Attractions

Nobody hit the Powerball Jackpot Wednesday night, but there are still 3 million winning tickets out there. The question is how many of them will be claimed. You'd be surprised how many winning tickets are never turned in. There are literally billions of dollars in unclaimed lottery prizes each year, according to research from lottery expert Brett Jacobson. He collects data from every state lottery commission for a lottery app he runs, and his data shows there were $2.89 billion in unclaimed lottery prizes in the 12 months ending June 2017. Most of the unclaimed prizes are small. Powerball has a $4 prize for picking just the Powerball number correctly, while Mega Millions has a $2 prize for getting its Mega Millions number. But some of the secondary prizes can be worth $1 million or more. Wednesday's Powerball  had secondary prizes worth $29.97 million. There were five tickets worth $1 million each sold in Florida, California, North Carolina, New York and Oregon, ...

A top lawmaker in California introduced a bill this week to protect state residents who will be hurt by   a new $10,000 cap on how much they may deduct in state and local taxes on their federal returns. The cap was one of the most controversial provisions included in a  federal tax overhaul  signed into law last month. The   proposed California workaround, by Senate leader Kevin de Leon,   is the first of what are expected to be several  legislative efforts in high-tax states  to mitigate the impact of the SALT deduction cap on their residents. Powered by SmartAsset.com SMARTASSET.COM The average state and local tax deduction claimed by Californians is well above the cap, at $18,438, according to de Leon's office. To help ensure they can still deduct much or all of the state and local taxes they pay, de Leon has proposed letting residents make a charitable contribution to the state in exchange for a tax credit. That way,...

ESPN has parted ways with former NFL stars Donovan McNabb and Eric Davis after conducting an investigation into alleged sexual harassment against the two radio hosts, it confirmed to CNNMoney Friday afternoon. The alleged harassment occurred while McNabb and Davis worked for the NFL Network ,  before they joined ESPN. They were named in a lawsuit against the NFL Network, which accused several men of repeated sexual harassment. The suit was brought forth in December by Jami Cantor, a former wardrobe stylist at the NFL Network. According to the suit, Davis allegedly slid his hand between Cantor's legs, grabbed her, rubbed up against her and made lewd comments to her. Cantor alleges that when she once slapped his hand away he aggressively told her never to push his hand away again. McNabb allegedly sent inappropriate text messages to Cantor. A representative for McNabb did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Attempts to reach Davis for comment were unsuccessfu...

One of the largest tech conventions in the world kicks off Sunday in Las Vegas. The International Consumer Electronics Show — CES to its friends — is a sprawling and overwhelming blur of booths, press events, demos and gadgets. Now in its 51st year, parts of the show seem like a throwback to a different era when televisions were considered the cutting edge of tech innovation. The marquee names remain companies like Panasonic and Sony because many of today's leading technology players like Apple, Facebook and Amazon prefer to keep a low profile at the show. But with more than 3,900 exhibitors, CES is still a place where you can find the latest technology trends. Here are some things we expect to see at CES this year. 1. The voice assistants are everywhere Voice assistants made a big impact at CES last year, but next week they will be all but inescapable on the show floor. They're moving on from smart speakers and will show up in everything from cars to microwaves. C...

The flaws have existed in modern processors for 20 years, but news surfaced last week that virtually all computers and smartphones are affected by the bugs. So far, there is no evidence that hackers have exploited the vulnerabilities. But it's only a matter of time before attempts are made, according to Matt Tait, a senior fellow at UT Austin's Strauss Center. "We'll absolutely see in the next few weeks and months people using this vulnerability, especially in the web browser to steal passwords," Tait told CNNMoney. Many tech companies were made aware of the flaws long before the news was made public and have been working on fixes for consumer products and services. Consumers who keep their web browsers, apps and devices up-to-date should be protected from anyone trying to use these vulnerabilities. "If you install your security updates, you will get new clever software features designed to protect your computer," Tait said. "When you...

Germany's tough new social media law appears to be working: A far-right member of parliament had her Twitter account suspended shortly after posting an anti-Muslim message. Under a law that took full effect in Germany on Monday,  Twitter   ( TWTR ) ,  Facebook   ( FB )  and other social media companies can be fined as much as €50 million ($60 million) if they fail to remove hate speech and fake news posts quickly. Companies now  have 24 hours  to remove posts that breach German law after they are flagged by users. The law came into force in October, but the government gave companies three months to adjust to the new rules. In a tweet posted on New Year's Eve, Beatrix von Storch accused police of appeasing "barbaric, gang-raping Muslim hordes of men" after they tweeted a New Year message in Arabic, as well as German, English and French. Twitter temporarily suspended von Storch's account following the post, saying it breached its rules on hate...

