Trump Plants Seeds Of Rural Revival With Friendly Farm Audience

Leave a reply

President Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Monday, before departing for Nashville, Tenn., for a Farm Bureau convention.

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Monday, before departing for Nashville, Tenn., for a Farm Bureau convention.

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump is expected to thank America’s farmers for their political support on Monday and to unveil a plan designed to help revive fortunes in struggling rural areas. At the same time, the president is pursuing trade and immigration policies that could be harmful to farmers’ bottom lines.

According to the president’s prepared remarks to the American Farm Bureau Federation in Nashville, Tenn., Trump will take note of farmers’ role in the economy and social fabric of the country.

“We are fighting for our farmers, for our country, and for our great American flag,” Trump is expected to say. “In every decision we make, we are honoring America’s proud farming legacy.”

It’s a friendly audience. Exit polls in 2016 found Trump had broader support among rural voters than in cities and suburbs. The GOP share of the vote in rural areas was 9 percent higher that year than in 2008 — a margin that helped propel Trump to his electoral college victory.

“Farmers are the president’s people,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in an interview with Morning Edition on Monday. “These are the people that elected the president. The president knows that. These are the people the president cares about. And he wants them to enjoy the American Dream just like all the people in the cities.”

Farm income has suffered in recent years from sagging commodity prices. Net farm income in 2017 was up modestly from the previous year, but still only about half what it was in 2013.

“While other sectors of the American economy have largely recovered from the Great Recession, rural America has lagged in almost every indicator,” according to the president’s new task force report.

The White House insists that can be turned around.

“I think what we often see communicated about rural America is that there are these isolated pockets of despair that are beyond hope or recovery,” said Ray Starling, a special assistant to the president for agriculture. “That’s not what we believe.”

The task force makes a number of recommendations, beginning with improved broadband service. According to the FCC, 39 percent of rural Americans lack access to high-speed Internet service, compared to just 4 percent of people in cities.

“What many people don’t understand in urban areas,” Perdue said, “is that when you have rural areas with no connectivity, that’s a sociological impact as well.”

Private companies often find it unprofitable to extend costly broadband service to lightly populated parts of the country. The federal government hopes to encourage that investment by streamlining the permit process and allowing antennas to be mounted on government towers. Similar suggestions were made during the Obama administration.

The task force also makes recommendations to improve rural health services including treatment for opioid addiction, provide a reliable rural workforce and promote economic development.

Trump is expected to tout the $1.5 trillion tax cut he signed in December, which doubles the size of estates that can be passed on to heirs tax-free.

“From now on, most family farms and small businesses will be spared the punishment of the deeply unfair estate tax, known as the ‘death tax,’ so you can keep your farms in the family,” Trump is expected to say. Even with the earlier exemption of $5.5 million, fewer than 100 farms were affected by the estate tax each year.

Trump will also highlighted his efforts to curtail regulation.

“As we put money back in the pockets of all Americans, including our farmers and ranchers, we are also putting an end to the regulatory assault on your way of life,” he will say.

With some exceptions, farmers have generally applauded the administration’s moves to curb regulation. But they worry about the crackdown on illegal immigration, since many farmworkers are undocumented. And farmers are deeply at odds with the administration’s trade policies.

The Farm Bureau was counting on a big Asia-Pacific trade deal to boost exports to Japan and other markets. But Trump withdrew from that agreement in one of his first acts as president. He’s also threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Perdue reportedly helped persuade the president not to cancel NAFTA back in April by showing Trump a map of states that would be hardest hit. Many of those were states that Trump had carried.

Perdue suggests Trump’s threat to end NAFTA is simply a negotiating tactic.

“The president has a New York style of negotiating that believes unless you’re willing to walk away from a deal you’re not going to get the best deal,” he said. “I’ve got confidence he will at the end of the day have a great deal for American farmers and the American economy.”

Reporter found after going missing in Houston

Leave a reply

Police found a sports reporter Monday morning who had gone missing in the Houston area. CBS affiliate KHOU reports that police found 29-year-old Courtney Roland’s Jeep Cherokee near the Galleria mall just after midnight on Sunday.

