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Before you play in an office lottery pool, read this

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

By Holly Yan | CNNWith jackpots reaching ludicrous amounts, lottery pools are quickly flooding offices.At first, they sound like a great idea. Why play alone, when your odds of hitting the Powerball jackpot are a measly 1 in 292,200,000? Team up with some coworkers, and you might improve your odds to, say, a much more optimistic 13 in 292,200,000.But before you either chip in or organize an office pool, experts say you should know the following do’s and don’ts. They could mean the difference between buying your own private island vs. crying softly at your desk while your coworkers are on their islands.Do:Designate a leader. And make sure he or she is highly organized. Because this isn’t just about collecting money and buying tickets. The organizer will also have to:Give everyone copies or photos of pool tickets. Wouldn’t it be terrible if your pool leader said the team won nothing, but amazingly he or she hit the jackpot with a self-purchased ticket?It’s happened before. In 2013, a ...

Vingegaard takes huge lead at Tour de France after dropping Pogacar in final big test in the Alps

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — Jonas Vingegaard is on course to bring the yellow jersey to Paris for a second straight year after the Danish rider took a huge lead over his main rival in cycling’s biggest race.The defending champion dropped Tadej Pogacar on Wednesday in the last big stage in the Alps to increase his overall lead to seven minutes and 35 seconds. Barring any big crash, he looks set to win his second Tour title.Vingegaard finished the 17th stage in fourth place, almost six minutes before an exhausted Pogacar crossed the finish line. The race ends in the French capital with a largely ceremonial stage on Sunday. There is just one tough stage remaining before then — on Saturday in the Alsace region, with the peloton facing a total of 3,600 meters of climbing.But with such a big gap between the Tour’s main contenders, it’s unlikely to have an impact in the fight for the yellow jersey.Pogacar, a two-time champion who was dethroned by Vingegaard last year, lost ...

Carvana, Constellation Brands rise; Omnicom, ASML Holding fall, Wednesday, 7/19/2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

Stocks that are trading heavily or have substantial price changes on Wednesday: Carvana Co. (CVNA), up $12.12 to $51.92.The used car retailer announced a comprehensive debt restructuring deal.ASML Holding N.V. (ASML), down $30.34 to $726.69.The semiconductor equipment supplier warned of caution from chipmakers and a delayed recovery.Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC), down $10.76 to $87.16.The advertising company reported weak second-quarter revenue and warned of economic uncertainty.Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ), up $10.84 to $265.17.The wine, liquor and beer company announced new board members and an information sharing deal with Elliott Investment Management.M&T Bank Corp. (MTB), up $4.22 to $138.98.The bank’s second-quarter earnings and revenue beat analysts’ forecasts.VMware Inc. (VMW), up $8.84 to $167.33.Broadcom moved closer to buying the cloud technology company after clearing a regulatory hurdle in Britain.Elevance Health Inc. (ELV), up $24.71 to $468.41.The health...

How to pay for an expensive summer move

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

Packing your things and moving to a new home is a financial hurdle even in the best of times, but higher demand for moving-related services in the summer can send prices skyrocketing.If you’re wondering how to pay for an upcoming move, there are financing options, including credit cards and unsecured personal loans. You’ll want to minimize interest, though, and only borrow what you need.By taking the time to get multiple quotes, moving some stuff yourself or getting rid of belongings, you can lower the amount you need to borrow or avoid financing altogether.WHAT TO EXPECT FOR MOVING PRICES THIS SUMMEROne piece of good news for prospective movers: The cost of moving this summer will likely be lower compared to summers prior.“The COVID years proved to be some of our highest demand periods where people were making housing decisions and work location decisions that were completely out of the norm,” says Steven McKenna, vice president and general manager of Allied Van Lines, one of the l...

Ta-Nehisi Coates attends school board meeting to back teacher told to stop using his book on racism

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

IRMO, S.C. (AP) — Author Ta-Nehisi Coates sat silently through a school board meeting in South Carolina to support a high school teacher told to stop using his book on growing up Black in America in her advanced English class.Mary Wood has taught the lesson before, but after a few of her Chapin High School students wrote a school board member in February that the unit made them feel “uncomfortable” and “ashamed to be Caucasian” the books were taken up and the assignment ended.Coates wrote his 2015 book “Between the World and Me” as a letter to his teenage son on his perceptions of the feelings and circumstances of being Black in America and how racism and violence based on skin color are part of American society.Wood asked her Advanced Placement English students to read the book and watch two videos on systemic racism she used to introduce it, then identify the themes of the works and discuss their thoughts, including whether they disagree with Coates’ view,Records from ...

