Global News

South America is growing fewer Coca plants – the raw ingredient for making the illegal drug cocaine – according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.  But it doesn’t translate to less cocaine in the world, as the drug lords have improved their own efficiency and productivity.

A Swiss Zoo was criticized for putting down a healthy brown bear cub because it was being bullied by its father – instead of merely separating the larger, meaner animal out of the family enclosure.  Now the zoo is adding insult to fatality, preserving the dead cub to be used as a teaching aid.

Sudan seems determine to do all it can to mess with Meriam Ibrahim, the 27-year old woman who was condemned to death for religious apostasy only to have that sentence overturned by an appeals court.  Authorities have now filed seven charges against her and her family related to their attempt to leave the country for the US.  She faces seven years in prison.

Neighboring countries are getting involved in Iraq – Telling the time just got a little more difficult in La Paz – Hero Dog takes on a Bear and saves a little boy – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

The wife of an American intelligence contractor imprisoned in Cuba says he is suicidal and that she fears for his life.  She’s asking US President Barack Obama to agree to a prisoner swap with Cuba, the same way he authorized a swap to bring home America’s only POW in the Afghanistan War.

At least 21 people are dead and 17 are injured after a powerful bomb exploded outside a popular shopping mall in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.  Blame immediately fell upon Boko Haram, which has been on a relentless campaign of terror across the country. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mouri al-Maliki is rejecting calls to form an emergency “National Salvation Government” to deal with the threat of fundamentalist Sunni insurgents who’ve taken control of much of north and eat of the country.

The first wave of US military advisors have arrived in Iraq to assist the government in fighting the insurgency from the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).  Soon, around 300 Special Operations troops will be assigned to various locations in Baghdad and on the front lines.

Saved from the death penalty, a young woman is rearrested in Sudan – Egypt’s president says he’s not going to pardon Peter Greste – Authorities assign blame for a deadly passenger plane crash that was caught on video – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

A ruling party official has apologized on behalf of himself and his colleagues for shameful public display of sexism in the highest levels of Tokyo government.  It comes a week after an assemblywoman was mocked and heckled over her marital status during an assembly session. 

The terrorist army Boko Haram kidnapped at least 91 people – more than 60 women and girls, and 31 schoolboys – in its latest raid in northern Nigeria.  It comes two months after the violent Islamist militia abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from the region, most of whom have not yet been recovered.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is warning he may end the weeklong ceasefire ahead of time, after pro-Moscow separatists shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter.  Nine Ukrainian service members died in the attack, which occurred just a day after rebel leaders claimed they would honor the ceasefire through Friday.

The British Prime Minister has apologized for employing a former lieutenant of media baron Rupert Murdoch who has been found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones for one of Murdoch’s tabloids, the now-defunct News of the World.  Andrew Coulson now faces up to two years in prison.

The government is disappointed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s decision to reject PM Tony Abbott’s request to de-list 74,000 hectares of protected Tasmanian forest that was added late last year.  Environmental groups, Labor, and the Greens are applauding the decision.

New consequences for Thailand’s coup – Some ne’er-do-well is apparently trying to auction off Michael Schumacher’s medical records – Cops solve a century-old mob hit – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Sunni insurgents in Iraq say they have taken complete control of the country’s main oil refinery at Baiji.  This gives the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters a ready supply of fuel, in addition to all of the border checkpoints to Syria and Jordan that they seized over the weekend.

Pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine will until Friday morning honor a cease-fire declared by President Petro Poroshenko.  It’s hoped that these few days will give the rebels and the government in Kiev time to come up with some sort of deal that will end the fighting.

The appeals court in Sudan has ordered the release of the Christian woman who was jailed and sentenced to 100 lashes and death by hanging for apostasy.  Meriam Ibrahim is now in seclusion with her US citizen husband, her toddler son, and her infant daughter whom she gave birth to while shackled to a floor in prison.

An Egyptian court sentenced three al Jazeera journalists – including Australian Peter Greste – to seven years in prison each on charges of defaming Egypt by spreading false news reports that supported the banned Muslim Brotherhood.  International indignation and condemnation were swift.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has spoken with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about the fate of journalist Peter Greste, the Australian awaiting a verdict in his trial on terrorism charges for allegedly supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood in his reports for the Al Jazeera network.