1. 3 winners hit $1.6b US lottery jackpot

    Three winning tickets shared a US$1.6 billion bonanza* in the U.S. Powerball lottery on January 13 after millions of people tuned in to see the fate of the world-record jackpot live on TV.

    The winning numbers were 4, 8, 19, 27 and 34, with a 10 as the so-called Powerball number.

    Lottery fever gripped the United States, with people forming long lines outside stores to buy tickets and then frantically* checking their US$2 slips to see if they had hit the mammoth* jackpot*.

    The three winners will rake in* an eye-watering* US$528.8 million each, NBC News said, although the taxman will soon come calling.

    2. US, EU lift sanctions against Iran

    THE U.N. nuclear agency certified on Saturday that Iran has met all of its commitments under last summer’s landmark nuclear deal, crowning years of U.S.-led efforts to crimp* Iran’s ability to make atomic weapons.

    For Iran, the move lifts Western economic sanctions that have been in place for years, unlocking access to US$100 billion in frozen assets and unleashing* new opportunities for its battered economy.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the top diplomats of Iran and the European Union hailed the accord, reached after years of setbacks and a full decade after the start of international diplomacy aimed at reducing the possibility that Tehran could turn its nuclear programs to make atomic arms.

    3. Dozens killed in Burkina Faso assault

    Security forces in Burkina Faso retook a hotel in the capital on Saturday a day after al-Qaida fighters seized it in an assault that killed at least 28 people from at least 18 countries and marked a major escalation* of Islamist militancy in West Africa.

    Until Friday’s attack, the landlocked* nation, an ally of Western governments against jihadist* groups in the arid reaches of the southern Sahara, had largely been spared the violence that has plagued its neighbors.

    4. Suicide bomber targets police chief

    A suicide car bomber rammed* his vehicle into the police chief’s house in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Sunday, killing seven civilians and security forces in a failed assassination* attempt after militants killed two other security officials elsewhere in the country.

    Police chief Shallal Shayei survived a similar assassination attempt last month, as did the governor of the province earlier this month. Aden’s previous governor was killed in an attack claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate.

    Ambulances raced to the police chief’s house after the explosion, which could be heard across the city, witnesses said.

    5. Brazen attacks in Jakarta leave 7 dead

    Attackers set off explosions at a Starbucks cafe in a bustling shopping area in Indonesia’s capital and waged gunbattles with police on Thursday, leaving bodies in the streets as office workers watched in terror from high-rise* buildings.

    Police said five attackers and two civilians were killed while 10 people were injured in the brazen* attacks, which followed several warnings in recent weeks by police that Islamic militants were planning something big. It was unclear if any perpetrators* remained at large. General Anton Charilyan, a national police spokesman, said the attacks involved an unknown number of assailants with grenades* and guns.

    6. US seeks 3 Americans missing in Iraq

    U.S. and local authorities are searching for three American citizens who were reportedly kidnapped in Baghdad, officials from the two countries said on Sunday.

    Kidnappings are a major problem in Baghdad and other parts of the country and most frequently target Iraqis, but Qatari and Turkish citizens have also been seized in recent months. “We are aware of reports that American citizens are missing in Iraq,” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said. (SD-Agencies)