Good Morning, Australia! – Islamic State attacks foreigners far away from its self-declared caliphate – A fresh threat against IS’s Japanese Hostage – Fidel finally weighs in – Benedict Cumberbatch says he’s an idiot – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Militants attacked a hotel popular with westerners in Libya, killing at least 14 people – and a monitoring group say the attackers are affiliated with Islamic State.  That would make it the first confirmed IS attack on foreigners in Northern Africa.  Libyan security says the attackers detonated a car bomb, opened fire inside the five-star Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, and some might have set-off explosive suicide vests. 

Islamic State in Syria released another video with Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, in which the prisoner is apparently forced to read the threat against his life.  The voice attributed to Goto says IS will kill a captured Jordanian fighter pilot and then himself if Jordan doesn’t release Sajida al-Rishawi – a female would-be suicide bomber who confessed to her role in a string of deadly al Qaeda attacks in Jordan in 2005. 

New York City is slowly getting back to normal after a predicted blizzard shifted positions and wasn’t as bad as expected.  But east of there in Massachusetts, some towns got a meter or more of snow overnight.

After three days of failed attempts to raise AirAsia Flight QZ8501 from the floor of the Java Sea, the Indonesian Navy is suspending recovery efforts.  Officials now say that the fuselage that refuses to come to the surface doesn’t contain any more bodies.  162 passengers and crew died with the flight crashed into the Java Sea in bad weather last month, and so far, 70 bodies have been recovered.

Although Standard and Poors cut Russia’s bond rating to “junk”, the Ruble gained back some lost ground and Moscow-listed shared remained steady.  S&P’s downgrade puts Russia at the same level as Turkey, Indonesia, and Barbados.  Russia’s economy is expected to contract by four- to five-percent this year.

Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro has given his qualified approval to opening relations with the United States.  “I don’t trust the policy of the United States, nor have I exchanged a word with them, but this does not mean I reject a peaceful solution to conflicts or the dangers of war,” the 88-year old Fidel wrote in his column in Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party.  It’s his first comments on the matter since his brother 83-year old President Raul Castro and officials in Washington last month announced they’d pursue normalized relations.  Fidel hasn’t been seen in a year and his silence was interpreted by some as a sign of a political rift with his little brother.  Or maybe it’s because he’s 88 for crissakes…

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is profusely apologizing for using the term “colored” to refer to some actors in a conversation about race.  Although his comments themselves were actually in support of his fellow actors who haven’t gotten a lot of plum roles in the UK and have had to go to Hollywood more and more often to work.  Here’s what he said:   “I think as far as colored actors go, it gets really difficult in the UK, and a lot of my friends have had more opportunities (in the US) than in the UK and that's something that needs to change.”  So really, if not for that weird side-trip into 1950s terminology, the statement was supportive.

Here’s Benedict’s response to the backlash:  “I’m devastated to have caused offense by using this outmoded terminology. I offer my sincere apologies.  I make no excuse for my being an idiot and know the damage is done.”