Police said on Twitter Monday morning that she was found in the same area and appeared to be unharmed but was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

At a press conference Monday afternoon, police said they believe Roland became confused from a reaction to medication she was taking. She received no injuries beyond bumps and bruises, but she doesn’t remember everything that happened to her. Investigators don’t suspect there was any foul play.

A passer-by who had seen news coverage of her disappearance called police at around 8:15 a.m., saying he had seen her walking under an overpass, the police said. Officers caught up with her and were able to confirm her identity. Even though she was in a confused state, she knew who she was.

Police say the Rivals.com Texas AM reporter’s phone was found inside the vehicle. Her purse with an iPad, computer and credit cards were also all found intact somewhere inside the Galleria.

KHOU-TV reports that Roland, who last seen wearing a camouflage fleece sweater and an orange hat, was last heard from Saturday around 4 p.m. She texted a roommate, telling her a suspicious man at a Walgreens was following her. The man followed her in a blue truck all the way home, but then he allegedly drove off when she got out.

The roommate was supposed to meet up with Roland but she never showed up, the station reported.

Roland’s parents pleaded for information.

“If somebody has her, we just want to tell them that we love you too. And I know Courtney would be praying for you because that’s the way she was. She cared about other people,” said dad Steve Roland.

Google faces a lawsuit over discriminating against white men and conservatives

Leave a reply

(Loic Venance — AFP PHOTO/Getty Images)

James Damore, the former Google engineer who was fired after distributing a memo questioning the company’s diversity policies, filed a class action lawsuit on Monday claiming racial discrimination by the technology giant.

The suit, filed in Santa Clara, Calif., alleged discrimination by Google against men, people of the “Caucasian race,” and people with perceived conservative political views. The suit alleges that Google employees who expressed views deviating from the majority at Google on politics or on employment practices including “diversity hiring policies, bias sensitivity, and social justice” were “singled out, mistreated, and systematically punished and terminated from Google,” in violation of their legal rights.

Damore’s fellow plaintiff in the class action is another Google employee, a former software engineer named David Gudeman.

Google fired Damore after he wrote a 10-page memo titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber: How bias clouds our thinking about diversity and inclusion.” Though initially circulated internally in July, it reached a wide audience in August when Motherboard published the memo, saying the “anti-diversity memo” had gone “internally viral” at the Mountain View-based technology company. The memo said that “genetic differences” may explain “why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership.”

The company, which called the memo “offensive” and “harmful,” soon fired Damore, further elevating him as a victim of what his supporters called an overreaching “political correctness” and ideology rigidity within the tech industry. Damore, who also filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, appeared to embrace his rising political visibility, posing in a t-shirt with the word “Goolag” written in a multi-colored style that mimicked Google’s familiar logo.

Google did not immediately return a request for comment.

Lindsey Graham takes a dig at Trump over ‘genius’ claim

Leave a reply

Sen. Lindsey Graham took a dig at President Donald Trump during an appearance on “The View” today, saying that the reason why Trump calls himself smart is “if he doesn’t call himself a genius nobody else will.”

The comment came when Graham, R-S.C., was asked if he thinks Trump is “like, really smart,” as the president called himself on Twitter this weekend.

Graham went on to qualify his response, noting that he has had some harsh words for Trump in the past, including during the campaign when they were competitors.

“You can say anything you want to say about the guy, I said he was a xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot — I ran out of things to say!

“He won. Guess what: He’s our president,” Graham said.

During the interview, Graham repeatedly defended special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion by Trump associates.

“I think he’s the right guy at the right time,” the senator said of Mueller. “Let Mr. Mueller do his job and make sure next time we defend ourselves against the Russians.”

When asked about the meeting with a Russian lawyer that Donald Trump Jr. had in Trump Tower during the campaign, which former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was quoted as calling “treasonous” in a new book, Graham said the meeting itself wasn’t illegal.

“That’s a dumb meeting. I wouldn’t have took it,” Graham said. But, he added, “That’s not a crime. The crime would be taking something of value from a foreign government.”

He added, “We have yet to find out if they [Trump Jr. and others] took up” the offer by the Russian lawyer to give information to help the Trump campaign.

PHOTO: ABCs Joy Behar talks with Sen. Lindsey Graham on The View, Jan. 8, 2018. — ABC’s Joy Behar talks with Sen. Lindsey Graham on “The View,” Jan. 8, 2018.

