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Tag: ODD

  • Powerball jackpot jumps to $1.7 billion after another drawing with no big winner

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    NO ONE HAS WON THE BIG PRIZE SINCE EARLY SEPTEMBER. A CHANCE AT POWERBALL JACKPOT IS IN HIGH DEMAND AT THE SHOP THAT SELLS MORE LOTTERY TICKETS THAN ANYWHERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. BUYING A POWERBALL TICKET HERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. THE WINNING ONE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. THIS IS THE PLACE TO BUY IT, FOLKS. COMING INTO BUNNY’S SUPERETTE IN MANCHESTER, WITH THE HOPES OF GOING HOME WITH $1.6 BILLION RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. ABSOLUTELY. I MEAN, IT’S GOING TO BE A CHRISTMAS GIFT. TONIGHT’S JACKPOT IS THE FIFTH LARGEST LOTTERY PAYOUT IN U.S. HISTORY. THE CASH OUT OPTION IS ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF $1 BILLION. OVER THE WEEKEND, SOMEONE IN THE STATE WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO SCORE A MILLION BUCKS. AS OF EARLY THIS AFTERNOON, THEY HADN’T CLAIMED THEIR WINNINGS. WE HAVE NOT SEEN THEM. I’M NOT SURE WHAT’S TAKING THEM SO LONG, BECAUSE I’M SURE THEY HAVE SOME HOLIDAY SHOPPING NOW WITH THAT NEWFOUND MONEY. WE ASKED MAURA MCCANN WITH THE NEW HAMPSHIRE LOTTERY IF LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE TWICE HERE IN THE SAME WEEK. CAN IT HAPPEN? IT’S HAPPENED 12 TIMES ALREADY HERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE THAT SOMEONE HAS WON THE POWERBALL OR MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT. SO WE ARE LOOKING FOR NUMBER 13. LUCKY 13. COMING UP, WHAT TO DO IF YOU WIN? MAYBE FOLLOW THIS GUY’S LEAD. FIRST OF ALL, THEY PROBABLY HIDE MYSELF IN A MOTEL ROOM. THEN I GET MYSELF THE BEST ACCOUNTANT OR LAWYER THAT I COULD FIND. A SMART MAN RIGHT THERE. AND THESE BIG DRAWS CAN BRING BIG BUCKS TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF GRANITE STATERS. THE NEW HAMPSHIRE LOTTERY SAYS THERE WAS $4.2 MILLION IN POWERBALL TICKETS SOLD HERE LAST WEEK IN THE STA

    Powerball jackpot jumps to $1.7 billion after another drawing with no big winner

    Updated: 12:51 AM EST Dec 23, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    The Powerball jackpot has jumped to an eye-popping $1.7 billion, after the 46th drawing passed without a big winner.The numbers drawn Monday night were 3, 18, 36, 41, 54 and the Powerball 7.Video above: Powerball jackpot keeps growing Since Sept. 6, there have been 46 straight drawings without a big winner.The next drawing will be Christmas Eve on Wednesday, with the prize expected to be the 4th-largest in U.S. lottery history.Powerball’s odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.The estimated $1.6 billion jackpot goes to a winner who opts to receive 30 payments over 29 years through an annuity. Winners almost always choose the game’s cash option, which for Monday night’s drawing would be an estimated $735.3 million.Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

    DES MOINES, Iowa —

    The Powerball jackpot has jumped to an eye-popping $1.7 billion, after the 46th drawing passed without a big winner.

    The numbers drawn Monday night were 3, 18, 36, 41, 54 and the Powerball 7.

    Video above: Powerball jackpot keeps growing

    Since Sept. 6, there have been 46 straight drawings without a big winner.

    The next drawing will be Christmas Eve on Wednesday, with the prize expected to be the 4th-largest in U.S. lottery history.

    Powerball’s odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.

    The estimated $1.6 billion jackpot goes to a winner who opts to receive 30 payments over 29 years through an annuity. Winners almost always choose the game’s cash option, which for Monday night’s drawing would be an estimated $735.3 million.

    Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  • Feeling lucky? Mega Millions jackpot jumps to $965 million for this Friday’s drawing

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    The Mega Millions jackpot jumped to nearly a billion dollars for the eighth time in the game’s history after no one won the drawing on Tuesday night.

    The next drawing is scheduled for Friday, according to a Mega Millions news release. The estimated jackpot is $965 million, or $445.3 million if the winner takes a lump sum in cash.

