Islamic State executes a British hostage, threatens another – that – Australia forces are heading back to the Middle East – Left-looking Sweden is primed to case aside austerity and privatization after a disastrous right-wing experiment – And much more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

David Haines is the third western hostage to be executed by Islamic State (IS) in three weeks.  The terrorist group released a video showing a black-clad militant beheading the 44-year old aid worker from Perth, Scotland, who was kidnapped in Syria in March 2013.  Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, UK PM David Cameron, and US President Barack Obama all condemned the murder.  As has been the pattern, the militant threatens another hostage at the end of the video, another British aid worker named Alan Henning.

Responding to a US request, PM Tony Abbott told reporters that Australia is sending planes and troops to the middle east to help fight IS, including “up to eight super hornet aircraft, an early warning and control aircraft, an aerial refueling aircraft, and a Special Forces contingent that could act as military advisers to the Iraqi armed forces or to the (Kurdish) Peshmerga”.  Attorney General George Brandis earlier said that the latest execution shows how “barbaric and evil” Islamic State is, and that’s why Australia has to get in the fight against it.

The President of Liberia Ellen Sirleaf Johnson is imploring US President Obama for helping in tackling the Ebola disaster tearing through her country.  Writing her US counterpart, Sirleaf Johnson says Liberia will “never break the transmission chain and the virus will overwhelm us”.  She’s specifically asking for 1,500 hospital beds and US military help in setting up a 100-bed Ebola treatment center in the capital Monrovia.  More than 2,200 people have died in the West African Ebola Outbreak.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) will not help evacuate an Ebola-infected doctor from Sierra Leone to Germany for treatment.  Sierra Leone’s President Bai Koroma okayed the transfer and the hospital in Hamburg is reportedly ready to receive Dr. Olivet Buck in its hyper-isolation unit, but the WHO “will facilitate the best care possible in country for Dr. Buck, including access to experimental drugs”, in Sierra Leone.  Olivet is reportedly quite ill, and the fourth doctor in Sierra Leone to be infected – the other three died.

It’s the last weekend of campaigning before Scotland’s independence vote, and the two most recent polls give a wee advantage to the “No” side, which favors continuing the union with Britain, which dates back to 1707.  The “Yes” – or pro-independence – forces are hitting back at a series of business and banking interests who’ve spelled out plans to move to London and warned of financial calamity, should the voters decide to time for their own country. 

Sweden is shifting back to the Left, with polls showing the Social Democrats are expected to win this weekend’s election.  The latest polls show the alliance of three main Leftist parties – The Socialists, Greens, and Feminist Initiative – about six points ahead of the right that has held power for eight years.  Voters turned against the right and its “reforms” after a series of scandals in privatized schools and daycare centers, as well as a drop in student performance.

Ukrainian troops forces successfully defend the airport at Donetsk from the biggest attack from Russian-backed rebels since the fragile cease-fire in eastern Ukraine.  The city of Donetsk is still controlled by the rebels, and three Russian rocket launchers were witnessed being taken freely through town.  Russia also sent in a second convoy of “aid” trucks (yeah, right)  without Kiev’s permission.  In Kiev, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk accused Moscow of not just trying to throw the eastern part of the country into chaos, but to retake all of Ukraine and revive the empire it controlled during the Soviet days.

Dozens of people are missing after a ferry capsized off Leyte Island in the central Philippines.  More than a hundred people were rescued but two are confirmed dead.  The Maharlika II ferry lost control in bad weather as Typhoon Kalmaegi approached the islands.

For the first time, a Brazilian baby has been registered as having two mothers and one father.  The moms have been in a relationship for years and got married two months ago, while the father is a male friend of theirs.  If you’re still having a hard time with this story, try looking at it from the kid’s point of view:  Six grandparents, and Christmas is just around the corner.  The judge admits the decision is going to set new precedents all over Brazil.

A South African government minister says a judge’s decision to acquit Oscar Pistorius of the most serious charges against in the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp is “extremely disturbing”.  Steenkamp’s parents are also upset with the verdict.  Pistorius admitted he shot her but thought she was a burglar in the house they shared, but the Pretoria judge somehow thought the prosecution failed to prove deliberate intent.  South African Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said Pistorius’ version was implausible and she hopes prosecutors appeal the verdict.  Across South Africa, there is a sense of disgust over the verdict – Women’s Rights groups say the country doesn’t take abuse seriously, while many Black South Africans say it shows a two-tiered justice systems, even years after apartheid ended.

Apparently, Oscar Pistorius is now planning a book about the night he blew Reeva Steenkamp’s brains out.  Gag.

New Zealand wants to harpoon Japan’s planned return to whaling in the South Ocean, which will be revealed to the International Whaling Commission meeting in Slovenia next week.  The International Court of Justice ordered the Japanese to stop hunting in the Southern Ocean after ruling the hunt was commercial and not scientific.  The Kiwis put forth a resolution to adopt the ICJ decision into the Whaling Commission’s rules, and that would effectively ban the Japanese from whaling until 2016-2017. 

The Ugandan government says it has uncovered a “terrorist cell” of al-Shabaab militants from Somalia who were plotting an attack.  Security has been stepped up at Entebbe Airport and other key sites.