Americans still dreaming of a really big Christmas present can keep that dream alive during for a jackpot worth an estimated $1.15 billion. Friday’s jackpot will potentially be the fifth largest in the game’s history. Mega Millions tickets are $2 a piece. However, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 303 million, and the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24, according to lottery officials. Tickets for the game are sold in 45 states, including California, along with Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Three of the 10 largest lottery payout tickets were purchased in California — not including a $1.586 billion payout shared by ticket buyers in California, Florida, and Tennessee. Top 10 Largest US Lottery Jackpots 1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022 (one ticket, from California) 2. $1.765 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023 (one ticket, from California) 3. $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket, from Florida) 4. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee) 5. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina) 6. $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine) 7. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois) 8. $1.326 billion, Powerball, April 7, 2024 (one ticket, Oregon) 9. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024 (one ticket, from New Jersey) 10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, from California)10 hot-ticket gifts we predict will sell out on Black Friday 2024

Nearly seven years later, new Raiders practice squad running back Chris Collier smiles and puts his head down when asked about his high school coach’s comments before the Long Island championship game in his senior season. “You found that article?” he laughs. Then-Lawrence coach Joe Martillotti said before the game his team had a plan and was confident in its ability to contain Westhampton star Dylan Laube. Narrator: That plan did not work. Laube ran for 227 yards and six touchdowns in a 54-26 win, setting the Long Island (New York) record with 47 touchdowns on the season. ‘I knew we were done’ Collier, who scored a couple of times that day and had a long touchdown pass wiped out by a penalty, wasn’t surprised. He had first encountered Laube on a football field in a youth league game and was familiar with his abilities. “We were 9 when I played against him the first time, and he went crazy that day,” Collier remembered. “He’s been a great player his whole life. But I remember him because he had this crazy neck pad he wore as a kid all the way up to high school. “(In the championship game), this kid got the ball and he has this move that I’ve seen since we were 9 where it’s just a jab step and go around the corner. Once I saw him do that to probably the two fastest guys on our team, I knew we were done. I don’t even think we got a stop the whole game, and it seemed like he had about 400 yards.” Collier and Laube would go on to successful college careers, but they kept track of each other through social media and the occasional encounter. That was until this week when Collier signed with the Raiders after a stint in Baltimore and they found each other in the same locker room. It just so happens to be the week Laube is set for perhaps his most extensive action of the season with top running backs Alexander Mattison and Zamir White unlikely to play. “I think we’re the only two (current NFL) running backs from Long Island, which is a crazy thought,” Laube said. “But even crazier is that our last high school game was against each other. It’s a full circle thing for us. Football is a very close-knit community on the island because it’s a big lacrosse area. Just to see two kids who played against each other now on the same team on the biggest stage is one of the biggest achievements anyone could ask for.” Collier said it’s been a big topic of conversation back home. “It’s a ‘what are the odds?’ type moment,” he said. “When I heard I was coming to the Raiders, I was like, ‘No way. I’m playing with my boy Dylan.’ It was crazy. All my boys back home and everyone on Long Island has been talking about it. It’s pretty cool we’re in the same locker room.” Laube is doing his best not to live in the past in their interactions, however, regardless of how dominant his performance was that day. “I haven’t said much because I think he knows,” Laube laughed. “It was a tough game for them. But he was the best player on their team and a great athlete. I’ve mentioned it a few times, but it was years ago and now we just kind of have mutual respect for each other.” Laube has saved more of his ire for the host of that game, Stony Brook University. The local school declined to recruit Laube despite his record-shattering performances on the gridiron. “That game was even played on their field, and they never offered me (a scholarship),” he said. “I always took that personal every time I played them. I feel like I made a statement that game. It was the first time my town had made it to the Long Island championship, and it was a crazy game.” Laube went on to become an All-American at New Hampshire and won all four meetings he played in against conference rival Stony Brook. ‘My brother forever’ Collier had 1,800 yards and 25 touchdowns that senior season himself, but was barely recruited because of a serious knee injury suffered in his junior campaign. He had an even more circuitous journey from Nassau Community College to Wagner to Lock Haven, where he had an All-American season in 2023 and got on the NFL’s radar. Now they’re both enjoying defying the odds they overcame to be NFL running backs from an area that doesn’t produce many. And they are now doing it together. “We’ve always followed each other and kept in touch,” Collier said. “But we’ve never really been in the same area. Now that we’re in the same spot, I feel like he’s going to be my brother forever.”

