(NEW YORK) — The Mega Millions jackpot surged to $944 million on Saturday after no ticket matched the numbers drawn on Friday, the lottery said. The winning numbers on Friday were 2, 20, 51, 56, 57 and gold Mega Ball 19. The next drawing will be on Tuesday, Dec. 24. The jackpot prize has a cash value of $429 million, which can be offered as a one-time lump sum payment, or an immediate payment followed by annual payments. The jackpot has been rolling since it was last won at $810 million in Texas on Sept. 10. The total of $862 million is the seventh-largest prize in Mega Millions history. The largest Mega Millions prize ever won was $1.6 billion on August 2023. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions. Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play.
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter Co-showrunner Sally Bradford McKenna tells The Hollywood Reporter about the decision to include Knox, who was acquitted of her roommate’s 2007 murder. By Ryan Gajewski Senior Entertainment Reporter The team behind Laid couldn’t be happier to have included Amanda Knox in the Peacock comedy series. Adapted from the Australian project of the same name, the show centers on Ruby (Stephanie Hsu), who realizes that her previous lovers are dying and sets out to understand why this is happening. Zosia Mamet co-stars as Ruby’s best friend AJ, while other castmembers include Michael Angarano and Tommy Martinez. One surprising member of the cast is Knox, who makes an appearance in the final episode of the first season that is currently streaming. Knox became a public figure after she was convicted and then ultimately acquitted of the 2007 murder of her roommate in Italy. Co-showrunner Sally Bradford McKenna describes herself to The Hollywood Reporter as a big true-crime fan who saw Knox as the right fit for a role, given the series’ story.
“I’m obsessed with her,” Bradford McKenna says of Knox. “Like the character of AJ, I am obsessed with true crime. It really did fit in this show to have AJ be playing detective and trying to solve the mystery and get on the case.” The Goldbergs alum continues, “We knew that we were going towards a moment where we needed a grand gesture. We thought she was perfect because, first of all, we were set in Seattle. We didn’t even realize that she lives in Seattle. We were trying to think of someone who is true crime but was acquitted of the crime. She was so game and so into it. She also is into comedy, and she was so excited to do this, and she was amazing. She was a really good actress, too.” Bradford McKenna, who serves as co-showrunner of Laid alongside Nahnatchka Khan, also saw a connection between Knox’s path and the themes informing Hsu’s character. She says of Knox, “Her story is such a fucked-up story, and thematically of a girl in her 20s in college going off to study abroad and the juxtaposition of the darkest possible stakes against this backdrop of a woman just looking for love and dating. It tied in very nicely with Ruby’s story.” Knox and then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of the murder of Meredith Kercher, who was Knox’s roommate in Italy and found dead in their apartment two years prior. The convictions were overturned in 2011, and then after they were again found guilty in a retrial, the pair were exonerated by Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation in 2015. Margaret Qualley is set to play Knox in a Hulu series about her life.
On Laid, when AJ tells Knox that she wants to hear about being in jail for a crime she didn’t commit, Knox quips about her situation, “Yeah, I don’t recommend it.” Additionally, Bradford McKenna praises Hsu for helping audiences connect with a “genuinely unlikable” character like Ruby. “We knew for the casting of Ruby, she needed to be someone you instantly like, who you instantly are rooting for,” she says. “We tried to write towards that, but really so much of that was just the casting of Stephanie. She’s so appealing and so likable.” Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Inside the business of TV with breaking news, expert analysis and showrunner interviews Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently witnessed its Bitcoin holdings reach an impressive $40 billion, marking a significant milestone in the country’s cryptocurrency journey. This investment surge aligns with a global bull market that has reignited interest in digital assets. The implications of this growth are profound as the UAE continues to position itself as a hub for blockchain innovation and cryptocurrency adoption. Major organizations and the UAE government have played a pivotal role in increasing the country’s Bitcoin holdings. Substantial investments from private companies and sovereign wealth funds have bolstered confidence in the cryptocurrency sector. These deliberate actions align with the UAE’s broader strategy to embrace technological advancements and diversify its economy. To support the growth of its cryptocurrency industry, the United Arab Emirates has implemented several strategic initiatives. Regulatory frameworks like the Dubai Multi Commodities Center’s (DMCC) Crypto Center have created a favourable environment for blockchain and cryptocurrency enterprises to flourish. These efforts have attracted numerous blockchain startups and established businesses, further boosting the nation’s Bitcoin holdings. Market participants are optimistic about the growing Bitcoin investments in the United Arab Emirates, as reflected in discussions on TradingView. Traders highlight the strategic timing of these transactions, which aligns with favorable market conditions. Positive opinions dominate the conversation, showcasing confidence in the UAE’s cryptocurrency policies. Global economic developments have significantly influenced the current bull market. Factors such as low interest rates, macroeconomic uncertainty, and inflation concerns have driven investors to adopt Bitcoin as a hedge. The UAE’s proactive embrace of Bitcoin aligns with these broader economic shifts. Related Reading: Bitcoin Legal Tender In Thailand? Here’s What’s Happening Advancements in blockchain technology have also contributed to Bitcoin’s rise. Scalability, security, and user experience improvements have enhanced its appeal to institutional and individual investors. The UAE’s focus on technological innovation has enabled it to capitalize on these developments, further increasing its Bitcoin holdings. The surge in Bitcoin holdings may have profound economic implications for the UAE. As a leading crypto-friendly nation, the UAE benefits from increased technological innovation, job creation, and financial inclusivity. Cryptocurrency investments could also support economic diversification, reducing reliance on oil revenues. Analysts predict that the UAE’s Bitcoin holdings will continue to grow, driven by favorable regulatory environments and strategic investments. The country is a model for others with its proactive approach to cryptocurrency adoption. The UAE’s success in this domain may encourage further institutional investments and contribute to the broader acceptance of Bitcoin globally. Featured image was created with DALL.E, chart was from Tradingview.com For updates and exclusive offers enter your email.
