Good Morning, Australia! – The government drops bad news on Aussies planning families in the future – Castro visits the Pope – Hundreds of migrants apparently aimed for the wrong country – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

80,000 Australian mums would just as well reject their Mother’s Day present from Treasurer Joe Hockey:  He chose Mother’s Day to announce they'll lose their government paid parental leave payments.  From July of next year, new mums will lose access to the full A$11,500.  Hockey accused Australian families who receive parental leave from the government and employers of “double dipping”. 

Boats with about 500 Rohingya Muslim immigrants from Myanmar washed ashore in Indonesia, with several in need of medical attention.  It’s believed they were making their way to Malaysia, but hit the wrong beach.  Usually, Rohingyas and Bangladeshi immigrants take the dangerous land path through Thailand.

Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej has left a Bangkok hospital following a seven-month stay that including surgery to remove his gallbladder last October.  The entourage made a beeline for the summer palace in the southern seaside town of Hua Hin.  The 87-year old king’s health has been a concern for several years, and has spent more of the past five years in the hospital.

Macedonia blames Kosovar separatists for the daylong gunbattle that killed eight police officers and at least 14 gunmen in a northern border town.  Dozens have been arrested, and some are identified as former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, a militia group that was supposedly dismantled more than 15-years ago at the end of the Balkans Wars.  Macedonia claims the group has been “neutralized”.

Cuban President Raul Castro is praising Pope Francis for his key role in brokering the restoration of relations between Havana and Washington, DC.  Castro visited the Vatican over the weekend, and the Pope will go to Cuba on his way to the US in September.  It turns out that the two have much common ground – Castro studied at Jesuit schools as a young man on his way to the Cuban Revolution, and Francis is the first Jesuit Pope.

Colombia will cease using the controversial herbicide glyphosate to destroy illegal coca plants.  Coca is the raw ingredient in the production of the drug cocaine.  US-sponsored anti-drug programs often spray glyphosate over coca fields in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.  But the UN World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic”.

South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has chosen its first black leader.  34-year old part-time pastor Mmusi Maimane claimed the mantle of Mandela and said his priorities will be fighting for a fairer society.  Although his white predecessor led the Alliance to its best performance in a national election – 22 percent – many black South Africans are still wary of white politicians and tend to vote for the ruling African National Congress party, overlooking a growing resume of corruption.