill the bacteria.


“Anything that touches raw meat should go into the dishwasher before touching anything else,” Rangan said. ”Juices from raw meat that touch the counter should be washed with hot soapy water.”


The U.S. Department of Agriculture  said the findings “affirm that companies are meeting the established guidelines for protecting the public’s health.


“USDA will remain vigilant against emerging and evolving threats to the safety of America’s supply of meat, poultry and processed egg products, and we will continue to work with the industry to ensure companies are following food safety procedures in addition to looking for new ways to strengthen the protection of public health,” the department said in a statement.


ABC News’ Dr. Anita Chu contributed reporting. 



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Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

Label:

When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown.


Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued dozens of reports examining the flaws and offering recommendations to improve the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund, the Wall Street regulatory reform law and the initiatives to prevent housing foreclosures.

Read More..

Sec-Gen Surin seeks bigger mandate to represent ASEAN

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JAKARTA: ASEAN's outgoing Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan has made an impassioned plea for the grouping to re-examine its decision-making process.

Dr Surin said the grouping's chief should be given a bigger mandate to represent and act on behalf of the 10-member organisation.

This will be the last major briefing by 63-year-old Dr Surin as ASEAN's secretary-general, capping what has probably been the toughest year of his five-year term.

The former Thai foreign minister was considered one of the most qualified to head the ASEAN Secretariat at a time when the world's attention is on the region.

But the seasoned diplomat said he could have done more.

Dr Surin said: "I don't have the space, the power, the authority to enter into even an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). That's difficult to drive the place if it's going to be the nerve centre, if it's going to be the central mechanism of this place."

That structural shortcoming was exposed twice this year during Cambodia's chairmanship of ASEAN.

In July, the regional grouping failed to issue a joint communique - the first time in ASEAN's 45-year history.

And earlier this month, several member states publicly dismissed the summit's statement by Cambodia before it was eventually amended.

On both occasions, the issue related to the overlapping claims on the South China Sea.

Dr Surin said, "I think if the secretariat has been given a larger space, more engagement - the impasse in July could have been avoided - not that I did not try but it is the structure that would not allow me to be involved."

He believes the ASEAN secretary-general should have the mandate to play a more active role and make decisions on behalf of the grouping.

The Harvard graduate said he has submitted a comprehensive proposal to ASEAN leaders.

"And I call my proposal The ASEAN Challenge. And that is how to move the organisation forward into the future - within all these demands, expectations that we are facing as we grow. We are now having a problem of our own success on how to manage it," he said.

And it seems ASEAN's dialogue partners and institutions too hope to see this change - including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Dr Surin said: "She expressed it in a very clear, precise, short - and that is we would like to discuss policies with you here. I think what she meant by that is we certainly don't want to come here and have to wait few weeks, few months until you get all the answers from the capitals. That's not quite community, that's not quite ASEAN. And that's not quite the behaviour of what we call a central mechanism for a regional organisation. It should be more effective than that."

He believes overall, member-states are aware of the need to stay united despite pressures from within and outside of the groupings.

Dr Surin said: "If we can't manage well here, we have problems contending among them and between them, external parties around them in our region. We are going to be in what you call a rock and a hard place, which we don't want. And that ASEAN ministers and leaders are very much aware of. And I have certainly contributed to that awareness. Shape up!"

ASEAN's next Secretary-General - Vietnam's deputy foreign minister - has his work cut out for him. Among his first major tasks would be to put the ASEAN house in order as the grouping prepares to become an ASEAN Community in 2015. And that includes getting the governments and related agencies in the 10-member states to embrace a new mindset and think ASEAN.

- CNA/de



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Families of sailors held hostage by Somali pirates protest

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NEW DELHI: Family members of the 17 sailors, who have been held hostage by Somali pirates for the past nine months, on Tuesday protested outside the shipping ministry.

The families demanded immediate release of the sailors, who have been held captive by Somali pirates off the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia, on UAE-owned MT Royal Grace.

"Yes, we met the shipping minister, and he assured us that he would do something. Pirates have threatened to kill our children if nothing is done till November 3O. So, we have decided that till they (government) decide to get them released, we will not go from here," mother of Mehtab, one of the hostages, said .

"My son who has been held hostage, has two children. Nothing has happened in the past nine months, let us see what they do now," she said.

Similar is the plight of Saurav's kin, another sailor who is in captivity.

"They (government) have said that they would meet us. We cannot trust them unless they give us something, they have been repeatedly saying that they are doing their best. Pirates have given them (sailors) a deadline till November 30. We want government to assure us that nothing would happen to our people," he said.

"We want them to get our family members released. If something happens to them, who would be held responsible," Sushil, whose younger brother Saurav is held hostage by the Somali pirates, said.

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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

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