Hello Australia!! - Showdown, Venezuela - You might be shocked at the number of Americans shot and killed on Christmas Day - Refugees traffic to Europe passes a stunning milestone - And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro filed papers to challenge the recent election results that put the conservative opposition in power in the legislature.  The Supreme Court says eight losing candidates are challenging the results in their districts - overturning just one would rob the conservatives of the super-majority they expect when they're sworn in next month.  Last week, the lame-duck congress approved 13 Supreme Court appointments.  And groups that support President Maduro and Chavismo issued a call on social media for a rally on 5 January for a "constitutional taking of the National Assembly by the people".  The conservatives called for their own counter-demonstration to ensure their candidates get into the legislature building safely.

North Korea's top official in charge of relations with the South is dead in a car wreck, according to state controlled media in Pyong Yang.  73-year old Kim Yang-gon is believed to have been a very close associate of leader Kim Jong-un and was described as a "trusted revolutionary comrade".  Kim Yang-gon was a constant fixture during high-level talks between the North and South to resolve touchy, and often violent, issues. 

The Ebola Epidemic in Guinea is over, according to the UN World Health Organization.  A country is considered free of Ebola once 42 days have passed since the last known infection tested negative for a second time. Liberia was declared Ebola-free in September, but has since charged a handful of new cases.  Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free in November.  11,315 people have died in the West African Ebola Epidemic from December of 2013.

John Bradbury, drummer for the Ska band The Specials, is dead at age 62 of undisclosed causes.  The Specials tweeted the news: "It is with deep regret that we say goodbye to our great friend, the world's greatest drummer, our beloved Brad. RIP."  His family said that Bradbury's drumming was a key part in the sound of the 2-Tone Ska sound, also known as Second Wave Ska.  UK singer-songwriter Billy Bragg quickly paid tribute, "A bad day for good music. First we lose Lemmy, now news that "Brad" from the Specials has passed away. RIP."  Bradbury's bandmate in The Specials trombonist Rico Rodriguez died three months ago.

Former "Glee" actor Mark Salling was arrested at his home near Los Angeles on child pornography charges.  The gossip website TMZ claims that police found hundreds of images on his computer.  Salling played the character "Noah 'Puck' Puckerman " on the show about musical teenagers.

How freaking insane is the United States of America?  27 Americans were shot and killed on Christmas Day, 2015, and another 63 were injured.  By comparison, Australia averages about 35 gun homicides for the entire year, according to the University of Sydney's www.gunpolicy.org website.  The 27 Americans killed by guns is equal to the total number of people killed in gun homicides in an entire year in Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Estonia, Bermuda, Hong Kong, and Iceland, combined.  And 27 is only slightly lower than the roughly 36 gun fatalities the US averages every day.

Shipping traffic is halted on the Mississippi River near Saint Louis, Missouri because of terrible flooding caused by torrential rain.  On the Missouri side of the river, 13 people are dead;  Another five people were killed across the Big Muddy in Illinois.  The river breached its levees north of Saint Louis at a dump-- I mean, a town called West Alton, flooding neighborhoods and prompting mass evacuations.

The United Nations says more than a million migrants have reached Europe by sea since the start of 2015.  More than 80 percent of them arrived through Greece, and the vast majority of that group landed on the Isle of Lesbos.  The rest chose an even more perilous crossing, from Libya to Italy - thousands have drowned attempting that route, due to varying degrees of derelict ships and rough seas.  The current migrant crisis is the biggest in Europe since the end of World War II.

An Argentine court jailed two former transport ministers for six- and eight-years over the deadly 2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster.  Former ministers Ricardo Jaime and Pablo Schiavi were found guilty of negligence in the crash; the train's driver and two railway company execs were already jailed.  Train number 16 on the Sarmiento line plowed through the buffers at Once Station in the capital, killing 51 people and injuring 789 more.  Then-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called for two days of mourning and immediately set about to re-nationalize the railways - which had been privatized before the disaster - and invested in upgrades and safety which the private sector avoided in the name of profits.