“Gunmen hold 170 hostage at hotel in Mali”

Gunmen have taken 170 people hostage inside the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital (Mali is a former French colony), Bamako, with at least three deaths reported. The hotel said ten armed men have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees. The men came in a diplomatic vehicle Friday morning, firing as they entered the hotel. The gunshots went on for several long minutes witnesses said. Two Malian nationals and a French national have died, a U.N. official said without elaborating. Malian soldiers with help from U.N. troops have the hotel surrounded. Some 20 were freed later in the morning and others managed to escape with the help of security forces. Among them were thee U.N. staff members. It's unknown how many other staffers remain inside. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the incident and there are no leads as to why this was a target for the gunmen.

In Other News  Few people are lucky enough to win $1 million in the lottery. But one Massachusetts woman has now done it twice. Constance Carpenito, of Stoneham, recently won a $1 million prize on a scratch ticket in the $10,000,000 Diamond Millionaire instant game. A spokesman for the Massachusetts Lottery says Carpenito also won $1 million on a scratch ticket back in Both tickets were purchased at the same Stop & Shop supermarket on Main Street in her hometown. If that isn't enough, she also once bought a $20,000 winning ticket at the store. Carpenito says she plays $20 in lottery tickets every week. She plans to put her most recent winnings toward a very special Christmas for her family.  Talk about some loose change. A Miami-area mayor who is feuding with his local commission tried to use 360,000 pennies and nickels — that's 28 buckets full of coins — to pay a $4,000 ethics fine. Instead of accepting the change, the ethics commission doubled the fine for Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, saying he intentionally broke the rules because he knew the panel only accepted checks.