Iraq’s government loses control of an entire city – Bangladesh prepares for trouble in today’s elections – Cops seize unbelievable loads of drugs from the meth capital of China – Don’t buy a car in Cuba.  Seriously. 
These are your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

In a brazen challenge to the Iraqi government, al Qaeda militants have seized much of Fallujah, a key city in western Iraq.  A former governor describes the situation as “very bad”.  Sunni Muslims there have bristled against the Shi’a government, and many see al Qaeda as their only ally.  Some military analysts say the Islamists probably can’t hold on to the territory – but it’s a significant propaganda victory for the terrorists, and it could take government forces a week or more to push out the insurgents.

An al Qaeda terrorist leader is dead, reportedly of kidney failure in a Beirut hospital.  Majed al-Majed was captured in Lebanon last week, and detained in a secret location.  Majed was the commander of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al Qaeda offshoot that is deeply involved in the Syrian Civil War, but prior to that staged attacks across the Middle East including the bombing of a Japanese oil tanker off UAE in 2010.

Bangladesh is preparing for a bitter election on Sunday.  At least 100 polling places have been torched, as the conservative nationalist and Islamist Bangladesh National Party pledges to boycott the vote.  The government is refusing to cancel polls as a result of violence that has claimed 100 lives in the lead-up, and thousands of troops are deployed to try and keep the peace.

Cambodia evicted protesters from “Freedom Park” in Phnom Penh, a place established supposedly as a place where Cambodians could express themselves freely.  All public gatherings are banned as the government tries to quell a garment workers’ strike.  The government of Prime Minister Hun Sen came into power in July in elections the opposition say were riddled with errors and irregularities.  

Chinese police this week ran a massive anti-drug operation in a town where one in five homes are suspected of being involved in the drug trade.  They seized three tons of methamphetamine and 23 tons of raw materials in and around Boshe, southern China, and rounded up 182 suspects.  Among those detained, the village chief and a local Communist party official.  The town is believed to provide two-thirds of the country’s crystal meth.

Spain is condemning a statement of regret from former militants of the Basque separatist group ETA.  The statement said the aging former fighters “accepted full responsibility for the consequences” for causing “multilateral damage.  The militants were recently released from prison from convictions for shootings and bombings from the 1970s through the ‘90s, when they were trying to establish a separate Basque state in northern Spain.  A government official said he was not interested in apologies, just the dissolution of the ETA.

New cars are finally on sale in Cuba (other than cruddy Cold War Russian models), for the first time since the 1959 revolution.  But because of 400 percent government mark-ups, the price is beyond the reach of most Cubans – from the equivalent of A$100,000 to $300,000 for compact Peugeots.  Even a used Toyota Corolla (imported from other countries) is upwards of $40,000.  Most state salaries are A$25 a month.  It looks like the vast majority of Cubans will continue to repair the pre-1959 cars they’ve been driving over the decades.

Good on ya, Mates!! 

The Los Angeles Coroner’s report is in, and no alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash that killed “Fast and Furious” actor Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas.  But wild speed was.  The Porsche was going faster than 160 kilometers per hour when it slammed into a light pole and two trees north of Los Angeles, nearly tearing it in half and causing horrific, fatal injuries to the men.  Meanwhile, Universal studios says Paul Walker’s character “Brian O’Connor” will not be killed off, but rather “retired” in a way that the studio hopes will satisfy fans in the next installment of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, due in 2015.