What to Know
- No one has won the big Powerball prize, so the estimated jackpot now grows to $750 million — the fourth-largest lottery jackpot in history
- U.S. health regulators have approved the first new type of flu drug in two decades
- Megyn Kelly fired her agent after news leaked that the NBC News star might be relinquishing her daytime show, a source says
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No Big Powerball Winner; Jackpot Now Up to $750 Million
No one has won the big Powerball prize, so the estimated jackpot now grows to $750 million — the fourth-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. The next drawing will be Saturday. On Wednesday night, when it was at $620 million, the Powerball jackpot looked sort of puny given all the attention lavished on the $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot won in South Carolina on Tuesday. But with two giant prizes in one week, it was hard not to compare. Only three lottery jackpots have been larger than the next Powerball prize. No one has won the Powerball jackpot since Aug. 11, when a man from Staten Island, New York, won $245.6 million.
US Approves First New Type of Flu Drug in 2 Decades
U.S. health regulators have approved the first new type of flu drug in two decades. The approval of Xofluza for people age 12 and older comes ahead of the brunt of this winter's flu season. Xofluza is a pill that can reduce severity and shorten duration of flu symptoms after one just dose. It was developed by the Roche Group and Shionogi & Co. It works about as well as Tamiflu, Roche's older flu treatment, which is also available in cheaper generic versions. Tamiflu is taken twice daily for five days. Health officials have said an estimated 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter, the disease's highest death toll in at least four decades. The severe flu season increased demand for Tamiflu and led to spot shortages. Roche's Genentech unit plans to launch Xofluza within a few weeks. It will cost $150 without insurance.
Megyn Kelly Fires Agent After Blackface Criticism, Source Says
Local
Megyn Kelly fired her agent after news leaked that the NBC News star might be relinquishing her daytime show, a source directly familiar with the situation told NBC News. The source said Kelly parted ways with her agent Matt DelPiano, of Creative Artists Agency, the executive who negotiated her stratospheric $23 million-a-year deal for three years with NBC News. A representative for Kelly, Davidson Goldin, told NBC News Kelly was switching to UTA. Just hours later, UTA spokesman Seth Oster told NBC News, “After initial discussions, UTA made a decision not to move forward in representing her.” A source directly familiar with the talks between Kelly and UTA told NBC News they had been in talks with Kelly for two weeks — prior to the blackface comments — and when other UTA clients voiced displeasure over those comments, representing Kelly became “untenable.” CAA did not immediately return requests for comment. NBC News declined to comment, and Kelly was not immediately reachable.
Taylor Swift Donates to Fan Struggling to Pay Medical Bills
Taylor Swift has donated $15,500 to a GoFundMe account of a fan whose family is struggling with medical bills. Sadie Bartell's mother has been in a coma for three years, and the family is worried about losing their home because of mounting medical bills. The 19-year-old tweeted that her mother became ill two days before she went to see Swift in a concert. Swift made the donation over the weekend with the message, "Love, Taylor, Meredith and Olivia Swift." Meredith and Olivia are Swift's cats. Others followed the singer's lead and donated. Bartell thanked Swift and called the singer her "whole entire life" and "a miracle" in a Facebook post.
