Good Morning Australia!! - World leaders and elites hold the last gatherings before the age of the demagogues - The CIA gives one last warning to Trump - Sea Shepherd catches whalers in the act - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

The final statement from the Paris Peace Conference warns Israeli conservatives and incoming US president Donald Trump that the Two-State Solution is the only viable path forward towards achieving peace with the Palestinians.  70 nations including the permanent members of the UN Security Council were represented at a conference regarded as a last ditch push for peace before an uncertain world in the weeks to come.  However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already labelled the conference "futile".  Israel said that US Secretary of State John Kerry called Netanyahu to explain that the wording of the statement had been softened from an earlier draft; Netanyahu responded by whinging about last month's UN Security Council resolution against settlement building.

Outgoing CIA chief John Brennan is warning Trump against his big mouth and loose Twitter habit.  "Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests and so therefore when he speaks or when he reacts, just make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound," Mr. Brennan said.  "It's more than just about Mr Trump.  It's about the United States of America," he added.  Brennan expressed particular outrage over Trump's comparing of the US intelligence agencies to nazi Germany (because they informed him that Russian spies might have videos of him doing weird sex stuff, and might blackmail him).

The World Economic Forum gets underway in Davos, Switzerland today, with billionaires, elites, and other delegates looking for a way forward in a world increasingly stained by right-wing demagoguery falsely called "populism".  Since the last forum, the UK voted to leave the European Union and Trump was "elected" president of the US, undercutting the globalization, free trade, and multilateralism that Davos holds dear.  With elections looming in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and possibly Italy, this year, the nervousness among Davos attendees is palpable.

On the other end of the economic spectrum, officials fear more than 100 people drowned in the sinking of an immigrant boat off the coast of Libya.  Only four people were rescued.  It comes days after the Italian coastguard rescued about 550 migrants trying to make the journey across the Mediterranean from war and poverty to the fading hope for a better life in Europe.

Sea Shepherd says it has caught a Japanese whaling boat in Australian waters in the act with a slaughtered whale on board, in violation of a court order.  The conservation group took photos of a protected Minke Whale dying on the deck of the infamous Nisshin Maru whaling vessel.  "A soon as the whaling fleet saw that Sea Shepherd on the scene, they were scrambling to cover up their illegal operations, they were covering up their harpoons," said Sea Shepherd's Jeff Hansen.  This apparent violation of the whale sanctuary happened during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Australia last week.  "Once again there's blood in the water, in Australian waters, and there's a blind eye in Canberra," said Mr. Hansen.

Animal Rights activists are claiming a victory with the impending shut down of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus after 146 years in the US.  Attendance has plunged since a series of undercover videos showing the elephants and other animals being abused into performing tricks for audiences.  "People were shocked at the day-to-day casual violence," said Jan Creamer of Animal Defenders International.  "We didn't know any better," adding, "They don't want to see animals suffer for 15 minutes of entertainment."  It comes a week after SeaWorld announced a major curtailing of its captive Orca shows. 

Indian officials are livid over Amazon's sale of thong shoes with the image of the Mahatma, Mohandas K. Gandhi, the beloved founder of the modern Indian nation.  In Australia and the US, it's not considered a big deal to put national images on havaianas, but in Indian culture it's about one of the worst insults one can imagine.  Government ministers are threatening Amazon execs with cancelling their visas; there are calls to boycott Amazon, which is locked in a battle with regional rival Flipkart over market share.  This is Amazon's third foul-up on the subcontinent; last week, the online retailer was castigated for selling doormats with the Indian flag, and last year it was a similar controversy over sales of doormats featuring images of Hindu gods.

The president-elect of The Gambia has left the country at the behest of regional leaders who are threatening military action if long-time despot Yahya Jammeh doesn't leave office on his own.  Adama Barrow won last month's election, but current leader Jammeh has said he will not step down.  He says he will stay in Senegal until his inauguration on Thursday.  Thousands of Gambians have also crossed the border in anticipation of trouble.

Brazil officials say they've regained control of a prison in the northern state of Rio Grande do Norte where rioting caused at least ten deaths - many by beheading.  This is the latest in a string of prison disturbances in Brazil over the past two weeks, with more than 100 inmates killed in similarly gruesome ways. 

Always tell the truth on your CV!  Berlin, Germany has sacked the city's housing minister over previously undisclosed ties to the Stasi - the secret police of the former East Germany.  In job applications, Andrej Holm had claimed he was never a full-time member of the spy agency; but a newspaper investigation revealed that the son of a Stasi officer was himself a teenage volunteer before joining the academy and becoming a full-time member of the Stasi in the months before the Berlin Wall came down.  Mayor Michael Mueller says Holm has been "unable to look clearly at himself and to draw the consequences".