Good Morning Australia!! - The law closes in on the powerful and corrupt on two continents - Mexico's worst judge gets overruled and suspended - Trump drops Obama's focus on Human Rights - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

A judge in Brazil has sentenced former speaker of the lower house of the Brazilian Congress Eduardo Cunha to 15 years and four months in prison for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion.  Cunha oversaw the impeachment of democratically-elected President Dilma Rousseff last year, which for some reason went through even though she didn't break any law - unlike her accusers.  "There is no bigger crime than that of trying to use one's parliamentary mandate and the sacred trust the people place in it to obtain personal gain," said Judge Sergio Moro who added that Cunha should be held in custody even while appeals are under way.

South Korean police carried out a court order to arrest impeached former President Park Geun-hye, who is accused in a massive influence-peddling scheme.  "Major crimes have been ascertained and there is a concern that the suspect might attempt to destroy evidence," wrote Judge Kang Bu-young in a text message to journalists.  "The court recognizes the need, necessity, and reasonableness of the suspect's arrest."  Park, who started this year living in the presidential residence The Blue House, now gets a cell at the Seoul Detention Center outside the capital; her friend Choi Soon-sil, who is accused of soliciting bribes, and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong, who is accused of paying bribes, are already detained there.

Malaysia has released the remains of Kim Jong-nam to North Korea, and Pyongyang has allowed nine Malaysians to return home.  Malaysia said the underachieving elder brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was murdered by North Korean operatives who smeared the toxic nerve agent VX on his skin at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February.  Malaysia kept the remains for examination through the investigation, angering North Korea.

North Korea might be planning another nuclear blast, or it might be sending a propaganda message.  Commercial satellites spotted several people and increased activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site in the far north, following a similar pattern from a test in 2013.  But, analysts also point out that Pyongyang knows when photographic satellite as passing overhead, and may have staged the activity to send some sort of message.

China hopes to combat extremism in northwestern Xinjiang by banning veils, "abnormal" beards, and the refusal to watch state television.  The new rules coming into force on 1 April state, "Parents should use good moral conduct to influence their children, educate them to revere science, pursue culture, uphold ethnic unity, and refuse and oppose extremism."  Muslim Uighur separatists have staged several violent and gruesome knife attacks around China in recent years.

Donald Trump has given the Pentagon greater authority to go after terrorists in Somalia, which will result in more aggressive airstrikes in the African nation's southern region as well as Special Forces boots on the ground.  The order says portions of southern Somalia, excluding the capital Mogadishu, will be considered a war zone.

The White House has told Congress it plans to approve a multibillion-dollar sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain without the human rights conditions imposed by the State Department under President Barack Obama.  The Washington-based group Human Rights First said clipping the strings attached would "encourage further repression" and fuel instability during a tense period for the country.  Bahrain is detaining human rights activist Nabeel Rajab and continually delaying his trial, after he revealed rights abuses and torture in jail.

Cattle herders are believed to have burned down the Kenyan lodge belonging to conservationist Kuki Gallmann, author of "I Dreamed of Africa".  The Laikipia region is suffering under a terrible drought, and cattlemen have been intruding on private property, looking for places for their animals to graze.  Earlier this week, police shot dead a hundred cattle on Ms. Gallmann's Laikipia Nature Conservancy, leading to suspicious the arson attack was some sort of revenge.

Mexico's worst judge has been suspended.  Judge Anuar Gonzalez Hemadi set off international outrage when he said a wealthy young sex abuse suspect should be freed because he penetrated his 17-year-old girl with his fingers and not his penis, and therefore he didn't "enjoy" it and it wasn't sexual.  The young man in question is still in jail along with three other co-defendants - all sons of wealthy or influential families.  Now, officials will review all of Judge Gonzalez's decision to see if he screwed up elsewhere.