More details on that horrible family stabbing in Cairns – A prominent Aussie Politico is under arrest in a “bizarre” plot – Kurds oust Islamic State from a mountain were hundreds of refugees were trapped – And more in your second dose of CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Police say a 20-year old man returned to a home in suburban Cairns to find his younger siblings – aged 18 months to 15 years – stabbed to death.  Their 34-year old mother is in hospital in stable condition with injuries to the neck and chest.  Police say the public is not in danger and describe the massacre as “a tragic, tragic event”.

Queensland police detained the media advisor to billionaire politician Clive Palmer, accusing Andrew Crook of kidnapping a bank executive in Indonesia.  They’ve also issued an arrest warrant for multi-millionaire property developer Tony Smith.  Authorities are investigating claims the two tried to force a witness in a legal case involving Mr. Smith to recant evidence.  Police refer to it as an “elaborate” and “bizarre” scheme.

The Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga say they’ve broken through Islamic State’s (IS) siege on Mount Sinjar, where hundreds of the Yazidi group are trapped.  US air strikes helped pave the way.  The Yazidis were forced to flee up the mountain when IS rampaged through Sinjar town and other villages in the Kurdish north.  The plight of the Yazidi – a minority group following a religion more closely related to the ancient Zoroastrianism than to IS’s extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam – prompted US President Barack Obama to increase US involvement in defeating the group.

US military officials say coalition air strikes killed several “senior and mid-level” IS leaders, degrading the terrorist army’s ability to command and coordinate operations against Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga.  Among those killed is the IS commander who was instrumental in taking over Mosul. 

Suspected Boko Haram militants kidnapped some 200 villagers from a town in northern Nigeria, and killed at least 33 people.  The raid on Gumsuri village followed the Boko Haram playbook – the militants attacked the main marketplace, burned shops and homes, executed the men, and seized young men to become child soldiers and women and girls to be given to jihadists as brides.

Cameroon is claiming some success against Boko Haram.  The military says soldiers repelled a Boko Haram attack on an army base in the north, inflicting heavy casualties on the terrorists.  The Cameroonian side claims one dead and one missing after the battle.

Dutch authorities will file charges against infamous far right politician Geert Wilders over allegations he incited racial hatred against Moroccans in a speech nine months ago.  He egged on a mob of unruly anti-immigration protesters, and later referred to “Moroccan scum” in a TV interview.  It’ll be Wilders second trip to the dock over inciting racial hatred.

A day after rocking the diplomatic world by announcing a thaw in US-Cuban relations, US President Barack Obama switched on another icebox by signing legislation to impose sanctions on Venezuelan government officials accused of violating protesters’ rights during demonstrations earlier this year.  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused Obama of hypocrisy.  The Venezuelan protests were organized by right-wing groups who haven’t won an election since 1999, against the democratically-elected Socialist government.  43 people were killed in the violence.  Maduro has frequently accused the US of involvement, which the US has denied.