Hello Australia!! - The US and UK are caught spying on another "close" ally - Olympic officials start to really fret about the Zika virus in the Summer Games' host nation - Syrian peace talks are finally underway - Siberia's Odd Couple breaks up, with fangs bared - And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

The UN Special Envoy for Syria has opened peace talks in Geneva, meeting with representatives of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.  A key opposition group backed by Saudi Arabia, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), has reversed its earlier position and says it will join the discussions.  But these will not be face-to-face talks, the sides will speak through United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura.  This is the biggest push to date to end the Syrian Civil War, rapidly approaching its five-year point.  More than 260,000 people have died in the conflict.

The Netherlands is the latest nation to join the US-led coalition performing air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.  Four Dutch F-16s are already in use in Iraq and will expand their target areas.

Iran's state media says it flew an unarmed drone over the American Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in the Persian Gulf, and released some images to back up the claim.  Iran's navy commander praised the operation for getting so close to a warship "to get such accurate footage of the combat units of foreign forces".  This apparently happened on the same day that Iran captured a group of US Navy sailors in the gulf, rapidly releasing them less than 24 hours later.  A US Navy spokeswoman the move was "abnormal and unprofessional", but posed no threat to the USS Harry S Truman. 

The US and UK spied on intelligence feeds coming from Israeli war planes and drones; that's according to a report in Glenn Greenwald's website The Intercept quoting the classified documents smuggled out of the US National Security Agency by exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden.  It's a potentially embarrassing disclosure for Israel, which prides itself on its technical capabilities, because the hack gave Americans and Brits a "virtual seat in the cockpit" as Israeli drones struck targets.  Israeli Cabinet Minister Yuval Steinitz said, "We know that the Americans spy on every country in the world and on us as well, on their friends."

Brazil's Olympic venues will be inspected daily to eliminate standing water and mosquitoes in lead up to the summer games, because of the outbreak of the Zika Virus.  Mosquitoes carry the virus that has been associated with thousands of birth defects since October, and the little blood suckers breed in standing water - puddles, water tanks, bird baths, et cetera.  The International Olympic Committee is in touch with virologists and tropical disease specialists, as well as local Brazilian officials.  The games open on August 5 and close on August 21.

An unidentified attack threw a live hand grenade at a migrant hostel in south-western Germany, but it failed to go off.  Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the attack on the site housing 170 people in the town of Villingen-Schwenningen was a new level of "hate and violence". 

The 36-day ordeal is over for a quartet of Chinese miners.  They were trapped after a cave-in at a gypsum mine in Shandong Province, between Beijing and Shanghai, and were finally pulled out today.  For the past few weeks, food and water had to be passed through holes bored through to their air pocket.  Although 36-days is pretty bad, the record is still held by "Los 33", the 33 men trapped underground for 69 days at Chile's San Jose mine.

Congratulations on electing a conservative president, Argentina!  Now your power bills are going up.  Energy Minister Juan Jose Aranguren said the government of newly-elected Mauricio Macri is slashing subsidies by A$5.65 Billion this year, and some customers will see their bills go up six fold.  And that's whether or not they can afford it.  The federal government sets power rates in the capital and its suburbs, the most densely populated part of the country. 

A couple of weeks ago, the online world was enthralled with the story of Timur and Amur, a Goat and a Tiger who became roommates in a zoo in Siberia.  It didn't end well.  After weeks of being nudged around, poked, and headbutted by his horned pal, Amur the Tiger finally got even.  He picked Timur up by the scruff of the neck, shook the goat violently, and tossed it down a hill in their enclosure.  Officials at Primorsky Safari Park in Russia's far southeastern corner defended their striped star:  "Amur did not assault Timur.  The tolerant Amur taught a lesson to the impudent Timur."  The impudent goat is being treated for his injuries and it does not appear they will be living together anytime soon.

Also in Russia:  Drone-boarding.