Friday's Mega Millions drawing is worth an estimated $1.15 billion, one of the game's top jackpots

Americans still dreaming of a really big Christmas present can keep that dream alive during Friday's Mega Millions drawing for a jackpot worth an estimated $1.15 billion. Friday’s jackpot will potentially be the fifth largest in the game's history. Mega Millions tickets are $2 a piece. But the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, and the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24, according to lottery officials. Tickets for the game are sold in 45 states, along with Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Here is a look at the largest U.S. jackpots won and the states where the winning tickets were sold:

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022 (one ticket, from California)

2. $1.765 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023 (one ticket, from California)

3. $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket, from Florida)

4. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)

5. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)

6. $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)

7. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)

8. $1.326 billion, Powerball, April 7, 2024 (one ticket, Oregon)

9. $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024 (one ticket, from New Jersey)

10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, from California)

A person makes their lottery ticket selections on a self-serve terminal inside a gas station ahead of Friday's Mega Millions drawing of $1.15 billion, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

The option to play the $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot is seen on a self-serve terminal inside a gas station in Baltimore, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A person retrieves a Mega Millions lottery ticket from a self-serve terminal ahead of Friday's Mega Millions drawing of $1.15 billion, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A person inserts cash into a self-serve terminal while holding their play slip ahead of Friday's Mega Millions drawing of $1.15 billion, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A person fills out a Mega Millions play slip ahead of Friday's Mega Millions drawing of $1.15 billion, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A billboard advertising the $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot is seen in Baltimore, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Oscar Flores, left, works behind the counter next to a sign advertising the estimated $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A Mega Millions lottery ticket is displayed at a store on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in Tigard, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A sign advertising the estimated $1.15 billion Mega Millions jackpot, right, is displayed at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Fidel Lule buys a MegaMillion lottery ticket at Won Won Mini Mart in Chinatown Los Angeles, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Rob, right, buys a Mega Millions ticket at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian university students left piles of old school books outside the education ministry building on Friday as part of almost daily street protests demanding accountability over the collapse nearly two months ago of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people in the country's north.

Scattered traffic blockades were also held on various locations throughout Serbia at 11:52 a.m. — the exact time that the concrete construction on the front of the railway station building in Novi Sad crashed onto the people below. The traffic blockades have been held every Friday since the Nov. 1 crash, lasting 15 minutes for the 15 victims.

Many in Serbia blame the collapse on widespread corruption and sloppy work on the railway station building in the city of Novi Sad that was twice renovated in recent years as part of questionable mega projects involving Chinese state companies.

Persistent protests in Serbia reflect widespread anger at the accident but also wider discontent with the rule of populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government. Tens of thousands joined a big rally last Sunday in Belgrade led by the university students.

Prosecutors have arrested 13 people over the Novi Sad tragedy, including a government minister whose release later fueled public skepticism about the honesty of the investigation.

Striking university students have garnered support from various walks of life, challenging the tight grip on power of Vucic's government. The movement's symbol — a red handprint telling authorities they have blood on their hands — has been used by actors, farmers and others backing the protests.

In Belgrade, more than 2,000 students marched to the education ministry. A speaker told the crowd that “we are sick of being called political mercenaries and attacked in the streets.”

In Novi Sad, a student rally criticized the way the state-run RT Vojvodina reports about the protests and the canopy collapse.

Populist officials and the pro-government mainstream media have described the protests as a ‘hybrid war’ against Vucic under the orders of foreign intelligence services. Though Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, Vucic has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms rather than advancing them.

University students in neighboring Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, and the northwestern town of Banja Luka on Friday gathered in support of their Serbian colleagues and to draw attention to problems in their own country.

People stopping traffic, stand in silence during ongoing protests that erupted after a concrete canopy fell last month and killed 15 people, in front of the state-run TV headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Cars sit in traffic, as activists block the road during ongoing protests that erupted after a concrete canopy fell last month and killed 15 people, in front of the state-run TV headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)