Iran’s supreme leader is defiant on nuclear talks – A deathtrap collapses in Cairo – Is Angus sounding lukewarm on Phil Rudd? – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved the seven-month extension of talks the west hopes will curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.  But Khamenei accused the United States and European powers of trying to bring Iran “to its knees but they could not and they will not”.  Alrighty then.  The West want Iran to scale back its nuclear program and to provide evidence it will not build nuclear weapons.  Iran insists its nuclear program is for power and medical research.

At least 36 civilians were killed by Syrian government airstrikes in the northern city of Raqqa, stronghold of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS).  Opposition groups claim most of the casualties were civilians in a targeted industrial area.  Meanwhile, IS militants reportedly blew up a convent across the border in Mosul, Iraq.  The nuns and most other Christian residents of Mosul fled in June.

A block of flats collapsed in the Egyptian capital Cairo, killing at least 17 people, injuring several more, and trapping 15 underneath the rubble.  The building was a death trap.  Neighbors say it was built as a three-storey wood frame apartment building.  But several more storeys were added over the years, with the final seventh and eighth floors slapped on without any approval or inspection.

Some burial workers have been sacked in Sierra Leone, after their protest over unpaid wages.  They collected the bodies of Ebola patients and dumped them out in the open – including one left by the manager’s office at the main hospital in the city of Kenema.  The bodies were picked up and buried, but the strike continues.

Animal rights activists handed a petition to Switzerland’s parliament demanding that the consumption of cat and dog meat be banned.  Apparently, about three percent of the country still eats dog meat in sausages and for a folk medicine rheumatism cure.  Cats are prepared with white wine and garlic as a Christmas treat.  Three percent of such a tiny country doesn’t sound like much, until you crunch the numbers – that’s almost a quarter million people chowing down on Fido and Kitty.

A stray dog in Ecuador has found a new home – in Sweden.  It started when four Swedish athletes sat down to eat some canned meatballs at the onset of a long and dangerous trek through the rainforest.  They tossed one to a stray dog, and he stuck with them for the entire 430-mile journey.  He swam alongside them while they kayaked down rivers, dragged himself up hills during hikes and pulled through knee-deep mud during treks.  For that kind of loyalty, he got a name – Arthur – a check up with a vet, and a plane ticket to Sweden.  Where there are plenty of meatballs.  And not to Switzerland.  Where he might have become one.

Phil Rudd is back in court on Thursday on charges of threatening to kill and possession of drugs.  A judge in Tauranga, New Zealand briefly issued an arrest warrant for the 60-year old drummer known for his work with AC/DC, after Phil was late for court for the latest proceeding.  In a recent interview, AC/DC's leader Angus Young repeatedly referred to Rudd’s legal troubles and odd behavior as something that “needs to be resolved”.  Rudd did not appear in the new AC/DC video not in promotional photos for the new album.