Oz considers a major trade embargo on Russia – Ebola is now a global emergency – Don’t copy and paste your memorial speech for your nation’s greatest tragedy, we’ll tell you who did – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is warning Moscow that the next round of tit-for-tat sanctions could have Australia refusing to sell Uranium to Russia.  In fact, Bishop says “everything’s on the table” if Russia doesn’t come clean about its involvement in the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 and rebel violence in Ukraine’s east.  This comes after Russia struck back at western economic sanctions by banning agricultural imports, a move shutting out several Australian products but which Bishop called “petulant”. 

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) declared the West African Ebola Outbreak an international health emergency.  “The outbreak is moving faster than we can control it,” said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.  And with the updated death toll of 961 fatalities from more than 1,700 infections – more than all of the outbreaks since the 1970s, combined – officials warn the current outbreak will likely get worse before it gets better. 

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a national Ebola emergency, the third nation to do so.  Nigeria has now confirmed seven cases since a fully symptomatic businessman arrived on a flight from Liberia last month, and 70 more people are being monitored.  Nigerian health officials say they didn’t realize that the infected airline passenger was infected until too late.

The American doctor infected with Ebola is improving.  Dr. Kent Brantly released a statement from his isolation chamber in Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital saying that he’s “growing stronger every day”.  Brantly and fellow American volunteer Nancy Writebol were treated with an experimental drug rushed to Liberia before they were evacuated to America.  But the drug is in very short supply, and will not be available to treat African patients for several months.  Meanwhile, word that another company’s experimental Ebola drug is close to FDA approval sent Tekmira Pharmaceutical’s stock up 45 percent in Wall Street trading on Friday.

Israel and Hamas are shooting at each other again.  A 10-year old boy in Gaza was the first casualty. 

The US stepped up air strikes on Islamic State (IS) militants in northern Iraq near the Kurdish city of Irbil – the same area where Navy jets and drones hit earlier on Friday.  The Sunni group IS controls huge swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, and is threatening to exterminate a minority sect called the Yazidis.  The US also dropped more aid package to the mountain where the Yazidi are believed to be hiding out.  Thousands of Christians also fled to the Kurdish-controlled area to avoid forcible conversion to IS’s severe and violent version of Sunni Islam.

An Iraqi official claims Islamic State has taken hundreds of Yazidi women prisoner, to be sold or married off to Sunni Muslim fighters.  IS considers the Yazidis to be “devil worshipers”, out of misunderstanding of their religion – an offshoot of Zoroastrianism, which predates Islam and Christianity.  The US confirms that IS has taken Yazidi women prisoner, but will not confirm how many.

Afghanistan’s feuding presidential candidates have agreed to form a unity government.  Preliminary election showed former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai well ahead of former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, but both sides claimed irregularities and threatened to contest the election.  After meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry, the two agreed that the vote count would decide the winner, and the other candidate would become “chief executive officer” (whatever that is) and let’s face it the big energy companies will get what they want out of Afghanistan.

The judge in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial told both sides to return to court on 11 September, when she will announce the verdict.  The Prosecution and Defense each had a day to deliver closing arguments to sum up the 41 day trial – the prosecution accusing Olympic and Paralympic athlete Pistorius of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp after a row, the defense saying he shot her by mistake believing she was an intruder.

The Washington, DC coroner ruled that this week’s death of former White House press secretary James Brady was a homicide.  Brady was shot in the head in the 1981 assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan, and he spent the next 33 years fighting for gun control as well as dealing with health issues caused by the head wound.  Federal prosecutors are reviewing the coroner’s ruling and will not comment on whether it will mean new homicide charges against gunman John Hinkley, Jr.

Everyone loves bear cubs!

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was caught re-using large portions of last year’s speech at the annual commemoration of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima earlier this week.  Bloggers and critics pointed out the only change to the first three paragraphs of the speech was to update the introduction “68 years ago” to “69 years ago”.  It’s not a good look for Abe, who also is on a drive to reassert Japanese military power in the region in the context of its alliances with the US and western powers – sort of appears like he’s not terribly concerned with the consequences of war.

Disaster called off – Hurricane Iselle didn’t do a lot of damage in Hawaii before falling apart, and Hurricane Julio is weakening and moving to the north.