Happy Holidays Australia!! - 2016 takes another beloved talent - Israel threatens to pull back from the United Nations - Boko Haram's biggest loss - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt is dead at age 68.  He was still recovering from a heart suffered earlier this year when he was admitted to hospital in Spain on Thursday with a shoulder injury, and died of a severe infection.  Teaming with mates Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster in 1962, the nucleus of the band went through various names and personnel changes until hitting the chart under the name Status Quo with the psychedelic "Pictures of Matchstick Men" in 1968; by 1972's "Piledriver", they'd settled on the boogie rock sound powered by Parfitt's relentless rhythm guitar to score more than 50 hits across 40 albums.  Parfitt had quadruple bypass surgery in 1997, recovering enough that year to accompany the band to Australia for its first tour there in two decades.  Despite years of health issues, Parfitt intended on launching a solo career in 2017 along with releasing an autobiography.

The condition of "Star Wars" actor Carrie Fisher is not clear; she is on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles.  Ms. Fisher suffered a massive heart attack on a London to Los Angeles flight on Friday, 15 minutes before the plane was to touch down at LAX.  Passengers and flight crew did what they could to provide aid until emergency medical workers arrived to whisk her to hospital.  The four novels and three memoirs had been promoting her latest book "The Princess Diarist".

Israel is "reassessing" its relationship with the United Nations after Friday's Security Council resolution condemning the building of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he instructed the foreign minister to reevaluate all US contacts, including "funding of UN institutions and the presence of UN representatives in Israel".  Netanyahu didn't name the institutions.

Nigeria's military claims to have ousted Boko Haram from its stronghold in the Sambisa Forest in the country's far northeast.  "The terrorists are on the run and no longer have a place to hide," said President Muhammadu Buhari said, congratulating his armed forces.  The militant group has killed more than 15,000 in the region over the last several years, and is still capable of devastating suicide bombings.  And there's no word if "Operation Lafiya Dole" managed to locate and free any of the remaining 196 Chibok school girls who were kidnapped from their boarding school by Boko Haram in 2014.  Only 21 of the girls were located this year and are back home with their families this Christmas.

Tunisia arrested members of an alleged terror cell believed to be connected to last week's truck attack at a Christmas Market in Berlin, Germany.  One of those arrested is the nephew of the main suspect Anis Amri, who was shot to death by police while on the run in Milan, Italy.  The son of Amri's elder sister reportedly admitted he had communicated with his uncle via the encrypted chat application Telegram to evade security surveillance.  Investigators around Europe are now looking into the possibility of the cell or connected groups are in their countries. 

A Sudanese refugee at the Manus Island detention center collapsed and later died after being turned away from the medical facility for somehow pretending to be sick.  This happened on Thursday; 27-year old Faysal Ishak Ahmed was evacuated to hospital in Brisbane on Friday, but died there.  Fellow detainee Abdul Aziz Adam said Mr. Ahmed suffered a series of maladies including stomach upsets, high blood pressure, fevers, and heart problems.  Adam and 60 other asylum seekers signed a letter demanding better medical treatment.  "I can't hold my tears because how does this happen?" asked Mr. Adam, "This system is designed to kill us one by one."

Turkish authorities are investigating 10,000 people for allegedly supporting terrorism on social media.  Critics say that's just the same ol', sale ol' President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stifling dissent.

The US television network A&E has cancelled plans to air a reality show revolving around the evil and racist Ku Klux Klan.  Originally called "Generation KKK" and then "Escaping the KKK" as public revulsion and pressure from rights groups grew, A&E now blames "third party producers" of "serious ethical violations" involving payments to the participants.  So, no new publicity for Trump supporters next year.