Hello, Australia! – A double chopper crash kills several people, including sports stars – The UN denies “lecturing” Tony Abbott – See the moment a passenger train smashes into a truck – Find out where the words “Climate Change” are forbidden – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Eight cast members of the French reality TV show “Dropped” and two Argentine pilots are dead after their helicopters collided in mid-air and crashed to the ground in flames – no survivors.  It happened near Villa Castelli, La Rioja province, a scenic tourist area in the north some 1,100 kilometers from Buenos Aires.  They were apparently filming a segment for the TV show.  Three of the victims were some of France’s best athletes:  Officials confirm Long-distance yachtswoman Florence Arthaud was killed, as was Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat who won three medals in London; and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine who earned a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008.

The UN rejects the idea that Australia is being “lectured” on human rights, as was claimed by PM Tony Abbott.  Abbott sought to defend his government’s treatment of asylum seekers by saying “Australians” were sick of being lectured to by the UN.  “I do give credit to Australia for having a very robust, democratic system with guarantees of human rights for everybody,” said Juan Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture.  “But it is my mission, my duty, to point out when any country, including Australia, falls short of its obligations under international law.”

Lebanese forces arrested an Australian man in a raid in Dahr al-Ain, just outside the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli – a frequent site of sectarian violence related to the civil war in Syria.  The man is identified only by the initials “T.H.”, and allegedly has links to terrorist organizations. 

A French appeals court sentenced an Australian man to 19 years in prison for repeatedly raping teenage girls he forced to live as his sex slaves.  This happened in 2009 and 2010 in Sean O’Neil’s apartment in the southern town of Valbonne, where he passed himself off as a Hare Krishna “guru” and subjected them to cult-like conditions.  The court extended the 15-year sentence he had originally been given in October 2013 by a lower court.  He’ll be deported from France once he completes his sentence.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed into law tough new penalties for the killing of women and girls linked to domestic and gender violence – 12 to 30 years in prison.  Rousseff says it sends a clear message that Brazil will protect women.  Prison terms are even longer for those convicted of killing of a pregnant woman, a woman who’s just given birth, girls under 14, or women over 60. 

US President Barack Obama signed an executive order declaring Venezuela to be a “national security threat”, and imposed economic sanctions on seven prominent officials.  The US failed to disclose evidence that might bolster its claims of human rights violations, but called on Venezuela to release all “political prisoners” including “dozens of students”.  President Nicolas Maduro is hailing the seven officials as “heroes”.

A passenger train slammed into a big rig truck that got stuck on the tracks in Halifax, North Carolina on America’s east coast, and a motorist caught the moment of impact on video.  As many as 62 people were hurt and one of the passenger cars toppled.  The truck was carrying a modular building stuffed with expensive high tech electronics, and was not able to negotiate a tight turn to get off the tracks.

The US State of Florida is forbidding state workers from using the term “climate change”.  Which is just horrible, not only because denying science is ignorant, not only because censoring state workers is damned near fascist – but also because Florida’s coastal areas are already undergoing changes due to the climate crisis.  Conservative republicans dominate Florida’s state government, and we all know how dumb they are.

Baby Polar Bear at the Marineland Zoo in France is fluffy and cute.