Global News

Just before the release of a report that showed the CIA conducted disgusting acts of torture on scores of suspected terror detainees.. Amid weeks of demonstrations against the repeated killings of unarmed black men by white US police officers.. The United States Senate passed a bill to impose economic sanctions on Venezuelan officials over the handling of anti-government protests earlier this year.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out brutal torture sessions on suspected al Qaeda prisoners in the years following the 9/11 attacks on the US.  The methods employed were illegal under US and international law, and certainly barbaric and evil by any measure.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has dropped his bid to make Australians come up with a A$7 copay at the doctors’ office.  But he’s still planning to cut medicare payments to doctors in a way that would prompt them to pass it along to John and Jane Citizen.

The Australian woman who at one point faced a possible death penalty in China for alleged drug smuggling has returned home to Oz.  22-year old Kalynda Davis was expected to appear in court later this week, but her family announced that she was home.

The clock is ticking on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters – The King meets the Duke and Duchess – There are some rotten things that even al Qaeda won’t do – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

A suspended police officer is hospitalized in intensive care after climbing into the Lion’s Den.  Literally.  The guy climbed into the big cat enclosure at the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, where the lions mauled their uninvited visitor for a half-hour before rescue.  And it was caught on video.

Sierra Leone has shot past Liberia as the country with the highest number of Ebola cases.  But the effort to contain the virus and shrink the number of infections is being undermined by turmoil in the West African nation’s health systems and clinics run by outside groups.

There is relief in the Philippine capital city Manila, after tropical storm Hagupit passed by without causing too many problems with flooding and storm damage.  But more than two dozen people are dead, most of them on Samar Island where Hagupit made landfall as a Super Typhoon with winds of 210 kilometers per hour.

The US stepped up security at diplomatic and other sites around the world on the eve of the release of a report expected to reveal details of harsh CIA interrogations.  The 480-page US Senate Intelligence Committee report is being released on midday Tuesday.

The state memorial service for cricketer Phillip Hughes has been cancelled, according to New South Wales Premier Mike Baird.  The state government with the Hughes family and Cricket Australia say last week’s enormously successful service in Macksville was a fitting send off.

More protests over police brutality in America – Japan’s economy is worse than thought – South America replants the rainforests – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Once a Super Typhoon, Hagupit has now been downgraded to a tropical storm as it continues its long, slow sweep across the Philippines.  At least three people have been killed, but overall Hagupit has not been anywhere near as deadly or destructive as last year’s Typhoon Haiyan.

New forensic evidence is confirming the Mexican government’s theory that 43 students from a Leftist teachers’ school in Guerrero state were murdered by a drug gang and burned to ashes.  DNA tests on a bone fragment match it to 19-year old Alexander Mora, one of the missing 43.  The case has provoked widespread outrage in a country where drug gang atrocities have become commonplace.

The US transferred six detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison to Uruguay over the weekend.  It’s the largest group of prisoners to be released from the terrorist prison since 2009, and the first batch of detainees to be sent to South America.

Israeli jets pounded at least ten targets near Damascus International Airport and the town of Dimas in Syria.  A report out of Lebanon claims the targets were high value sites linked to the intelligence service of Syria’s only friend in the region, Iran.

The Super Typhoon slams the Philippines – A US hostage rescue mission goes horribly wrong – Russia gets its first visit from a major western leader since annexing Crimea – South America is on the move – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Two Aussies are in the predicament of their lives in China – Hundreds of thousands of people take cover as a potentially deadly storm heads for the Philippines – NASA is flying high again – Repression in Putin’s Russia is said to be as bad as the Soviet Union – Russell Brand b-slaps The Sun – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

It’s been another night of protests across America, after a grand jury failed to return a criminal indictment against a white New York City police officer who killed an middle aged, unarmed, overweight, and out of shape black man with a choke hold that is banned by NYPD policy. 

Thailand’s 87-year old King Bhumibol Adulyadej has backed out of a public audience at the Grand Palace on his birthday today, citing advice from his doctors.  It comes amid royliasts’ growing concern about the health of the king.

A British MP is arrested in a rape investigation – India’s PM hasn’t yet sacked a minister over scandalous intolerant remarks – Cardinal Pell finds money – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs: