Breaking news of an attack in Israel – Obama stuns and silences his critics – Police gun down a champion surfer – Just rewards and sad farewells in France and its territories – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Israeli police shot and wounded a man who stabbed sixteen people on a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel.  At least two victims were rushed to hospital in critical condition, six are in serious condition.  The attacker attempted to flee, but the cops shot him in the leg, and if the amateur video is any indication, it really, really hurt.  Police are not identifying the suspect, but local media reports claim he is a Palestinian.

US President Barack Obama delivered his annual State of the Union address before a congress now in the control of the conservative Republican party opposition.  But instead of looking like a guy on the ropes, feisty Obama came out swinging and subtly taking credit for the improving US economy, while chiding the republicans for failing to do anything to help the middle class.  He proposed free community college for all and tax cuts for the middle class – both non-starters with the republicans, but designed to push the national conversation back to the concerns of average Americans in the build up to the 2016 elections.

BTW, Obama noted that he intended to work for the remaining two years of his term, noting that he had no more campaigns to run.  That prompted a couple of the less experienced republicans to applaud.  He quickly shot back, “I know because I won both of them,” silencing the gobsmacked gops but bringing a roar of laughter and applause from the Democrats.

The US and Cuba begin negotiations on resuming normal relations this week, erasing one of the last vestiges of the Cold War.  Talks take place on Wednesday and Thursday, and Cuba will say in no uncertain terms that it wants off a US list of terrorist states before relations are restored.  Meanwhile, Washington is playing down the significance of a Russian electronic surveillance vessel in docked at Old Havana on the eve of the talks, saying, “It’s not unprecedented.  It's not unusual.  It’s not alarming.”

A Brazilian police officer shot and killed champion surfboarder Ricardo dos Santos outside his home near the southern city of Florianopolis.  There are conflicting accounts about what led up to it, but dos Santos was unarmed.  The cop is still claiming self-defense.  He has been detained but not yet charged.

The Muslim employee of a Kosher food store in Paris is now a French citizen.  French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve presented a new passport to 24-year old Lassana Bathily, who was born in Mali.  He famously hid several people inside the store’s refrigerator, protecting them during gunman Amedy Coulibaly terrorist attack.  Bathily humbly said, “I’m no hero.”  We disagree.

But in the French Caribbean island of Martinique, more than 500 people turned out for the funeral of the French policewoman killed by Coulibaly during a routine traffic stop in the middle of the recent violence in Paris.  They wore “Je Suis Clarissa” t-shirts for Clarissa Jean-Philippe. 

Disappointment in Mexico, after a Austrian lab failed to match burnt human remains with DNA samples in the investigation into the apparent murders of 43 student teachers at Iguala town.  The scientists say there wasn’t enough DNA in the remains to get a proper match.  Several people including the town’s mayor, his wife, and police officials are charged in the case.  Prosecutors say the officials ordered the cops to turn the students over to a drug gang to be killed, in order to stop their anti-corruption protest.

The Greek Leftist party Syriza is promising to create 300,000 new jobs across several sectors if elected to a majority in Parliament.  National elections take place on Sunday, and Syriza is poised for a win and to take power form the current pro-European Union government.  Syriza insists the EU’s imposition of failed austerity policies have crippled the Greek economy, and says it will renegotiate terms of repaying the EU bailout.

India’s tiger population is up by 30 percent in four years, thanks to conservation measures.  The tiger population is up from 1,706 in 2011 to 2,226 in 2014.  “Never before has such an exercise been taken on such a massive scale where we have unique photographs of 80 percent of India's tigers,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told journalists in Delhi.  “While the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India.  This is great news.”