Hello, Australia! – Jordan begins its revenge for Islamic State’s latest atrocity – Several people are killed in a fiery train wreck near New York – Venezuela takes radical action to relieve food shortages – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Okay, before we get to the mayhem, the United States Coastguard rescued a big white dog from an icy channel in northern Michigan.  And now, on with the death and destruction.

Jordan has executed the female suicide bomber that Islamic State (IS) named as a potential trade for Japanese and Jordanian hostages the terrorists eventually killed.  44-year old Sajida al-Rishawi and Iraqi al Qaeda member Ziad al-Karboli were executed by hanging before dawn broke over Amman.  She was jailed for her role in suicide attacks in Jordan in 2005, in which her explosive device failed to go off.

This comes after Islamic State posted a video showing militants locking Jordanian hostage Moaz al-Kasasbeh in a cage and burning him alive.  King Abdullah has cut short his visit to Washington, but used the balance of his time there to hold emergency meetings with American officials, and to don a traditional head-dress and make his own video in which he promises a “strong, earthshaking and decisive” to IS’s grisley actions.  Officials believe the captured fighter pilot was actually murdered a month ago, and that IS engaged in farcical negotiations for his release to achieve maximum propaganda value.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is lending his support to Jordan.  Abe today said he had felt “an intense sense of anger” upon learning al-Kasasbeh had been "horrifically burned to death”, and vowed not to “bow to terrorism”.  Islamic State beheaded two Japanese hostages earlier.  US President Barack Obama says Islamic State’s ideology is “bankrupt” and will backfire.

At least seven people are dead after a passenger train struck a car north of New York City during the evening commute.  Images from the scene showed smoke pouring from at least two rail cars, as well as other burning debris.  One official says the dead are the driver of the car and five people from on the train.

Fiji is scraping the Union Jack off of its flag.  Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama says it is “time to dispense with the colonial symbols” and replace it with something that reflects “Fiji's position in the world today as a modern and truly independent nation state”.  Fiji gained independence from Britain in 1970, and (after a national design competition) will unveil the new design on 10 October – the 45th anniversary of independence. 

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told his Greek counterpart that Italy would “give Greece a hand” in its quest to strike a new deal on its bailout debt to Europe.  Greek leaders have been visiting European capitals to ease fears over the new Leftist government’s plans, and have gotten qualified support.  At the meeting in Rome, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras blasted Europe’s failed austerity programs, saying it now must “put social cohesion and growth before the policies of poverty and insecurity”.  Renzi agreed with his Adriatic neighbor, noting that the world was “calling on Europe to invest in growth, not austerity”.

The latest battles in eastern Ukraine have caused at least 16 more civilian deaths, not to mention dozens of injuries and more destruction of buildings and infrastructure.  The UN is warning the new round of fighting, which began after Moscow-backed rebels got a fresh supply of weapons and vehicles from Russia, is proving to be “catastrophic”.  UN Human Rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein says, “Bus stops and public transport, marketplaces, schools and kindergartens, hospitals and residential areas have become battlegrounds in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.”

National Guard troops and government consumer watchdogs fanned out across Venezuela, taking control of a supermarket chain to make sure shoppers can buy staples like sugar, and not have to wait in long-lines because check-out stations are shutdown.  Authorities arrested the owners of the Dia a Dia chain on Monday night.  President Nicolas Maduro says right-wing business owners are refusing to properly staff checkout stands and hoarding goods to exasperate shortages and cause economic hardship.  Conservative economists say government price and currency controls are the culprit.

PM Tony Abbott’s office issued a statement thanking Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for releasing journalist Peter Greste, who was jailed for more than a year for reporting on the Cairo government’s crackdown on supporters of the previous president, Muhammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Abbott said he hopes the other two Al Jazeera journos convicted alongside Greste will be released soon.  Mohamed Fahmy is reportedly hours away from being released, now that he gave up his Egyptian citizenship.  No word on the third colleague, Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed.

A very small group of two-dozen demonstrators gathered in Cairo to demand a cure for AIDS – not just any cure, but the ridiculous one promised by Egyptian military’s engineering wing.  Last year, the head of the army's Engineering Agency said it invented “astonishing, miraculous” machines that could detect AIDS, hepatitis and other viruses without taking blood samples and also purify the blood of those suffering from the diseases.  The claims were greeted with widespread ridicule in Egypt and the world scientific community, and now the amazing devices are two months overdue – and the military doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.