Good Morning Australia!! - Right-wing populism is upset in world elections this weekend - Anyone else feelin' lucky they don't live in the UK? - Understanding rural woes in "The Revolt of Empty Spain" - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Elections, we got elections... In Ukraine, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy made his name by playing the president on TV and now he's a step closer to doing it in real life.  Mr. Zelinskiy came out on top of the first round of the presidential election, with the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko placing second.  The second round is scheduled to take place on 21 April.  "A new life, a normal life is starting," Zelenskiy said after voting on Sunday, "A life without corruption, without bribes." 

Slovakia's new president breaks the trend of far-right, euro-skeptic populist blowhards:  Anti-corruption lawyer Zuzana Caputova, often described as the Erin Brokovich of her country, trounced the ruling party candidate by a commanding 58 to 42 percent in the weekend election.  The 45-year old single mother of two will have her challenges ahead, as her Progressive Slovakia party has no seats in parliament - yet - and the righties will more than likely try to pass laws blocking parts of her agenda such as legalizing LGBTQ marriage and adoption rights.  President-elect Caputova campaigned on a platform of compassion, tolerance, and truth as a bulwark against the corruption that led to the murder of anti-corruption journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee last year.

Turkey's opposition appears to be scoring some major victories against the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  Local elections for mayors and councillors is seen as a referendum on Erdogan's 16-years of increasingly authoritarian rule, as the country is besot with recession,  20 percent inflation, and a plunging Lira.  Early on, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has a narrow lead in Ankara, while Istanbul is a toss up - that could easily change.  At least two people died in election-related violence.

Anyway...

Something odd happened that might undercut UK Prime Minister Theresa May's refusal to hold a second Brexit referendum: The official Leave Campaign (Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and that mob) has dropped its appeal of a fine for breaking the law on electoral spending, which it got for illegally donating hundreds of thousands of pounds to a pro-Brexit campaigning group.  And the campaign claims it couldn't prove its innocence because it destroyed all its data, which totally not-guilty people do all the time.  All of which has the social media universe asking.. if the Leave Campaign couldn't win without cheating, shouldn't there be another public referendum to confirm the citizens of the UK actually want to do this?  May says "no", and she is reportedly maneuvering to bring her Brexit plan to a Commons vote for a fourth time, having been voted down three times before by some of the most resounding margins ever to hit a sitting PM.  

Gaza's main border crossings are open again, a week after Israel and militants traded missiles and a day after at least three people were killed in the latest "Great March of Return" protests.

Donald Trump is threatening to cut off aid payments to three Central American states - El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras - to push their governments to stop undocumented migration into the US.   Critics point out the decision will hurt programs that already aim to persuade people to stay at home, but Trump doesn't understand how anything works, and it is more than likely he could change his mind or forget about it entirely in the next few days - as has happened so many times before.

A top Algerian businessman associated with the embattled president has been arrested at the border, carrying a British passport and huge amounts of cash.  The reason for arresting 54-year Ali Haddad is not clear.  He is a big backer of 84-year old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is under pressure from ever-swelling protests to quit.  Bouteflika has been in power for decades, but doesn't appear or speak in public after suffering a stroke years ago.  He cancelled plans to run for reelection, but remains in office as the people grow restless.

Tens of thousands of protesters from rural Spain protested in the capital Madrid to demand funding for development and infrastructure, to prevent people from leaving the countryside.  More than 50 grassroots organizations staged "The Revolt of Empty Spain".  These areas were growing before the 2008 global financial crash, but since then 53 percent of the rural territory is inhabited by only 5 percent of the population, leading to abandoned towns and population densities of 1.63 people per square kilometer. 

The Eiffel Tower is 130 years old!