Leaders declare “total war” on Boko Haram – Beijing is pulling it citizens out of Vietnam amid anti-Chinese riots – Radiation soars off Fukushima – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

African leaders attending a summit in Paris are declaring war on Boko Haram, the violent Islamist terrorist group that kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls five weeks ago but which has also killed thousands of people in its insurgency.  French President Francois Hollande said five regional powers are promising to coordinate their efforts to defeat Boko Haram – described as “Total War” by the president of Chad.  In the hours before the meeting took place, Boko Haram was wreaking havoc in fresh attacks in Nigeria and Cameroon.

Turkey confirms 301 people died in its worst-ever mining disaster, and has called a halt to the rescue operation in the coal-mining town of Soma.  Protesters clashed with police, who arrested more than 30 people.  Local authorities then banned demonstrations, but more demonstrations happened in Ankara, and other western cities, and in Istanbul – where cops arrested lawyers of earlier detainees. 

China has evacuated some 3,000 nationals from Vietnam, because of a wave of violent anti-Chinese rioting.  Ships and charter flights are being organized to help even more flee.  The riots were sparked by China’s decision to drill in an area of the South China Sea of Vietnam’s coast that is traditionally been international waters.  The location is beyond China’s 200 nautical mile economic zone as recognized by international treaties.  More anti-Chinese protests are expected on Sunday.

India’s Prime Minister Narenda Modi marked his landslide victory with a visit to the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, and prayers on the sacred Ganges River – a clear signal from a self-declared Hindu nationalist.  He promised to clean the Ganges, which is among the world’s most-polluted waterways.  Earlier he held a victory parade in the capital, Delhi.

Whoa!  That’s a big Dinosaur, and in no way was news of its excavation in Argentina timed to coincide with the new Godzilla movie.  But the big ol’ Titanosaur – 20 meters high, 40 meters long – was discovered by a farmer.

The deputy prime minister of Laos and other senior officials died in a plane crash in a wooded area of the northern province of Xiangkhouang.  Douangchay Phichit also served as defense minister.  It’s believed the plane was en route to an official ceremony in the province, where the 20th Century history is filled with war and tragedy.

The death toll in Bangladesh’s river ferry accident is now up to 54 lives lost.  A dozen people are still missing after the sunken MV Miraj-4 was hauled to the banks of the river.

Bosnia and Serbia are underwater because of massive flooding, worse than any other flood in recent memory.  At least 24 people are feared dead.  Belgrade’s suburbs are submerged, drinking water supplies are fouled, roads are being lost to landslide, people are filling sandbags instead of basking in the sun as they usually do in the month of May.

Radiation spiked to all-time highs at monitoring stations in the waters off Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.  The Tokyo Electric Power Company says it doesn’t know why seawater is showing these readings, but it follows similar highs found in groundwater around the plant.  Seawater sampled last week was found to contain 840 becquerels of strontium-90, which causes bone cancer.  That’s way up from a previous record of 540 becquerels.

Venezuela is agreeing to send diesel to the Palestinian authority, which is struggling with Israeli economic restrictions on its economy.  Greeting Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas in Caracas, President Nicolas Maduro also agreed to support the PA’s request to be granted observer status in three Latin American regional organizations: the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).