Hello Australia! - The US wants Oz to attack sites in Syria - North Korea gets ready for war - Thousands of fish die near the site of the chemical explosion in Tianjin, China - Art is under attack from ultra-rightists in Russia - And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

The US is officially asking Australia to expand its role in the fight against Islamic State, something that could see Aussie jets bombing targets in Syria.  Australia is involved in bombing raids in Iraq.  But until now, the RAAF has limited its activities in the skies over Syria to refueling aircraft and conducting surveillance.  Although the government hasn't confirmed that it will go along with the request, cabinet members have in the past signalled they'd favor it.

North Korea is putting its troops along the southern border on a war footing, After an exchange of artillery across the frontier.  Troops would be "fully battle ready to launch surprise operations" while the entire frontline should be placed in a "semi-war state," according to the official state-run news agency.  This seems to have been caused when the North tried to silence a bank of loudspeakers in the South that had been blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda by firing at it. 

Or - and I really tried to warn everyone - maybe there's no coincidence that North Korea's latest war craziness came a day after Laibach became the first Western band to play a gig in Pyongyang?  For the uninitiated, Laibach is a Slovenian performance art outfit that takes on the trappings of oppressive dictatorships to mock totalitarianism.  Many years ago, they were asked if they were fascists - to which they replied, "We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter".  Although it's probably more accurate to say that Laibach are fascists as much as Steven Colbert was a right-wing TV show host.  So, does Kim Jong-un get the joke?   Or does Kim take the wrong lesson from songs like "Geburt Einer Nation", "Opus Dei", or "Tanz Mit Laibach"?

Russian art gallery directors have signed an open letter condemning a bunch of Orthodox Christian religious crazies calling themselves "God's Will" who vandalized sculptures by Soviet-era artist Vadim Sidur on 14 August, causing considerable damage.  Sidur's avant-garde work was banned by the Soviets, and the exhibition at Moscow's Manezh exhibition hall near the Kremlin was called "Sculptures You Cannot See", referring to that earlier censorship.  It's the latest in a spate of incidents involving ultra-conservative groups that support President Vladimir Putin, and the directors condemn this relationship.  The crazies' website says they want a Russia "without homosexuals, abortions, drug addiction or alcoholism".  The head of the Hermitage Museum criticized the Russian public's milquetoast and nervous reaction to the attack, saying "our society is sick".

Thousands of dead fish have washed up along the banks of a river in Tianjin, China - almost in sync with reports that water samples taken after the killer chemical blast show cyanide levels as much as 277 times in excess of acceptable safety standards.  Chinese officials claim that there has not been any toxic runoff from the explosion site in the Binhai industrial park.  The fish kill is located just six kilometers from the blast site. 

New Zealand was forced to call a halt to a bird cull, after marksmen targeted the wrong birds and killed some critically endangered species.  They were supposed to shoot Pukeko birds on Motutapu Island, but instead shot four Takahe - similarly colored, but much larger in size.  There are only about 300 Takahe birds left, and they were relocated to the island to preserve the species.

Maggie Kirkpatrick will avoid jail after being found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage girl in the 1980s.  Instead, the Melbourne Magistrate handed her an 18-month community corrections order.  The 74-year old actor will be required to complete 100 hours of community service and will stay on the sex offenders registry for eight years.

Prosecutors in Brazil filed corruption charges against House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, accusing him of taking US$5 Million in bribes related to the scandal at the state run oil company Petrobras.  Cunha claims the charges are politically motivated because he is a critic of President Dilma Rousseff.  Tens of thousands of people hit the streets to support Dilma, countering earlier demonstrations calling for her resignation.

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala is expected to sign legislation giving the country's air force to shoot down small planes suspected of carrying illegal drugs.  The South American nation produces more cocaine than any other, with most of it smuggled to nostrils in the US.