Good Morning Australia!! - An Aussie musical legend is gone - Israel sacks a top defense official over an alleged security breach - Islamic State terrorists lose a big one in Iraq  - And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs!

The Easybeats frontman Stevie Wright is dead at age of 68.  The ABC reports that Mr. Wright fell ill on Boxing Day and was taken to Moruya Hospital in southern New South Wales, where he died on Sunday.  Stevie Wright is remembered as Australia first international pop star and was inducted ARIA Hall of Fame for his success with the band.  Their song Friday On My Mind was a number-one hit in Australia, number six in Britain, and made the top 20 in the US.

Firefighters are hoping that weather conditions will favor them in the battle on wildfires that have devastated the Surf Coast from Christmas Day.  Flames destroyed 116 homes in Wye River and Separation Creek along the Great Ocean Road, not to mention to the environmental and infrastructure such as water and power lines.  There are fears the area's losses from fire damage and most tourism could reach deep into the millions of dollars.  Temperatures remain high, but at least the winds have eased.

At least eleven people are dead near Dallas, Texas after a wave of tornadoes.  It raises raising the number of weather related deaths to 29 (some say 35) across the southern United States over the last week.  Five of those killed in Texas were in their cars which were blown off of a highway. 

Heavy rains brought on by El Nino have caused three major rivers in South America to spill their banks, causing a massive flooding emergency in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.  More than 150,000 people have been routed from their homes, mostly in Paraguay which is experiencing the worst inundation in five decades.  Argentina comes in second place with the number of evacuations.

Israel sacked its missile defense chief Yair Ramati for an unspecified "grave breach of information security".  Mr. Ramati had been in the post for four years, and played a large role in projects such as "Iron Dome" and "Arrow" systems which ideally intercept and destroy incoming projectiles.  While praising him for his involvement in these programs, the defense ministry added ominously that "relevant authorities" were investigating the breach.

Iraqi forces are back in possession of a former government compound in Ramadi after driving back resistance form Islamic State forces.  Iraq has spent the past couple of weeks taking back Ramadi, inch by inch, after losing it to the insurgents in May.  Ramadi is a predominantly Sunni city, and the government chose not to use the Shia militias that were so effective in retaking Tikrit so as not to inflame sectarian tensions.