Good Morning Australia!! - Trump causes chaos over Syria - Poland backs down before the EU - China takes a third Canadian into custody - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Can, open - worms, everywhere.  Donald Trump via Twitter claimed that the so-called Islamic State has been defeated, removing his "only reason" for keeping some 2,000 US forces there.  This seemed to take allies in Washington, the Pentagon, and in NATO completely by surprise.  The military then said it was transitioning to the "next phase" of the campaign, but didn't specify what that would be nor a timetable for the Americans' exit from Syria.  Top Republican Senators like Lyndsey Graham and Marco Rubio - who clearly weren't consulted before the tweet - quickly condemned Trump's plan (if there actually is one) as a "mistake" and a "major blunder" that's against the Pentagon's advice and clearly in Russia's favor.  NATO allies have already noted this week that returning IS fighters are feared to become the top security threat in Europe and the Middle East.

The European Commission says it is starting to draw up contingency plans in case the UK really screws up and crashes out of the EU next March without a plan.  The measures are designed to limit disruptionin certain key areas such as finance and transport should this thing really go badly.  Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the contingency plan was necessary "given the continued uncertainty in the UK".  UK Prime Minister Theresa May's government put out its contingency plan yesterday - the government will send out letters to 140,000 firms updating them on what they should do while 3,500 troops will be put on standby to help government departments.  Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said it amounted to "psychological warfare".

Hackers have accessed European Union diplomatic cables for several years, according to a report in the New York Times.  A security company called Area 1 detected the breach, which appears to share similarities with Chinese hacking operations. 

China has taken a third Canadian into custody - but Ottawa isn't sure if the action is part of the rift over Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested at Vancouver Airport on 1 December on a US arrest warrant.  "We are still very much in the situation of collecting more information on this," said PM Justin Trudeau.  The judge is still deciding if Meng will be sent the new York to face charges of violating US trade sanctions against Iran. 

South Africa has issued an arrest warrant for Grace Mugabe, the former first lady of Zimbabwe, in connection with an assault last year.  A former model accuses Mrs. Mugabe of striking her several times with an electric cord when she tried to visit one of Mugabe's sons in a hotel in Johannesburg.  The former South African government granted Mugabe immunity so that she could leave the country, but a court overturned that earlier this year.  Mrs. Mugabe's own influence in her country as ebbed substantially since her husband Robert Mugabe was ousted from power.

Polish President Andrzej Duda signed legislation to reinstate some two dozen Supreme Court judges who the government tried to force into early retirement.  This came after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ordered Poland to immediately suspend a law that lowered the retirement age from 70 to 65.  The far-right PiS government lowered the retirement age, it said, to cleanse the judiciary of Communist-era appointees; critics say it was a blatant attempt to purge the judiciary of government critics.