    No ticket matched all six numbers from Tuesday night’s drawing — white balls 10, 13, 40, 42 and 46, and the gold Mega Ball 1.

    Friday’s drawing is the eighth-largest jackpot since the game began in 2002, according to the release. Seven billion-dollar jackpots have been awarded in the past; the most recent was the $1.269 billion prize won in California in Dec. 2024.

    In Tuesday’s drawing, there were 809,030 winning tickets across all prizes, for a total of more than $27.9 million in winnings nationwide. Three tickets matched the five white balls to win the second-highest prize of $1 million. One ticket sold in Arizona had the 5X multiplier for a $5-million prize. Two other tickets, sold in Iowa and New York, had the 3X multiplier for the $3-million prize.

    Twenty-seven tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the game’s third-highest prize.

    Four Mega Millions jackpots were won earlier this year, and Friday’s drawing will be the 40th since the last win in June.

    The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 290,472,336. The odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 23.

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    Summer Lin

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  • You’re Just in Time for WTF Wednesday!

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    Hendy

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  • ‘We didn’t believe it’: Workers win big with $100,000 Powerball lottery pool win

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    TRY TO SEE IF HE CAN RUN THE BALL. IT’S EMBARRASSING. ALL RIGHT. THAT’S IT. I’M SORRY TO TELL YOU THIS BECAUSE IT’S 1026 AT NIGHT. IT’S TOO LATE TO BUY THE WINNING POWERBALL TICKET. A WHOPPING $1.1 BILLION UP FOR GRABS TONIGHT. THE CASH VALUE, BY THE WAY, OF ALMOST $500 MILLION. AND OUR ASSIGNMENT EDITOR WENT TO GRAB A TICKET LATE TONIGHT AND THE 7-ELEVEN THAT HE WENT TO HAD ACTUALLY REACHED ITS DAILY SALES LIMIT, SO HE COULDN’T PRINT ANY MORE. SO IF YOU DID GET A TICKET, HAVE THOSE TICKETS HANDY AND TUNE

    ‘We didn’t believe it’: Workers win big with $100,000 Powerball lottery pool win

    Updated: 2:24 PM PDT Sep 7, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    While the Powerball jackpot continues to grow, six co-workers now have a nice payday payout after one lucky win of $100,000 playing Powerball in North Carolina. “We really won the lottery,” the co-workers said as they gathered to collect their win at the lottery headquarters. The group known as the “Money Team,” originally thought they’d only won $500, but were shocked to discover that it was a lot more than that. Dwane Heyward, of Georgetown, South Carolina; Keshia Gary, of Southern Pines; Thomasine Hairston, from Bennettsville, South Carolina; Saad Pressley, of Rockingham; Genesis McLaurin, of Hamlet; and Kaprise McLean, of Laurinburg, play the lottery games as a group and share the prize money.“We didn’t believe it until it happened,” Heyward said.They bought the winning ticket at Walmart on North Tryon Street in Charlotte. The ticket matched the numbers on four white balls and the red Powerball in the Aug. 23 drawing to win $50,000. Because they bought a Power Play ticket, the prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier hit.The Money Team took home $71,751 after federal and state taxes.

    While the Powerball jackpot continues to grow, six co-workers now have a nice payday payout after one lucky win of $100,000 playing Powerball in North Carolina.

    “We really won the lottery,” the co-workers said as they gathered to collect their win at the lottery headquarters.

    The group known as the “Money Team,” originally thought they’d only won $500, but were shocked to discover that it was a lot more than that.

    Dwane Heyward, of Georgetown, South Carolina; Keshia Gary, of Southern Pines; Thomasine Hairston, from Bennettsville, South Carolina; Saad Pressley, of Rockingham; Genesis McLaurin, of Hamlet; and Kaprise McLean, of Laurinburg, play the lottery games as a group and share the prize money.

    money team wins nc powerball

    North Carolina Education Lottery

    “We didn’t believe it until it happened,” Heyward said.

    They bought the winning ticket at Walmart on North Tryon Street in Charlotte. The ticket matched the numbers on four white balls and the red Powerball in the Aug. 23 drawing to win $50,000. Because they bought a Power Play ticket, the prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier hit.

    The Money Team took home $71,751 after federal and state taxes.

