Hello Australia!! - Trump goes to Paradise lost - The US and Oz will team up on a naval base - Fuel protests turn deadly in France - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

US-led airstrikes against the last bastion of the so-called Islamic State in eastern Syria killed more than 40 civilians, according to a Syrian Civil war monitor.  The US coalition did not immediately respond to the report.  But Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes in Abu al-Hassan village near the Iraqi border killed at least 43 people, including 17 children and twelve women.  IS has occupied oil-rich Deir el-Zour province for about four years, but US-backed fighters have been steadily chipping away at its control.

Argentina's defense minister says the country does not have the means to raise the ARA San Juan submarine from the southern Atlantic Ocean floor, which was finally located yesterday after going missing for a year and a day.  A US company contracted to find the missing sub and its crew of 44 finally solved the mystery of the San Juan.  Officials say there was some sort of catastrophic explosion, leaving the hull "totally deformed, collapsed" and scattering debris around in a 70 meter field.

More than 200,000 protesters blocked highways and city streets across France to condemn the rapidly rising price of fuel, especially diesel which powers most vehicles on France's roads.  Many are calling on President Emmanuel Macron to step down , and at the very least the situation is contributing to his collapsing poll numbers.  Paris police responded with tear gas as hundreds got too close to Macron's official residence.  In the southeastern Savoy region, angry protesters surrounded a woman attempting to drive her daughter to hospital; she panicked and hit the accelerator, killing a 63-year old woman protester.  Around the country, more than 100 were injured.

Protests against the Dutch Christmas character "Black Pete" got a little raucous forcing police to break up several scuffles.  Protesters say the character - an imaginary Moor who helps Santa Claus distribute toys - is inherently racist and is usually portrayed by white people in blackface.  Prime Minister Mark Rutte had appealed for calm.

Australia and the US will partner with Papua New Guinea to redevelop the dilapidated Lombrum Naval base on Manus Island.  "We will work with these nations to protect the sovereignty and maritime routes of Pacific Island nations," said US President Mike Pence ahead of the APEC summit in Port Moresby.  The US and its allies are looking to strengthen their position in the region with growing Chinese competition and influence.

Donald Trump visited the devastated town of Paradise, accompanied by California's outgoing Governor Jerry Brown and Governor-elect Gavin Newsom.  Authorities raised the death toll to 71 lives lost, but ominously raised the number of people unaccounted-for for a second time, now saying that 1,011 are missing.

The US State Department is playing down a report that the CIA concluded Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) personally ordered the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the consulate in Istanbul in early October.  "Numerous unanswered questions" remain, according to a statement.  But the Washington Post reported that US intelligence agencies believe that MBS's own brother helped lay the trap by personally calling Khashoggi to say it would be safe for him to enter the consulate to sign some papers; instead he was murdered and dismembered.