Global News

Southern European navies have rescued more than 300 African immigrants from overcrowded vessels in rough waters off the coasts of Sicily and Greece.  It’s the latest examples of people willing to risk it all for marginally better opportunities in far off lands.

Iraqi security forces fought hundreds of increasingly well-armed and equipped Al Qaeda militants in Fallujah and Ramadi.  Both cities are in western Anbar province, where Sunni militants have been growing more boisterous.

Czech investigators say they’ve made an unsettling find in the home of the Palestinian diplomat killed by an explosion in his home in Prague.  Ambassador Jamal al-Jamal was killed when he attempted to open a safe that was allegedly rigged with explosives to destroy internal documents in the event of tampering.

Rescuers completed transferring all 52 passengers from the ice-bound research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy to the Aurora Australis icebreaker.  It ends a two-week adventure that left the passengers stuck at the bottom of the world during the Holidays.

The United Nations is calling for a cease-fire in South Sudan to give peace talks a chance.  At least 1,000 people have died since fighting erupted last month between followers of the President and those of is rebellious deputy, pitting ethnic groups against each other.

The consortium at the heart of the historic Panama Canal expansion project is threatening to stop construction work because of financial problems on the project.  The Panama Canal Authority is calling on the consortium to honor its contracts.

Passengers aboard the stranded Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy were getting ready to end their Antarctic adventure, now that the weather conditions have improved enough to attempt rescue-by-helicopter – but there’s another delay.

Taiwanese authorities are monitoring hundreds of people who may have had contact with a mainland Chinese tourist infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu.  Officials say as many as 500 people might have had contact with him.

Progressive politics made a grand entrance in the United States for 2014.  As soon as Bill de Blasio was sworn in as New York City’s 109th mayor, he told the crowd that “we won’t wait” in addressing the economic inequality that he condemned as a cornerstone to his successful campaign.

Family members of comatose former Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have gathered at his bedside as his health as reportedly taken a turn for the worse and is seriously deteriorating. Israeli media reports say he has suffered renal failure.

The Palestinian envoy to the Czech republic is dead after an explosion caused by accidentally upsetting a booby-trapped safe.  The Palestinian authority says the safe is a relic from the PLO days and hasn’t been touched in more than two decades.

Michael Schumacher improves – The anti-nuclear deal with Iran could be implemented this month – Kim Jong-Un doesn’t get the spirit of the Holiday Season – Fireworks galore and an ill-fated titanic Rubber Duck.  
1 January?  Dang it, I’m still writing 2013 on my cheques.  These are your CareerSpot World News Briefs.World News Briefs For Wednesday, 1 January 2014

Egyptian prosecutors are ordering three detained Al Jazeera journalists to be held for another 15 days for allegedly acting to harm the country’s reputation aboard.  Human Rights groups are blasting the charges, saying Egypt shouldn’t confuse reporting on the Muslim Brotherhood with being a member.

Apple is denying any knowledge of or involvement in the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) alleged efforts to hack into and monitor iPhones.  Germany’s “Spiegel” news magazine this week reported that the NSA uses a spyware program to gain full and easy access to the popular devices.

Children are being cruelly and inhumanely targeted in the violence plaguing the Central Africa Republic (CAR):  At least two bodies of children have been found beheaded, among the 16 known killed since the latest round of fighting began a month ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is breaking his silence on the two suicide attacks in the southern city of Volgograd, vowing to fight the “terrorists until their complete annihilation.”  He said this as the first victims of the attacks were being buried.

Passengers and some crew from the ice-bound Russian-flagged research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy will be taken off by helicopter once the Antarctic weather permits.  The ship has been stuck in thick sheets of ice about 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart since Christmas Eve.

Israel releases more than two dozens Palestinians from prison – South Sudan’s president refuses to reward the people rebelling against his country – Grim news as doctors describe the extent of Michael Schumacher’s head injuries from a skiing accident – And, America.  Yep, America. 

31 December?  I’d really better start Christmas shopping.  Here now are your CareerSpot World News Briefs.

Today is the deadline for removing and destroying Syria’s chemical weapons, but it’s pretty unlikely that goal will be met.  Many of the toxins that once made up President Bashar al-Assad’s arsenal have not been transported.

There’s anger in Argentina as an oppressive heatwave has exposed weaknesses and chronic under-investment in the nation’s aging power grid.  Some neighborhoods have been blacked out for two weeks while the mercury topped 30 and even 35 degrees.