LG has that doubles as an indoor garden. The lamp, which LG will show off at CES in January, serves as an adjustable grow light for the tray of up to 20 plants beneath it, while also brightening up your room. It has two different lighting modes: downward-facing lighting during the day that helps grow your plants, and upward-facing lighting at night to help brighten up your home. The lamp comes equipped with a 1.5-gallon water tank and “automatically dispenses the right amount of water and nutrients for the number and variety of plants being grown,” according to LG. LG is also showing off a shorter, side table-style grow light at CES, which similarly puts a grow lamp above a bundle of plants. The devices are compatible with LG’s ThinQ app, letting you adjust light settings and manage cultivation schedules while you’re not at home. This isn’t the first time LG has dabbled in creating indoor gardening technology. The company launched an indoor cultivator , before with . LG says its new lamp has a larger water capacity than its previous indoor planters, but it doesn’t mention any details about how much it will cost, or when it will actually ship. /A step-by-step guide to renovating a neglected garden

‘The future is bright’ – Speaker Bagbin inspires youth with message of hope

Philadelphia will hold hearings as leaders race to build safeguards for marginalized groups ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's second term. Councilmember Rue Landau (D-At-large) introduced a resolution Thursday, which was passed unanimously, authorizing the Committee on Law and Government to hold meetings for establishing protections for immigrants, LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive health care. The hearings will be held next year before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 and will include city officials, community leaders and advocacy groups. In a statement, Landau's office said the meetings will assess the city's policies and resources, note any potential vulnerabilities, and develop strategies for at-risk populations with a goal of making the city a "safe haven and beacon of inclusivity." "We are built today from the efforts and advocacy of marginalized groups, and we need to protect our neighbors," Landau said. "We must ensure every Philadelphian can live without fear; every Philadelphian matters here." The city faces a sharp turn at the federal level on policies for marginalized residents, some of which go against local protections. Trump has expressed plans to end gender-affirming care for LGBTQ+ youth and use the U.S. military for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. On social media, he said he would veto a federal abortion ban, however he could implement health care policies around funding and surveillance that make access more difficult. In her first comments after the election, Mayor Cherelle Parker was asked about Trump's proposal to ban sanctuary cities, which are localities such as Philadelphia that set their own immigration rules against federal policy. Her only answer was calling on her much-used slogan. "We are very, very focused and will continue to be focused on making good on our commitment, and I know you all can complete the sentence with me, and that is to make Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, greenest, big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all, and nothing gets in the way of that," she said. In Thursday's meeting, Landau said the resolution is a call to action rallying council against incoming policy changes. "Philadelphia can and should continue to be a safe, welcoming and affirming city for all, especially as we prepare for the potential challenges ahead in the next presidential administration," Landau said.

MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) — Isaiah Smith ran for a career-high 205 yards on 31 carries and scored a touchdown and San Diego beat Morehead State 37-14 in a season-ending contest for both teams on Saturday. Grant Sergent threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns for San Diego (8-3, 6-2 Pioneer Football League) which ended the season with a four-game win streak and winners of six of seven. The Toreros finished in sole possession of second place in the PFL behind Drake (7-1), which clinched the league outright with a 49-10 win over Stetson on Saturday. Drake beat San Diego 30-28 on a walk-off field goal on Sept. 28 in Des Moines, Iowa. Bryce Patterson threw for 133 yards and a touchdown and James Louis ran for a touchdown for the Eagles (7-5, 5-3). ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP collegebasketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketballMontgomery's 21 lead Southern Miss past Alabama State 81-64

An online petition calling for a general election to be held has surpassed the number of signatures needed to trigger consideration for a debate in parliament . Created by a UK resident called Michael Westwood, the petition reads: “I would like there to be another general election. I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election.” The petition has been shared widely on social media since it was created on Wednesday and comfortably passed the 100,000-signature threshold at 9.19pm today after receiving more than 37,000 signatures in the preceding hour. Passing the mark means that the motion will now be considered for a debate in parliament although there is no guarantee that this will occur. The government website states: “Petitions which reach 100,000 signatures are almost always debated. But we may decide not to put a petition forward for debate if the issue has already been debated recently or there’s a debate scheduled for the near future. “If that’s the case, we’ll tell you how you can find out more about parliamentary debates on the issue raised by your petition. “MPs might consider your petition for a debate before it reaches 100,000 signatures.” The government will also have to respond as it has to consider all all petitions which get more receive more than 10,000 signatures. The petition caps off a difficult week for the government which has seen them take on protesting farmers due to a highly contentious decision to stop the exemption from inheritance tax on farms over £3 million. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s popularity is amongst the worst of any of his predecessors in modern times within their first year in office, with a recent poll showing the Labour party has now fallen to 25% , down 2 points since November 11, its lowest share of the vote yet. The removal of winter fuel payments , discontent over the handling of domestic riots and a controversial budget have all contributed to declining popularity. If you think @labour and @Keir_Starmer have lied about what they said they would deliver to the people if elected, let them know by signing and sharing this petition. ?????? ?????? ?????? https://t.co/ZXvXiIYM80 This means just one in four voters support the governing party, down nearly nine points since the general election in July. More in Common’s UK director Luke Tryl said that while we’re still a long way off the next election, he said it is “notable” that “a party that won a landslide less than six months ago is down 10 points and now on 25%” He also warned that while they may be topping the poll, it’s not great news for the Conservatives either. The two main parties now muster just 53% support between them. Mr Tryl added: “Part of this reflects Labour’s missteps, partly its anti-incumbency and greater volatility, but beyond that, there is a deep unhappiness with the status quo and life in modern Britain.”

