Fears for the very lives of Asylum Seekers as Julie Bishop plans to cut a deal with Iran to take them back – Obama and Castro shake hands – Who is vandalizing some of the world’s great ancient treasures? – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop plans to press Iran to take back asylum seekers who’ve been rejected by Australia when she visits Tehran next week.  And that’s alarming to those who realize these people left Iran for very legitimate reasons.  “I fear mistakes will be made, and these are life and death decisions for many of them,” said Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, “We know there are hundreds of Iranian asylum seeker families here in Australia as well as on Nauru and many others on Manus Island who are fearful of what will happen to them if they are returned to Iran.” 

US President Barack Obama says the US is done meddling in Latin American affairs.  Mr. Obama made his remarks at the opening of the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, attended by most Latin American nations, including:  Brazil, which the Snowden documents revealed as a target for US spying;  Argentina, which is locked in a protracted dispute with US vulture fund creditors;  And Venezuela, which was just named as a “threat to the national security of the US”, despite not having a standing military capable of crossing the Caribbean Sea to reach US shores. 

But the remarks come a day after the US State Department formally recommended that Cuba be removed from a list of nations that sponsor terrorism.  President Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro at the summit.  They stood for several minutes and exchanged small talk with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon looking on.  The White House revealed the two spoke by phone on Wednesday.  When that happened late last year, it was the first time in five decades of Cold War that leaders of the two nations did so, and was followed by the historic announcement of thawing relations.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to announce this weekend what everyone already knows:  That she’s running for President of the United States of America.  The announcement will come on the Internet on Sunday, followed by a series of small-scale appearances allowing the former First Lady, US Senator, and Secretary of State to practice the sort of retail politics she does best. 

A badly battered fiberglass boat spotted off of America’s northwest coast near Oregon is believed to be flotsam from the 11 March 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami disaster in Japan.  Strangely, about 20 passengers on the boat are still alive; About 20 yellowtail jack fish of the Asian variety were on board.  They’ll be kept in quarantine before being released into a local aquarium’s open waters exhibit.

Japanese police are baffled by a series of vandalism incidents at UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  The latest incident was Friday at the Todai-ji Buddhist Temple in Nara City.  Someone splashed an oily liquid on the base of the statue of the Great Buddha.  Similar stains were found at 14 other temples in Nara, plus the Toji Temple and Nijo Castle (the Shogun’s house) in Kyoto.  In all, 24 temples and shrines in 6 prefectures have suffered that sort of damage since February.  Police have stepped up security at other World Heritage sites, but are at a loss for a suspect and motive.

A car bomb went off on the popular tourist island of Koh Samui in Thailand, injuring six Thais and a 12-year old Italian girl.  Koh Samui has not been a target of militant attacks in the past.  Officials suspect Islamist separatists from southern Thailand may have planted the bomb.

At least 31 people are dead in Morocco after a bus carrying athletes collided head-on with a truck in the south of the country.  The bus was heading from the capital Rabat to Laayoune in Western Sahara.  Some 14 youths who had participated in a national sports competition and their three adults chaperones were among those on the bus.

SeaWorld in Florida is being hit with a new class action lawsuit.  A woman is suing for a refund for her US$97 ticket claiming that SeaWorld misrepresented the conditions in which its Orcas are kept.  Joyce Huhl says the whales are drugged and suffering from sunburn in tanks that are the equivalent of “chemical bathtubs”, leading to early death for the intelligent mammals.  It’s a blow for SeaWorld, which is suffering from lower ticket sales thanks to the documentary “Blackfish” which alleges chronic mistreatment of whales – something the company denies.