Hello Australia!! - Russia cautions the US on Venezuela - Italy is forced to pay over a notoriously botched murder case - A ray of light in Africa - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is closing the US Embassy in Caracas as well as all US consulates, a day after ordering American diplomats to vacate he country because Donald Trump backed opposition leader Juan Guaido's controversial claim to be the country's rightful president.  Speaking in Sydney yesterday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Aussie government is also considering recognizing Mr. Guaido.  The European Union stopped short of that, but called for fresh elections.  The EU and others believe last May's elections that returned President Maduro to power were rigged, although the Venezuelan right-wing refused to even cast ballots.

Russia, on the other hand, says that foreign powers backing Guaido as leader is a violation of international law and "a direct path to bloodshed".  Vladimir Putin has called Maduro to offer his support; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed the US and its allies for causing "chaos in Venezuela while creating two authorities which would likely destabilize the country", and condemned the previously unknown Guaido as a "self-proclaimed president".  China is a major investor in Venezuela and said it opposed any outside interference.  Mexico, Bolivia, and Cuba all expressed support for  Maduro.  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted: "My brother Maduro!  Stand tall, we are standing by you."

At least 30 people are dead and 25 are missing in flooding in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province.  Roads and blocked, more than 3,000 have been routed from their homes.

Scottish prosecutors have charged former First Minister Alex Salmond with nine counts of sexual assault, two counts of attempted rape, two counts of indecent assault, and breach of the peace.  "I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court," he said outside the court in Edinburgh.  Salmond led the Scottish government until the failed independence referendum, after which he resigned.

Italy violated Amanda Knox's rights during a long-running murder case in which she was eventually exonerated, according to the ruling from European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).  The American was accused and convicted of murdering a roommate on what many observers believe was absolutely ridiculous evidence.  The court is ordering Italy to pay Ms. Knox around US$20,000 because she had not had proper access to a lawyer and interpreter.  "I was interrogated for 53 hours over five days, without a lawyer, in a language I understood maybe as well as a 10-year-old," she said, accusing police of extrapolating a false confession out of her broken Italian. 

Angola's Parliament has broadly expanded LGBT rights, swimming against the tide in Africa where persecution is common.  MPs vacated a law widely interpreted as outlawing homosexuality, although there is no record of anyone actually being prosecuted under it.  The government also prohibited discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation - anyone refusing to employ or provide services to individuals based on their sexual orientation may face up to two years in prison.