Germany pulls a US plug, and we’re not talking about the World Cup – A former Transformers star is getting to be more well known for trouble than for acting – How about a president who doesn’t want his ego stroked with endless smiling likenesses plastered up around the country? – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Starting out with two breaking stories:  At least 12 people are dead in an explosion in a gas pipeline in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.  It is not yet known what caused the blast.  The pipeline is owned and operated by India’s state-run gas company Gail.

And: Troubled actor Shia LeBeouf was arrested at a Broadway theater in New York City.  Police were called because Shia refused to stop smoking inside the theater.  He refused to leave, allegedly threatened police cops (which NYPD officers just love, btw), and even reportedly spit at the cops.  His last couple of years have been pocked with bar fights and generally surly behavior instead of box office success.

Kenyan authorities charged a regional governor with terrorism and murder over the deadly attacks in costal villages earlier this month.  President Uhuru Kenyatta is blaming the attacks on political network, and pressed the case against Issa Timamy.  But the terrorist group al Shabab claimed responsibility for killing at least 60 people in the attacks, and opposition lawmakers are condemning the arrest of Timamy.  Al Shabab has staged several terrorist attacks in Kenya, not least of which was last year’s massacre at an upscale mall in Nairobi.

Israel named two suspects in the kidnapping of three teenage boys kidnapped in the West Bank earlier this month.  The two ex-cons are allegedly members of the militant group Hamas.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has repeated accused Hamas of the abduction, which it denies and charges that Israel is politicizing the kidnapping because it opposes Hamas’ presence in the new Palestinian Unity Government.  The boys – two aged 16 and the other 19-years old – went missing as they hitchhiked home through the West Bank.

Jordan’s Security Court has cleared radical Islamic cleric Abu Qataba of conspiring to commit terrorist acts against tourists in 2000.  He had already been convicted in absentia, but that was overturned because the evidence was collected from other defendants under torture.  Britain granted Qataba asylum in 1994, but sent him back in 2013 to face trial.

Upset by spying by the US National Security Agency (NSA), Germany has cancelled its Internet contract with the US service provider Verizon.  Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden had revealed the US was spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel, and that big American Internet companies including Verizon granted NSA spies access to massive amount of Internet communications.  Verizon is losing a big account, having provided Internet services to most German federal agencies.

Japanese car parts company Takata is facing an economic implosion because of its faulty airbags.  General Motors has halted sales of the Chevrolet Cruze because the Takata airbags might fail, and a worldwide recall is expected. Takata devices are already the subject of a recall involving millions of vehicles made by Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and BMW.  By some calculations, Takata’s financial responsibility might exceed A$534 Million.

New developments in the search for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 – although “found it!’ isn’t one of them.  Investigators are now believe the ill-fated Boeing 777 was on autopilot when it crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean, and that passengers and crew at the very least were unresponsive or incapacitated because the cabin lost pressure and there was no oxygen.  That doesn’t explain if whatever happened was accidental, deliberate, or malicious.  And they don’t really know for sure because there is now wreckage to examine.  To that end, the search area has been moved further south in the Indian Ocean to an area where the seafloor has not yet been mapped.

If the Nigerian Military seems to be making no headway chasing Boko Haram out of its stronghold in the Sambisa Forest, snakes might do the job.  Some members of the Islamist militia were caught fleeing, because of what they believe were spiritual attacks from snakes and bees, which had killed many Boko Haram leaders.  They apparently believe the people of Chibok town are using “juju” against Boko Haram in retaliation for the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls two months ago.  But the prisoners also provided some useable intelligence – surviving Boko Haram leaders have already escaped the forest into neighboring Cameroon. 

Costa Rica’s new President is a heck of a guy.  Luis Guillermo Solis does not want his official portrait hung up in his office, and he’s banning his name being put on plaques at public works.  Solis says, “The worship of the image of the president is over, at least under my government.”