Scientists land a spacecraft on a comet – Heavily armed Russian naval ships are off the north coast – A fugitive Kiwi child molester and killer is recaptured – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

The European Space Agency (ESA) is waiting for information to come back from its Philae robot spacecraft that landed on a comet zipping around our solar system at more than 64,000 kilometers per hour.  Data indicates the probe landed at least three times on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  But harpoons designed to attach it to the comet’s surface failed to deploy as planned.  ESA is hoping the probe will analyze the surface of the comet to look for clues about the origins of the solar system.

The Australia Defense Force is monitoring four Russian navy ships off the northern coast.  Analysts believe Moscow sent the ships are there because of the strained relationship between the two countries since the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in Ukraine, believe by the west to be the work of Russian-backed rebels.  The ships also coincide with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the G20 summir in Brisbane this weekend.

The US is accusing Russia of undermining the ceasefire in Ukraine by sending in a column of Russian troops and military hardware to the rebels in Ukraine’s east.  As usual, Russia denied it.  US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said, “Russia has negotiated a peace plan and then systematically undermined it at every step.”  More than 4,000 people have died in the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The US government is angrily condemning the attack of three American sailors in Istanbul by Turkish nationalist thugs, caught on video.  Several dozen members of the nationalist youth group Turkiye Genclik Birligi (TGB) are seen trying to force bags over the heads of the outnumbered Americans on shore leave in civilian clothes, a reference to the Iraq War.  The TGB posted a statement on its website saying it opposes “imperialism”.  The group also opposes the Islamist government of autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, so on the surface it seems likely the attack was related to terrorism in Iraq or Syria.

A fugitive child molester and murderer from New Zealand has been found and rearrested in Brazil.  Rio de Janeiro police captured 40-year old Phillip Smith at a hostel.  Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 after he murdered the father of a 13-year-old boy he had sexually abused between 1992 and 1995.  Last Thursday, he used a fake passport to slip through Auckland Airport while out on a 72-hour release.  Brazilian authorities say Smith will be deported as soon as possible.

Police in India arrested the doctor who performed mass sterilization surgeries that left 14 women dead and dozens ill in hospital.  The Indian government runs a voluntary sterilization program to help combat overpopulation.  Women pay around A$23 for the procedure carried out in health camps.  Dr. R.K. Gupta carried out tubectomies on 83 women at the camp.