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  • Powerball jackpot hits $1.4 billion. Here are your odds of picking the winning numbers

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    The Powerball jackpot is a whopping $1.4 billion for Wednesday’s drawing after no one won in Monday’s drawing.The prize has an estimated one-time cash payment of $634.3 million if the winner doesn’t choose the annual payments over 30 years, with a 5% increase each year.If a player wins Wednesday’s jackpot, it would be the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot prize, according to Powerball. Last year, an Oregon player won $1.33 billion, making it the fourth-highest jackpot. It took a record 42 consecutive drawings before the winner was selected.The current Powerball is at its 41st drawing, which began on May 31. Powerball drawings are conducted every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EST.What are the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot? Players have to select five numbers between 1 and 69 and one red Powerball number from 1 to 26. Matching all five numbers and the red Powerball wins the jackpot. The odds that happens — 1 in 292.2 million.While those odds may seem slim, Powerball offers nine possible ways to win a prize.What are the most frequently drawn numbers?The Powerball lottery changed to its current format of 69 white balls (up from 59) and 26 red Powerballs (down from 35) on Oct. 7, 2015.While Powerball drawings are designed to be random, some numbers have been drawn more frequently than others.White ball numbers 61 and 21 were drawn around 9% of the time in the last 10 years, while red ball numbers 4 and 21 were drawn nearly 5% of the time.Here is a look at the most frequently drawn numbers and combinations since 2015, according to Powerball Statistics: PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

    WASHINGTON —

    The Powerball jackpot is a whopping $1.3 billion for Wednesday’s drawing after no one won in Monday’s drawing.

    The prize has an estimated one-time cash payment of $589 million if the winner doesn’t choose the annual payments over 30 years, with a 5% increase each year.

    If a player wins Wednesday’s jackpot, it would be the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot prize, according to Powerball.

    Last year, an Oregon player won $1.33 billion, making it the fourth-highest jackpot. It took a record 42 consecutive drawings before the winner was selected.

    The current Powerball is at its 41st drawing, which began on May 31. Powerball drawings are conducted every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EST.

    What are the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot?

    Players have to select five numbers between 1 and 69 and one red Powerball number from 1 to 26. Matching all five numbers and the red Powerball wins the jackpot. The odds that happens — 1 in 292.2 million.

    While those odds may seem slim, Powerball offers nine possible ways to win a prize.

    What are the most frequently drawn numbers?

    The Powerball lottery changed to its current format of 69 white balls (up from 59) and 26 red Powerballs (down from 35) on Oct. 7, 2015.

    While Powerball drawings are designed to be random, some numbers have been drawn more frequently than others.

    White ball numbers 61 and 21 were drawn around 9% of the time in the last 10 years, while red ball numbers 4 and 21 were drawn nearly 5% of the time.

    Here is a look at the most frequently drawn numbers and combinations since 2015, according to Powerball Statistics:

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  • Check your tickets! Powerball numbers drawn for $700 million jackpot

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    Check your tickets! Powerball numbers drawn for $700 million jackpot

    THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY? TONIGHT’S POWERBALL JACKPOT IS UP TO A WHOPPING $526 MILLION. THAT’S A CASH VALUE OF 241 MILLION. HERE TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS IS DOCTOR VARSHA RADHAKRISHNAN FROM TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER. GOOD TO SEE YOU, DOCTOR. GOOD TO SEE IT. YOU KNOW, THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY ON THE LINE, RIGHT? BUT THE ODDS OF WINNING IF WE’RE BEING REAL OF THE GRAND PRIZE IS 1 IN 292,000,000. SO, IN YOUR VIEW, WHAT DRAWS PEOPLE TO GAMES LIKE THIS? WELL, PEOPLE ARE DRAWN TO GAMES LIKE THIS, ESPECIALLY WITH THAT ANTICIPATION, THE EXCITEMENT THAT WHAT IF FEELING WHAT IF I’M THAT ONE PERSON WHO WINS? EVEN IF THE ODDS OF WINNING ARE ASTRONOMICALLY LOW. BUT GAMES LIKE POWERBALL, THEY ACTUALLY ACTIVATE OUR BRAIN’S REWARD PATHWAY THROUGH THROUGH ACTIVATION OF A NEUROTRANSMITTER CALLED DOPAMINE. SO THAT’S ACTUALLY PART OF OUR PLEASURE AND REWARD SYSTEM. AND SO I THINK IT REINFORCES THINGS LIKE GAMBLING THAT THAT ADDICTION THAT CAN COME UP SOMETIMES. YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN GAMBLE FROM TIME TO TIME WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. BUT SOME PEOPLE DO STRUGGLE. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SIGNS THAT CERTAIN BEHAVIOR MAYBE HAS CROSSED INTO A PROBLEM TERRITORY? YEAH, AND I KIND OF ALLUDED TO IT, BUT WHEN DOES IT BECOME MORE OF AN ENJOYABLE ACTIVITY VERSUS ADDICTION? AND SO WARNING SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS REALLY ARE, ARE MORE RELATED TO THAT NEED OR DESIRE TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT YOU’RE EXPENDING. THAT FEELING OF IRRITABILITY OR RESTLESSNESS WHEN CUTTING BACK, BEING UNABLE TO STOP DESPITE WANTING TO CONSTANTLY THINKING ABOUT GAMBLING, CHASING LOSSES, OR EVEN LYING ABOUT GAMBLING SO THAT WHEN THEY’RE STARTING TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE IMPACTS ON RELATIONSHIPS OR WORK, THAT’S WHEN WHEN THOSE BEHAVIORS BECOME VERY CONCERNING. YEAH, THAT’S THE SIGNS THERE. OKAY. SO THERE ARE SOME BENEFITS THOUGH TO THROWING YOUR HAT IN THE RING FROM TIME TO TIME. OH YEAH. THERE’S THERE’S ALWAYS THAT THAT THOUGHT IN THE BACK OF OUR MIND. IT’S IT’S ALSO FUN. OF COURSE IT CAN BE A THRILLING FEELING. PARTICIPATION. AND IN SOME OF THESE THESE TYPES OF GAMES CAN BRING THAT SENSE OF EXCITEMENT AND HOPE. ALSO JOINING SOMETHING THAT INVOLVES OTHER FOLKS AT WORK, FOR EXAMPLE, OR FRIENDS, FAMILY, IT CAN BE A SOCIAL ACTIVITY TOO. YEAH, I KNOW THERE’S A POOL GOING AROUND HERE IN THE NEWSROOM, SO IT CAN BE, BUT YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO BE MINDFUL OF THOSE SIGNS YOU MENTIONED. DOCTOR RADHAKRISHNAN, WE

    Check your tickets! Powerball numbers drawn for $700 million jackpot

    Updated: 8:06 PM PDT Aug 23, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Feeling lucky? Here are the winning Powerball numbers for Saturday night: 11-14-34-47-51 Powerball 18The Powerplay Multiplier was 2xVideo above: Odds of winning Powerball slim, but why do we play?After no one won the big prize on Wednesday night, the jackpot grew to $700 million (estimated cash value of $316.3 million), according to the Powerball website.Preliminary data from the Multi-State Lottery Association, which helps facilitate the Powerball lottery, shows Powerball sales are 40% higher than they were at this point last year.”As the jackpot increases, we expect ticket sales to increase,” the association said.While the size of the jackpot and the ticket sales have risen, the odds of winning the top prize have not. The chances of winning the jackpot stand at about 1 in 292 million.

    Feeling lucky? Here are the winning Powerball numbers for Saturday night:

    11-14-34-47-51 Powerball 18

    The Powerplay Multiplier was 2x


    Video above: Odds of winning Powerball slim, but why do we play?

    After no one won the big prize on Wednesday night, the jackpot grew to $700 million (estimated cash value of $316.3 million), according to the Powerball website.

    Preliminary data from the Multi-State Lottery Association, which helps facilitate the Powerball lottery, shows Powerball sales are 40% higher than they were at this point last year.

    “As the jackpot increases, we expect ticket sales to increase,” the association said.

    While the size of the jackpot and the ticket sales have risen, the odds of winning the top prize have not. The chances of winning the jackpot stand at about 1 in 292 million.

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  • Hmmm… Time To Take a Break From the Internet (35 Photos)

    Hmmm… Time To Take a Break From the Internet (35 Photos)

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    Hendy

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  • Is El Niño's reputation as a legendary rainmaker overblown?

    Is El Niño's reputation as a legendary rainmaker overblown?

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    NOAA has warned of a ‘historically strong’ El Niño through January, but so far, California’s wet season has been notably dry.

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    Hayley Smith

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  • Il Makiage parent Oddity Tech’s stock rockets out of the gate in trading debut

    Il Makiage parent Oddity Tech’s stock rockets out of the gate in trading debut

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    “We want to build something huge.”

