Thailand’s ousted prime minister is in military custody – Syria may have unleashed chemical weapons on civilians again – Putin reveals his plans for Ukraine’s presidential election – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reported to the military authorities as ordered yesterday – and today, she woke up in custody in an undisclosed location, like many other major political leaders.  Coup leader and army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha also met key officials, telling them reform must come before any elections, which probably means reducing the political power of the north.  As of Friday, the government’s “Smart Traveller” website says Aussies should “exercise a high degree of caution” in Thailand because of the political unrest.  The US State department is recommending people call off unnecessary travel.

Brazil is mobilizing 157,000 soldiers and police to deal with security at the World Cup (go Socceroos), just less than three weeks away.  It comes against a backdrop of increasingly raucous protests and strikes, including some by military and local police departments.  It is believed security alone will cost somewhere in the neighborhood A$926 Million – which is one of the things people are protesting against.  They want that money spent on healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

China has launched a year-long regional crackdown in the far northwest, as it revealed that five suicide bombers carried out this week’s attack on a crowded marketplace in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang province.  Terrorists plowed through an open-air market from either side, tossing explosives, which killed at least 31 people and wounded more than 94 others.  Authorities are searching for two surviving attackers.  Muslim Uighur separatists have been stepping up their attacks across China in recent weeks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will “respect” the outcome of Sunday’s presidential elections in Ukraine.  It’s the first indication that he’ll accept the results of the poll.  But there’s mounting violence in the east, as pro-Russian separatists vowed to disrupt the election.  Later, Putin kept his shirt on as he released some rare Amur tigers in eastern Siberia.

Syrian opposition activists say the government has attacked civilians with chlorine and ammonia gas, despite the progress made ridding the country of banned chemical weapons.  They released a video that purports to show chlorine gas floating in the street following an attack on the Syrian village of Kfar Zeita and al-Tamanagh villages, near Hama.  A doctor who treated the victims says the symptoms are consistent with a chemical weapons attack and is imploring the United Nations to investigate.

A second person has been killed in clashes with police in Turkey, as activists protest the deaths of more than 300 coalminers.  Friday’s victim was killed by shrapnel from an explosive.  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan might be making tensions worse, by defending police who shot and killed an innocent bystander on Thursday – saying they had a right to shoot indiscriminately because a Molotov Cocktail had exploded nearby.

Sir Paul McCartney is reportedly out of hospital in Tokyo, after being treated for an extremely nasty stomach virus that forced him to cancel his tour of Japan as well as dates in South Korea.  Those will be rescheduled as the 71-year old former Beatle rests up before hitting the US starting on 14 June.

UK Labour leader Ed Miliband is feeling the heat after the ultra-right, anti-Europe UK Independence Party (UKIP) lured away too many votes for comfort in UK local council elections.  Labour topped local polls in England with 31 percent. That’s up two points from last year.  But there are grumblings that Labour should have done much better, and failed to counter the UKIP’s populist, accessible message.  And some are saying Miliband is “too weird” to make it to No. 10 next May.  The Conservatives lost 201 seats and the Lib-Dems were kicked in the teeth. 

UKIP leader Nigel Farage insists that scoring 17 percent in the poll proves his party will be “serious players” at the 2015 general election.  But the UKIP failed to win control of any local council, instead playing spoiler that robbed control from the Tories.  The anti-Europe message took the UKIP from two seats in 2010 to 157 this time around – even though local councils have absolutely no power to do anything about Britain’s membership in the EU.

Glasgow firefighters managed to prevent the destruction of the Glasgow School of Art’s world famous and much-beloved Mackintosh Building – a masterwork of Scotland’s most famous designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.  But it is heavily damaged, and flames went through the roof and the windows of the 1909 structure.  Royal Institute of British Architects President Stephen Hodder called the fire “an international tragedy.”

A jealous husband castrated and killed the mayor of a small town in northwestern France.  And the attacker was found nearby the gruesome crime scene, dead of suicide.  But town officials are denying reports that it was revenge for an alleged affair between the mayor and the attacker’s wife – They say the wife had recently been elected a local councilor, and was out during the night at town meetings, nothing more.