Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

Suspect killed, hostages safe after Texas synagogue standoff

Four hostages are safe and their captor is dead after a tense, hourslong standoff Saturday that began when the man took over services at a Texas synagogue where he could be heard ranting on a livestream and demanding the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who endured the 10-hour standoff, said Monday that he and the other hostages fled after he threw a chair at the assailant, British national Malik Faisal Akram. Citron-Walker said he saw an opportunity, threw a chair at the gunman and safely escaped along with the other hostages, "without a shot being fired." Akram, 44, was killed after an FBI SWAT team swept into the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville.

• Colleyville standoff: Martin Luther King taught us how Jews and Muslims can live together | Opinion

• British police arrest 2 teens in relation to Texas hostage standoff; FBI identifies assailant.

Fierce winter storm lashes eastern US with ice, dangerous cold

The winter storm that slammed much of the South with ice over the weekend rolled north on Monday, bringing havoc to holiday travel plans and snow so furious even forecasters in snow-accustomed Buffalo, New York, said "Wow!" More than 3,200 flights within, into and out of the U.S. were canceled or delayed as of noon Monday, according to FlightAware. Sunday's weather forced similar issues for almost 8,000 flights. More than 110,000 homes and businesses were without power in West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Parts of New York state were expecting up to 18 inches of snow before the storm moves away sometime Tuesday, and in Ohio, the city of Ashtabula reported more than 25 inches of snow Monday. Residents across Southwest Florida were cleaning up after Sunday morning storms brought a powerful tornado to Lee County near Fort Myers, damaging nearly 200 mobile homes and leaving 30 destroyed.

• Photos: Winter storm leaves dangerous conditions, cancellations, power outages in its wake.

• What is a 'Saskatchewan Screamer'? Weather system is force behind fierce winter storm.

Tonga volcano eruption brought tsunami impacts to West Coast

An undersea volcano erupted Saturday near the Pacific nation of Tonga, triggering tsunami advisories for Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Pacific coast – an unusually long stretch of coast. The tsunami threat around the Pacific began to recede Sunday, while the extent of damage to Tonga remained unclear. Satellite images showed the spectacular eruption with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom above the blue Pacific waters. A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska. In Tonga, the eruption sent people rushing to higher ground as tsunami waves crashed across the shore. Roughly 5,000 miles away, West Coast authorities pleaded with residents to stay away from beaches because of unpredictable currents and tides. In Peru, two people drowned off a beach and there were reports of minor damage from New Zealand to Santa Cruz, California.

• Photo gallery: Flooding, a tsunami surge and a volcanic eruption seen from space.

Real quick

• One America News Network dropped by DirecTV, a major financial blow for far-right network.

• The interesting history of the real name of Martin Luther King Jr. – and why it was changed.

• Longtime Los Angeles nurse dies days after unprovoked attack at downtown bus stop.

• 'SNL': Joe Biden blames omicron, inflation and everything else on ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.'

• Oldest remains of modern humans are much older than thought, researchers say.

• Democrats came up short on MLK day promise. What's next for the push for a voting rights bill?

• How a wedding photographer and a failed donut shop owner got $124M in federal cash for COVID testing.

Health insurers will now cover costs of home COVID tests

Requirements for private health insurers changed over the weekend. They are now required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans. Under the new policy, Americans will be able to either purchase home testing kits for free under their insurance, or submit receipts for the tests for reimbursement. PCR tests and rapid tests ordered or administered by a health provider will continue to be fully covered by insurance with no limit. In another step to help Americans get access to tests, the federal government on Wednesday will launch a website to begin making 500 million at-home COVID-19 tests available via mail. The administration also is scaling up emergency rapid-testing sites in areas experiencing the greatest surges in cases.

• Taking advantage of the new policy: How to get free tests or reimbursement.

• How easy will health insurers make it to get free, at-home COVID-19 tests?

Home teams take control in wild-card round of NFL playoffs

The NFL playoffs got started this weekend, with nearly all home teams winning the wild-card matchups — except for one. So far, the Dallas Cowboys are the only team to lose at home this postseason, falling to the San Francisco 49ers, 23-17. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs all took care of business against lower seeded teams this weekend. The Bengals survived a late Las Vegas Raiders rally on Saturday, winning, 26-19. The other games weren't as close, with the Bills blowing out the New England Patriots, 47-17, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning comfortably against the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-15, and the Kansas City Chiefs routing the Pittsburgh Steelers, 42-21. The Los Angeles Rams hope to continue the trend, as they host the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night.

• NFL winners, losers from wild-card weekend: Bills break out as Cowboys confound in playoffs.

• Opinion: Dismal showing by Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys shouldn't be a surprise.

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This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Contributing: Associated Press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas synagogue standoff, winter storm, Betty White, Tonga volcano: Biggest news you missed