Global stock markets rallied after the US Federal Reserve’s commitment to keep interest rates low offset its decision to taper its stimulus programme.
Germany’s Dax and France’s CAC were 1.5% in mid-morning trading, while the UK’s FTSE rose 1%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.7%.
The Fed said it would scale back its $85 billion a month bond-buying programme by $10 billion a month.
Analysts said the taper was less than markets had expected.
Investors and economists have been watching closely for when the Fed would scale back its stimulus, fearing that a steep taper could undermine economic recovery.
Global stock markets rallied after the US Federal Reserve’s commitment to keep interest rates low offset its decision to taper its stimulus programme
US markets had ended sharply higher on Wednesday following the Fed’s decision. The Dow Jones jumped 292.71 points, or 1.84%, to close at 16167.97, while both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes rose by more than 1%.
The stimulus programme, called quantitative easing, was introduced by the Fed after the global financial crisis.
The main objective was to increase the money supply and improve liquidity in the financial system in the hope of sparking economic growth and supporting employment.
The Fed’s governing committee cited stronger job growth as a reason for the decision to begin winding down the programme.
It forecast the unemployment rate would fall to 6.3% in 2014 from its current level of 7%.
Analysts said the Fed’s decision to scale back the programme also indicated that it was confident of a sustained recovery in the US economy.
Thamsanqa Jantjie, the sign interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial who is accused of making up gestures, has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, local media report.
Thamsanqa Jantjie “might have had a breakdown”, his wife Siziwe is quoted as saying.
Sign language experts accused Thamsanqa Jantjie of referring to “prawns” and “rocking horses” while translating eulogies at Nelson Mandela’s memorial last week.
Thamsanqa Jantjie said he suffered a sudden attack of schizophrenia.
He insisted he was a qualified interpreter.
South Africa’s Deputy Disability Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu has said the company which had employed him had “vanished”.
Thamsanqa Jantjie has been admitted to Johannesburg psychiatric hospital
Thamsanqa Jantjie’s wife took him to a psychiatric hospital near Johannesburg for a check-up on Tuesday, and it was suggested that he be admitted immediately, Johannesburg’s The Star newspaper reports.
“The past few days have been hard. We have been supportive because he might have had a breakdown,” Siziwe Jantjie is quoted as saying.
Last week, Thamsanqa Jantjie said he was supposed to have gone for a check-up on the day of the memorial, but he postponed it.
During the memorial at Johannesburg’s FNB stadium, which was broadcast live around the world, Thamsanqa Jantjie stood on the stage next to key speakers including President Barack Obama, South African President Jacob Zuma and Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren, translating their eulogies.
Thamsanqa Jantjie blamed his flawed interpretation on a schizophrenic episode, saying he had seen angels coming into the stadium.
The White House has downplayed fears that he was a security risk to President Obama.
Sign language experts said Thamsanqa Jantjie had made “funny gestures” and little more than “flapping his arms around”.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) said it had used Thamsanqa Jantjie as an interpreter several times before, and “had not been aware of any of complaints regarding the quality of services, qualifications or reported illnesses” of the interpreter.
Dennis Rodman is heading to North Korea for a five-day visit, where he will train the national basketball team.
The former basketball player has previously described his visits as “basketball diplomacy”, and called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un his “friend for life”.
The US State Department has stressed that Dennis Rodman is not representing the US government on this trip.
The visit comes weeks after Kim Jong-un’s uncle Jang Sung-taek was executed.
Dennis Rodman is heading to North Korea for a five-day visit
Speaking to reporters in Beijing before heading to North Korea, Dennis Rodman said politics had “nothing to do with [him]”.
“I’m just going over there to do a basketball game and have some fun,” he told Reuters news agency.
Organizers of the trip say that Dennis Rodman will also arrange a friendship basketball match between North Korea and a group of former NBA players on January 8, to mark Kim Jong-un’s birthday.
Dennis Rodman remains the most high-profile American to meet Kim Jong-un since the leader took over after his father died in 2011.
He said that he spent time with Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju during his last visit in September, and said Kim had a baby daughter called Ju-ae.
