Hello Australia!! - The New Year might arrive with bushfires in Australia - A woman uses an incredible medical defense to beat a drunk driving charge - Europe is alarmed at the Polish government's latest power grab - And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Three communities on Victoria's Surf Coast along the Great Ocean Road have been evacuated in fears that the hot and dry conditions will lead to bushfires, like the ones that ravaged Wye River and Separation Creek on Christmas - that fire, BTW, is still burning out of control.  The Country Fire Authority issued the call to evacuate to Kennett River, Grey River, and Wongarra.  Also, an emergency warning is in place for a bushfire burning at Mosquito Hill in South Australia.  This is near Mosquito Hill Road, Kokoda Road and Goolwa Road, and (as of Thursday afternoon) moving east towards Currency Creek.  Check with the Country Fire Authority for the latest updates.

US-trained Philippine troops killed 10 al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyef  militants in a clash on Jolo Island in the south of the archipelago.  Military spokesman Major Filemon Tan said, "This is part of our focussed military operation to free foreign hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf," which is holding hostages including two Canadians, a Dutch citizen, a Norwegian, and a Japanese.  Eight government troops were killed of wounded in the operation. Raids against the Abu Sayyef gained new urgency last month after the terrorists beheaded a Malaysian hostage.

Poland's lower house passed legislation that gives the new conservative "Law and Justice" party (PiS) government tighter control of state radio and television stations.  The move is raising concerns from the European which sent letters to the foreign ministry seeking clarification.  The senate and President are expected to approve the bill, which will give the Treasury Minister the power to axe the current heads of state run TV and radio, install their replacements, and limit the power and membership of oversight boards.  The breakneck pace of reforms by the PiS government has prompted street protests in the capital Warsaw and other cities.

Venezuela's Supreme Court barred four newly-elected lawmakers from taking office - one Socialist, and three from the conservative opposition that was expecting to take control of the legislature next month with a super-majority.  That means the opposition will still have majority control of the body, but won't have enough seats to achieve its wet dreams of recalling President Nicolas Maduro or rewriting the 1999 constitution of the late Hugo Chavez.  The opposition decried it as a "judicial coup", although they didn't seem to have problems with that when they tried to subvert democracy by force in 2002 and 2014.  Meanwhile, Mr. Maduro took advantage of the final hours of his soon-to-expire decree powers to raise taxes on the wealthiest.  Both sides called for rallies in the capital next month when the new legislature is sworn in.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari says he will defy court orders for the release of two prominent detainees.  One is Biafra separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, whose cause led to the deaths of 1,000,000 people during the civil war of the 1960s.  The other is former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki, accused of embezzling US$2.2 Billion meant for the fight against Boko Haram.  "If you see the atrocities these people committed against this country," Buhari said on national TV, "We can't allow them to jump bail."

China is blaming bad weather and bad decisions by the crew for the shipwreck on the Yangtze River on June 1 killed 442 people and left just 12 survivors.  The Eastern Star was carrying elderly tourists on a 10-day cruise from Nanjing in China's east upstream to Chongqing, when it was hit by heavy rain and a strong downdraft described by the state-run Xinhua news agency as "a very rare weather phenomenon".  Relatives of the dead question why the crew continued the voyage in the bad weather.

Drunk Driving charges against a woman in upstate New York were tossed when she presented evidence she has a rare condition called "auto brewery syndrome" - an excess of yeast in the stomach which causes her to brew her own booze in her belly.  Yeah, weird.  But it was first confirmed in Japan in the 1970s, and is only now starting to be understood.  Once diagnosed, it can be brought under control with a low-carb diet.  "At first glance, it seems like a get-out-of-jail-free card," said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley.  "But it's not that easy.  Courts tend to be skeptical of such claims.  You have to be able to document the syndrome through recognized testing."  And I would hope that's true in Oz as well.

My advice:  Draw lots, appoint a Designated Driver, and enjoy the fun tonight - instead of having to think up excuses tomorrow.  Have a safe and healthy New Year!