Good Morning Australia! - The Paris terrorism mastermind may have been in France all along, not in Syria as authorities believed - Islamic State shows off the bomb it says brought down a Russian passenger plane - Malcolm rules out troops for Syria - And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

French police laid siege for several hours to an apartment in the northern suburb Saint-Denis, engaging in a massive gun battle that ended with: A woman blowing herself up with a suicide vest; another terrorism suspect dying in the raid; and at least seven suspected jihadists taken into custody.  Three police officers and a passerby were injured in the assault, and a police dog was killed.  Forensic teams are combing through the building, which is heavily damaged:  Walls are pocked with bullets, windows are blown out from the bomb, and it appears as if an entire floor inside collapsed.

It was the young woman with the suicide vest who led police to the apartment, because police found her mobile phone dropped near the scene of one of last Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris, during which 129 people died.  She was the cousin of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian jihadist named as the mastermind of last week's attacks.  He was believed to be in Syria - but police said that the apartment in Saint-Denis had a high value target, and it's clear that the people inside put up an intense fight that prompted police to call in the military to finish.  France says this raid preempted another major terrorist attack planned for a Paris business district.

Several news outlets are reporting that the second terrorist killed in the Saint-Denis raid is Abdelhamid Abaaoud - French officials are not yet confirming that.

Islamic State showed off photos of what it says was the bomb that brought down Russia's MetroJet Flight over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.  It shows a can of Schwepp's Gold with what appears to be a detonator and a switch.  Yesterday, Russian security confirmed that a bomb with the power of a kilogram of TNT exploded on the Airbus A321, and President Vladimir Putin vowed revenge.  The photo of the bomb appeared in IS's English language propaganda rag "Dabiq", which also revealed that the terrorist group killed two prisoners, men from China and Norway.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Syria is a "complete catastrophe" and solving it will require "pragmatism and compromise" - an apparent rebuke of the war hawks who are calling for troops to be sent to Middle East.  It may also signal the beginnings of a change in Western policy towards Syria, that previously insisted on the removal of President Bashar al-Assad for his government's abysmal record of torture and killing.  Assad is Russia's ally, and keeping him - at least in the initial phases of post-war Syria - may be the price of gaining Russia cooperation in fighting Islamic State.

With the media coverage of Islamic State, one would think that it is the deadliest terrorist organization in the world. but that is not the case.  Boko Haram in Nigeria has killed more people in 2014, according to the report published by the New York City-based Institute for Economics and Peace.  The group's Global Terrorism Index says Boko Haram killed 6,644 last year, compared to 6,073 blamed on Islamic State. Indeed, Boko Haram killed another eleven people in another suicide bombing in Kano City.  The two groups are responsible for more than half of the world's terrorism deaths.

While Boko Haram spread unchecked, Nigeria's top security adviser allegedly embezzled some US$2 Billion meant for the fight.  President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the arrest of Sambo Dasuki for allegedly awarding "phantom contracts" for a dozen helicopters, four fighter jets, and ammunition - none of which exist.  Dasuki is already under house arrest on other charges, and denies the allegations.  Nigerian troops have bitterly complained that they are under-equipped for the fight against Boko Haram, despite the military's massive budget.

Bolivian President Evo Morales is apologizing "humbly and sincerely" after joking that his health minister might be a Lesbian.  "We respect diversity and that is clear in our constitution," said Mr. Morales, who said he didn't intend to offend anyone.  Bolivia has a gender equality law and many women occupy high-profile political posts.

Salt Lake City, Utah - the hometown of the very conservative Mormon church - just elected its first openly-LGBT mayor.  Jackie Biskupski campaigned not on social issues, but on boring old municipal stuff.  But she'll take office at a time when LGBT issues are at the forefront in the western US desert city.  The Mormon church is facing a backlash after passing a draconian policy that seems to punish children for the sexual orientation of their parents, and just days after a bigoted judge was forced to rescind his ruling to remove a Lesbian couple's children and place them with a straight couple.