World Watch: Taking a chance

* Spain: Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced that he would skip attending the Ibero-American Summit and suggested that the government could privatize the “El Gordo” Christmas lottery.

* Egypt: The main opposition parties will boycott the runoff of legislative elections after they accused the ruling NDP of widespread electoral fraud.

* Iran: The eight-year human rights campaign to save the life of Shahla Jahed took a turn for the worse after she was executed for adultery.

* U.S.: Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is pushing Congress to back the START nuclear treaty with Russia as soon as possible.

Image – Dani Pozo/AFP/Getty Images via The Guardian (“José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said today that up to 30% of El Gordo would be sold off.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, MSNBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian

Today’s Video: Spain’s lucky numbers

If you thought that shopping on “Black Friday” was wild then that’s nothing compared to Spain’s “El Gordo” (“The Fat One”) holiday lottery:

Economic woes eased for thousands in Spain on Monday as the Christmas lottery — billed among the world's richest — dished out some €2.32 billion ($3.23 billion) in prizes.

The top prize of the lottery...went to holders of tickets bearing the number 32365 — which appears on 1,950 tickets, each winning €300,000 ($418,000)…

In the central town of Soria, Ricardo Jimenez's bar sold all 1,950 of the third prize tickets, spreading some 97 million euros ($135 million) among customers, family and friends…

"I'm still shaking," said Jimenez, who bought 15 tickets worth €750,000 ($1 million) for himself. "But I'll keep on working. I'll share this with my three children."

Here is the moment when the lucky numbers where selected; notice the chanting children as part of the lottery protocol:

Online Sources- IHT, YouTube