The strike heats up as the clock ticks down on the World Cup – Taunting police on the Internet isn’t a good idea – Italy’s naval forces rescue 2,500 migrants from the sea in just 24 hours – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Cops in Sao Paulo used tear gas and batons to break up protests on the second day of the subway strike, and it’s happening less than a week before next Thursday’s scheduled kick-off of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the city.  There were more than 200 kilometers of traffic jams on Friday morning as the more than 4 million people who usually ride had to drive or crowd onto buses to get around.  The subway workers want a 10 percent raise. 

The ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Allied D-Day invasion to liberate Europe from the Nazis provided venues for quick discussions on Europe’s modern problems.  US President Barack Obama, Russian President Valdimir Putin, and Ukraine’s incoming President Petro Poroshenko held brief, one-on-one meetings on de-escalating the crisis in Ukraine.  Putin seemed to think the discussions went well, but added that Ukraine’s government must scale-back operations against pro-Russian separatists in the east.

In just 24 hours, Italy’s Navy and Coast Guard rescued yet another 2,500 people from rickety, overcrowded migrant boats trying to cross the Mediterranean from Northern Africa.  More than 62,000 migrants have been intercepted so far this year, and we’re not even at the halfway point.  Compare that with some 40,000 who came in all of 2013.  The problem is the increasingly lawless situation in Libya, where internal fighting has sapped resources from patrolling the coastal waters where the smugglers launch the migrant boats.

Supporters and opponents of renegade Libyan General Khalifa Haftar clashed in the capital Tripoli’s Martyr’s Square, injuring several people.  It appears that anti-Haftar demonstrators had permission to hold a rally, when opponents armed with guns and iron rods showed up.  The former military aide to ex-dictator Moammar Gadhafi is leading a fight against Islamist militias in Benghazi – apparently, without the approval of the shaky central government.

Although there is “ample evidence” of rival Muslim and Christian militias committing war crimes in the Central African Republic, a UN report says it says it is too early to use phrases like “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing”, the latter of which was used by Amnesty International earlier this year.  But if the international community doesn’t act, it could degenerate to a point that it happens.  The fighting has routing a quarter of the population, about one million people, from their homes. 

North Korea has arrested an American tourist for inappropriate activities.  Apparently, Jeffrey Edward Fowle was detained before he could exit the country when it was learned he had left a bible behind in his hotel room.  North Korea is now holding three US citizens:  Kenneth Bae, another religious activist who was arrested in November 2012; and Matthew Todd Miller, who showed up at customs screaming his request for “shelter” in the hermit state.

Thailand Red Shirt leader probably shouldn’t have put the message “catch me if you can” on his Facebook page.  Because the authorities could.  And did.  Thai military police tracked Sombat Boonngamanong through the Internet, and arrested him for violating an order to report to the ruling junta (which was just a pretense to arrest him, anyway).  Sombat had been organizing protests against the anti-democracy military junta that took power in a coup last month.

Police in far eastern Canada arrested the suspect in the murders of three officers on Wednesday.  24-year old Justin Bourque is charged with three counts premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder.  Moncton’s streets, businesses, and schools were shut down for nearly 30 hours as hundreds of cops hunted a man described as a gun-obsessed malcontent, whose Facebook page included anti-police slogans. 

The sate of mental healthcare inside the Los Angeles County jail is “deplorable” and therefore unconstitutional, according to the US Department of Justice.  Jail officials are accused of failing to address a “dramatic increase” in suicides over the past two years.  The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department – while acknowledging problems – says the Feds have failed to recognize “incredible efforts made to improve our suicide prevention practices”.