UCLEAR DEAL-HOW IT HAPPENED

WASHINGTON — The talks themselves were a groundbreaking and risky proposition when U.S. and Iranian officials met secretly in the sleepy Arab kingdom of Oman, archenemies feinting for a diplomatic opening. The opposing sides had barely spoken to one another in three-plus decades. But after a torturous 2½-year effort full of false starts, backward steps and missed deadlines, world powers and Iran transformed those early overtures into a nuclear accord that may reshape the security landscape of the Mideast for a generation to come. 

MEXICO-DRUG LORD ESCAPES

MEXICO CITY — A Mexican federal official says that seven people who were being questioned in the jailbreak of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman have been formally arrested and taken to a prison to await charges. 

BRAZIL-SILVA INVESTIGATION

SAO PAULO — An investigation into allegations of influence peddling by Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva could taint his image and weaken the ruling Workers' Party, analysts say. 

PORTLAND, Maine — A U.S. bankruptcy judge joins a Canadian judge in approving a $338 million fund to settle claims stemming from a fiery train derailment that claimed 47 lives in Canada.

COLOMBIA-EXHUMATION

BOGOTA — Colombian officials will soon begin exhumation of a mass grave that could prove to be the largest in the country's history, authorities say.