Syria’s opposition makes a decision on whether to boycott the Geneva peace talks – An EU official says Ukraine has crossed a sinister line – A new film reveals the truth of violence in Russia before the Sochi Olympics  - And the raw power of nature in your CareerSpot World News Briefs.

The main opposition group in Syria has voted to attend the Geneva II peace talks, taking the advice of the US and UK.  The talks aim to ending the civil war, which began of March 2011.  Several factions of the so-called Syrian National Coalition weren’t happy with the peace process because it did not explicitly exclude President Bashar al-Assad from taking part in government.  However, Damascus wouldn’t take part in the talks with such preconditions.

South Sudan’s army says it has retaken the key town of Bor, the last stronghold of rebel forces.  The month-long civil war is believed to have left thousands dead, with the killings taking place largely between rival ethnic groups.

The Afghan Taliban says it bombed a popular Kabul cafe in retaliation for a coalition airstrike on a village north of the capital.  President Hamid Karzai condemned that earlier attack in which several civilians were allegedly among the dead.  But western civilians were the majority of the 21 dead in the Taliban bombing at the cafe – including a representative of the International Monetary Fund in Afghanistan, the United Nations’ senior political affairs officer here, a British Labour Party candidate for the European Parliament who had been working in Afghanistan, and two American educators.

At least 18 people are dead in a stampede at the funeral of the Shi’a Muslim leader in Mumbai, India.  More than 40 were hurt. Stampedes at public events in India are common when large numbers of people pack into congested areas.  Panic can spread quickly in tightly packed crowds and there are few safety regulations in place, so the results are often lethal.

A European Union official is calling Ukraine for what it is:  A totalitarian state.  Oleksandr Sushko, who heads the Kiyv institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, says the laws passed this week that ban public protests are so extreme, nearly any activity, opposition, or association can be framed as criminal activity.  President Viktor Yanukovych signed the hastily passed bill, in reaction to weeks of anti-government protests against his decision to orient the economy towards Ukraine former oppressors in Moscow rather than towards the opportunities in Western Europe.

A new film shows the increase in anti-gay violence in Russia since the passage of Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay ‘propaganda’ law.  “Young and Gay in Putin’s Russia” shows how official homophobia is ingrained in the everyday life of the Russian people.  The film, released just before the Winter Olympics in Sochi, depicts the violence that homosexuals are subject to in the streets, and the lengths to which they are being forced to protect themselves.

Russian anti-terrorism forces killed seven people suspected of a grenade and bomb attack in Dagestan, a region in southern Russia where Islamist separatists have been trying to carve out their own state. A woman and three children were allowed to leave before the assault began, for some reason all recorded on video.  Some reports identified the dead as gangsters and criminals, while others said they were Muslim militants.

A Utah cop murdered his wife, her mother, and the couple’s two young daughters, aged 7- and 13-years old.  And then 34-year old Joshua Boren turned the gun on himself.  The family was found dead after Boren failed to report to work at a police station just south of Brigham Young University.  His chief, who doesn’t seem to understand that he probably missed all of the warning signs, said Boren’s prior “conduct, behavior and professionalism were exemplary.”

A lightning strike chipped off part of the right thumb of Cristo Redentor, the giant Art Deco Jesus statue that looms over Rio de Janeiro.  Standing 38 meters above Mount Corcovado, the iconic artwork is struck by lightning an average of three to five times a year.  An earlier strike in 2008 caused damage that prompted a A$4.5 Million restoration effort.  Leftover materials will likely be used to fix the thumb.