    That’s Lindsay Drucker Mann, chief financial officer of Oddity Tech, the Israeli digital consumer technology platform for the beauty and wellness market that started trading on Nasdaq on Wednesday.

    The stock
    ODD,
    +38.23%
    soared 38% out of the gate after the company’s initial public offering priced above its proposed range. The deal was also upsized in another sign of strong demand.

    “We’ve unlocked online one of the most attractive and lucrative TAMs on the planet,” said the CFO, referring to the sector’s total addressable market. The beauty industry is worth an estimated $600 billion and is still dominated by bricks-and-mortar retailers.

    “The encumbents are amazing megacap businesses that have built so much value over time,” said Drucker Mann. “But we believe the consumer has moved on and that we’re building the future of the category.”

    The company, which was founded by Israeli sister-brother team Oran Holtzman, who is chief executive, and Shiran Holtzman-Erel, who is chief product officer, is confident its high-tech approach to the beauty business gives it a strong advantage.

    For more, see: Il Makiage parent Oddity Tech is going public: 5 things to know about the Israeli digital beauty company

    Oddity harnesses data science, machine learning and computer vision and artificial intelligence to allow its customers identify the correct products, formulations and shades, and it owns patented software that allows them to do it using their smartphones.

    The company acquired Voyage 81 in 2021, a company that has developed software that can provide hyperspectral information.

    Simply put, the eye can only see three colors — red, green and blue — but there are many more colors on smaller wavelength bands that remain invisible. Technology developed by NASA can extract that information but the hardware is expensive at a cost of $20,000 or more.

    The Voyage81 software can extract the same information and bring it to all devices, allowing consumers to see more colors.

    “We can analyze skin and hair features, detect facial blood flows and more. We’re building a whole new suite of tools to harness that power,” said Drucker Mann.

    The results are impressive. The company’s first brand, Il Makiage, which was launched in 2018, was the fastest-growing global beauty direct-to-consumer platform from 2020 through 2022, says the prospectus, citing trade magazine Women’s Wear Daily.

    Il Makiage was also the fastest-growing digital, direct-to-consumer beauty brand in the U.S. through 2021, says the IPO prospectus, citing data from Digital Commerce 360, which is its most recent available.

    The second brand, SpoiledChild, launched in 2022 with the goal of disrupting the wellness category online, and is scaling even faster, said Drucker Mann.

    The company now has more than 40 million users on the platform that have generated more than 1 billion data points on their beauty preferences. As of end-March, Oddity had more 4 million active customers, or customers that had made at least one purchase in the last year.

    “Our business is unique in that it’s a company that’s growing and as young as we are and in tech, we’re profitable from very early on,” said Drucker Mann. “We have generated significant Ebitda margins and cash flow and so we have more than $100 million of cash on our balance sheet from earnings, and not from a capital raise.”

    The company plans to use the proceeds from today’s deal to develop new products and expand into new markets. Some of those products will come out of Oddity Labs, which it set up in April to bring AI-based molecule discovery to beauty and wellness.

    Brands three and four are in the works, although Drucker Mann is unable to offer details just yet.

    “There are so many pain points that consumers have told us about so we’re developing products to address those,” she said.

    The executive’s background as a Goldman Sachs banker made her passionate about companies and consumer products, understanding how a company works and what makes a business succeed.

    “Getting global capital markets behind us when the business has never been stronger is making us excited as we look at 2024 and beyond,” she said.

    The Renaissance IPO ETF
    IPO,
    +0.29%
    has gained 45% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.32%
    has gained 19%.

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  • ODD Stock Price | ODDITY Tech Ltd. Stock Quote (U.S.: Nasdaq) | MarketWatch

    ODD Stock Price | ODDITY Tech Ltd. Stock Quote (U.S.: Nasdaq) | MarketWatch

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    Intraday Data provided by FACTSET and subject to terms of use.
    Historical and current end-of-day data provided by FACTSET.
    All quotes are in local exchange time.
    Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only.
    Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.

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  • Can I have a kangaroo? Navalny taunts Russian jail with bizarre requests

    Can I have a kangaroo? Navalny taunts Russian jail with bizarre requests

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    MOSCOW, June 2 (Reuters) – Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most famous opposition leader, on Friday shared letters showing how he has poked fun at prison authorities for several months with a host of bizarre requests for a kimono, a balalaika, a beetle and even to keep a kangaroo.