The South Carolina senator also dismissed criticism of Mueller by some Republicans.

“The View” co-host Joy Behar said, “It seems as though there’s drumbeat from some in your party trying to discredit Mueller to bring him down.”

Graham responded, “That happened with Ken Starr,” the prosecutor who investigated then-President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. “That’s the way the game is played.”

“There’s reason to look at what Russia did,” Graham added, noting that although it was the Democratic National Committee’s emails that were hacked and leaked in the 2016 election, the Republican Party could be targeted in the future.

“In a democracy, if you don’t have each other’s backs in stuff like this, then you lose control of democracy,” he said.

Graham is close with “The View” co-host Meghan McCain because of his longtime friendship with her father, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

At the beginning of the interview, Graham shared a story of how Meghan McCain helped point her father in the right direction when he faced a decision during his 2008 presidential bid. Graham said that the McCain campaign debated whether or not to “go after” then-candidate Sen. Barack Obama for controversial comments made by his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

“Meghan said, ‘Dad, don’t do it. It’s not right,’ and all the smart people shut up, and John said ‘Yeah, you’re right Meghan,” Graham said.

“She was brave enough to say something,” Graham said.

ABC News’ Allie Yang contributed to this report.

3 injured in ‘routine’ Trump Tower fire, New York officials say

Leave a reply

Three people were injured in a small electrical fire at Trump Tower, where smoke billowed from the rooftop early Monday as emergency crews worked to extinguish the flames.

The Secret Service first spotted the fire and alerted building managers, who called 911 shortly before sunrise, according to New York fire officials. Within about an hour, fire crews had extinguished what an FDNY spokesman called a “quick, easy and routine” blaze on the roof of the luxury building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

There were no evacuations, the authorities said, but two civilians and a firefighter sustained minor injuries. President Trump, who has a penthouse condominium at Trump Tower, was in Washington on Monday, according to his public schedule.

“The fire wasn’t in the building, it was on top of the building,” the fire department said on Twitter. “We had flames coming out of the vents, no smoke condition or fire was on the inside.”

Fire officials said they received an emergency call just before 7 a.m. About 75 minutes later, the fire department tweeted an alert, saying the fire, which was located inside a cooling tower, was “under control.”

Fire marshals are investigating the cause.

“There was a small electrical fire in a cooling tower on the roof of Trump Tower,” the Trump Organization said in an emailed statement to The Washington Post. “The FDNY were here within minutes and did an exceptional job. Everything is under control and no evacuations were made.”

Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons and the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, made a similar statement about it on Twitter.

The Manhattan high-rise bears the name of President Trump, who maintains an apartment there even though he lives at the White House.

Trump Tower was also the setting for the developer-turned-president’s reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” and the headquarters of his presidential campaign.

The fire department spokesman said he could not confirm whether any other members of the Trump family were in the building at the time. A spokeswoman for the first family did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This post has been updated.

More reading:

Trump Tower: The home of a reality show, a campaign and now a transition

Fire breaks out on Hillary and Bill Clinton’s property in Chappaqua, N.Y.

Salvadorans fear TPS decision will be a huge economic blow to their country

Leave a reply

MEXICO CITY — The Trump administration’s decision to eliminate residency permits for some 200,000 Salvadoran migrants could cause far-reaching disruptions in the small Central American country, including a steep decline in remittances from abroad and a destabilizing wave of returning citizens to a homeland still racked by violence, according to immigration experts and Salvadoran officials.

Monday’s decision could result in the deportation of Salvadorans who have lived in the United States for decades, whose children are U.S. citizens and who send home billions of dollars a year to relatives in El Salvador. They would be returning to a country that has had one of the highest murder rates in the world in recent years, as well as a rampant gang problem.

[200,000 Salvadorans may be forced to leave the U.S. as Trump ends immigration protection]

The Salvadoran government has lobbied the Trump administration for months to find a solution that would allow these people to stay in the United States, rather than end the Temporary Protected Status program, or TPS, that has been in effect since 2001. Over the weekend, El Salvador’s Foreign Ministry continued tweeting about the benefits that Salvadorans bring to the U.S. economy and culture, saying that 95 percent of Salvadorans in the program are employed or own their own businesses.

