Hello, Australia! – Oz tightens cockpit security – Fire destroys a notorious church – Violence mars Nigeria’s election – Did a former James Bond actor really put a racial barrier on the role? – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Australia will be following in the contrails of other nations to mandate having two people in the cockpit at all times, on all domestic and international flights.  This is in response to the Germanwings Flight 9525 tragedy in which the co-pilot is believed to have locked the pilot out of the flight deck and deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps at a cost of 150 lives.  The change takes effect immediately.

In VIC, fire destroyed the 124-year old St James Church in Brighton this morning.  Only the facade of the structure remains.  Although parishioners are lamenting the loss of the heritage-listed structure, there are others who look at the fire through the lenses of the sex abuse scandal that rocked the congregation.  The Roman Catholic Church admits a parish priest Fr. Ronald Pickering abused young boys during the 1970s and ‘80s.  Pickering moved to the UK and died before being prosecuted.  Actress and former parishioner Rachel Griffiths went as far as to tell the ABC, “I was quite elated, like many of my generation, when I heard the news this morning,” because of the harm inflicted on children in building.

The deadline for reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran is Tuesday.  Later on Monday, ministers from the US, Germany, France, the UK, China, and Russia will hold their first full session with Iran’s foreign minister in Lausanne, Switzerland.  The idea is to get Tehran to scale back its nuclear ambitions, but critics – and let’s face it, these are mostly hard-right and reactionary critics – are warning the six world powers not to trust Iran.

The conservative coalition of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy beat the living crap out of the ruling Socialists in the second round of France’s local elections over the weekend.  The party of President Francois Hollande – which didn’t make it into the second round in many races – was forced to ask voters to vote for anyone but the racist, fascist National Front.  That played right into the hands of Sarkozy’s conservative coalition, which took away about half of the Socialists’ council majorities.  But, at least the fascists didn’t win enough to take control of even one local council.

Results in Nigeria’s highly chaotic presidential elections are expected late Monday.  Boko Haram launched attacks on polling places in the north and killed at least two poll workers.  But in the oil-rich southern Rivers State, the opposition is blaming “ethnic militias” directed by President Goodluck Jonathan for violence including the bombing of an election commission office and three fatal shootings.

Ebola is roaring back in Guinea, and President Alpha Conde has declared a 45-day health emergency in five affected regions.  This includes quarantines on hospitals and clinics, strict rules on burials, and possible community lockdowns, all to try and contain the virus.  More than 10,000 people have been killed in the West African Ebola Epidemic since January 2014.

The UK is ready to deploy a new rapid Ebola diagnostic kit in clinics in Sierra Leone.  Developed by British military scientists and NHS medics, it can be administrated at bedside and delivers results in as little as 20 minutes – a sharp cut from the 24 hours it currently takes to confirm an Ebola infection.  That will help doctors quickly isolate and treat Ebola patients, and release those who are clear.  Early bedside tests in the Connaught Hospital in Freetown have shown a 100 percent detection rate.  All they need now is approval from Sierra Leone health authorities.

Roger Moore is insisting he was misquoted and didn’t say “something racist about Idris Elba”.  The 87-year old was asked by Paris Match about whether Elba would make a good James Bond.  He replied that the actor portraying the superspy should be English, or “English-English”, as quoted by the magazine, noting that Moore referred to past Bond actors as “Scottish-English”, “Welsh-English”, and “Irish-English”.  Paris Match says Moore phrased in a way that excludes Elba, who was London-born to African immigrant parents – hence, not quite “English-English”. 

BTW, no one is seriously talking about Idris Elba playing Bond, as Daniel Craig has earned more than US$2 BILLION at the box office in his three outings.  And another one called “Spectre” is coming up in November.  Moore played the “English-English” Bond during the Disco-era films of the 1970s and ‘80s.