New pressure on Iraq’s sectarian divide, as Sunni rebels now appear to control the western border – The central figure in one of the UK’s worst miscarriages of justice is dead – The Pope takes on the Mob – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Tens of thousands of Shiite militiamen marched through central Baghdad as a show of force against their rivals, the Sunni Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which has captured much of Iraq’s north and is threatening the capital. They were called by influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and call themselves the Madhi Militia.  Many fought against the US and coalition troops during their eight-year presence in Iraq.

There are early signs of the Sunni coalition cracking in areas controlled by ISIS.  A group of former army officers from the Saddam Hussein regime who initially backed the invaders fought a battle with them outside Kirkuk.  At least 17 people were killed.  Those who welcomed ISIS did so because of shared opposition to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-controlled government, not necessarily because they subscribed to the militants’ extreme view of Sharia law.  And the former army officers’ Sufi philosophy is completely at odds with ISIS’s extreme Islamist philosophy.

The ISIS militants captured four more towns in western Iraq, including al-Qaim in Anbar province – that’s the last of the border crossings into Syria.  The Jihadists are now able to run supply lines from Syria's Deir Ezzor province, where ISIS controls at least three towns. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’s supporting a peace plan for Ukraine, as long as Kiev holds talks and compromises with pro-Moscow militants in the east.  Those separatists have rejected Kiev’s week-long cease fire and fighting is still underway.  At the same time, Putin has ordered troops in central Russia on “full combat alert” for snap drills.  The Kremlin says the drills will take place a region that does not border Ukraine.

Bulgaria is cleaning up after nasty floods.  At least twelve people were killed.

A South Korean soldier killed five of his fellow troops and wounded five others at a border crossing to North Korea.  He then fled the scene with him weapon.  There’s no indication the North is involved. 

Police in Xianjing, China shot and killed 13 people who allegedly attacked a police station in the restive western region, where ethnic Uighur Muslim separatists have carried out a number of terrorist attacks.  The authorities described the attackers as “thugs”, and said no civilians were hurt.

Pope Francis has excommunicated members of the Mafia from the Roman Catholic Church.  The pontiff celebrated an outdoor mass in Calabria, stronghold of the ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate, and met with the jailed father of a three-year old boy murdered in an apparent mob hit over a drug debt.  “Those who in their lives follow this path of evil, as mafiosi do, are not in communion with God,” said the Pope.

One of the world’s most-famous wrongfully convicted men is dead.  Gerry Conlon died of cancer at age 60.  He spent 15 years in a British prison for the 1974 Guildford IRA pub bombing and manufactured evidence, one of Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justices.  The story was made into the 1993 film “In the Name of the Father” starring Daniel Day Lewis.  Despite lingering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his prison stint that led to alcohol and drug addictions, Conlon worked to free others wrongfully convicted, such as the Craigavon Two.

Brazil’s Workers Party is officially endorsing President Dilma Rousseff for reelection.  She told delegates that her second term would focus on more investment in housing, education and public health – which lead the list of demands of protesters who’ve staged continual protests against the obscene amount of tax money spent on hosting the World Cup and Olympics.  Like, today.

Residents were evacuated from a Favela in Natal, Brazil after a sinkhole opened up and swallowed many homes.  It’s just 6.5 Kilometers from the Arena das Dunas stadium,  the site of Tuesday’s march between Italy and Uruguay.

The UNESCO committee granted World Heritage status to an ancient system of roads built by the Incan empire through six modern South American nations.  The Qhapaq Nan roads linked cities in the Andes with fertile valleys, rainforests and deserts, kept the city of Machu Picchu supplied, and took hundreds of years to build.

Ugandan police are holding two piglets on suspicion of terrorism.  SMH.  The little guys were painted in the color of the ruling party, and had tied around their necks signs accusing lawmakers of corruption before they were let loose in the Parliament.  Protesters who call themselves “the jobless brotherhood network” accuse lawmakers of corruption and extravagant spending.