US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Tuesday: “Dennis Rodman is not a representative of the US government in his trip to North Korea.”
“We need to focus on what’s really important here when it comes to North Korea… the brutality of the North Korean regime he’s going to meet.”
American citizen Kenneth Bae (known in North Korea as Pae Jun-ho) is detained in North Korea after being arrested in November 2012. He was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor in May.
Dennis Rodman previously rejected calls to lobby for Kenneth Bae’s release.
“That’s not my job to ask about Kenneth Bae,” Dennis Rodman told reporters after his September visit.
Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick are reportedly separated, InTouch magazine has claimed.
The magazine reported that Scott Disick has moved out of the Kardashian’s Calabasas, California, estate and into the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel.
Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick are reportedly separated
According to InTouch, Scott Disick, 30, he was seen last week with an “exotic-looking” brunette, with a body language-reading spy maintaining that the way “they looked at each other suggested they were a lot more than friends. A man with a long-term partner and two children should never behave like that with another woman.”
However, Kourtney Kardashian, 34, and Scott Disick – who have 4-year-old Mason and 17-month-old Penelope together – were spotted Tuesday cruising around Los Angeles in Disick’s red Ferrari.
The Kardashians insiders called the rumors “ridiculous” and “not true”.
Khloe Kardashian shared her pain on Twitter by posting a message that appeared to address both her recent divorce filing from Lamar Odom and reports that she’s spending time with baseball star Matt Kemp and rapper The Game.
“This, in and of itself, is heartbreaking and torture to my soul,” Khloe Kardashian wrote, seemingly in reference to her parting of ways with Lamar Odom.
“Please, I don’t need the extra rumors and BS right now.”
Khloe Kardashian, 29, has stepped out with Matt Kemp several times in recent weeks, including a gym date last Friday, the day she filed for divorce. While sources have insisted the two are just friends, Kardashians insiders tell TMZ they’re “in the early, early stages of a relationship” and are “taking it really slow.”
As for The Game, those rumblings date back to early 2013, and despite OK!’s latest assertion that “he’s helping [Khloe Kardashian] through her heartache”, the story has once again been roundly denied.
There is no evidence that the Porsche carrying Paul Walker and his friend, Roger Rodas, had mechanical issues before it crashed, investigators said.
The investigation also ruled out debris or other roadway conditions as causing the car in which Paul Walker was a passenger to careen into a light pole and tree.
“We’re looking at speed and speed alone,” a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
There is no evidence that the Porsche carrying Paul Walker had mechanical issues before it crashed
Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have calculated a speed range at which they think the car was traveling but won’t firm up that number until Porsche engineers come to California next month to extract information from onboard data collectors. The official would not disclose that range.
Though the car exploded in flames after the crash, the data recorders survived and may produce information to pinpoint the speed.
The official told AP that the Porsche appeared to have negotiated a curve in the road just fine before crashing in an industrial park about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
“They were well out of the curve when they lost control,” the official said.
Phil Robertson has been suspended from Duck Dynasty reality show following anti-gay comments he made in an interview with GQ magazine.
A & E Networks said in a statement that the Robertson family patriarch had been placed on indefinite hiatus.
“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series<<Duck Dynasty>>,” the company said.
“His personal views in no way reflect those of A & E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.”
Phil Robertson has been suspended from Duck Dynasty reality show following anti-gay comments he made in an interview with GQ magazine
Phil Robertson, 67, caused controversy with his comments, in which he grouped gays with “drunks” and “terrorists,” and said that they won’t “inherit the kingdom of God.”
Asked what he considered sinful, Phil Robertson told GQ magazine: “Start with homos**ual behavior and just morph out from there — bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.”
Phil Robertson has described himself as a product of the ’60s who engaged in the s**, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, but has since embraced Jesus Christ as his savior.
GLAAD excoriated Phil Robertson for the interview, accusing him of pushing “vile and extreme stereotypes.”
“Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe,” GLAAD spokesman Wilson Cruz said.
Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson has been invited to a Homes of Hope for Children fundraiser in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Uncle Si Robertson will be at Temple Baptist Church on February 1st, 2014, for a Meet & Greet that begins at 4:00pm and a Q&A program that starts at 6:00pm.
Si Robertson has been invited to a Homes of Hope for Children fundraiser in Hattiesburg
Ticket Prices: $500 Meet & Greet Package, $100 Preferred Seating Package, General admission tickets are between $25 and $40.
How to purchase tickets: Tickets can be purchase through ticketmaster.com or in person at Temple Baptist Church.
Start date & time: Reception for Meet & Greet and Preferred Seating ticketholders begins at 4:00pm. The one hour Q&A program with Uncle Si begins at 6:00pm
End date & time: The Q&A program will conclude at 7:00pm
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Walt Disney’s classic Mary Poppins are among 25 titles that have been added to the US National Film Registry.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Michael Moore’s documentary Roger and Me have also been chosen for preservation at the Library of Congress.
Other new additions include John Wayne film The Quiet Man (1952) and sci-fi favorite Forbidden Planet (1956).
This year’s selections bring the number of films in the collection to 625.
The registry was instigated in 1989 to ensure that notable titles from America’s movie history would be preserved for posterity.
The films admitted, which must be at least 10 years old, are selected from hundreds of titles nominated by the public.
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is among 25 titles that have been added to the US National Film Registry
“The National Film Registry stands among the finest summations of more than a century of extraordinary American cinema,” said the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington.
Michael Moore said that he was “grateful” his 1989 film, about the economic decline of his Michigan hometown, had been deemed culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Also admitted this year are 1946 film noir Gilda starring Rita Hayworth, 1960 western The Magnificent Seven, 1961’s Judgment at Nuremberg and 1983’s The Right Stuff.
A Virtuous Vamp, a 1919 silent film starring Constance Talmadge, and Daughter of Dawn, a 1920 romance with an all-Native American cast, are the oldest of this year’s new additions.
The inclusion of Mary Poppins coincides with the release of Saving Mr. Banks, a drama about how the Disney film came to be made.
Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced a corruption inquiry as a “dirty operation” against his government.
Some 52 people – including three sons of cabinet ministers – were arrested in dawn raids on Tuesday in connection with a high-profile bribery inquiry.
Five police chiefs who oversaw raids in Istanbul and Ankara were sacked for “abuse of office”, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
“We will not allow political plotting,” he said.
However, the deputy prime minister promised not to stand in the way of the judicial process.
“We will always respect any decision made by the judiciary and will not engage in any effort to block this process,” Bulent Arinc said.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced the corruption inquiry as a “dirty operation” against his government
Commentators in Turkey believe the arrests – and subsequent firings – are evidence of a new dramatic fault-line in Turkish politics, one within the AK Party itself.
The feud is believed to involve supporters of Fethullah Gulen, an influential Islamic scholar living in exile in the US who once backed the ruling AK Party, helping it to victory in three elections since 2002.
Members of Fethullah Gulen’s Hizmet movement are said to hold influential positions in institutions from the police and secret services to the judiciary and the AK Party itself.
In recent months, the alliance began to come apart and in November the government discussed closing down private schools, including those run by Hizmet.
Fethullah Gulen has been living in the US since 1999, when he was accused in Turkey of plotting against the secular state.
The five police commissioners sacked include the heads of the financial crime and organized crime units, who were both involved in the earlier arrests, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reports.
Also dismissed were the heads of the smuggling unit, the anti-terrorism branch and the public security branch, the paper says.
In a brief statement, the police said they had reassigned some staff, in some cases due to alleged misconduct and others “out of administrative necessity”.
The mass arrests were carried out as part of an inquiry into alleged bribery involving public tenders.
The sons of Interior Minister Muammer Guler, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Environment Minister Erdogan Bayraktar were among those detained.
Barbara Walters’ special, The 10 Most Fascinating People, is now in its 21st year.
This year’s edition includes Jennifer Lawrence, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, ABC News’ very own Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts, Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, together known as KimYe, the breakout stars from the hit reality TV show Duck Dynasty, and arguably the most famous infant in the world, Kate Middleton and Prince William’s baby George.
