Merry Christmas, Australia!  You wanted a dog dressed as Santa, you GOT a dog dressed as Santa!  Meanwhile.. Islamic State captured a downed fighter pilot – Growing concern for the Amazon rainforest after two controversial appointments to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s cabinet – A corruption investigation rocks Israel before parliamentary elections – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Let’s get to the important stuff first:  It’s Christmas Day, and here’s a Boston Terrier dressed as Santa riding a robot vacuum cleaner.

The US insists that Islamic State militants did not shoot down the Jordanian military plane that crashed in IS-held territory in Syria.  IS claimed to have downed the plane with a heat-seeking missile, and released images of the bloodied and injured pilot being paraded through a street as a prisoner.  They named the pilot as Flight Lieutenant Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh.  While Australia and the European powers have joined the US in – and in support of – air strikes in Iraq, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain are working with America against IS in Syria. 

Nigeria is locking down all travel in northeastern Borno state to prevent attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram.  Yobe state next door has barred vehicles from entering or leaving.  Boko Haram tends to target Christian churches during holiday periods, and the group’s attacks in general have become increasingly bloody and vicious lately.

Terrorism suspects in Pakistan will be hauled before military tribunals instead of civilian courts.  Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the compromise with the opposition, after last week’s Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar in which 133 children and around 20 adults were killed.  It’s not clear what kinds of powers the military courts will have, but opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah criticized the Pakistani justice system as riddled with loopholes, and said the military tribunals wouldn’t be used for political purposes.

And Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve mass at the Vatican.

Doctors, nurses, and other health care workers walked off the job at Sierra Leone’s third-largest hospital, dealing a blow to efforts to contain the Ebola crisis.  They say they haven’t been paid in weeks, and are owed more than A$134,000 by the government in outstanding Ebola hazard payments.  The problem stems from the government switching from cash payments to an Airtel phone payment system.  Workers had to go out and get that brand of phone in order to get their money, and then it never came.

Vladimir Putin is screwing a cap on rising vodka prices.  The Russian President says that high prices encouraged the consumption of illegal and possibly unsafe alcohol.  The Russian economy is taking hit after hit from low oil prices and economic sanctions slapped on by the west in reaction to the Kremlin’s involvement in Ukraine.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is courting a confrontation with environmentalists (especially Greenpeace) by appointing the so-called “chainsaw queen” as agriculture minister.  Katia Abreu is favorite of rural and Amazon developers and ranchers, calling for all sorts of things that the Greens do not like nor want:  More roads through the Amazon, GMO crops, more federal control over indigenous reserves, and ugh yuck ptooi.  Oh, and she also idolizes Margaret Thatcher.  It’s the second controversial appointment since Rousseff’s reelection:  Rousseff also appointed climate change skeptic Aldo Rebelo as the new science and technology minister.

At least 21 people were hurt after cops clashed with protesters opposing the Nicaragua Canal project.  This happened on a rural highway near the beginning of road construction for the US$50 Billion project, which is planned to be longer and wider than the transoceanic canal in neighboring Panama.  Yeah, I know all the guys say that.

Police in Israel say they are investigating at least 30 public officials – as yet unnamed – for alleged corruption.  Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum confirmed that she had been been called in for questioning, but claims to be unaware of the nature of the investigation.  Police said officials are suspected of nepotism, and illegal transferring of funds – charges that could prove to be scandalous in the weeks preceding Israel’s upcoming election in March.

Hong Kong police are pleading with people to return millions of dollars that spilled out of an armored car that crashed on a major road.  Dozens of people ran to the wreck to help the driver – ha, ha, ha, ha, no they scooped up mounds of cash.  The car was carrying more than A$5.5 Million – cops recovered only about $3 Million.  Authorities are warning the public that keeping the cash is a crime.