Hello Australia!! - Trump sacks a truth-teller - Global Warming's shocking appearance in Antarctica - How not to deal with an Outbreak - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Donald Trump's vindictiveness came out in full blossom on Friday, when the National Security Council (NSC) army officer who testified against Trump in his impeachment trial was escorted from the White House.  Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman remains an active duty officer in the US Army.  "The truth has cost LTC Alexander Vindman his job, his career and his privacy," said his attorney David Pressman.  Vindman was a party to the infamous 25 July telephone call in which Trump tried to coerce the Ukranian President into announcing a fake investigation into Trump's rival Joe Biden, and told investigators it was wrong and illegal.  Vindman's twin brother, Yevgeny Vindman, was also escorted from the White House, where he had been working as an attorney for the NSC.

Antarctica has logged its hottest temperature on record, 18.3 C Degrees by Argentine research base Esperanza.  The reading at the Argentine station Esperanza was about 0.8 C hotter than the previous peak temperature of 17.5 C degrees recorded in March 2015.  "It's a sign of the warming that has been happening there that's much faster than the global average," said Professor James Renwick, a climate scientist at Victoria University of Wellington.

With 639 deaths and 31,532 infections around the world from the 2019-nCoV Coronavirus- the vast majority in Wuhan City and Hubei Province, China - global health officials are urging people not to hoard surgical masks to protect themselves.  First, it usually doesn't work because these masks are designed to keep germs from getting out, not from coming in.  Second, global shortages of gowns, masks, and gloves make it difficult on fighting every other medical malady on the planet.  "When supply is short, and demand is high then there could be bad practices like hoarding in order to sell them at higher prices," said UN World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who urged suppliers to "uphold the protection of humanity" rather than looking to increase profits.

Russia says Israel nearly downed a passenger plane during a missile attack on Syria this week.  The Airbus 320 was about to land in Damascus when Syrian anti-aircraft fire responded to an alleged Israeli attack - it then diverted to the Russian airbase of Hmeimim in north-western Syria.  Israel has not commented other than to acknowledge it has carried out a number of strikes throughout recent years to break up illegal arms shipments to Syria's regime.  The identity of the flight is unclear, though people watching flight radar websites claimed it belonged to Syria's Cham Wings - a carrier facing international sanctions for ferrying arms and fighters to Syria.

Russia journalist Yelena Milashina, who exposed the kidnap and torture of gay Chechen men, was attacked and beaten outside her hotel in Grozny, Chechnya.  Ms. Milashina has been threatened by Chechen authorities in the past, and she blames the government:  "These were thugs, provocateurs; female thugs carried out this punitive attack," she alleged, "They were young women, girls, and the men were standing close by and giving them instructions."