Good Morning, Australia! – There’s a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine – Egypt released the other two Al Jazeera journalists, but for how long? – Catalonia is covered by a toxic chemical cloud – ‘Turns out one can go to prison for “nut rage” – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Leaders meeting in Minsk have agreed to a deal to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine.  The ceasefire begins at midnight on 15 February.  Heavy weapons will be pulled back the next day, to be completed within two weeks.  All prisoners are to be released, and amnesty will be granted to the fighters.  There will also be new elections in the east.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, who brought Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko to Minsk for the all night meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, forged this deal.  Merkel calls it a “glimmer of hope”, but Hollande cautions that the coming days before the start will be crucial.

Egypt freed two Al Jazeera journalists from prison where they had been confined for more than a year alongside Aussie Peter Greste, who was released a couple of weeks ago.  But the ruling specified that neither man could leave the country during retrial on charges of helping a banned anti-government organization.  Perhaps coincidently, this comes ahead of a major investors conference scheduled for next month in which Egypt will ask international financiers to bet on the country’s future.

Australia came in at 25th on the World Press Freedom index, a nation-by-nation ranking of press freedom in world compiled by the group Reporters Without Borders.  The group analyzed interference in reporting by governments and threats by outside groups such as crime syndicates and terrorists.  Europe’s Nordic countries are the freest for journalists, places like North Korea, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and basically hellholes.  The United States lost ground because of the Obama Adminsitration’s secrecy and abuse of reporters covering last year’s racial in Ferguson, Missouri.  Read all about it, while you still can.

A blast at a chemical plant in Igualada, Spain near Barcelona sent a menacing and purportedly toxic orange cloud over the area.  This happened when nitric acid and ferric chloride became mixed upon delivery to the plant.  At least two people were injured.  65,000 residents of Igualada and surrounding towns were ordered to stay indoors for several hours, that quarantine extended for pregnant women, children, and the elderly.

“Yemen is collapsing before our eyes,” warns UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and the international community can’t stand by and watch.  A UN representative is trying to broker a framework with the Houthi militias who’ve forced the president to resign and taken over government.  Lurking behind the scenes is the local Al Qaeda group, generally acknowledged as the most dangerous branch of the terrorist network and regional rivals to the Houthis.

Islamic State (IS) claims the widow of the terrorist who killed five people in Paris last month has made to its territory.  This appears in a publication from the terrorist group, which doesn’t provide details about her exact location or date of arrival.  26-year old Hayat Boumeddiene fled France days before her husband Amedy Coulibaly killed a female police officer and four hostages in a kosher food mart in Paris.

Boko Haram is suspected in an explosion at a crowded market in Nigeria’s Borno State.  The blast in Biu town, which caused multiple fatalities and injuries, was the first attack on that marketplace in many months.  Until today, Local militias and the Nigerian army had been effective in keeping the terrorist group out of Biu.

The sentence is one year in prison for a former Korean Airlines executive who abused a cabin crew over a bag of nuts.  Cho Hyun-ah threw a nasty tantrum on board a KAL before it took of from New York bound for Seoul last year, because a flight attendant served her Macadamia Nuts in a bag instead of in a dish.  She reportedly made the guy get on his knees and beg forgiveness, screamed at and poked the other flight attendants, and had the offending crewmember tossed off of the flight.  The 40-year old is a granddaughter of the airline’s founder and from one of the handful of politically- and financially-powerful “chaebol” families that basically rule South Korea – and her conviction for violating aviation safety laws is seen as reflecting public disgust in third-generation rich brats running amok and doing as they please and the expense of everyone else.