Global News

Australia’s natural wonders are in trouble – Boko Haram returns to the scene of the crime – Okay, maybe it’s not a Tiger – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Myanmar’s reform process has hit a “bumpy patch” according to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate echoed the assessment from US President Barack Obama, who said the reforms were “by no means complete or irreversible”.

Islamic State’s leader has a message for his would-be killers – A French terrorist can’t live without cigarettes – Alleged cannibals are on trial in Brazil – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has lifted the state of emergency imposed to control the Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 2,800 people in her country.  Johnson Sirleaf says it doesn’t mean that “the fight is over”, but the numbers of new infections is longer increasing.

US President Barack Obama is reportedly going to use his executive authority to bypass the gridlocked congress and enact major changes to America’s immigration system – changes that could protect as many as five million undocumented immigrants from the threat of deportation and provide many of them with work permits.

When daylight returns to the Paris area, police and animal wardens will resume the search for what appears to be a young tiger on the loose in the suburbs near Disneyland.  People were warned to stay inside on Thursday, and that will go for Friday as well.

Next Monday, workers at the Vatican will begin to install new showers and laundry facilities in the public restrooms off of the grand colonnade of Saint Peter’s Square.  Pope Francis approved the idea when one of his Archbishops asked a homeless man to dinner for the man’s 50^th birthday – the man replied, “Father, I can’t go to the restaurant with you because I smell.”

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) will host clinical trials of new treatments for Ebola at three centers in West Africa.  Two will use drugs from a World Health Organization (WHO) shortlist, and the third will test blood and plasma therapy also endorsed by the WHO.

Scientists land a spacecraft on a comet – Heavily armed Russian naval ships are off the north coast – A fugitive Kiwi child molester and killer is recaptured – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

British officials are looking into reports that one of the world’s most-wanted terrorists, the so-called “White Widow”, has been killed by a Russian sniper in the violence in eastern Ukraine.  A major caveat is that the report comes from a Russian news agency, which doesn’t explain how a terrorist associated with Islamist causes got involved in Ukraine.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the death toll in the West African Ebola Epidemic to 5,160 killed out of more than 14,000 infections.  The killer virus appears to be slowing down in Guinea and Liberia, but is still a massive problem.  The frequency of cases continues to rise in Sierra Leone.  And now, officials are monitoring a troubling new outbreak in Mali.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree that grants him new powers, and it could be very good news for Australian journalist Peter Greste and his family.  Al-Sisi gave himself the authority to deport foreign defendants convicted or accused of crimes.

Mexico’s protests over the disappearances of 43 student teachers in southern Guerrero state have spilled into government offices and on to the region’s bottom line.  Acapulco is the major destination in Guerrero, but the all-important tourism sector is starting to take a hit.

Tensions between Muslims and Jews are nearing a fever pitch over retaliatory violence in Jerusalem.  A West Bank Mosque burned early on Wednesday, and a few hours later a Synagogue was attacked with a Molotov cocktail.

Police in Brazil are accused of making “abusive use of lethal force”.  A group that monitors police violence says Brazilian police have killed more than 11,000 people over the past five years – that comes out to about six people killed by police every day.

Another Black Eye for the World Cup – The US and UK go after out of control banks – Mexican protesters attack a ruling party building over the 43 missing students – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jingping unveiled a significant new deal on reducing carbon emissions to fight global climate change.  The two say they will cut greenhouse gas pollution by up to 28 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2015.

Mali says a nurse has died of Ebola, the second confirmed death in that West African country.  But this case is unrelated to that of the first patient, a two-year old girl brought across the border from Guinea by her grandmother. 

An amazing scene from the heart of what is supposed to be not just an advanced democracy, but the self-declared “shining city on the hill”.  Instead of attempting to calm a troubled community, the governor of Missouri threatened to call out National Guard troops when a grand jury announces its decision whether to indict a white police officer for shooting dead an unarmed black teenager.

A passenger bus crashed head-on into a truck carrying good in southern Pakistan, killing at least 57 people.  Journalists and rescuers at the scene say most of the fatalities were women and at least twelve children, and more than a dozen people were injured – several of them in critical condition.