    The requests were turned down by the maximum security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 250 km (115 miles) east of Moscow, according to the Russian documents he posted online.

    “When you are in a punishment cell and don’t have much entertainment, you can always amuse yourself by corresponding with the prison administration,” Navalny said.

    Navalny is serving combined sentences of 11-1/2 years for fraud and contempt of court on charges that he says were trumped up to silence him.

    The letters showed that Navalny asked for an eclectic range of items, including, variously, a bottle of moonshine, a balalaika, a staff, two pouches of cheap tobacco, a kimono and a black belt.

    The correspondence also reveals the conditions of the Russian prison system: Navalny asked for a megaphone to be given to a mentally ill convict in a cell opposite so that “he could shout even louder”, and for prison authorities to award the 10th dan in Karate to a prisoner who apparently killed a man with his bare hands.

    Both requests were refused. The prison declined comment.

    The prison’s replies, written in the stilted administrative Russian of officialdom, complete with serial numbers, acronyms and references to various laws and rules, give a satiric insight into the sometimes absurd world of Russian bureaucracy, a theme writer Nikolai Gogol satirised in the 19th Century.

    “The question of awarding eastern martial arts qualifications is not handled by the administration,” the prison wrote back on April 28.

    In response to Navalny’s request for a permit to keep a kangaroo, the prison wrote: “The animal identified in your request relates to the double crested-marsupial… Your request is left without satisfaction.”

    He asked for a massage chair to be given to an unidentified squad leader, suggesting it might reduce stress. The prison wrote coldly that massage chairs were not provided.

    Navalny inquired about the names of the guard dogs.

    The prison said it could not give him such information. Navalny said he was told by guards that knowledge of the names of the dogs could allow him to befriend the creatures and then try to escape.

    His inquiry about whether he needed a permit to keep a beetle was met with a refusal.

    “The insect identified by you in your request belongs to the animal kingdom,” the prison said in a May 3 letter.

    Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Philippa Fletcher

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    Guy Faulconbridge

    Thomson Reuters

    As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.
    Contact: +447825218698

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  • Free-diver plunges to record depth beneath frozen Swiss lake

    Free-diver plunges to record depth beneath frozen Swiss lake

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    LAKE SILS, Switzerland, March 14 (Reuters) – David Vencl emerged from the depths of Switzerland’s Lake Sils on Tuesday after a record dive beneath the ice to a depth of more than 50 meters without a wetsuit.

    The 40-year-old Czech diver’s record vertical plunge to 52.1 meters in a single breath follows his entry into the Guinness World Records book for swimming the length of a frozen Czech lake in 2021.

    Vencl dived through a hole in the ice then retrieved a sticker from a depth of 50 meters to prove his feat before re-emerging through the same hole. He spat some blood, sat down for a minute and then opened a bottle of champagne. A later visit to the hospital confirmed there was nothing serious.

    [1/3] Czech freediver David Vencl dives to 52 metres under the ice of Lake Sils in one breath and wearing only a swimsuit in this picture taken from a video in Sils near St. Moritz, Switzerland March 14, 2023. David Vencl Organisation/Handout via REUTERS

    The Swiss plunge in temperatures of between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius took him 1 minute 54 seconds, his promoter Pavel Kalous said, which was a bit slower than expected.

    “He kind of enjoyed it but he admits he was a little more nervous than usual and he had some problems with breathing,” he told Reuters.

    “There is nothing difficult for him to be in cold water… Lack of oxygen is something normal for him. But this was completely different because it’s really difficult to work with the pressure in your ears in cold water,” he added.

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    “If you combine all these three things: cold water, lack of oxygen and the problem with working with pressure, it’s something very unique,” he added.

    Reporting by Denis Balibouse in Lake Sils, Switzerland
    Writing by Emma Farge
    Editing by Matthew Lewis

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Indian truckers say Hindenburg report a godsend in Adani dispute

    Indian truckers say Hindenburg report a godsend in Adani dispute

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    • India’s Adani reopens two cement plants after freight dispute
    • Truckers believe Hindenburg report was answer to their prayers
    • Adani says amicable resolution reached after negotiations

    DARLAGHAT, India Feb 23 (Reuters) – For truckers transporting cement from Adani’s factories in a hilly north Indian state, a U.S. short-seller’s critical research report on the giant conglomerate was a godsend they say helped them save their livelihoods.

