Good Morning Australia!! - Prolific British actor Alan Rickman has died - Islamic State claims responsibility for the Jakarta attacks - An amazing case of thievery in Russia's kleptocracy - And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

British Actor Alan Rickman is dead of cancer at age 69.  His family says he died in hospital surrounded by family and friends.  Although he enjoyed a three decade career playing a variety of roles, he excelled at playing deeply sarcastic, darkly humorous bad guys, mostly famously as terrorist Hans Gruber in the original "Die Hard"; as the Sheriff of Nottingham in 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, for which he won a BAFTA award; and as a genocidal landowner in the Aussie Western "Quigley Down Under".  Younger fans feared him as the malicious (or misunderstood?) teacher Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" franchise.  "Potter" star Daniel Radcliff called Rickman the "finest" actor he'll ever work with.  In between, there were plenty of light-hearted love stories, dramatic roles, comedies, all improved by his deft use of his sonorous London accent. 

In Hollywood, the Motion Picture Academy announced the nominations for the 88th Academy Awards:  "The Revenant" leads the pack in the Oscar race with twelve Academy Award nominations.  "Mad Max: Fury Road" follows with ten, "The Martian" has seven, the Cold War thriller "Bridge of Spies" has six.  Leonardo DiCaprio is nominated for Best Actor for "The Revenant"; he has now been nominated four times, but has yet to win.  He'll go up against last year's winner Eddie Redmayne ("The Danish Girl") and Matt Damon ("The Martian").  Previous Oscar winners Cate Blanchett ("Carol") and Jennifer Lawrence ("Joy") lead this year's Best Actress category.  Comedian Chris Rock will host the Oscars in Hollywood on 28 February.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for yesterday's terrorist attack in downtown Jakarta.  It was a net loss for IS:  Five of the seven people killed were the attackers themselves, the other two were a police officer and a Canadian man.  Several of the injured are believed to be foreigners.  People heard explosions and gunfire near the popular Sarinah Mall and Starbucks right across the street, and looked out to see bodies sprawled on the street near a police box.  But the firefight between cops and terrorists would go on for a couple more hours.  Police had expected something - last month, they intercepted messages from Islamic State saying that terrorists were planning a "concert", meaning an attack. 

Authorities in Turkey are detaining seven people in the suicide bombing in Istanbul's tourist district near the Blue Mosque, so that's four more in addition to the three Russian nationals arrested earlier.  The bomber - a Saudi-born Syrian national who entered Turkey as a refugee a week prior to the attack - detonated his device in a crowd of German tourists, killing ten.

A French teacher is facing manslaughter charges after taking a group of students off-piste into a closed back trail in the Alps during a ski trip, only to be struck by an avalanche.  Two pupils, a 14-year old boy and a 16-year old girl, plus a Ukrainian tourist died in Wednesday's mishap.  Two more students were injured and the teacher himself was seriously injured with broken bones.

Jewish emigration from Western Europe to Israel has increased dramatically in 2015 - especially from France, where Jews have been repeatedly targeted by terrorists and thugs.  The Jewish Agency, which acts as a link for Jews around the world, that 9,880 western European Jews emigrated to Israel last year - Around 8,000 came from France.  "That a record number of European Jews feel that Europe is no longer their home should alarm European leaders and serve as a wake-up call for all who are concerned about the future of Europe,'' said Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky.

The World Health Organization says Liberia is Ebola-free, meaning that the West African Ebola Epidemic that kileld more than 11,300 people is over.  Officials warn that new cases could still pop-up, so people should be on guard.

A Russian official has been arrested and charged with stealing an entire 50-kilometer highway.  Police said Alexander Protopopov ordered the dismantling of the road in the far-northern Komi region, and selling off 7,000 reinforced concrete slabs for personal profit.  An investigative committee found the process took more than a year over 2014 and 2015, with no one stopping him.  Protopopov, the acting deputy chief of Russia's prison service, faces ten years in jail.