Barbara Walters’ special, The 10 Most Fascinating People, is now in its 21st year
This year’s show will also reflect on moments from the past 20 years of Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating People of the Year specials, which started in 1993.
This will be the last Most Fascinating special for Barbara Walters, who announced last May that she would retire from TV journalism in 2014.
Jennifer Lawrence has said she thinks “it should be illegal to call someone fat on TV”, after red carpet criticism of her own figure.
Speaking to Barbara Walters, Jennifer Lawrence, 23, added: “Because why is humiliating people funny?”
Jennifer Lawrence said she was worried about how the media’s attitude affected young people.
The actress features in Barbara Walters’ series The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013.
“I get it, and I do it too, we all do it,” Jennifer Lawrence told Barbara Walters.
Jennifer Lawrence features in Barbara Walters’ series The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013
“[But] the media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool,” the actress said.
“So all of the sudden being funny is making fun of the girl that’s wearing an ugly dress. And the word fat! I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV.”
She added: “I mean, if we’re regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words, because of the effect they have on our younger generation, why aren’t we regulating things like calling people fat?”
Jennifer Lawrence, who won an Oscar earlier this year for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, has previously spoken out against gossip magazines and TV shows such as E!’s Fashion Police, presented by Joan Rivers, which criticize the way women look.
Ukraine’s PM Mykola Azarov has told ministers in Kiev that the decision to suspend a deal on closer EU ties and sign a Russian aid agreement instead has helped avoid bankruptcy.
The government’s surprise U-turn on an EU association agreement last month has sparked weeks of mass demonstrations.
But Mykola Azarov said the package from Russia would provide stability.
Russia has agreed to buy $15 billion (11 billion euros) of government bonds and slash the price of gas.
Ukraine’s opposition has demanded to know what Ukraine offered Russia in return.
Thousands of pro-EU protesters have been holding rallies in Kiev – occupying the capital’s Independence Square – and other cities in western and central Ukraine.
Ukraine’s PM Mykola Azarov said the decision to suspend a deal on closer EU ties and sign a Russian aid agreement instead has helped avoid bankruptcy
Critics say President Viktor Yanukovych has sold out to Russia and are calling for him and his government to step down.
But Ukraine’s prime minister defended the deal with Russia in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
“What would have awaited Ukraine? The answer is clear – bankruptcy and social collapse,” Mykola Azarov said.
“What a present for New Year that would be for the people of Ukraine.
“The agreements between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents allow us to plan the years to come as years of development and people’s confidence about their stable lives.”
He said a pact to lower gas prices by about a third would allow for “a revival of economic growth”.
There was no way Ukraine could have signed the EU agreement as Kiev would have had to accept unfeasibly stringent IMF conditions for economic reform, he added.
Mohamed Morsi is to stand trial on charges including conspiring with foreign organizations to commit terrorist acts.
Prosecutors said Egypt’s ousted president had formed an alliance with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Thirty-five others, including former aides and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, have also been charged.
Since being deposed by the military in July, Mohamed Morsi has already gone on trial for inciting murder and violence.
The new charges carry the death penalty. Prosecutors describe the new charges as “the biggest case of conspiracy in the country’s history”.
Human rights organizations have expressed concern over whether Mohamed Morsi will be able to get a fair trial.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters say the prosecutions are politically motivated, something the military-backed government denies.
Mohamed Morsi is to stand trial on charges including conspiring with foreign organizations to commit terrorist acts
He is one of thousands of Brotherhood members to have been detained in a crackdown portrayed by officials as a struggle against terrorism.
Hundreds of people have also been killed in clashes with security forces.
Mohamed Morsi and the other defendants, including the Brotherhood’s general guide Mohammed Badie and his two deputies, have now been charged with revealing state secrets to foreign organizations, sponsoring terrorism, and carrying out military training and other acts that undermined Egypt’s stability and independence.
Prosecutors allege that the Brotherhood had prepared a “terrorist plan” that included an alliance with Hamas, the Islamist group that governs Gaza, and Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese Shia Islamist movement.
