Happy New Year Australia!! - Iran clamps down on the internet as protests spread - South Korea nabs another ship allegedly supplying the North - A deadly plane crash near Sydney - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Iran is shutting down certain social media apps used by the people staging widespread anti-government demonstrations.  These began four days ago with protests against rising food and petrol prices, but appear to have quickly morphed into protests against President Hassan Rouhani as well as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the clerical establishment.  Mr. Rouhani said citizens were "completely free to make criticism and even protests" but the government would not tolerate "social disorder".  Police have begun to use water cannons on the more boisterous demonstrations, and at least two people died of gunshot wounds in the western city of Dorud.

How did these protests spread so quickly?  At least in part, exiled reformist journalist Roohallah Zam encouraged protests via a free social media app called Telegram, which is very popular in Iran and the Middle East.  Tehran complained to Telegram, which controversially shut down Mr. Zam's Telegram channel - and then Iran blocked Telegram anyway, claiming it was encouraging violence.  This led to a lot of criticism of Telegram and its leader, Russian national Pavel Durov.  Edward Snowden got involved, predicting that Telegram would find itself doing the bidding of oppressive regimes more often: "You can't keep an independent, destabilizing service from being blocked in authoritarian regimes, you can only delay it."

The Palestinian government has recalled its envoy to the United States for consultations, because of Donald Trump's declaration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  Having already said that the US could no longer be considered an impartial observor and that he would no longer accept any US peace proposal, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Jerusalem the "eternal capital of the Palestinian people", signalling the both sides are digging in.  The rest of the world wanted the status of Jerusalem to be the last item in the peace process, which now seems at a nadir.

South Korea has seized a second ship for allegedly supplying oil to North Korea in violation of international sanctions.  This one is a Panama-flagged tanker with a predominantly Chinese crew.  The first ship seized was registered out of Hong Kong.  However, Western European intelligence sources told journalists that Russian ships, not necessarily connected to the Kremlin, had supplied large quantities of oil to North Korean vessels while in international waters.  Both China and Russia voted in favor of sanctions including a ban on the sale of oil to North Korea in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

Six people are dead in a seaplane crash north of Sydney.  The pilot and five passengers were in a DHC-2 Beaver aircraft operated by Sydney Seaplanes, which went down in Jerusalem Bay in the Hawkesbury River near Cowan, NSW.  "All at Sydney Seaplanes are deeply shocked by this incident and the resulting loss of life. We wish to pass on our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the passengers and pilot who were tragically killed," the company said in a statement.  Four of the crash victims were reportedly British nationals.

Dozens of people died when a truck and bus collided head-on in Kenya, which the World Health Organization ranks as one of the world's worst countries for road safety.  Of the 46 people on the bus, only ten survived.

A bomber killed 19 people at a funeral procession in Jalallabad, Afghanistan; it came days after Islamic State killed 41 at a Shiite Muslim cultural center in Kabul. 

Pro-government forces shelled the rebel-held area in eastern Ghouta outside Syria's capital Damascus.  19 people were killed.

Blue Wine?  Does it clean windows, too?