Human Interest

A Worcester woman claims that a £33 million lottery jackpot that has been unclaimed belongs to her, but the winning ticket was accidentally put in the wash with the rest of the washing. The lottery organizers Camelot announced that a winning ticket purchased in Worcester had remained unclaimed and asked residents to ‘check down side of sofas.’ The lotto player insists that her fading ticket is the real deal and wants the £33 million prize money. The Guardian reports: The woman, who refused to be named, claims the paper slip went through the washing machine in the pocket of a pair of jeans.

Two women have claimed that they were abducted by aliens, had sex with them, and then gave birth to 13 hybrid alien-humanoid babies.  Bridget Nielson and Aluna Verse, from the United States, say they are part of a “hybrid baby community” – a collective of women who claim they have children with alien fathers, who live with their dads on UFOs.

The last 4 months have seen a notable change in the jobless claims regime. After ratcheting lower week after week for 5 years, initial jobless claims have risen from 42 year lows at 243k in October to 293k today. The first time we reached these levels was July 2014 and claims are rising at the fastest rate since the financial crisis. Crucially for those who look at 'record' low jobless claims as a positive, history tells us that is the time to worry as recessions loom on the upswing.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have built a personal trust that has enabled diplomacy to begin overcoming decades of distrust, but this promising U.S.-Iranian relationship remains fragile and could disappear once a new president takes office, warn Trita Parsi and Tyler Cullis. By Trita Parsi and Tyler Cullis…

2015 was officially the hottest year on record, following a gradual rise in temperatures worldwide for over a century. The Hindu reports: The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and NASA announced on Wednesday that 2015 was by far the hottest year in 136 years of record keeping. The NOAA said 2015’s temperature was 58.62°F (14.79°C), passing 2014 by a record margin of 0.29°F. That’s 1.62°F above the 20-century average. NASA, which measures differently, said 2015 was 0.23°F warmer than the record set in 2014.