Several of the defendants, including Mohamed Morsi’s former chief of staff Essam Haddad, were also reportedly accused of giving state secrets to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The prosecutors also implicated the Brotherhood in the surge in attacks on the security forces since Mohamed Morsi’s overthrow, most of which have taken place in the Sinai peninsula and been claimed by jihadist militants.
The violence was intended to “bring back the deposed president and to bring Egypt back into the Muslim Brotherhood’s grip”, they claimed.
Last month, Mohamed Morsi went on trial on charges of incitement in connection with clashes between his supporters and opposition protesters outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo in December 2012, in which at least seven people died.
Proceedings have been adjourned until January 8th, but Mohamed Morsi will also go on trial on December 23rd on separate fraud charges connected with the Brotherhood’s economic and social programme for Egypt’s recovery, called Renaissance (al-Nahda).
Bitcoin value has fallen to less than half, following reports of fresh action by Beijing to restrict trade in the virtual currency.
BTC China has said that local payment companies have been blocked from providing it with clearing services.
It means that the firm – the world’s biggest Bitcoin exchange in terms of trading volumes – can no longer accept yuan-based deposits.
Bitcoin value has fallen to less than half, following reports of fresh action by Beijing to restrict trade in the virtual currency
Prices tumbled following the news.
One bitcoin was trading for as low as 2,560 yuan ($421), according to the South China Morning Post.
That compares with an all-time high of 7,588 yuan ($1,250) in late November.
Exchanges in other countries also reported drops, with Japan-based MtGox seeing the exchange rate for one bitcoin fall from $717 to as low as $480 in Wednesday’s trade.
Ronnie Biggs, who took part in the UK’s 1963 Great Train Robbery, has died aged 84, his spokeswoman has confirmed.
The criminal was part of the gang which escaped with £2.6 million – the equivalent of £40 million ($63 million) in today’s money from the Glasgow to London mail train on 8 August 1963.
Ronnie Biggs, Bruce Reynolds, Ronald “Buster” Edwards and the other gang members wore helmets and ski masks to carry out their crime, which took place near Cheddington, Buckinghamshire.
They made off with 120 bags of money totaling £2.6 million.
Ronnie Biggs, who died early on Wednesday, was being cared for at the Carlton Court Care Home in East Barnet
Ronnie Biggs was given a 30-year sentence but escaped from Wandsworth prison in 1965.
In 2001, he returned to the UK seeking medical help but was sent to prison. He was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 after contracting pneumonia.
Ronnie Biggs, who died early on Wednesday, was being cared for at the Carlton Court Care Home in East Barnet, north London.
He could not speak and had difficulty walking after a series of strokes.
Ronnie Biggs was last seen in public at the funeral of his fellow Great Train Robber, Bruce Reynolds, in March.
Christopher Pickard, ghost writer of Ronnie Biggs’s autobiography, said he should be remembered as “one of the great characters of the last 50 years”.
Up to 500 people are believed to have died in clashes between rival South Sudan army factions, the UN says, quoting unconfirmed reports.
UN diplomats said they had been told by sources in the capital, Juba, that the death toll was between 400 and 500.
South Sudan has seen two days of clashes following a reported coup attempt against President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
Fugitive opposition leader Riek Machar has denied government accusations that he tried to seize power.
“What took place in Juba was a misunderstanding between presidential guards within their division, it was not a coup attempt,” he told the Sudan Tribune, a Paris-based news website, in an interview published on Wednesday.
Riek Machar, a former South-Sudanese vice-president who fell out with President Salva Kiir in July, said he had no knowledge of or connection with any coup attempt.
President Salva Kiir has said a group of soldiers supporting Riek Machar had tried to take power by force on Sunday night, but were defeated.
Amid continuing clashes on Monday and Tuesday, the government said 10 senior political figures, including a former finance minister, had been arrested.
Details of the fighting have been sketchy, but a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday was told that the clashes were “apparently largely along ethnic lines”.
Up to 500 people are believed to have died in clashes between rival South Sudan army factions
French UN ambassador Gerard Araud, who holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, said up to 20,000 people had taken refuge in the UN mission in Juba.