U.S. multinational companies are preparing to pay hundreds of billions of dollars in tax on profits   they made overseas in the last 30 years. New American tax rules mean firms can no longer avoid paying tax on past international profits by keeping the money outside the United States. They must pay tax whether they bring this cash back to the U.S. or not. Goldman Sachs   ( GS )  was the first big multinational to announce a  hit to profits  in 2017 from the new tax. It said on Friday that the "repatriation tax" was responsible for most of a one-off charge of $5 billion. Powered by SmartAsset.com SMARTASSET.COM Tax experts expect many more big U.S. companies will announce similar one-off charges in the weeks to come. "They should all come out with similar statements," said Ryan Dudley, head of international tax services at Friedman LLP. The new rules require U.S. companies to pay a tax of between 8% and 15.5%   on overseas earn...

It won't be cheap to get into the last college football game of the season. The least expensive seat for the College Football Playoff National Championship next Monday is going for almost $2,000. The game pits Georgia against Alabama, which is making its third straight appearance in the final. It won in 2016. After Monday night's semifinals, there was so much interest from ticket buyers that StubHub crashed for about 20 minutes. On Tuesday afternoon, the cheapest ticket for Georgia-Alabama was going for $1,894 on TicketCity, $2,090 on StubHub and $2,175 on TicketIQ. That's the highest ticket price for the college title game that TicketIQ has seen since it began tracking in 2011. Most of the traffic is coming from potential buyers in Georgia, which makes sense: Not only is Georgia in the final, but the game will be played in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Related: Alabama's Crimson Tide is rolling in green TicketIQ says prices and interest are up in p...

President Trump took credit Tuesday for "the safest year on record" for U.S. air travel, touting zero deaths in 2017. But there actually haven't been any deaths on a U.S. passenger airline   in nearly nine years. Still, the president took credit for the safety record in a tweet. "Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news -- it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!" There were fatal crashes of commercial planes last year, but they all   involved   non-U.S. carriers operating overseas. Even after taking those crashes into account, 2017 was still the  safest year on record  for air travel worldwide. The last fatal accident involving a commercial U.S. passenger airline flight was in February 2009, when Colgan Air 3407 crashed in wintery conditions while on approach in Buffalo, killing 49 aboard and one person on the ground. "President Trump has raised the bar f...

                There is a big argument in the USA between the technology company Apple and the FBI. The argument is over the iPhone of a killer. In December 2015, 14 people were killed and 22 were seriously injured in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. The FBI has the iPhone of one of the terrorists Syed Rizwan Farook. Investigators want Apple to unlock the phone so they can get to information about Farook. They think the information can help them to catch more terrorists. Apple has told the FBI that they will not open the iPhone. Apple's website said that would threaten the security of its customers. Apple also said it would be dangerous because other organisations would want phones opened.                 The Department of Justice (DOJ) is also very angry that Apple will not open the iPhone. It said Apple, "deliberately raised technological barriers" to stop a lawful request from the...

              The international coffee shop chain Starbucks will start giving customers a discount if they bring their own cups. The discount is part of a two-month trial in cafes in England. Starbucks said it wants to reduce the amount of waste and recycle more. The vice president of Starbucks UK said: "Starbucks is committed to increasing recycling rates and reusable cups are a key part of our overall waste reduction strategy." Bosses will look at the success of the trial and then decide if they will continue it. The company wants to cut down on the huge number of paper cups that are put in the trash. Customers who bring their own mugs will get a discount on all drinks, except for the cafe's cheaper filter coffee.                The issue of disposable paper cups has been in the news in England a lot recently. Around 2.5 billion of them are thrown away every year – that's about seven million cups every d...

                A new McDonald's restaurant that will soon open in the USA will offer all-you-can-eat French fries. The new store in St. Joseph, Missouri, is set to open in July. The company has called it the restaurant "of the future" because of the many features it will have. In addition to bottomless fries, the new location will have couches, armchairs and a large space for children to play in. Customers will also be able to sit at their table and order food from the waiting staff. There will also be a self-service kiosk where customers can personalise their orders by selecting the toppings or fillings they want. The restaurant owner said: "There really are hundreds of different choices to build the burger of your dreams."                  The addition of all-you-can-eat fries to the menu is just one of many recent changes at McDonald's. New CEO Steve Easterbrook took over as boss last year an...

