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Single ticket wins £390 million US lottery
A single ticketholder in the United States has beaten extraordinary odds to win the highest ever Powerball lottery jackpot, worth an estimated £390 million. The ticket was bought at a supermarket in Florida and so far the winner has not been named.
The chances of winning are extremely low at 1 in 175.2 million which reflects how many different ways players can combine the numbers. Officials estimate that about 80% of the possible combinations have been bought recently.
One in 10 British motorists 'fall asleep at the wheel'
More than three million British drivers have fallen asleep behind the wheel in the last year. New research shows that almost one in 10 of the UK's more than 38 million motorists have nodded off while driving.
Tiredness contributed to at least 3,357 fatigue-related accidents which have been recorded over the past five years, according to official police figures obtained by LV car insurance.
Among the main causes were long and monotonous roads, a lack of sleep, driving long distances to a holiday destination or after a late work shift.
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Howe: Anti-Europeanism has 'infected the soul' of party
Lord Howe has launched a scathing attack on the Conservative party leadership. In an opinion piece in the Observer, he writes:
Sadly, by making it clear in January that he opposes the current terms of UK membership of the EU, the prime minister has opened a Pandora's box politically and seems to be losing control of his party in the process.
The ratchet-effect of Euroscepticism has now gone so far that the Conservative leadership is in effect running scared of its own backbenchers, let alone Ukip, having allowed deep anti-Europeanism to infect the very soul of the party.
– lord howe, former chancellorThe risk now is that, if it loses the next general election – a far from negligible possibility – the Conservative party will move to a position of simply opposing Britain's continued membership, with or without a referendum.
Murder investigation launched after man shot dead
A murder investigation has been launched following the shooting of a man last night, police said.
The 31-year-old man was shot on Church Road, Hove, at about 11.30pm.
He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton but died just after 1am.
Chief Inspector Helen West of Sussex Police said the incident is not believed to be random.
– Chief Inspector Helen West of Sussex PoliceThis is now being treated as a murder investigation. The man, who was found lying in the street, was quickly attended to by police and paramedics and taken to hospital but has tragically died.
This is a fast moving, developing inquiry to identify and trace the person or people responsible.
From information we do not believe this to be a random incident.We are actively seeking the offender, who we believe has left the area, and a number of police units including CID, Neighbourhood Policing, Road Policing and dog units are involved in this inquiry at this time.
Chief Inspector West said the investigation was still in its early stages and officers are "talking with a number of witnesses and have secured the scene for forensic examination".
Lord Howe: 'Cameron is losing control of his party'
Former foreign secretary Lord Howe has claimed David Cameron is losing control of his party as the Conservatives' "long, nervous breakdown" over Europe continues.
Lord Howe, whose differences with Baroness Thatcher over Europe led to his resignation and triggered her downfall, said Mr Cameron had "opened a Pandora's box politically" through his plan to renegotiate the UK's relationship with the European Union.
In a strongly-worded attack he said the Tory leadership was "running scared" of its backbenchers and had allowed Euroscepticism to "infect the very soul of the party".
Writing in The Observer, Lord Howe said the row over the lack of legislation paving the way for the Prime Minister's referendum by 2017, which led to a total of 116 Tories opposing the Government's legislative programme, marked a "new, almost farcical, low" for the party.
Rare Beatles guitar sells for £270,000
A guitar played by Beatles pair John Lennon and George Harrison sold for 408,000 US dollars (£269,000) at a New York auction today.
The Beatles Vox guitar, a custom prototype made in 1966 and later given to "Magic Alex" Mardas, a friend of the band, was sold by Julien's Auctions at the Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square.
The instrument raised a hundred thousand dollars more than its pre-auction estimate, which was between 200,000 and 300,000 US dollars (£130,000-£200,000).
Harrison can be seen rehearsing with the guitar on I Am The Walrus during the Magical Mystery Tour of September 1967.
Lennon also played it in the promotional video for Hello, Goodbye but it is not in the final version of the video.
Lennon gave the guitar to Alex Mardas with a plaque on the back reading: "To Magic Alex/ Alexi thank you/ for been [sic] a friend/ 2-5-1967 John."
It was built by Mike Bennett with electronics by Dick Denney of Vox guitars, and was briefly on public display in London earlier this month.
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No room for 'US-style guaranteed mortgages' says King
Sir Mervyn's concerns about Help to Buy echo those of the Treasury Select Committee, which reported on the Budget last month.
The committee warned the Government will come under "immense" pressure to extend Help to Buy in three years time.
– The outgoing governor of the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King.We do not want what the United States have, which is a government-guaranteed mortgage market, and they are desperately trying to find a way out of that position.
So, we mustn't let this scheme turn into a permanent scheme. Now when is the right time to terminate it will depend on economic conditions at the time."Sir Mervyn said the economy was in a "modest recovery" but "we certainly can't be satisfied with it".
We will need to do more to use up the spare capacity, and to get back to a healthy, growing economy," he said. "But we are in a recovery period now, I think, yes.
Under the equity loan new or existing homeowners will need to raise a deposit of 5% of the value of the property they want to buy, but can borrow up to a further 20% from the Government on an interest-free basis.
The biggest loan available will be £120,000.
King: 'No place in long run' for Osborne housing plan
The outgoing governor of the Bank of England has warned that George Osborne's plan to boost the housing market is "too close for comfort" to a general state guarantee for mortgages.
Sir Mervyn King said there was "no place in the long run" for the Chancellor's Help to Buy scheme, which will see the Government will guarantee up to 15% of a mortgage on properties worth up to £600,000
The scheme, which starts in January 2014, is due to run for three years and Sir Mervyn warned it must not be allowed to become permanent.
In an interview which will be broadcast on Sky News' Murnaghan programme later today, Sir Mervyn said: "I'm sure that there is no place in the long run for a scheme of this kind.
"This scheme is a little too close for comfort to a general scheme to guarantee mortgages. We had a very healthy mortgage market with competing lenders attracting borrowers before the crisis, and we need to get back to that healthy mortgage market."
Killing has sent shock waves around Pakistan
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PTI's leader, former international cricket star Imran Khan, immediately blamed the killing on the Muttahida Quami Movement.
The MQM has a stranglehold on politics in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi.
"Her death has sent shockwaves across the rank and file of the party," Khan said in a statement.Police said that two gunmen shot Hussain dead outside her home in an upscale neighborhood of Karachi, he said.
"I hold (MQM leader) Altaf Hussain directly responsible for the murder as he openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts," he added in a tweet.
"I also hold the British government responsible as I had warned them about British citizen Altaf Hussain after his open threats."
Senior female Pakistani politician killed by gunmen
Gunmen killed a senior female politician from a reformist party in Pakistan on Saturday night, the latest violent incident in a bloody election campaign and one that set off a war of words between two major opposition parties.
Around 150 people were killed in the run-up to national elections held last week, which handed a landslide victory to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N party.
It marked the first time an elected government replaced another one in a nation that has been run by military leaders for more than half its history.
Results from a handful of constituencies are still awaited amid accusations of vote-rigging.The shooting came hours ahead of re-polling in a key area beset by allegations of voting fraud.
It was not immediately clear who killed Zara Shahid Hussain, a senior member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
The PTI has promised to reduce endemic corruption in the nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people.
