Hello Australia!! - Trump's military is killing more civilians than the previous US administration - The US is turning its back on terrorism under new war priorities - The country that doesn't want planeloads of bedbugs  - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

The US-led coalitions in Iraq and Syria have tripled their civilian kill rate in 2017.  US and allied strikes killed as many as 6,102 non-combatants in both theaters last year, according to the UK-based monitoring group Airwars.  Part of it was because the battles moved into densely packed urban areas, but part was because Donald Trump took the brakes off the US military:  "This unprecedented death toll coincided with the start of the Trump presidency, and suggested in part that policies aimed at protecting civilians had been scaled back under the new administration," Airwars said in its report.  The group said its estimates for the "deadliest year yet for ordinary Syrians and Iraqis" were based on publicly available data.

Several Syrian civilians who tried to escape the civil war by crossing the hills at Masnaa into Lebanon froze to death for their efforts.  The Lebanese Army found nine frozen bodies huddled together; six more people with severe frostbite were rescued but one died in hospital. 
Majdal Press/Twitter
At least one child is among the dead. Two Syrians were arrested and charged with human trafficking.

With the so-called Islamic State beaten back in both the Iraq and Syrian theaters, US Defense Secretary James Mattis says "growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia" are now his country's greatest defense challenges.  In an apparent warning over Russia's alleged meddling in US politics, he said:  "If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day."  He also urged Congress to accede to a 10 percent hike in defense spending and to refrain from "indiscriminate and automatic cuts" to the US federal budget.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has halted sending workers to Kuwait, over accusations that abusive conditions led to the suicides of at least four of his citizens.  The last straw was the case of a woman who killed herself; Kuwait sent her body back to her hometown with her internal organs missing and the remains showing signs of abuse.  Labor Secretary Silvestre Belo says at least seven more cases are under investigation.  Millions of ex-pat Philippine citizens work abroad, the vast majority as domestic workers in the Middle East.

A Brazilian prosecutor says there's no reason to hold former President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva.  Lula is running to return to his old job in the October election, but some elements in the unelected government of conservative "president"* Michel Temer have attempted to derail that with corruption charges that Lula's team say are bogus.  Lula introduced a slew of social programs to mark his two terms in office, lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and removing the country from the UN World Hunger Map.  Inequality and poverty have soared under Temer.

Ghana is warning British Airways over bedbugs found on flights arriving in the African nation.  BA holds the exclusive rights to direct flights between the UK and Ghana.  But a flight was reportedly held at Heathrow earlier this week because of little red creepy crawly blood suckers.  Ghana's aviation minister says the airline could face sanctions if the problem isn't resolved.