NATIONAL AND WORLD NEWS DIGEST | Man claims Mega Millions prize

Man claims Mega Millions prize

OLYMPIA, Wash.

The man who bought one of the two winning tickets in the $380 million Mega Millions lottery Wednesday claimed his half of the second-largest jackpot in history.

Jim McCullar promptly handed the oversized check to his wife, Carolyn, as their adult children looked on.

“We’ve been married 41 years,” he said. “I know what to do with this check.”

While the McCullars stepped forward to get their prize, officials and residents in neighboring Idaho still were waiting for whoever has the other winning ticket to claim their winnings.

$78B to be cut from defense budget

WASHINGTON

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday he will cut $78 billion from the Pentagon’s budget in the next five years — money that will come from shrinking the military’s ground force, increasing health-care premiums for troops and other politically unpopular cost-saving measures.

The plan also identifies a separate $100 billion in savings, including the cancellation of a $14 billion amphibious Marine vehicle. However, the services will be allowed to reinvest that money in new weapon systems and programs that benefit troops, he said.

Parts of the plan are likely to run into serious opposition from Congress.

Election winner wants rival ousted

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast

The internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast’s presidential election is asking for special forces to launch a commando operation to remove the country’s defiant sitting president who has refused to cede power five weeks after losing the vote.

Hunkered down at a hotel guarded by United Nations peacekeepers, Alassane Ouattara told The Associated Press on Thursday that Laurent Gbagbo would try to flee if the regional Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, sent in troops to oust him.

No conclusions in televangelist probe

NEW YORK

A senator’s high-profile investigation of spending by televangelists wrapped up after more than three years Thursday with no penalties for the pastors who refused to cooperate and no definitive findings of wrongdoing.

The report released by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley raises questions about the personal use of church-owned airplanes, luxury homes and credit cards by pastors and their families, and about the lack of oversight of finances by boards often packed with the televangelists’ relatives and friends.

Note in package complained of signs

CAMBRIDGE, Md.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley says a fiery package addressed to him contained a note that complained about alerts on state- highway signs telling people to report suspicious activity if they see it.

O’Malley talked to reporters Thursday evening about two packages the size of small books that ignited and released a sulphurlike smell when they were opened earlier in the day at state-government buildings.

The tip line is widely publicized on overhead signs that read, “Report Suspicious Activity.”

To the ire of some, the state last year also began using the signs to post real-time information on travel times to major highways. Some commuters complained that drivers slowed to read them and backed up traffic.

Associated Press