Hello Australia!! - Hackers have lifted personal info from half a billion Yahoo accounts - Russia and Syria answer calls to restore the ceasefire with a fiery "no" - Cops bust other cops for helping immigrants - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Yahoo says state-sponsored hackers stole the personal data of 500 Million users, including personal identifiable information, as well as "unencrypted security questions and answers".  The information apparently does not include credit card or bank numbers.  The breach occurred last year, but became public a month ago when a hacker named "Peace" was detected trying to sell the information of 200 million Yahoo users.  Now, Yahoo says the breach was much larger than first thought.  It's not clear how, if at all, this will impact the sale of Yahoo to the US telecom giant Verizon for US$4.8 Billion, announced earlier this year.

The website "DC Leaks" - believed to be associated with Russian intelligence agents - posted emails from the GMail account of a White House aide.  It shows First Lady Michelle Obama's passport and advance information gathered for an appearance by Vice President Joe Biden, including the number of stairs he'd have to climb during the appearance.  Last week, DC Leaks posted hacked emails from former Secretary of State Colin Powell calling Donald Trump a "national disgrace".

One more internet thingee:  One of the biggest distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks was aimed at the website of industry expert Brian Krebs - apparently in revenge for his exposure of vDos, a company run by two Israeli teens who carried out DDoD attacks for clients.  After Krebs posted his expose, Israeli police arrested two teens, and a court ordered them to stay offline as part of their bail conditions.  This week's attackers aimed 620 gigabits of data a second at the Krebs site, but engineers managed to keep it online despite the onslaught. 

A United Nations aid convoy on Thursday managed to reach and enter Muadhamiya, a suburb of the capital Damascus, to deliver food, medicine, and clothing to 40,000 people living under siege, the UN tweeted.  But warplanes - Syrian, Russian, or both - pounded rebel-held areas of Aleppo in the north with incendiary bombs, igniting entire streets.  The director of one hospital said that facility had 45 deaths.  Local civil rescue director Ammar al-Selmo said, "It's as if the planes are trying to compensate for all the days they didn't drop bombs" during last week's ceasefire.  It's a clear sign that Syria and Russia are saying "no" to the US plea to restore the ceasefire.

Iraqi forces working under cover of US airstrikes crept up closer to Mosul, which is held by Islamic State, in advance of an all-out effort to retake the northern city this year.  Iraqi forces solidified control of the northern district of Shirqat, liberating it from "the desecration of terrorism" as one General put it.  Meanwhile, a rocket attack earlier this week that struck within hundreds of meters of US forces at an air base is being tested for chemical agents.

Survivors say hundreds of people could have drowned off Egypt's Mediterranean coast when an immigrant ship heading for Europe capsized a few kilometers off shore.  Authorities say they have rescued 163 people and recovered 51 bodies, but anywhere from 450 to 600 people could have been on that boat.

French police arrested two of their Belgian counterparts who (perhaps) tried to do a favor for some undocumented immigrants.  The Belgians claim they saw 13 people in a truck on the road towards France, felt sorry for them, and gave the a ride to the border.  But when they accidentally strayed into France, police arrested the Belgian cops and interrogated them for four hours.  Belgium insists they were not talking part in a human trafficking operation, and authorities had earlier ordered the immigrants out of the country.  The group was apparently heading for the French port of Calais to make an attempt to get to the UK.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is asking the UN to get deeper involved in trying to get the Chibok School Girls back from the terrorist group Boko Haram.  Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, President Buhari said rifts have developed in the Islamic State-allied group and outside expertise is needed to find a credible leader for negotiations.  Boko Haram kidnapped the more than 200 girls from the boarding school in Chibok town in 2014.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become his country's first leader to visit Communist Cuba.  He's holding talks with Cuban President Raul Castro on topics from boosting trade to curbing North Korea's nuclear program - Cuba is one of the only countries on earth with a relationship with Pyongyang.  In the past, Japan has sold machinery to Cuba and purchased seafood, and those deals will likely increase now with the end of the US Cold War with Cuba.