Hello Australia! - FIFA president Sepp Blatter is the focus of a Swiss criminal probe - Thailand says it has the Erawan Shrine bomber - The Pope takes Manhattan - And a lot more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Swiss prosecutors confirm they've opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the embattled and outgoing president of FIFA.  The attorney general's office said he was suspected of signing a contract that was "unfavorable to FIFA" and making a "disloyal payment" to European football chief Michel Platini.  Back in May, the US and Switzerland stunned the world's most popular sport with criminal probes aimed at the top offices of FIFA, especially related to the awarding of the World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively.

Swiss regulators halted the sales of Volkswagen diesel cars that could be programmed to provide false reading during emissions tests.  The order covers three sizes of diesel engines in cars manufactured with the VW, Audi, Skoda, and Seat badges.  To give an idea how seriously VW is taking the possible repercussions from this worldwide scandal that began in America and involves some 11 Million cars, the company lawyered up with the US law firm Kirkland and Ellis LLP - the same firm that defending BP over the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Thailand's junta says the main suspect in last month's Erawan Shrine bombing is already in custody.  Police arrested Adem Karadag, also identified as Bilal Muhammed, in late August in a dilapidated flat on the outskirts of Bangkok, and released his photograph to the world news media.  Karadag reportedly confessed to being the man in the yellow t-shirt seen on video leaving the rucksack at the shrine moments before an explosion occurred in the exact same spot,although his lawyer denies this.  The blast killed 20 people and injured 100 others.  The motive remains unclear, although authorities have repeatedly identified Muslim names identified with China's Uighur minority, the center of an Islamist separatist movement.

Malaysian police arrested three men in an alleged plot to attack Kuala Lumpur in revenge for the arrests of ten Islamic state suspects last month.  The three are identified as a Malaysian, an Indonesian, and a Syrian, aged 30 to 51 years old.  On Thursday, the Australian High Commission in Malaysia and the US Embassy both issued terror alerts on "credible threat information regarding a potential terrorist act".

Hezbollah says it has reached a six month ceasefire deal with anti-government rebels in two regions of Syria.  Hezbollah is fighting alongside Syrian government forces.  The UN and Iran helped arrange the deal. 

Ukraine says it will ban Russian passengers airlines from flying into the country from 25 October, because of the Kremlin's sponsorship of ethnic-Russian separatists in Ukraine's east.  This will include major carriers like Aeroflot and Transaero.  Moscow calls Kiev's move "an act of madness", and is promising to respond.

The presidents of the US and China announced a truce on cybercrime.  Appearing at the White House, China's Xi Jinping said the two countries would not knowingly support hacking and online espionage.  "Confrontation and friction are not the right choice for both sides," said Mr. Jinping.  President Barack Obama reflected America's long-standing concern over cybercrime and promised sanctions against China if it persists.  "It has to stop," said Mr. Obama.  "The question is now, are words followed by action?"

The speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner announced he will resign his leadership position and leave congress altogether next month.  It comes a day after the staunch Roman Catholic hosted Pope Francis at the US Capitol.  But it's also the result of years of getting nothing done in the House, while spending practically every waking moment defending his job from his own disloyal, radical right-wing caucus made up of rustics and ideologues all worked up into a lather over the gibberish put out by the Murdoch media.  Boehner is one of the last of the pro-business "rock-ribbed Republicans", increasingly pushed aside by the fringe gun loving, bible-waving wackadoodles.

Pope Francis capped off his extremely busy day in New York City by holding a mass before more than 20,0000 people in Madison Square Garden.  The event often took the tone of a concert instead of a religious service, frequently punctuated by applause.  Francis urged them to reject self-absorption and remember the forgotten and needy.  "God is in the city," he said, referring to "those deprived medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly", as well as immigrants and their families.  Francis arrived at the arena after an address to the United Nations General Assembly, Ground Zero, a Catholic school in East Harlem, and a ride through Central Park as tens of thousands cheered him on.

Everyone loves Western lowland baby gorillas!  At Chicago's Brookfield Zoo.