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of . The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the that usually fill the square. Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass marching band. Some carried a sign that read, “We want life, not death.” Security forces, meanwhile, arranged barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born. "Always the message of Bethlehem is a message of peace and hope," said Mayor Anton Salman. “And these days, we are also sending our message to the world: peace and hope, but insisting that the world must work to end our suffering as Palestinian people.” The is a severe blow to the town's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all of it from the Christmas season. Salman said unemployment is hovering around 50% — higher than the 30% unemployment across the rest of the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Finance Ministry. Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, noted the shuttered shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better. Pizzaballa held a special in Holy Family Church in Gaza City on Sunday. “This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate. “I bring you the greetings, the prayers, of our brothers and sisters in Gaza.” The number of visitors to the town plunged from a pre-COVID high of around 2 million per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. Bethlehem is an important center in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million people spread across the Holy Land. There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the U.S. State Department. After nightfall, the golden walls of the Church of the Nativity were illuminated as a few dozen people quietly milled about. A young boy stood holding a pile of balloons for sale, but gave up because there were no customers to buy them. The war in Gaza has deterred tourists and has prompted a , with more than 800 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis killed in militant attacks. Palestinian officials do not provide a breakdown of how many of the deceased are civilians and how many are fighters. Since , access to and from Bethlehem and other towns in the West Bank has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass through Israeli military checkpoints. The restrictions have prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the economy there to contract by 25%. In on southern Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 Israeli hostages. Israeli officials believe that around 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Elsewhere, Christmas celebrations were also subdued. Syrians protest after Christmas tree burned Scores of Syrian Christians protested Tuesday in Damascus, demanding protection after the burning of a Christmas tree in Hama the day before. Videos and images shared on social media showed the large, decorated tree burning at a roundabout in Suqalabiyah, a town in the Hama countryside. It remains unclear who was responsible for setting the tree on fire. In a video that circulated on social media, a representative of Syria’s new leadership, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, could be seen visiting the site and addressing the community. He said: “This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations.” Germans mourn after Christmas market attack German celebrations were darkened by a on Friday that left five people dead and 200 people injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his annual recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack. He plans to acknowledge that “there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg,” while urging Germans to “stand together,” according to an early copy of the speech. Heavy snow hits the Balkans A stranded drivers and downed power lines, but some saw the beauty in it. “I’m actually glad its falling, especially because of Christmas,” said Mirsad Jasarevic in Zenica, Bosnia. “We did not have snow for Christmas for 17 years here, and now is the time for wonderful white Christmas.” Planes grounded in the United States American Airlines briefly across the U.S. on Tuesday just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive. Winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 1,447 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed Tuesday, with 28 flights canceled. ___ Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report. Jalal Bwaitel, The Associated PressDALLAS (AP) — The championship vision that led Nathan Eovaldi to sign with Texas as a free agent two years ago is the same one that brought him back to the Rangers. A World Series title in his first season was followed by a losing record this year. “I believe in the guys in the group that we have. We were able to do it in ‘23. I don’t feel a lot has changed,” Eovaldi said Friday, a day after finalizing a $75 million, three-year contract . “We had a down year last year, but I've said it before, you learn a lot from losing seasons.” Eovaldi had declined a $20 million player option to become a free agent again and reached an agreement during the winter meetings in Dallas. Texas also acquired slugging corner infielder Jake Burger in a swap with Miami. Burger had fallen asleep before getting a call late Tuesday night that he had been traded to Texas, where his family is planning to move after the October birth of a daughter with Down syndrome. “The other city that is really good other than Nashville in terms of children's hospital and resources for her Downs is in Dallas," Burger said. “Not just from the baseball spectrum, from the life aspect as well ... I feel like it was meant to be, and we couldn’t be more more excited about that.” In the Nashville area, Burger lives close to Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, whom he plans to visit with soon. His former Marlins manager, Skip Schumaker , was hired last month by the Rangers as a senior adviser for baseball operations, and Luis Urueta, Miami’s bench coach the past two seasons, recently joined Bochy’s on-field coaching staff for 2025. Burger and Rangers pitcher Dane Dunning were once roommates in the Chicago White Sox organization. Burger hit .250 with 29 home runs and 76 RBIs in 137 games for the