South Korea voters could deal the government a steaming bowl of disappointment – A British sailor claims she saw something strange in the sky the night MH370 disappeared – From the lowest caste to the top of the world – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

At least two people are hurt in a massive explosion and fire at a Dutch Shell chemical plant in the Netherlands.  The blasts were heard and felt from more than 30 kilometers away.  The factory makes oil-based chemicals for use in products that range from car components to insulation materials.

South Korea voters cast ballots in local and regional elections, and the poll could be a referendum on the government’s handling of the Sewol Ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people in April.  Opposition leaders have hammered the conservative government’s response as “incompetent” and called this election a chance to bring it “to justice”.  President Park Geun-hye approval ratings plunged after the disaster and have stayed mired below 50 percent.

Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is now officially Egypt’s President-elect, having been certified the winner of the election with 96.9 percent of the vote.  Some are blasting the election and its low turnout as a sham, but those who did vote are pretty happy.  The inauguration is set for Sunday.  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is formally invited to the inauguration ceremony, and if he goes it would make him only the second Iranian leader to visit Egypt since the countries severed ties in 1980.

Negative opinions of Russia are increasing across 24 nations in which citizens were polled for the BBC.  Negative views of Russia now average 45 percent across the 24 nations, and outweigh the overall 31 percent who have a positive outlook on Russia.  The poll was mostly conducted before the crisis in Crimea and Ukraine.

Mexico is fighting its kidnapping epidemic by doubling the prison sentence for those convicted.  The new sentencing guidelines raise the minimum prison sentence from 20 to 40 years.  If the kidnap victim is killed, the maximum prison sentence will increase from 50 to 140 years.  Approximately 1,700 people are kidnapped in Mexico each year.

If a British sailor is correct, the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 may be way off mark.  41-year old Katherine Tee was sailing from India to Thailand on the night the plane disappeared, and says she saw a plane surrounded by bright orange lights and with a tail of black smoke pass above her boat.  Tee now believes the orange glow was fire coming from the plane. 

Thailand’s military junta is perplexed by the rise of a three-finger salute used by opponents of the military coup.  The gesture comes from the movie “The Hunger Games”, a symbol of silent defiance against the reactionary, royalist forces that ended democracy.  It’s not the first time in recent years that symbolism from a movie was appropriated for political purposes, the free speech collective Anonymous loved that Guy Fawkes mask from the 2005 movie “V for Vendetta”.

How’s this for upward mobility:  13-year old Malavath Poorna has become the youngest woman ever to conquer the world’s tallest peak Mount Everest.  She was chosen by a program for disadvantaged students to take part in the climb.  “For a tribal girl like me, opportunities are very rare,” said Malavath, “And I was looking for one opportunity where I could prove my caliber.”  Poorna’s parents are of the Dalits caste, known to westerners as “Untouchables” and earn less than A$620 a year.  She hopes to be a role model for other poor children.