An alleged bombing plot against the US Capitol is foiled – Divers get closer to finally retrieving bodies from the downed AirAsia jet – Two mountain climbers achieve an amazing accomplishment – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

American FBI agents arrested an Ohio man for allegedly plotting an Islamic State-inspired bombing attack on the US Capitol.  20-year old Christopher Lee Cornell alarmed associated with his social media posts supporting IS and calling for violent jihad in the US.  The Feds say he allegedly planned to detonate pipe bombs at the national landmark and open fire on any employees and officials fleeing after the explosions.

Divers are now assessing how to retrieve bodies from the main fuselage of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 at the bottom of the Java Sea.  The plane went down in bad weather on 28 December, presumably killing all 162 passengers and crew on board.  Only 50 bodies have been recovered so far.  Photos of the submerged wreck showed the fuselage and part of AirAsia’s motto “Now Everyone Can Fly” painted on the plane’s exterior.

Ukraine's foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin says a new round of peace talks on the conflict in eastern Ukraine could take place soon.  Members of the “contact group” – which includes representatives of Ukraine, the separatists and Russia, and operates under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) – could meet “within the next few days”.  They last met on 24 December to sign a cease-fire, more than 1,300 of Ukraine’s 4,700 war fatalities have occurred since then.

For the first time, Colombia’s government is ready to reciprocate the unilateral cease-fire declared by the Marxist FARC rebels, and is prepared to begin talks on a truce.  That’s a big turnaround for President Juan Manuel Santos, who has pushed the peace talks along but until now declined to halt fighting.  The Leftist fighters declared their own cease-fire last month, but recently said that it is in danger because of continued attacks by the Colombian military.

The global death toll from the West African Ebola Epidemic has reached 8,429 out of 21,296 cases reported, but there is some positive news:  The three countries hit hardest by the Ebola epidemic have recorded their lowest weekly number of new cases for months.  The UN World Health Organization says Liberia reported two days with zero new cases last week, and had its lowest weekly total since June.  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon previously said the epidemic could be over by mid-2015, but WHO is now declining to set a specific timeline

After two grueling weeks of bare-handed, near-vertical climbing, two US mountaineers have reached the top of El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park, the first to do that.  We’re talking 914 meters without climbing aids, other than harnesses and ropes to prevent falling off – higher than the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai.  30-year old Kevin Jorgeson and 36-year old Tommy Caldwell began their incredible half-mile ascent on 27 December.