Hello Australia!! - How poor politics could worsen the latest Ebola outbreak - The Saudis close ranks around prince Muhammad - Trump's iraq visit.. not a success - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Hey, Wild Oats XI won the Sydney to Hobart boat thingee, claiming its ninth line honors.  That's something, right? 

A mob, angered over yet another delay to elections in the DR Congo, attacked and ransacked a quarantined Ebola treatment center in the city of Beni, where health workers are facing a challenge fighting the country's second Ebola outbreak of the year.  At least 24 patients escaped; officials say 17 of them already tested negative for Ebola, but the other seven had not been tested yet.  That is a nightmare for health care workers because of the ease that Ebola transfers itself from patient to patient.  The government postponed voting in Beni and two other opposition-held cities for three months, citing the Ebola outbreak as one of the reasons behind the delay.  The farce of a schedule now has the rest of the country going ahead with the vote on 30 December and the inauguration of the new president before the three opposition cities even cast ballots.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman replaced the foreign minister and shuffled other key government positions, the first such shake-up since the apparent murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October.  The scene of the crime, the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, fell under the portfolio of outgoing chief diplomat Adel al-Jubeir - so he's out and Ibrahim al-Assaf is in.  None of the changes seem to impact Salman's son crown prince Muhammad, who Western intelligence agencies believe is the actual mastermind behind the murder.  In fact, some observers believe the changes only solidify Muhammad's position.

Donald Trump paid a visit to US troops in Iraq.  In the process, Trump: Likely broke federal laws and military regulations about politicizing executive visits to on-duty forces; Exposed the existence and identities of a US Navy Seals team working out of the base; Lied about being the only president in ten years to give the military a raise, because by legislation the troops get a raise every year.  The haphazard and seemingly improvised visit came after complaints that Trump was the first president since 2002 not to visit active-duty troops around the holidays.

Iraqi parliamentarians were so impressed with Trump sneaking into the country unannounced that MPs from both major blocs of Iraq’s divided parliament called for a vote to expel US troops and promised to schedule an extraordinary session to debate it.  "Parliament must clearly and urgently express its view about the ongoing American violations of Iraqi sovereignty," said Salam al-Shimiri, a lawmaker loyal to the populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.  Although Trump has announced plans to withdraw US forces from Syria and Afghanistan, he has expressed no such desire to pull 5,200 Americans out of Iraq.

More than 25,000 protesters didn't care that it was -20 C Degrees below zero in Ulaanabatur, the capital of Mongolia.  They are demanding the ouster of parliament speaker Enkhbold Miyegombo, who denies accusations of selling key government positions to the highest bidder.  Almost three decades after transitioning from a Soviet ally to a capitalist democracy, proceeds from the country's vast mineral wealth have yet to trickle down to the majority.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is crowing over a successful test of an "invulnerable" hyper-sonic missile, that flies many times faster than the speed of sound.  Although some international critics claim Putin is over-stating the missile's success, Putin claims that no other nation is working on anything similar.