The Salvadorans with TPS status “have become important members of their communities in the United States, and their contributions are key to the development of that nation,” the ministry wrote Sunday on Twitter.

El Salvador’s foreign minister, Hugo Martínez, said the government will use the next 18 months, before the program expires, to lobby Washington for a permanent solution by Congress to avoid deportation.

“We have in the immediate future a great challenge,” Martínez said at a news conference Monday alongside U.S. Ambassador Jean Manes.

Manes said the TPS population represents 12 percent of the Salvadorans living in the United States. Speaking in Spanish, she said the United States is committed to helping El Salvador and will continue fighting “so that Salvadorans don’t feel the need to leave.”

Under the terms of the decision announced Monday by the Department of Homeland Security, the administration will notify Salvadorans who benefit from the program that they have until Sept. 9, 2019, to leave or find a way to obtain legal residency.

In 2001, after two deadly earthquakes struck El Salvador, the George W. Bush administration allowed undocumented Salvadorans who were residing in the United States before February 2001 to apply for protected status, which allowed them to obtain work permits and spared them from deportation. The temporary program has been renewed several times in the ensuing years.

“Salvadorans have been beneficiaries of this program for so long it created an illusion that this would lead to a permanent residency,” said a Latin American diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. The prospect of losing this status is “going to be very, very disappointing, not only back in El Salvador.”

According to the DHS statement, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen decided that conditions in El Salvador have improved significantly since the earthquakes, erasing the original justification for the program. The announcement also comes in the context of the Trump administration’s wider efforts to cut legal immigration to the United States and deport more of those who enter the country illegally.

The estimated 200,000 Salvadorans who enjoy this protected status also have roughly as many U.S.-born children, who are now at risk of seeing their parents and other relatives deported.

“Families will be torn apart,” the diplomat said.

[‘I consider this my country’: Salvadorans in U.S. devastated by TPS decision]

If all TPS holders return or are deported, it will impose an enormous strain on a country of 6.2 million people where poverty is widespread and gang violence remains a serious problem. Although homicides have fallen over the past two years, El Salvador still had nearly 4,000 killings last year, giving it the highest murder rate in Central America, at more than 60 homicides per 100,000 people. In 2001, the year of the earthquakes, there were about 2,300 homicides.

Another major impact of the decision could be a decline in the amount of money that Salvadorans in the United States send home. Remittances now surpass $4.5 billion a year, accounting for about 17 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the World Bank, and ranking as its single greatest source of income.

“The economic impact is going to be undeniable,” said Roberto Rubio-Fabian, executive director of FUNDE, a nonprofit research organization in San Salvador. Remittances are the “pillar that supports an economy with serious structural problems,” he said.

Experts said there are no good estimates yet about the potential loss in remittances, as it remains unclear how many migrants with TPS might end up returning to El Salvador. If large numbers do return, voluntarily or by being deported, they could push others out of the workforce.

“They’re going to come back as pretty qualified, bilingual people,” said Geoff Thale, a Central America expert at the Washington Office on Latin America. “What this is going to do is displace people there” and potentially cause “another surge in people leaving the country and looking for work here.”

The administration’s decision could also mean political trouble for President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a former guerrilla commander during El Salvador’s civil war who has been in office since 2014. His leftist political party, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), could suffer in local and congressional elections in March, as well as a presidential contest next year, as a result of the TPS decision, according to political analysts.

“This will have a cost,” said Sandra de Barraza, a columnist with La Prensa Grafica, a Salvadoran newspaper. “The government could have had a more aggressive policy of assisting” those in the TPS program.

Some Salvadoran officials tried to cast the Trump administration’s decision in a positive light, noting that other countries, such as Honduras, received a shorter grace period before their TPS program ended.

“I see this time they’ve given us as positive, so that we can fight for another status, and I don’t expect a massive deportation in the short term,” said Héctor Antonio Rodríguez, the head of El Salvador’s immigration agency.

He predicted that if TPS holders are deported, many will try to return to the United States.

“They are not going to want to stay in El Salvador,” he said. “They are going to try again to go by land into the U.S.”

Gabriela Martinez contributed to this report.