    For weeks, around 7,000 truck owners and drivers in India’s Himachal Pradesh resorted to protest rallies against Adani’s Dec. 15 decision to shut two cement plants over a dispute on freight rates. Adani argued the plants were “unviable” at the trucking rates it wanted to slash by around half.

    On Monday, the Gautam Adani-led group said it had “amicably resolved” the issue with a 10-12% reduction in rates. Truckers rejoiced, with a union leader in a street address labelling it as a victory after late-night talks with Adani.

    The settlement comes four weeks after U.S.-based Hindenburg Research accused Adani of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens, allegations the group called baseless.

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    The Jan. 24 report triggered a $140 billion rout in group’s stocks, sparked regulatory investigations and saw the billionaire Adani slip to 26 on the Forbes global rich list, from third.

    While the truckers’ settlement will have only a small impact on the overall Adani empire, it was a big win for the drivers and owners in a state were most people live on around $7 a day.

    The report “played a crucial role in our battle against India’s biggest business group, helped mobilize truckers and gain political support,” said Ram Krishan Sharma, one of the lead negotiators for protesting truckers.

    Adani negotiators had refused to budge for weeks. So Hindenburg’s report, some truckers believe, was godsent.

    Just a day before it was published, many truckers visited a small, revered Hindu temple in Darlaghat which overlooks one of Adani’s cement plants, and offered a traditional semolina sweet offering to a deity as they sought to resolve the dispute.

    Bantu Shukla, a protest leader, showed Reuters a photo and video of truckers that day offering prayers inside the temple. Some stood with folded hands, while a person rang a temple bell in a typical Hindu worship ritual.

    ‘AMICABLE RESOLUTION’

    Adani Group did not answer Reuters questions on whether the Hindenburg report’s fallout contributed to its decision in Himachal.

    Adani Cements in a statement said it was “grateful” to all stakeholders including the unions, the local state chief minister and other departments, adding the “amicable resolution” was in interest of everyone including the state.

    A source familiar with Adani’s negotiation said the group had been under pressure following what it thinks was a “negative campaign” by Adani’s opponents after the Hindenburg report, and the settlement to reopen plants is a relief.

    Himachal is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s staunch rival, the Congress party. After the Hindenburg report, Congress has renewed its claims that Modi for years has unduly favoured Adani. Both Adani and India’s government deny that.

    The source added the move will also help Adani signal it can resolve commercial matters in states ruled by Modi’s rivals.

    Without citing Hindenburg, the Himachal chief minister’s office on Monday said “we have been successful in resolving the issues” to end the 67-day dispute.

    WHATSAPP CHATS, PRAYERS AT TEMPLE

    Adani became India’s second largest cement manufacturer when it acquired ACC (ACC.NS) and Ambuja Cements (ABUJ.NS) in a $10.5 billion deal with Swiss giant Holcim (HOLN.S) last year.

    In December, it shut plants in the villages of Gagal and Darlaghat in Himachal, saying truckers were charging too much.

    The Adani group wanted freight rates to be lowered to around 6 rupees ($0.0725) per tonne per km, from around 11 rupees. Many truckers told Reuters they struggled to make their loan repayments as their incomes shrank after the shutdowns.

    As a stalemate worsened, truckers formed WhatsApp groups to coordinate efforts, vent frustration and later share Hindenburg’s impact on Adani companies and stock prices to further drum up support.

    One such WhatsApp group chat of around 1,000 truckers, reviewed by Reuters, showed sharing of a local reporter’s video discussing the sharp fall in Adani’s shares and his alleged close ties to Modi.

    Although they accepted a small cut in freight rates when Adani agreed to pay 9.3-10.58 rupees per km per tonne, truckers felt they saved their jobs, and prayers at the Hindu temple were organised again this week.

    “We felt our deity had accepted our prayers when we saw the fall in the share prices of Adani companies,” protest leader Shukla said. “The Hindenburg report was a gift that saved our businesses.”

    (This story has been refiled to remove extraneous word in paragraph 20)

    Reporting by Manoj Kumar, Aditya Kalra and Anushree Fadnavis; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Santa Claus undaunted by arctic blast, U.S. military says

    Santa Claus undaunted by arctic blast, U.S. military says

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    DENVER, Dec 24 (Reuters) – U.S. military officials have assured anxious children the arctic blast and snowstorm that wreaked havoc on U.S. airline traffic this week will not prevent Santa Claus from making his annual Christmas Eve flight.

