Hello Australia! - Palmyra survived 2,000 of wars, invasions, and natural disasters.. But not the organized idiocy of Islamic state - Dutton accuses the media of "jihad" - An Aussie journo will not have to go to prison for reporting the news - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Things:

A court in Phuket acquitted an Australian and a Thai journalist of charges of defaming the Navy.  Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian faced up to seven years in prison for reporting that some members of the Thai military took money to turn a blind eye to human trafficking, or even assist the traffickers.  "This is a fantastic day for us, to be free of the weight of this charge," Morison said, "I think it's an important result for Thai media and for the media in general."  Amnesty International welcomed the decision, but says they never should have faced trial to begin with.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton spun an odd conspiracy theory in an interview this morning, accusing Fairfax and the ABC of trying to "bring the government down".  By reporting on the government.  Seriously, he said this.  On the ABC's AM program, Dutton said, "Regardless of what Tony Abbott does, Fairfax will say it's bad," adding that Fairfax was "being helped by the ABC".  And later on Sky News, he accused Fairfax of "Jihad".  This comes after Fairfax journalists reported several stories based on embarrassing leaks from the cabinet.

The United Nations is confirming Islamic State's latest act of historic vandalism.  Satellite photos show the 2,000 year old Temple of Bel in Palmyra is gone.  Earlier, Syrian officials denied that the militants occupying Palmyra had set off powerful explosives at the site, but the evidence says otherwise.  "Unfortunately, the images we acquired do show that the main building of the temple has been destroyed," UN satellite analyst Einar Bjorgo said.  A week earlier, Islamic State blew up another important ruin at the site, the Temple of Baalshamin.

Orthodox Christian wingnuts destroyed a century-old bas relief of the make-believe demon Mephistopheles in Saint Petersburg, Russia, prompting thousands of protesters to come out and denounce the vandalism.  The protesters point out that the statue had nothing to do with promoting a demon from hell, but was an homage to a Russian actor who got rave reviews for portraying Mephistopheles in the opera "Faust".  It was the latest act of violent religious intolerance that seem to be growing under President Vladimir Putin, who flatters and seeks the endorsement of the socially powerful Orthodox church.  BTW, one of the nicknames for Saint Petersburg is "The Palmyra of the North" - never more so than now, apparently.

The US Supreme Court is ordering a county clerk in Kentucky to issue marriage licenses to Same Sex couples.  After the Supreme Court legalized marriage equality two months ago, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis claimed an imaginary religious exemption from the law of the land, claiming her christian beliefs would not allow her to do her job.  The US has constitutional separation of church and state, so there was no way that was going to fly.  Hilariously, Davis has been married four times herself while she was denying the rights of same sex couples to get married once.

Colombia is offering citizenship to Venezuelan relatives of Colombians who have been deported from Venezuela.  Thousands of Colombians have fled Venezuela is recent days, since president Nicolas Maduro closed several border crossings to combat smugglers and violence coming over from Colombia.  The smugglers take advantage of Socialist price controls to scoop up cheap items and sell them at a profit in Colombia, but causing shortages in Venezuela.

The Argentine group "Grandmothers of the Plaza" has identified another person stolen as a baby from her Left-wing parents during military rule from 1976 - 1983.  The woman is now in her late 30s.  Her parents were Walter Dominguez and Gladys Castro, members of the Communist Party who were taken away by police in the middle of the night.  Ms. Castro was six months pregnant and after she gave birth in prison, both parents were disappeared.  The junta gave the children of Leftists to military and police families.  The Grandmothers say there are still more than 400 other children of prisoners to be found.