European leaders sound upbeat over the latest Ukraine peace talks – A disgusting discovery in southwestern Mexico – The White House says there’s no proof to IS claims of the death of the last US hostage – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Baby Orangutan alert!  Baby Orangutan alert!  The Berlin Zoo introduces little Reike, who is being cared for by zookeepers after being ignored by her mother.  Okay, on with the mayhem:

Talks in Moscow to end the Ukraine crisis wound up with a proposal.. to hold more talks.  Heavy sigh.  But, a statement said the talks with “constructive and substantive” after the five hour meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.  Kremlin-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine are back on the offensive after getting a fresh supply of Russian gear.  The upset balance has the Obama Administration considering sending arms to Kiev.

The “black box” flight recorders from that Taiwan plane crash suggest that one of the engines lost power – but the pilot shut down the other engine, the wrong engine, in an attempt to restart it.  The ATR 72-600 aircraft is capable of flight with one functioning engine, but neither engine was producing any power as TransAsia Flight GE235 careened across a highway, clipping a taxi and guard rail on the way into the Keelung River.  At least 35 of the 58 passengers and crew died in the crash.

Responding to neighbors’ complaints about the smell, authorities in Mexico found dozens of dead bodies in an abandoned crematorium in Acapulco.  Although this is in the state of Guerrero where 43 student teachers disappeared last year, authorities said the bodies appear to be unrelated to drug gang violence.  The business was shut down a year ago because of unpaid taxes and debts, and an investigation has commenced to determine if the former owners continued to accept payment to cremate remains of the deceased.

US and Jordanian officials believe Islamic State (IS) could be lying when it claims that its last American hostage was killed during Jordan’s punitive air attacks.  26-year old Kayla Mueller was taken hostage some 18 months ago in Syria, where she went to help victims of the Syrian civil war.  Jordan struck at IS targets after the terrorists posted video of a captured Jordanian fighter pilot being burned alive in a cage.  But US intelligence sources told an American reporter that the location of building where Mueller was allegedly killed was about 225 kilometers from the targets that Jordan attacked.

The Houthi rebel movement in Yemen says it is dissolving parliament and taking the reins of government.  The Shiite militias moved into the capital Sanaa in September and last month forced the president to resign.  Geopolitically, this puts an Iranian-backed Shiite government in charge of a country in its regional rival Sunni Saudi Arabia’s backyard.

At least 13 alleged criminals are dead in Brazil’s Bahia state after a shootout between cops and robbers on the streets of Salvador.  Officers say they got tips that the gang of 16 was planning a bank robbery, and moved in to arrest them.  But the gang allegedly opened fire.  Police returned fire, hitting all 16 and killing all but three.

This looks like a terrible idea.

The West African Ebola Epidemic is not over yet.  Health officials in Guinea say the number of cases has doubled in the past week.  This is because as the situation in the capital Conracky is more and more under control, health care workers are able to fan out and reach areas that were previously inaccessible.  They found about two dozen new suspected and confirmed Ebola infections, bringing the week’s total number to 53.  Overall, this outbreak has 22,560 reported cases resulting in 9,019 deaths.

Cool Pope update:  The Vatican opened a free barbershop for the homeless. 

A judge in Santiago, Chile ordered the arrest of 87-year old retired general Santiago Sinclair and three other ex-military officers for their roles in the murders of twelve people under former dictator Augusto Pinochet.  The killings took place during the “Caravan of Death”, a roving death squad that summarily executed Pinochet’s enemies in the days after the 1973 coup.

And today’s nominee for worst person in the world is:  The thief who stole the purse of a dying 82-year old woman after she was hit by a truck.  This happened in Leigh, west of Manchester, UK on Wednesday.  Greater Manchester Police say it’s one of the most disgusting crimes they’ve investigated.  They’ve got a description of the thief and they’re hunting the suspect.