Brazil’s biggest cities face water shortages at the peak of the southern summer – The first Ebola vaccine arrives in Africa – The Philippines, accused of hypocrisy for “cleaning the streets” for the Pope’s visit – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Brazil’s government held an emergency meeting about the worst drought in 85 years in its most populous region: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais states.  Water deliveries to Sao Paulo are already subject to interruptions, and low flow through hydroelectric dams is having an impact on power supplies.  There are fears for industry and agriculture, and the potential damage to a fragile economy.

El Salvador’s national assembly finally pardoned a woman who served seven years of a 30-year sentence for abortion – finally recognizing that Carmen Guadalupe Vasquez Aldana lost her unborn son to a miscarriage.  The previous governments were dominated by the ultra-conservative Arena party and refused to take up her case while maintaining some of Latin America’s most-draconian laws against women’s reproductive rights.  That changed with last year’s election.  At least 17 more women are still jailed in El Salvador because of similar situations.

The leader of the main group of Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine is rejecting peace talks.  Alexander Zakharchenko’s forces control Donetsk city, and he says they will push government troops all the way back to the border of the Donetsk region.  Despite Russia’s participation in cease-fire discussions, the rebels have been spotted in shiny new Russian military vehicles and tanks.

Former Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra complains, “Thai democracy has died, along with the rule of law.”  This comes after the ruling junta and appointed legislator charged her with supposed corruption and formally impeached her, making her ineligible to participate in politics for five years.  Yingluck’s brother was also deposed by coup – their political parties have won every election since 2001.

Argentina is now investigating ten police officers who were supposed to be protecting a prosecutor whose death by gunshot wound is sparking a million conspiracy theories.  Alberto Nisman was found in his locked, 13th storey apartment, with a gunshot wound to the head.  But it happened just before he was supposed to have produced evidence to back up his allegation that President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) obstructed the investigation into a deadly 1994 bombing in order to secure an oil deal with Iran, which is commonly believed to have been linked to the bombing.  Critics suspect the government ordered a hit, CFK says someone was feeding Nisman “ridiculous” information.

The first batch of an experimental Ebola vaccine is now in Liberia, and will soon be administered to healthcare workers fighting the West African Ebola Epidemic.  This is the vaccine developed by the US National Institutes of Health and a subsidiary of UK drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).  It’s completing safety trials in Britain, the US, Switzerland, and Mali, and it appears to be safe and effective.  The epidemic has seen 21,724 cases reported in nine countries since the beginning of 2014, and 8,641 people have died.

Police in Sri Lanka sieved more than 50 state-owned cars that were not returned to the government after former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was toppled in elections.  These are BMWs, Mercedes, Volvo, some of them bullet-proofed.  The government is also looking for billions of dollars siphons from Sri Lanka’s coffers by the ex-president and his family.  This piece of work Rajapaksa is also alleged to have asked the military to keep him in power when it became apparent he lost – but luckily for Sri Lanka, the military refused to subvert democracy.  Various members of Rakapaksa’s government are accused of corruption and even murder. 

Tunisia – the only place where the Arab Spring appears to have worked – has a new government that has shut out the Islamists.  New Prime Minister Habib Essid has reached deals with the Social Democratic Nidaa Tounes and other smaller parties to form a government.  The Islamist Ennahda was voted out of power last October, but pushed for a unity government – now, it’s relegated to opposition status.

The Philippines is admitting it relocated hundreds of homeless people out of Manila just before Pope Francis’ recent visit.  Lawmakers are demanding an investigation after Social welfare secretary Corazon Soliman said that nearly 500 people – many of them children – were relocated.  Some were jailed, the lucky ones were taken from the streets of Manila to an upscale resort in the outskirts.  “In an effort to look good while under the international limelight, the government just swept the problems it cannot solve under the rug,” alleged Rep. Terry Ridon.  “Jailing street children or stashing their families away in a resort speaks volumes of the (Benigno) Aquino administration’s stage-managed style of leadership.”