Cracks are emerging in Israel’s military. Reservists threaten not to serve if government plan passes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Cracks are emerging in Israel’s military.The Middle East’s best equipped and most powerful force is under one of the worst assaults it has encountered — a battle within its own ranks.A contentious government plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary has cleaved deep rifts within Israeli society. Those rifts have infiltrated the military, where reservists in key units have pledged not to show up for duty if the legislative changes are pushed through. The letters, signed by thousands of reservists over the last seven months, have up to now mostly remained threats. But this week, 161 critical air force personnel announced they will stop their service, raising concerns about the military’s readiness in the face of similar refusals at a time of heightened violence and tensions on several fronts. On Wednesday, hundreds of reservists from various units joined a rally in Tel Aviv, declaring they would not report for duty anymore.WHY ARE RESERVISTS REFUSING TO SHOW UP?Israel’...

Judge upholds the $5 million jury verdict against Trump in a writer’s sex abuse and defamation case

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday upheld a $5 million jury verdict against Donald Trump, rejecting the former president’s claims that the award was excessive and that the jury vindicated him by failing to conclude he raped a columnist in a luxury department store dressing room in the 1990s.Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the jury’s May award of compensatory and punitive damages to writer E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation in the civil case was reasonable.Trump’s lawyers had asked Kaplan to reduce the jury award to less than $1 million or order a new trial on damages. In their arguments, the lawyers said the jury’s $2 million in compensatory damages granted for Carroll’s sexual assault claim was excessive because the jury concluded that Trump had not raped Carroll at Bergdorf Goodman’s Manhattan store in the spring of 1996.Kaplan wrote that the jury’s unanimous verdict was almost entirely in favor of Carroll, except that the jury concluded s...

Canadian government is recruiting high-skilled foreigners in the US to move to Canada instead

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian government is recruiting high-skilled foreigners working in the United States to move to Canada instead, and the program has been so successful that it met its target of 10,000 applicants in just two days.The government this week launched a special work permit for foreign workers who already have obtained an H-1B visa in the U.S., who number nearly 600,000 and come mostly from India and China. The program’s 10,000 quota was filled in the first two days of the week, a spokesman for Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said Wednesday.“We even had a whole campaign to promote this and we had to put an end to that,” spokesman Jeremy Bellefeuille said. It is unusual for a country to so explicitly target the visa holders of another country. Bellefeuille said the Canadian program was a trial run, and that the minister would now consider next steps. Each year, up to 85,000 people are selected for H-1B visas in the U.S., a mainstay for technology giants ...

China says it will work with US on climate change as long as political conditions are met

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China is willing to work with Washington on reducing global warming as long as its political demands are met, the country’s vice president told U.S. climate envoy John Kerry on Wednesday. Vice President Han Zheng told Kerry that addressing climate change was “an important aspect of China-U.S. cooperation,” but was predicated on mutual respect, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. He said it must proceed “on the basis of U.S. attendance to core issues that concern both parties, fully engaging and exchanging ideas.” Ties between the countries have hit a historic low amid disputes over tariffs, access to technology, human rights, China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and threats against self-governing Taiwan.Kerry said he had “very detailed meetings with a lot to catch up on” during his three days of talks, following China’s suspension of most contacts with President Joe Biden’s administration last August, including over efforts to address global warming...

Sports on TV for July 24 – 30

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:47:54 GMT

Adv22(All times Eastern)Schedule subject to change and/or blackoutsMonday, July 24SOCCER (WOMEN’S)7 a.m.FS1 — FIFA World Cup Group Stage: Brazil vs. Panama, Group F, Adelaide, Australia10 p.m.FS1 — FIFA World Cup Group Stage: Colombia vs. South Korea, Group H, Sydney1:30 a.m. (Tuesday)FS1 — FIFA World Cup Group Stage: New Zealand vs. Philippines, Group A, Wellington, New Zealand4 a.m. (Tuesday)FS1 — FIFA World Cup Group Stage: Switzerland vs. Norway, Group A, Hamilton, New ZealandTBT BASKETBALL4 p.m.ESPN2 — TBT Tournament: The Nerd Team vs. Happy Valley Hoopers7 p.m.ESPNU — TBT Tournament: Team Gibson vs. Boeheim’s Army Syracuse9 p.m.ESPNU — TBT Tournament: The Commonwealth vs. The Rhody Way_____Tuesday, July 25MLB BASEBALL7 p.m.TBS — NY Mets at NY YankeesNORTHWOODS LEAGUE BASEBALL7 p.m.ESPNU — Great Lakes East vs. Great Lakes WestSOCCER (MEN’S)8:30 p.m.FS1 — Leagues Cup: TBD10:25 p.m.ESPN2 — Club Friendly: TBA10:30 p.m.FS1 — Leagues Cup: TBDSOCCER (WOMEN’S)4 a.m.FS1 — FIFA World Cu...