DHS ends protected immigration status for Nicaraguans, but Hondurans get extension

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

A man scooped something from the ground in Stockholm. It exploded in his hand.

Leave a reply

Commuters at the T-Centralen subway station in Stockholm. (Pontus Lundahl/AP)

It sounds like an urban legend: A 60-year-old man bent to pick something up outside a subway station in Stockholm.

It exploded, blowing up his hand and killing him.

But Swedish police say that’s exactly what happened Sunday morning outside the Varby Gard subway station in Huddinge, a suburb to the city’s south.

Witnesses say the man leaned over to pick something up from the ground. When it exploded, he was rushed to the hospital, where he died.

A woman in her mid-40s was injured in the blast. Police say she suffered minor wounds to the face and legs.

Police can’t say for sure what the device was or why it exploded. Rescue official Lars-Ake Stevelind told the Swedish broadcaster SVT that “someone has used some type of explosive material” for the object. The Aftonbladet and Expressen tabloids claimed that it was a hand grenade, but police spokesman Sven-Erik Olsson dismissed that as speculation, according to the Associated Press.

Man dies after picking up unknown explosive outside Stockholm subway station https://t.co/J17MMmEPWV

— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) January 7, 2018

Police say that they don’t believe terrorism is to blame or that the victims were targeted. For now, the station is cordoned off, as officials sweep the area for any other possible explosives. They are also carefully reviewing security camera footage.

This is just the latest mysterious explosion in Sweden.

In October, bombs were detonated across the country. Explosions went off in at least two apartment buildings in Malmo. A firebomb was tossed into a bar in Angelholm, injuring at least one person. A powerful blast ripped the entrance off a police station. The doorway was laced with dynamite so powerful that it blew a chunk of rubble more than 250 feet away, into the living room of someone’s home. Police attributed the attack to “criminal circles.”

Bomb scares and threats are becoming more common, too. In the United States, right-wing outlets such as Infowars and Breitbart have cited the explosions as evidence that President Trump is right in concluding that more open immigration policies mean more crime. But local outlets say there’s another explanation.

According to the Local, “Explosives are often used by organized crime rings in Sweden, especially in the south where settling of scores and intimidation are frequent among drug traffickers. Police and judges are also regularly targeted.”

Haley: ‘No turnaround’ in Trump’s position on talks with North Korea

Leave a reply

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki HaleyNimrata (Nikki) HaleyHaley: ‘Open question’ if US athletes will attend Olympics amid North Korea tensions Haley: Trump isn’t deciding who controls east Jerusalem Emergency UN Security Council meeting called after Trump’s Jerusalem announcement: report MORE said Sunday the Trump administration has not changed the preconditions President TrumpDonald John TrumpHouse Democrat slams Donald Trump Jr. for ‘serious case of amnesia’ after testimony Skier Lindsey Vonn: I don’t want to represent Trump at Olympics Poll: 4 in 10 Republicans think senior Trump advisers had improper dealings with Russia MORE set regarding talks with North Korea amid the escalating crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

“There is no turnaround. What he has basically said is, ‘Yes, there could be a time we could talk to North Korea, but a lot of things have to happen before that actually takes place,’ ” Haley said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

“They have to stop testing, they have to be willing to talk about banning their nuclear weapons. Those things have to happen,” she continued, adding that the U.S. is going to be “smart this time” when they come to the negotiating table with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Haley emphasized that Pyongyang must stop its weapons testing “for a significant amount of time” in order for them to meet requirements for opening up talks.

“It is a dangerous situation,” she added.

Trump previously insisted that he would not take part in any talks with Pyongyang unless the isolated state agreed to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Only a few months ago, Trump told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that “he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.”

Haley’s comments come ahead of reported talks this week between South Korea and North Korea.

On Saturday, Trump expressed a desire to see North Korea participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea.

“I’d like to see them getting involved in the Olympics and maybe things go from there. So I’m behind that 100 percent,” the president told reporters at Camp David.

Israel lists 20 groups to be denied entry over boycott calls

Leave a reply

Israel on Sunday identified 20 activist groups from around the world whose members will be banned from entering the country over their calls to boycott the Jewish state, stepping up its fight against a movement it views as a serious threat.