He said the council had received only “patchy information” in a briefing given by UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous.
The governor of Unity State, Simon Kun Pouch, was quoted on the government website as saying that the conflict had nothing to do with tribes.
“There are people out there saying what has happened is between the Dinka and the Nuer tribesmen. We the leaders of this country would want to state here that this is not true,” he said.
“If you see the people going with Dr. Riek [Machar], some are Dinkas, some are Chol, Nuer and other tribes,” he added.
The US has ordered all its non-emergency embassy staff to leave the country immediately.
President Salva Kiir said the clashes began when uniformed personnel opened fire at a meeting of the governing party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
Fighting then continued into Monday when the government said it was back in full control.
However, fresh gunfire erupted on Tuesday near the presidential palace and many other areas of Juba.
Government officials say they are hunting for Riek Machar, who is believed to be in hiding.
Riek Machar – who leads a dissident faction within the SPLM – was thought to have escaped with some troops.
On Tuesday, the government said former Finance Minister Kosti Manibe, former Justice Minister John Luk Jok and former Interior Minister Gier Chuang Aluong were among the 10 people arrested.
Many were members of the cabinet that was sacked in its entirety in July.
South Sudan has struggled to achieve a stable government since becoming independent from Sudan in 2011.
The independence referendum was intended to end a decade-long conflict, led by the SPLM, against the north.
China has confirmed that one of its warships “encountered” a US vessel.
The US reported a near-collision in the South China Sea earlier this month.
The US said its guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens was forced to take evasive action as the two ships neared each other on December 5.
It has been described as the most serious Sino-US confrontation in the South China Sea since 2009.
China has confirmed that one of its warships “encountered” a US vessel
However, China said the incident was handled with “strict protocol”.
The US has said its ship was operating in international waters.
However, China claims parts of the South China Sea, and a state-run newspaper quoted an expert as saying that the US boat had been “harassing” China’s aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, as it carried out drills.
Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming, is pregnant with their second child, according to Us Weekly.
Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming, is pregnant with their second child
Emma Heming debuted her eye-catching baby bump when she went to a local farmer’s market in Los Angeles with Bruce Willis and their 20-month-old daughter Mabel.
Bruce Willis, 58, and Emma Heming, 35, wed in 2009.
Mega Millions $636 million jackpot – the second-biggest lottery payout in US history – will be split among at least two winners after tickets in California and Georgia matched all six winning numbers Tuesday night, officials said.
The California ticket – with winning numbers 8, 14, 17, 20 and 39, with the Mega Ball 7 – was bought at a store called Jenny’s Gift Shop in San Jose, state lottery spokesman Alex Traverso said.
Mega Millions $636 million jackpot will be split among at least two winners after tickets in California and Georgia matched all six winning numbers
The Georgia ticket was purchased at Gateway Newsstand in Atlanta, Georgia Lottery spokeswoman Tandi Reddick told NBC News.
Had there been no winners Tuesday, the jackpot would have rolled over, likely approaching or even topping the once-unthinkable $1 billion barrier for Friday’s drawing, Mega Millions officials said.
Kim Basinger looked beautiful at the world premiere of Grudge Match at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City on Monday, December 16.
Kim Basinger looked beautiful at the world premiere of Grudge Match at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City
Going the menswear route at the film premiere, Kim Basinger, 60, dressed for the occasion in a tailored, navy, three-piece, pinstripe suit by Ralph Lauren Collection, complete with a tie and watch chain.
Kim Basinger, who costars in Grudge Match with Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro, swept her long locks back in a tight low ponytail, parted down the center.
Ukrainian opposition leaders have demanded to know what President Viktor Yanukovych has offered Russia in return for a major economic lifeline.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to buy billions of dollars worth of Ukrainian government bonds and slash the price Ukraine pays for Russian gas.
The announcement comes as Russia tries to stop Ukraine moving towards the EU.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko told pro-EU protesters in Kiev Viktor Yanukovych was betraying Ukraine’s independence.