              Over-the-counter (OTC) medicine is a common part of our lives. Many of us pop into the local pharmacy for cold and headache tablets, cough syrups or allergy treatments. Over-the-counter drugs save the need to go to the doctor's. However, we may be causing ourselves more harm than good with these convenient cures. A new study published in the journal JAMA Neurology suggests that many of these handy medicines have unwanted, and sometimes serious, side effects. Researchers say that such side effects in older adults who often take widely available OTC medicines for asthma, aches and pains, insomnia and allergies, etc. include cognitive impairment, dementia and even brain shrinkage.              The study was conducted by the Indiana University School of Medicine. Researchers examined the link between OTC medications and cognition in "cognitively normal" older people who did not have Alzheimer’s diseas...

            The Russian arms maker Kalashnikov is branching out into fashion. The weapons manufacturer is one of Russia's most famous companies. It makes the well-known AK-47 assault rifle. The company said it has to make different things because of Western sanctions. Many countries stopped buying Russian weapons after the conflict in Ukraine started. Before the sanctions, Kalashnikov sold 70 per cent of its hunting and sporting weapons to Europe and the USA. Kalashnikov will soon launch a fashion label. It will make 'military style' casual clothing and accessories. There are also plans to open 60 Kalashnikov clothes stores across Russia by the end of this year.              Kalashnikov is not the first Russian arms company to move into fashion. UralVagonZavod, the makers of tanks and other military vehicles, opened a shop in 2014 selling T-shirts, jackets, shoes and bags. Most of its products have images of its tan...

               One of the word's most famous beer companies is changing the name of its best-selling beer. The company is Anheuser-Busch (AB), which is the USA's largest maker of beer. It is going to change the name of its Budweiser beer to 'America'. The name change will be only for six months, between May 23 and November. A company spokesperson said the name change is to try and increase sales. Budweiser used to be the USA's most popular beer but it has been losing market share for over 25 years. The word 'America' will replace the word 'Budweiser' on its cans. It will also use the same font that AB uses for Budweiser. In addition, the initials "AB" will be replaced by "US".                  The new name and labeling is part of Budweiser’s summer-long campaign called "America is in Your Hands". There are many important national days during the campaign period, starting with the Memorial Day wee...

            A company in the USA is paying its employees to sleep more. Staff at the insurance company Aetna will get $300 a year added to their salary if they get at least seven hours of sleep a night. That works out to just over an extra dollar for each night the employee sleeps over seven hours. The idea behind this scheme is employee performance. Human resources officials say employees will work better if they have slept well. They add that a workforce that is more awake and alert will mean the company will perform better. Staff can either record their sleep automatically using a wrist monitor that connects to Aetna's computers, or manually record how long they have slept every night.              There are a number of studies that warn that not sleeping enough can affect our ability to do our job. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine said that the average worker in the USA loses 11.3 working days of productiv...

            The car company Toyota is shutting down two elevators at its global headquarters to save money. The world's largest automaker said on Thursday it will shut down two of eight elevators at its main Tokyo office. This is to save electricity and to cut down on the costs of operating the building. One reason for this new move is the strengthening Japanese yen. The yen has become much stronger since the UK voted to leave the EU on June the 23rd. One dollar bought nearly 120 yen in January; now it buys just above 100. A stronger yen means Toyota cars sold overseas are more expensive and profits go down. Toyota's profit for the year ending March 2016 was a record ¥2.31 trillion, which is around $23 billion.              A Toyota spokeswoman said the company decided to shut down the elevators several weeks ago because of the rising yen. The company is also adjusting the temperature of air conditioners to save mon...

               The Japanese games giant Nintendo has released an app that is taking the world by storm. The next big thing, and new Internet sensation, is an augmented reality game called Pokemon Go. Players must physically move around the real world in order to capture mystical creatures called Pokemon (short for pocket monsters). It was only officially released last week, in the USA, New Zealand and Australia. It is about to overtake Twitter in the number of daily active users and it hasn't even been launched globally yet. Analysts report that in just 48 hours, Go was installed on 5.6 per cent of all Android devices in the USA. On average, users are spending twice as much time on Go than on apps like Snapchat.                  Pokemon Go has already jumped to the top of the App Store and Google Play Store. It is also having an unprecedented social impact. Hackers have targeted illegal copies of...