    “We have to deal with a polar vortex once in a while, but Santa lives year-round in one at the North Pole, so he’s used to this weather,” deadpanned U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Ben Wiseman, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, which tracks the yuletide flight.

    For 67 years, NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canadian military command based at Peterson Air Force base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has provided images and updates on the legendary figure’s worldwide journey along with its main task of monitoring air defenses and issuing aerospace and maritime warnings.

    The Santa tracker tradition originated from a 1955 misprint in a Colorado Springs newspaper of the telephone number of a department store for children to call and speak with Santa. The listed number went to what was then known as the Continental Air Defense Command.

    An understanding officer took the youngsters’ calls and assured them that Santa, also known as Father Christmas or Saint Nick, was airborne and on schedule to deliver presents to good girls and boys, flying aboard his reindeer-powered sleigh.

    Santa does not file a formal flight plan, so the military is never quite sure exactly when he will take off, nor his exact route, NORAD’s Wiseman said, although the Santa tracker goes live at 4 a.m. EST (0900 GMT) on Friday on the NORAD website.

    Once the jolly old elf’s lead reindeer, Rudolph, switches on his shiny red nose, military personnel can zero in on his location using infrared sensors, Wiseman said.

    U.S. and Canadian fighter jet pilots provide a courtesy escort for him over North America, and Santa slows down to wave to them, he added.

    Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Steve Gorman and Philippa Fletcher

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  • Animal bones, ancient Romans’ snack food found in Colosseum

    Animal bones, ancient Romans’ snack food found in Colosseum

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    ROME, Nov 24 (Reuters) – A year-long study of the drainage system under the Colosseum has unearthed fragments of the bones of bears and big cats that were probably used to fight or as prey in hunting games in the ancient Roman arena, archaeologists said on Thursday.

    Other discoveries include more than 50 bronze coins from the late Roman period as well as a silver coin from around 170-171 AD to commemorate 10 years of rule of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, they added in a statement.

    Seeds from fruits such as figs, grapes and melons as well as traces of olives and nuts — thought to indicate what spectators snacked on during shows — were also recovered from the 2,000-year-old stone amphitheatre.

    The study, which began in January, involved the clearance of around 70 metres of drains and sewers under the Colosseum and is seen as shedding light on its later years before it fell into disuse around 523 AD.

    Alfonsina Russo, Director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, said the discoveries “deepen our understanding of the experience and habits of those who came to this place during the long days dedicated to the performances”.

    Writing by Keith Weir
    Editing by Alvise Armellini and Gareth Jones

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  • Ruminating on rebellion, Putin says the state must be strong

    Ruminating on rebellion, Putin says the state must be strong

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    LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday questioned a Russian teacher at length about an 18th century rebellion which shook Empress Catherine the Great’s Russia, offering his own view on the lesson from history: the state must be strong.

    Putin, Russia’s paramount leader since 1999, is facing the most serious challenge of his rule as his forces lose ground in their seven-month war in Ukraine while Russia confronts the West in the most dangerous standoff since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

    In a long televised video conference with a group of award-winning teachers, Putin unexpectedly began grilling one of them about the 1773-1775 Pugachev Rebellion.

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    “What was it, this Pugachev Rebellion? Why did it happen? What is your view?” Putin asked the startled teacher, who gave several reasons for the most serious domestic challenge of Catherine’s 34-year reign.

    Putin quipped that the teacher’s answer was like that of a diplomat from the Russian foreign ministry, and asked again for a clear view about the causes and result of the rebellion led by Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev, who pretended to be Tsar Peter III.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting via video link in Sochi, Russia September 27, 2022. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS

    “He imagined himself the tsar,” Putin said of Pugachev who, buoyed by rumours of dynastic intrigue at court, fanned a major insurgency in 1773 before he was finally defeated by Catherine’s forces more than a year and a half later.

    “Basically it was an element of the weakness of central authority in the country,” Putin said.

    Putin has repeatedly tried to strengthen the Russian state after the chaos of the 1990s, though critics such as jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny say the Kremlin chief has made a brittle system of personal rule that is reliant on sycophancy.

    The Kremlin chief has warned repeatedly against what he casts as U.S. attempts to foment revolution across the former Soviet Union.

    Pugachev was executed in public in January 1775 on Moscow’s Red Square. But the revolt had a lasting influence on Catherine and was used as the canvas for Alexander Pushkin’s historical novel “The Captain’s Daughter”.

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    Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mark Trevelyan

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