Marlins last season, when he started 59 games at third base and 50 starts at first. He was with the White Sox in Texas when he got traded to Miami on Aug. 1, 2023, and four days later hit his first homer with the Marlins at Globe Life Field. When the Rangers made the title run in 2023, Eovaldi was 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in six postseason starts. He was the winning pitcher in their World Series-clinching Game 5 at Arizona. He was also part of Boston’s 2018 title. Eovaldi was 12-8 this year with a 3.80 ERA in 29 starts, the last seven scoreless innings in the regular-season finale. He is 24-13 with a 3.72 ERA in 54 starts for Texas the past two seasons. The new deal for the Texas native, who who turns 35 in February, includes a $12 million signing bonus, half payable on Nov. 15, 2026, and the rest on Jan. 15, 2028, and salaries of $18 million next season, $25 million in 2026 and $20 million in 2027. He gets a full no-trade provision. After being welcomed back by Chris Young, the team's president of baseball operations, the pitcher said he never felt like he really left. The Rangers stayed in contact throughout the process after he declined his option Nov. 4. “Kind of listening to the market and everything, I’m extremely happy to be back. I’m glad we were we were able to make it all work out,” Eovaldi said. “We had a lot of teams reach out right away and we were in contact with most them across the league. Ultimately we were able to make it back here.” AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Washington: NASA's pioneering Parker Solar Probe made history Tuesday, flying closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft, with its heat shield exposed to scorching temperatures topping 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (930 degrees Celsius). Launched in August 2018, the spaceship is on a seven-year mission to deepen scientific understanding of our star and help forecast space-weather events that can affect life on Earth. Tuesday's historic flyby should have occurred at precisely 6:53am (1153 GMT), although mission scientists will have to wait until Friday for confirmation as they lose contact with the craft for several days due to its proximity to the Sun. "Right now, Parker Solar Probe is flying closer to a star than anything has ever been before," at 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) away, NASA official Nicky Fox said in a video on social media Tuesday morning. "It is just a total 'yay, we did it,' moment." If the distance between Earth and the Sun is the equivalent to the length of an American football field, the spacecraft should have been about four yards (meters) from the end zone at the moment of closest approach -- known as perihelion. "This is one example of NASA's bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer long-standing questions about our universe," Parker Solar Probe program scientist Arik Posner said in a statement on Monday. "We can't wait to receive that first status update from the spacecraft and start receiving the science data in the coming weeks." So effective is the heat shield that the probe's internal instruments remain near room temperature -- around 85F (29C) -- as it explores the Sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona. Parker will also be moving at a blistering pace of around 430,000 mph (690,000 kph), fast enough to fly from the US capital Washington to Japan's Tokyo in under a minute. "Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory," said Nick Pinkine, mission operations manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. "We're excited to hear back from the spacecraft when it swings back around the Sun." By venturing into these extreme conditions, Parker has been helping scientists tackle some of the Sun's biggest mysteries: how solar wind originates, why the corona is hotter than the surface below, and how coronal mass ejections -- massive clouds of plasma that hurl through space -- are formed. The Christmas Eve flyby is the first of three record-setting close passes, with the next two -- on March 22 and June 19, 2025 -- both expected to bring the probe back to a similarly close distance from the Sun.BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Adam Jones ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns and Montana State ran over Montana 34-11 on Saturday to reclaim the Brawl of the Wild trophy. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Adam Jones ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns and Montana State ran over Montana 34-11 on Saturday to reclaim the Brawl of the Wild trophy. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Adam Jones ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns and Montana State ran over Montana 34-11 on Saturday to reclaim the Brawl of the Wild trophy. The Bobcats (12-0, 8-0 Big Sky Conference) wrapped up the 123rd meeting in this rivalry with 420 yards, 326 on the ground. Montana State capped its first unbeaten season and can match the school record for consecutive wins with a playoff win in two weeks. The Bobcats, ranked second in the FCS coaches poll, should be the top seed in the playoffs after top-ranked North Dakota State lost its finale to fifth-ranked South Dakota. Montana (8-4, 5-3), ranked 10th, is expected to add to its record 27 FCS playoff appearances but will not have a first-round bye in the 24-team bracket. Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott was 6-of-12 passing for 94 yards with a touchdown in poor conditions and added 50 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He has helped the Bobcats score at least 30 points in every game this season Mellott had a 5-yard touchdown run on MSU’s first possession and Mellott found Jones for a 35-yard touchdown early in the second quarter for a 14-3 lead. Myles Sansted had two field goals in the final two minutes, including a 49-yarder as time expired for a 20-3 halftime lead. Jones dominated the second half and scored two short touchdowns. Eli Gillman scored on a 1-yard run for Montana’s touchdown between the Jones’ touchdowns. The Grizzlies had just 234 yards and went 2 of 12 on third down. ___ AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25 Advertisement