Good Morning, Australia! – Scores are killed in a battle to capture a Philippine terror leader – The Kurds beat Islamic State, for now – Greece’s new leader takes the oath – America prepares for a big, giant snowstorm – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

At least 43 police officers in the Phillippines were killed in a raid to catch one of the country’s most-wanted terrorism suspects.  Almost 400 cops stormed Mamasapano town in southern Maguindanao province.  It’s controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MI, or more hilariously, MILF) and its leader Zulkifli bin Hir, who might have been killed in the operation.  In addition to attempting to deterimine which deda militant might have been the leader, authorities will investigate if the raid violated a cease-fire signed with the MILF last year.

A Greek air force F-16 fighter jet crashed at an air base in Spain, killing at least ten people.  Something went wrong during take-off and the jet slammed into several other planes taking part in a NATO “Tactical Leadership Program” exercise at Los Llanos Airbase in the southwest of the country. 

Alexis Tsipras has been sworn in as Greece’s new Prime Minister, after his Leftist Syriza party stunningly won national elections on Sunday.  He cut a deal with the right-wing Independent Greeks party, and will be able to form a government to pursue Syriza’s goal of renegotiating the terms of paying back the EU/IMF bailout and ending austerity programs that have crippled the economy.  Contempt for the bailout is about the only thing the two parties have in common, as the Independent Greeks often embrace hard-right positions such as anti-immigrant policies.

Kurdish fighters have finally pushed Islamic State (IS) militants out of the northern Syrian city of Kobani, after four grueling months of fighting that left the city in a pathetic state.  But the battle is far from over.  IS sympathizers on social media are calling for a new campaign to retake the town, which has become a symbol of resistance.  And Kurdish troops are now proceeding very carefully in an area where IS planted land mines before leaving.  Tens of thousands of Kurds from Kobani were forced into exile in Turkey, and Iraqi Kurdish fighters had to transit through Turkey in order to get there to help their Syrian cousins defend it.

A court in Egypt has convicted a doctor of manslaughter in the case of a girl who died after illegal FGM surgery.  The practice was outlawed in Egypt six years ago, but is practiced in clandestine backrooms.  Doctor Raslan Fadl had actually been acquitted in his first trial last year, but uproar from activists prompted the retrial, which resulted in a two-year prison sentence.  The group “Equality Now” calls it a “monumental victory”.  Suhair al-Bataa was just 13-year old when she died in 2013.

The US Secret Service is examining one of those store-bought quad-copter drones after an agent observed it breaching the White House grounds and crashing into a tree.  US President and Mrs. Obama were in India when it happened.  It is illegal to fly anything – even a toy helicopter – in the restricted air space above and around the White House.

America’s densely populated northeast, from Maine all the way down through New Jersey and Delaware, is preparing for what forecasters expect will be a massive blizzard.  A meter or more of snow is expected in some areas.  Airports are planning to shut down as of Monday night, New York City will ban all cars expect emergency vehicles.