Jackpot for Mega Millions surges past $1B after no numbers match on drawing

(AP) — Hang onto those stocking-stuffer lottery tickets. The Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed $1 billion after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Christmas Eve. That means the estimated jackpot for Friday’s drawing is $1.15 billion, potentially the fifth largest jackpot in the game’s history. Lottery officials say the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, while the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24. Tickets for the game are sold in 45 states. Mega Millions tickets are $2 a piece. Half of the proceeds from the sale of each ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold.

Taliban say Pakistani airstrikes killed 46 people in eastern Afghanistan

(AP) — The U.S. Census Bureau currently is getting public feedback about how it should tally responses from people into new race and ethnicity groups. Under the revisions, questions about race and ethnicity that previously were asked separately on forms will be combined into a single question. A Middle Eastern and North African category also was added. New research released this month by the Census Bureau shows that around 80% of people who wrote that their background was Middle Eastern or North African identified as white on the 2020 census questionnaire. About 16% identified themselves as “some other race.”

2 killed and another hurt in shooting outside Florida IHOP

MIRAMAR, Fla. (AP) — Two people were killed and another was injured in a shooting outside an IHOP restaurant in South Florida. A Miramar Police Department spokeswoman says the people involved knew each other, and there was no threat to the community. Spokeswoman Janice McIntosh says that detectives aren’t looking for any suspects and that the shooting wasn’t a random act of violence. McIntosh says the police department isn’t immediately releasing details on the injured, the motive or the person or people who opened fire because of the investigation. Miramar is located in southern Broward County, near Miami-Dade County.

Boy, 4, dies after being shot inside a vehicle in South Carolina, police say

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A 4-year-old boy has died after being shot inside a vehicle in Columbia, South Carolina, police said Wednesday. The shooting occurred Tuesday on Harbison Boulevard in the capital city, Columbia police said in a statement on X. A gun was recovered, while investigators were interviewing the boy’s mother. The child later died at a local hospital, police said. Columbia police said investigators will “continue to determine how the child was fatally injured. Additional information will be released when possible.”