A landslide might have buried thousands of people in Afghanistan – Ukraine’s strife spreads to another city and dozens are dead – Cops still haven’t charged Gerry Adams – Nigeria’s girls school abduction is even worse than reported – Baby Animals and legally getting high, all in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Desperate searchers have pulled hundreds of bodies from a giant mudslide that buried a village in a remote region of northeast Afghanistan.  As many as 2,500 people are said to be missing.  The hills around Abi Barak in the Argo district of Badakhshan Province are steep and the ravines are deep, and mounting a rescue effort in a developed country would be difficult in such terrain – but Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries.  The US and international community is standing by, but the Afghan government has not asked for help.

Another revision in the number of girls kidnapped from their school by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria – Authorities now say 276 girls are unaccounted for, up from 230.  It’s part of the frustration people have with the Nigerian government which seemed to downplay the magnitude of this crime at every turn.  Nigerians with access to Twitter are using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls to express their rage, and some are calling for President Goodluck Jonathan to resign. 

The chaos in Nigeria could be spreading.  The US Embassy is now warning the extremists might be planning an attack on the Sheraton Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria’s international commercial hub.  Prior to this, the trouble had been in the northeast, where the girls were kidnapped.  Boko Haram has also staged deadly bombings in and around the capital Abuja.

In Ukraine’s southern Black Sea port city Odessa, rival protest camps finally burst into open warfare and 31 pro-Russian separatists died horrible deaths.  It started with rock throwing between the pro-Kiev crowd and the separatists, when gunfire rang out from the Russian side.  At least three people died in running battles.  The pro-Russian side fled into Odessa's Trade Unions House, but the government supporters hurled Molotov cocktails inside.  The flames spread quickly, and the pro-Russian separatists perished.  Initial reports said 40 people died, but so far, only 31 bodies have been recovered.

400 kilometers away in Sloviansk, pro-Russian militants used surface-to-air missiles to down two Ukraine military choppers.  The pro-Kiev EuroMaidan PR channel on youtube has video of both missile strikes.  Kiev says that’s proof that Russia is directly involved with anti-government violence.  Two helicopter crewmembers were killed and seven were hurt, at least one of them seen on video being carried off by the Russian side, his injured leg being treated by a medic on a patch of grass.

US President Barack Obama greeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House, and the two warned Moscow that unless it stops destabilizing Ukraine, Russia “will face increasing costs as well as growing isolation,” Obama said.  Specifically, Merkel and Obama said more sanctions on Moscow “would be unavoidable” if the Russian threat to eastern Ukraine disrupts the country’s presidential election later this month.  Merkel said, “We are firmly resolved to go down that road.”

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has committed to opening talks with rebels as early as next week.  The US and UN have warned Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar that they will be held responsible for war crimes on their watch.  Thousands of died and more than a million people are displaced because of the South Sudan civil war.

British health officials are looking for passengers of a British Airways flight to Riyadh to London last month, because one of the other passengers is infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus.  MERS has killed more than a hundred people since the outbreak began in 2012.  That infected passenger went on to Chicago, and then to Indiana – becoming the first confirmed case of MERS in the United States. 

A South Korean subway train smashed into the rear of another train below Seoul – at least 170 passengers suffered various injuries, most of them light.  But it’s the second South Korean transportation accident in a month, the other one of course being the Sewol Ferry capsizing which left 302 people dead or missing.  The parents of one of the victims released video from their son’s cellphone video, recovered with his body.  It shows the teens on the tilting ferry waiting for rescue, wondering if they’ll die, and then realizing how bad their situation had become.  Watch at your own risk, it’s not graphic, just heartbreaking.

Northern Ireland police got a court’s permission to hold Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams for another 48 hours without charges.  He voluntarily went to the Antrim police station to be interviewed about the IRA murder of a Belfast woman more than 40 years ago.  Adams strongly denies any involvement in the murder, and supporters are suggesting that the North Ireland police are trying to influence upcoming elections.

Good lord, what a depressing news day.  Here are some Baby Lions in Japan.  Kawaii!

Uruguay’s law that legalizes Marijuana comes into effect next week.  Licensed pharmacies will sell it for less than a dollar per gram, each household may grow up to six cannabis plants, and marijuana may be consumed in the same places as tobacco – that means, not at workplaces.  And anyone caught driving while high will be subject to the same penalties as drunk drivers.  Hand-wringing worriers say it will expose more people to drugs, but come on – Everyone who wants to smoke was already smoking.  The new law just takes a houseplant out of the hands of drug cartels.