Good Morning, Australia! – Dozens of people are killed at a funeral, but who was the target of the attack? – Ukrainian troops flee a besieged eastern town – The crippled Fukushima nuclear site gets an updated report card – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

An air strike in southern Niger that had apparently been intended for Boko Haram militants instead targeted a funeral ceremony, killing 37 people.  The plane flew over the ceremony outside a local chief’s home and dropped three bombs.  The plane has not been identified, but neighboring Nigeria’s military has already denied responsibility.

Nigeria claims its military killed more than 300 Boko Haram fighters during an operation to recapture eleven towns and villages since the start of the week.  If true, suggests a turn in the battle against the Islamist militant group, although it should be noted that Nigeria has in the past frequently overstated its successes.  Boko Haram has killed thousands and abducted hundreds since launching its separation campaign to create its own state in mid-2009.  The Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin are forming a coordinated regional force to put Boko Haram down.

Italy is joining Egypt to push the UN Security Council for swift action to defeat Islamic State (IS) militants, who’ve been running amok in eastern Libya in the absence of a government there.  Italy reiterated its desire to contribute troops to such an effort.  Egypt conducted more air raids against IS targets in its chaotic neighbor.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says his troops are making an “organized” withdrawal from Debaltseve in the east.  Russian-backed rebels have steadily pounded the town all week, despite the truce signed in Minsk by Ukraine, Russian, and European leaders.  The body bags indicate how badly this went for Kiev.  NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says the rebel offensive puts the truce in jeopardy, and urges Russia to “use all its influence on the separatists to make them respect the ceasefire”.

Mexico’s Pemex oil company is warning drivers not to buy and fuel up with gasoline that was stolen from its network of pipelines.  This manner of petrol theft has gotten so bad, that Pemex will no longer put ready-to-use fuel in the pipelines, and instead will save the last phase of mixing until just before the product it delivered to gas stations.  Pemex lost US$1 Billion to fuel thefts last year.  From now on, whatever is shipped through the pipelines will be likely to damage car engines if drivers attempt to use it as regular fuel.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says Japan has made “significant progress” in cleaning up the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.  The UN agency – which exists as much to promote nuclear power as to watch over it – is praising the owner of the triple meltdown for successfully removing undamaged nuclear fuel rods and cleaning up contaminated water.  However, there is still a massive problem with tanks containing thousands of tons of contaminated water that will have to be somehow cleaned of its nasty isotopes before being released into the Pacific Ocean.