Hello Australia!! - The march against guns goes global, as the children take the lead - France lauds a fallen hero - Not everyone wants to throw out the old - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Millions of people took part in marches against gun violence in cities and towns the world over - Beginning in Sydney, Melbourne and other locales in Australia, and in Tokyo, and moving West around the globe.  Declaring the "March for our lives" a "movement" and not a "moment", the demonstrations were organized or inspired by the incredibly articulate and telegenic teenage survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who took turns addressing at least a million people gathered in Washington, DC and many more watching on most of the cable TV news channels.  Perhaps the most incredible moment came when Emma Gonzales, defying feeble right-wing attempts to smear her for her closed-cropped crew cut, brought an entire nation to silence as she talked about her friends who were killed on 14 February, and then led 6-1/2 minutes of silence - the time it took for the gunman to kill 17 kids and teachers at her school. 

Politicians and celebrities were careful to stay in the back seat and let the kids speak for themselves.  Despite the obvious partisan divide over the issue of gun control, the words "Democrat" and "Republican" were not used very much.  Celebrities like Jennifer Hudson and Miley Cyrus performed at the main rally in Washington, DC, but this was merely in support of the overall event.  Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Common, and "Hamilton's" Lin-Manuel Miranda also participated.  Paul McCartney marched with the people in New York City:  "One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here, so it's important to me," said Sir Paul, remembering his Beatles bandmate John Lennon.

Although the orange clown didn't directly act like an ass, he did in fact act like an ass.  Hiding out far away from Washington in his Florida golf resort Mar-A-Lago, Donald Trump ignored the worldwide anti-gun wave, instead tweeting his "thoughts and prayers" for the victims of yesterday's terrorist attack in southern France.  Late on Friday, he attempted to hijack the news cycle by issuing another edict to ban transgender people from serving in the US military; his prior attempt was met with various legal challenges and was largely ignored by the Pentagon, which began admitting transgender troops anyway.

France is awash in tributes for the police officer who traded his life for the safety of hostages during a siege at a supermarket.  An Islamist terrorist shot and stabbed Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame after he traded places with one of the captives.  His brother Cedric said, "He gave his life for strangers.  He must have known that he didn't really have a chance."  French President Emmanuel Macron praised Beltrame's "exceptional courage and selflessness" and said he deserved "the respect and admiration of the whole nation".  Police eventually shot and killed the gunman in yesterday's siege, 25-year-old Redouane Lakdim.  The self-described soldier for the so-called Islamic State was a petty criminal who was radicalized in prison, like many of the other terrorists who've committed atrocities in France and Belgium in recent years.  

Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont fled Finland just before police were able to serve him with an international arrest warrant.  He's been in self-imposed exile in Belgium after absolutely bollocksing an attempt to declare Catalonian independence from Spain, which anyone with more than two brain cells would have predicted wasn't friggin going to happen.  Spain's Supreme Court on Friday ruled 25 Catalan leaders should be tried for various combinations of rebellion, embezzlement, or disobeying orders from Madrid.  Convictions could result in up to 30 years in prison.  All deny the allegations.  Some stayed for fight the charges; others, like Puigdemont fled the country and left others holding the bag.

China's top economic official called the White House to explain that Beijing wantsto avoid a trade war, but is not afraid of waging one.  The conversation between China's vice-premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was the highest-level contact since the orange clown hit China with punitive tariffs for alleged intellectual property theft.  China reportedly is readying its own tariffs on products from America's "red states", which voted for Trump in 2016.  Amid the tensions on trade, World Trade Organization Director General Roberto Azevedo has warned that new trade barriers would "jeopardize the global economy". 

Russia blew up an old, unfinished TV tower in Yekaterinburg to beautify the Ural city for the World Cup.  Although the brutalist structure was pretty much of an eyesore and unneeded by rising skyscrapers around it, many residents didn't want authorities to remove the familiar tower.  Soviet authorities began construction in 1983, but suspended it when the Cold War ended a few years later.  Changes in technology eventually rendered it useless.