Hello Australia! - Donald Trump said something disgusting, but you probably shouldn't worry about it - Adding to the horrors of war, a flesh-eating plague is stalking Syrians - "The Freak" has been cleared of sex abuse charges - And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Much is being made in the US corporate media about the latest verbal garbage spilling from the mouth of the republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.  The overt fascist and bigot called for a "total and complete shutdown" on Muslims entering the US, which is not only contrary to American values but is blatantly unconstitutional.  This brought condemnation from all quarters, including his fellow GOP candidates (Jeb Bush called Trump "unhinged"), Democratic candidates (Martin O'Malley called him a "fascist demagogue"), Muslim groups, and the White House - which pointed out that Trump's comments played right into Islamic State's hands as it tries to portray the West as at war with Islam.

What the corporate media isn't saying in its breathless coverage of the orange clown is that he is actually not the front runner for the presidency, not even close.  Sure, Trump leads the republican field of candidates, with poll ratings in the upper 20 percent range.  But that's out of a range of ten or so candidates, and only among republican voters. 

Reality is reflected in the latest MSNBC/Telemundo/Marist poll shows Trump losing to Democrat Hillary Clinton.  She's ahead of him by 11 points among all voters, 52 percent to 41 percent, and a whopping 42 points among Latino voters, 69 percent to 27 percent.   In fact, Hillary beats the entire republican palette of sociopaths in one-on-one match-ups.  So as the world looks at America and wonders if everything's all right, it's not - the dirty little secret of racism and fascism is bubbling up, empowered by a billionaire demagogue.  But he probably can't be elected president.

Moving Along:

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi says Islamic State is smuggling most of its black market oil through Turkey, backing up earlier claims from Russia and Iran. Oil smuggling is a prime source of income for the terrorist group.  This latest symptom of the deterioration in relations between Iraq and Turkey came after Baghdad accused Ankara of sending troops in a training mission to northern Iraq without permission.

(Warning, the next item might be upsetting to more sensitive readers)

As if the people of Syria don't have enough problems after four years of civil war, there's a new health crisis:  A flesh-eating disease called Leishmaniasis, which is transmitted via parasites that feed on corpses dumped in the streets - a particularly disgusting practice of the savages of Islamic State.  "We did not have knowledge about this deadly disease before," said a Kurdish fighter, "We have been fighting on the battlefield for almost four years and this disease basically generated from embattled areas of Tal Hamis, Hon, and Qosa."  Leishmaniasis is not necessarily fatal, but it is usually disfiguring.  Human rights workers have documented 500 cases of it in Syria this year.

Syrian activists say 26 civilians died in an air strike, possibly carried out by the US-led coalition.  The Pentagon says it is looking into what happened in the village of al-Khan, near al-Hawl in Hasakah province.  The US denies accusations from the Syrian government that it killed three soldiers in a separate air strike in another province.

Independent investigators in Mexico say they have evidence that contradicts the government's official story in the disappearances of 43 student teachers in the town of Iguala in Guerrero state.  The government claims the 43 were killed by a drug gang and the bodies were burned and the ashes dumped in a river.  But an expert panel from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights obtained satellite images of the spot where the bonfire supposedly took place, and found no bonfire.  Not only that, but it rained there on the day the government said it happened.  The new evidence has been turned over to Mexico's attorney general.

A judge overturned the sex abuse conviction of actress Maggie Kirkpatrick, who famously played prison guard Joan "The Freak" Ferguson on the long running soap opera "Prisoner".  In August, Kirkpatrick was found guilty of abusing a 14-year old girl from a psychiatric hospital at her Melbourne home in 1984.  Kirkpatrick has steadfastly maintained her innocence.  Today, Judge Geoffrey Chettle said on Tuesday the accusations could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt.  "It's been rather difficult but I'm very happy with the result," Kirkpatrick told reporters after her appeal was upheld in the Victorian county court.