“He has given up Ukraine’s national interests, given up independence,” Vitali Klitschko, a former boxing champion, told the crowd on Tuesday.
“[President] Yanukovych used our country as collateral. According to our sources, he has agreed to a bailout from Russia and put Ukrainian plants, strategic industries, heavy industries, aviation and energy manufacturers up as collateral against it. We want to know what exactly he did put up as collateral, and his reasons for doing it.”
He called on President Viktor Yanukovych to hold a snap election.
“Yanukovych said at our round-table talks that he is not afraid of an early election. If that’s the case, let him prove it in an honest fight,” he said.
Ukrainian opposition leaders have demanded to know what President Viktor Yanukovych has offered Russia in return for a major economic lifeline
Although details of the agreement are unclear, Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of an opposition far-right group, said Viktor Yanukovych had “pawned whole sectors” of the country’s economy to Russia.
Ukraine urgently needs to cover an external funding gap of up to $17 billion (12.3 billion euros) next year to avoid defaulting on its debts.
After talks between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych in the Kremlin, it was announced Russia would buy $15 billion-worth of Ukrainian government bonds.
The cost of Russian gas supplied to Ukraine has been slashed from more than $400 (291 euros) per 1,000 cubic metres to $268.5.
Vladimir Putin said the assistance was not “tied to any conditions”.
He also said they had not discussed Ukraine joining a Moscow-led customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan.
The US has warned the Ukrainian government that the deal with Russia would not satisfy the protesters.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ties with Russia should not prevent Kiev from looking West.
“At the moment it seems to be an either-or proposition. We need to put an end to this,” Angela Merkel told ARD TV.
“A bidding competition won’t solve the problem.”
The current agreement signed between Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz amends a controversial 2009 deal signed by former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko, for which she was jailed two years ago.
Mega Millions jackpot rocketed to $636 million – the second-largest in US history.
Long queues were reported in stores selling tickets, which are available in 43 states.
The current American jackpot record is $656 million – that was split between three winners in 2012.
If no winner is picked in Tuesday evening’s Mega Millions draw, the total could hit $1 billion by Friday.
Mega Millions jackpot rocketed to $636 million, the second-largest in US history
The jackpot was previously estimated at $586 million, but on Tuesday lottery officials increased their prediction due to strong ticket sales.
Undeterred by odds of one in 259 million, large queues of would-be winners formed at petrol stations and convenience stores.
If received in a lump cash sum as opposed to an annuity, the total would be $341 million, a lottery official reported.
Not every winner need necessarily face the standard news conference with the bottle of bubbly and chunky cardboard cheque.
Six US states allow lottery winners to remain anonymous: South Carolina, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota and Ohio.
In several other states, it is reportedly possible for winners to keep their names secret by claiming their jackpot through a trust or a limited liability company.
Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson reportedly snubbed Barbara Walters in a recent interview, opting to go duck hunting instead.
Phil Robertson, 67, was supposed to accompany the rest of his family for a taped interview of Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating People of the Year special.
The Robertsons made Barbara Walters’ annual list along with actress Jennifer Lawrence, singer Miley Cyrus, and reality star Kim Kardashian, among others.
In a sneak preview of the transcript from the interview, set to air Wednesday, Barbara Walters asks Phil Robertson’s wife, Miss Kay, if her husband would rather go hunting than sit down for the ABC network interview.
Phil Robertson snubbed Barbara Walters interview opting to go duck hunting instead
“He would rather shoot ducks than talk to us, yes?”
Miss Kay Robertson responded jokingly: “Oh yes. Between, uh, November and January, I told him I didn’t ever plan to die then, because, he may not be at my funeral.”
“Tell him I have never been superseded by a duck before,” Barbara Walters quipped.
The Robertson clan went on to tell Barbara Walters that this isn’t the first time Phil has skipped out on a big family event to go duck hunting.
Jessica Robertson, Jep’s wife, told Barbara Walters that Phil missed the birth of his son, Jase, because he was busy sitting in a duck blind.
“Well, he missed the birth of Jase because he was in the duck blind, and he wouldn’t leave,” Jessica Robertson explained.