Internet C.J. Ciaramella| In September, a federal appeals court dealt a major blow to the Internet Archive—one of the largest online repositories of free books, media, and software—in a copyright case with significant implications for publishers, libraries, and readers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that found the Internet Archive’s huge, digitized lending library of copyrighted books was not covered by the “fair use” doctrine and infringed on the rights of publishers. Agreeing with the Archive’s interpretation of fair use “would significantly narrow—if not entirely eviscerate—copyright owners’ exclusive right to prepare derivative works,” the 2nd Circuit ruled. “Were we to approve [Internet Archive’s] use of the works, there would be little reason for consumers or libraries to pay publishers for content they could access for free.” Following the decision, Maria Pallante, president of the Association of American Publishers, said in a press release that the Archive “attempted to do what no one had done before, which was to call unauthorized distribution of entire books ‘lending’ without permission.” The Internet Archive is a nonprofit with a mission “to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge,” with an online collection of 44 million books and texts. It also operates a digital lending library called the Open Library. The Archive owns a physical copy of every book in the Open Library, and it scans and uploads them. Except for a period during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Archive has allowed only one digital copy of a book to be checked out at a time—a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio, just like a brick-and-mortar library. In 2020, four publishers—Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House—sued the Archive, alleging copyright infringements. A federal court ruled against the Internet Archive in March 2023, and the nonprofit appealed the decision to the 2nd Circuit last September. The Archive argued that its Open Library was protected by fair use doctrine and that scanning the books was a transformative use of the material done in the public interest. “Our take is that it’s absurd that the Internet Archive is allowed to mail me a physical book it owns. The physical publishers can’t stop that. But [the Archive] can’t give me the same content in digital form,” Cara Gagliano, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is representing the Archive in court, told KQED in San Francisco. The 2nd Circuit rejected that argument almost entirely, holding that the Archive’s digitization didn’t improve the efficiency of lending; that it didn’t constitute transformative works, but rather “derivative” works; and that it directly competed with publishers by offering free versions of their entire product. “True, libraries and consumers may reap some short-term benefits from access to free digital books, but what are the long-term consequences?” the court wrote. “If authors and creators knew that their original works could be copied and disseminated for free, there would be little motivation to produce new works.” The 2nd Circuit’s reasoning fundamentally misunderstood several issues at the heart of the case. Publishers have steadily made e-licenses for books more expensive and subject to more and more frequent renewals, making it difficult for libraries to afford extensive online catalogs. The 2nd Circuit also claims to be protecting authors, but the typical users of the lending library are writers and researchers who need to briefly get their hands on an old book, not someone looking for the latest bestseller. (For example, when I was researching a story about the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration for Reason, I used the Archive’s Open Library to check out a scan of Joe Eszterhas’ Nark!, an out-of-print 1974 nonfiction book detailing the deadly misadventures of federal narcotics agents.) While the rest of the internet becomes noticeably worse and more obnoxious—a process the author Cory Doctorow memorably calls “enshittification“—the Archive remains an example of the radical digital freedom that the World Wide Web originally promised to users. The 2nd Circuit’s ruling is a gift to the “weary giants of flesh and steel,” as John Perry Barlow’s 1996 “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” called the industries and governments trying to regulate the early internet. The Internet Archive was founded the same year Barlow published his manifesto. The nonprofit said in a press release that it was “reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend and preserve books.” Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.
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