A big quake strikes the South Pacific – Russia says it doesn’t want to annex any more of Ukraine, but Moscow’s surrogates suggest differently – An outbreak of common sense occurs in the case of a 9-month old baby charged with attempted murder – And say G'Day to the Pizza Capital of the World in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

The Joint Tsunami Warning Center says there is no threat to Australian shores after a powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake off the Solomon Islands, which is still dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Ita which killed 23 peole and left thousands homeless.  And in February last year, a quake and tsunami destroyed four villages and killed at least nine people. 

At least 135 civilians have been killed in northeastern Nigeria since the middle of last week, meaning the death toll from Boko Haram’s incessant and gruesome attacks in the region is now well more than 1,500 people murdered.  The militant Islamist group staged three attacks on villagers, killing scores of people and abducting several women.  Human rights groups blame both Boko Haram for the attacks and Nigeria's military for failing to protect civilians.

Pro-Russian militants took over a police headquarters in Eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk after a gunfight.  It’s just 150 kilometers from the Russian border.  And even though Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow has no desire to annex more portions of Ukraine, as many as 40,000 Russia troops remain poised along the frontier.  Ukraine has attempted to negotiate with the pro-Russian militants holding several other government buildings in other eastern cities, but the militants keep demanding local referendums on breaking off with Kiev and joining the Russian Federation.

An anti-austerity demonstration in Rome went off the rails along the Via Veneto, as demonstrators demanding something be done to ease high unemployment and homelessness wound up clashing with cops.  Before the trouble, thousands of people marched in protests in Rome and tens of thousands did so in central Paris, in demonstrations organized by Leftist political parties looking out for working people who are being crushed by conservative austerity measures.

A Pakistani court has withdrawn attempted murder charges against a nine-month old baby in a welcome restoration of sanity.  The tiny little Muhammad Musa Khan was one of 30 people charged in a rock throwing fight over electricity and gas supplies in Lahore.  His grandfather points out that rather than being a master criminal who throws rocks at cops, Muhammad actually doesn’t even know how pick up his milk bottle properly.  The judge agreed and said the case never should have come to court.

Indian police suspect Maoist rebels of planting the bombs that killed at least 12 people in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh, as voting continues in the world’s largest democracy’s general election.  One blast targeted election officials traveling between towns.  The Maoists demand the government give the poor a greater share of the nation’s natural resources.

MH370:  Nope.  Now Tony Abbott says the search would likely continue “for a long time to come”.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond says a vote for Scottish is not a vote for the Scottish National Party, but for the future of Scotland.  He also branded the pro-Union campaign, the most miserable, negative, depressing and thoroughly boring” in modern times.  On 18 September, Scottish voters will be asked “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

The Pizza capital of the world is not necessarily Rome, Naples, New York City, not even Chicago.. it’s Australia.  Melbourne, Australia.  Johnny Di Francesco of Melbourne’s 400 Gradi and 90 Secondi restaurants has won this year’s award for the best Pizza Margherita at the World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy.  Johnny hails from Naples, so it’s not as if Italy has no bragging rights, but if you want the best you do not need a passport to get it.