Michelle Obama steps into foreign policy to demand the release of the kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls – Three are killed when a balloon catches fire above a lot of people with cameras – I really don’t want to bash Brazil, but there are some big problems just a month before the World Cup – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

The United Nations’ top official in South Sudan is calling for an immediate influx of aid, now that the president and rebel leader have agreed upon a cease-fire to end months of fighting that has killed thousands and driven one million people from their homes.  The UN hopes the top priority will be to get aid to those remote regions cut off by the violence.  The fighting increasingly pitted two ethnic groups against each other for control of South Sudan’s oil producing region. 

Nigeria’s military sent two divisions and ten search teams to hunt for more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped weeks ago by the Islamist separatist group Boko Haram.  They’re getting support from a US intelligence team – Interpol, Britain, France, and China have also offered to assist.  Nigeria’s military may be fighting for its reputation, after yesterday’s accusation by the group Amnesty International that authorities did nothing to stop the kidnappings, even through they were given four hours prior warning.

US First Lady Michelle Obama took her husband’s place during the President’s weekly radio address, condemning the mass kidnapping of the Nigerian schoolgirls.  She said it was part of a wider pattern of threats and intimidation facing girls around the world who pursue an education.  Mrs. Obama has taken a lower profile than past first ladies, but has made a point to speak out on the Nigerian kidnappings, posing for photos with a sign bearing the twitter hashtag “#BringBackOurGirls”.  Boko Haram’s leader has threatened to sell the girls.

The African National Congress has retained power in South Africa, and President Jacob Zuma – beset by corruption allegations from using state funds to beef up his family compound – gets another five-year term.  The opposition Democratic Alliance picked up a million more votes than the last election, despite a past reputation of being a stodgy left-over from the bad old apartheid days.  The anti-capitalist Economic Freedom Fighters party failed to live up to media expectations, limited to just over six percent of the vote (possibly because of allegations of sexism, xenophobia, and a militarist command structure).

A day before a balloon festival in Virginia on America’s east coast, a hot air balloon struck some power lines, caught fire, lost control and soared into the sky.  Three people were in the basket and two bodies have been recovered.  The search for the victims is made more difficult because it happened over a wooded area.

North Korea has given its clearest indication that a fourth nuclear test is imminent.  The state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun says North Korea would take “counter-measures including nuclear test to protect the sovereignty and dignity” of the repressive hermit state.  South Korea’s defense ministry says that its intelligence indicates that preparations at the North’s nuclear weapons test site appear to be complete.

Thousands of Thai Red Shirts rallied in the capital Bangkok after the dismissal of ex-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. They say their demonstrations will be peaceful, but they will stay in the capital to defend the government.  This is the third time since 2006 that the right-wing opposition used a friendly judiciary to fire a democratically-elected PM who was swept into office by votes from the country’ populist north.

Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan totally lost it and stormed out of an official event, when the opposition speaker took several rhetorical jabs at the government.  Accused of authoritarian tendencies and corruption, Erdogan fumed and heckled the speaker as the President tried to calm him.  Although Erdogan’s conservative Islamist ruling party won elections in March – buoyed by the rural vote – Turkey’s educated and socially liberal urban population has bristled under his attempts to control society, and censor the media and Internet.

FIFA says it is being put “through hell” by Brazil’s lethargic preparations for the World Cup, and it is warning fans not to just show up in South America and expect it to be hunky-dory.  If your hotel and travel plans aren’t set in stone, you might have real trouble.  FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke notes venues are spread out over thousands of kilometers, there are no trains, roads are often inhospitable, and sleeping in cars is not recommended given Brazil’s security situation.  With just over a month remaining until the tournament’s start, some venues are just now being finished, and some aren’t.

Brazil is giving up on some World Cup projects.  Sports Journalists expecting a state-of-the-art international media center from which to report on the tournament are going to be sorely disappointed – it will not be finished in time.  Reporters instead will work out of tents in the parking lot.  A monorail linking Sao Paulo’s airport to the sports venue won’t be finished until a full year after the Cup is over, and many lightrail projects aren’t going to be ready until long after the last tourist leaves.  And that has the other big sports-capitalism event really, really worried:

“There is honestly no ‘plan B’”:  That’s the word from the International Olympic Committee in response to rumors that London might step in to host the 2016 Olympic games, since Rio de Janeiro’s preparations have been dubbed “the worst ever” in Olympic history by one IOC member.  Says another, even Tokyo is already better prepared for 2020 than Rio is for 2016.  But the IOC is not moving the games – and the body says reports claiming otherwise are “a non-starter”, “totally without foundation”, “totally unfeasible”, “not a shred of truth", and “total rubbish”.