Israel last year enacted a law that would ban any activist who “knowingly issues a public call for boycotting Israel.”

The list made public Sunday follows up on that legislation and could impact thousands of people if it is enforced.

“The boycott organizations must know that the state of Israel will act against them,” Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan said in a statement. “The creation of this list is another step in our struggle against the incitement and lies of the boycott organizations.”

The list is part of Israel’s efforts against a grassroots movement known as BDS, which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians. The movement has urged businesses, artists and universities to sever ties with Israel and it includes thousands of volunteers around the world.

Supporters of the movement say the tactics are a nonviolent way to promote the Palestinian cause. Israel says the campaign goes beyond fighting its occupation of territory Palestinians claim for their state and often masks a more far-reaching aim to delegitimize or destroy the Jewish state.

Erdan’s office said the list would be provided to Israel’s immigration authority, but it wasn’t clear how the ban would be enforced, including for Israeli citizens who might be members of the groups. A spokesman for Erdan did not respond to requests for clarification.

The listed groups, from the United States, France, South Africa and beyond, count thousands of people as members. They were chosen because they are the main ones who “operate consistently and continuously” against Israel, according to Erdan’s office.

American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group on the list, said it would continue to work for “peace and justice.”

“We answered the call for divestment from apartheid South Africa and we have done the same with the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions from Palestinians who have faced decades of human rights violations,” said Kerri Kennedy, an AFSC official responsible for international programs.

The U.S.-based Jewish Voice for Peace, which says it has more than 13,000 members, was also blacklisted.

“Israel’s decision to specifically ban JVP is disconcerting but not surprising, given the further erosion of democratic norms and rising anxiety about the power of BDS as a tool to demand freedom,” Jewish Voice for Peace wrote on Facebook in response to the decision.

In the years since its formation, the BDS movement has persuaded several church organizations to divest themselves of Israel-related investments and has garnered support on U.S. college campuses. Most recently, pop singer Lorde joined a number of other performers who have canceled performances in Israel amid pressure from BDS activists.

Even so, a slew of other musicians have defied boycott calls and performed. Israel has also enjoyed new economic partnerships and diplomatic ties despite calls for boycotts and it has become a top destination for international sporting and cultural events.

New Hampshire ticket sole winner in $559M Powerball jackpot

Leave a reply

It’s been a billion-dollar lottery weekend after a lone Powerball ticket sold in New Hampshire matched all six numbers and will claim a $559.7 million jackpot, one day after another single ticket sold in Florida nabbed a $450 million Mega Millions grand prize.

Since Reeds Ferry Market opened at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, dozens of excited regulars have stopped by the small, independent convenience store in New Hampshire that sold the winning Powerball ticket to congratulate the owner and chat about the win, store owner Sam Safa said. He said he doesn’t know the identity of the winner, but hopes one of the regulars from the over 100-year-old store in Merrimack, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Concord, won the nation’s eighth-largest lottery jackpot.

“I’m very excited and overwhelmed,” said Safa. He said that by selling the ticket, it felt like he himself had won. The store will receive a $75,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

The winning Powerball numbers drawn Saturday night were 12-29-30-33-61 and Powerball 26.

The initial jackpot was estimated at $570 million, but the actual jackpot at the time of the drawing was the lesser amount, $559.7 million, New Hampshire Lottery Spokeswoman Maura McCann said Sunday.

As of mid-afternoon Sunday, the winner had not yet come forward.

“We are looking forward to meeting New Hampshire’s latest big winner — someone woke up a multimillionaire this morning!” said New Hampshire Lottery Executive Director Charlie McIntyre.

The Florida Lottery says the winning Mega Millions ticket from Friday night’s drawing was bought at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Port Richey. The retailer will receive a $100,000 bonus for selling the ticket. The identity of that winner also had not yet been revealed.

The winning numbers to claim the Mega Millions jackpot were 28-30-39-59-70-10.

The jackpots refer to the annuity options for both games, in which payments are made over 29 years. Most winners opt for cash options, which would be $281 million for Mega Millions and $358.5 million for Powerball.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are one in 302.5 million. Powerball odds are one in 292.2 million.

———

This story has been corrected to show Saturday’s Powerball jackpot was the nation’s eighth-largest lottery jackpot, not the seventh largest.