Good Morning Australia!! - Saudi Arabia pushes back after being blamed for a journalist's apparent murder - A stunning upset for Germany's long-time leader - Will Brazil's Bolsonaro defend his far-right positions in a debate? - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Saudi Arabia is rejecting what it calls "threats" to punish the oil kingdom should it be found responsible for the disappearance and apparent death of dissident journalist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi.  "The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether through economic sanctions, political pressure or repeating false accusations," went the statement read on the Saudi official news agency.  Earlier, Donald Trump told the US version of "60 Minutes" that the US would inflict "severe punishment" if the allegations are true.  Florida Republican US Senator Marco Rubio vowed that if Trump doesn't act, then the US Congress would.

Mr. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October to sign some papers and hasn't been seen since. Turkish intelligence says it has audio and video evidence suggesting a Saudi "hit team" tortured, murdered, and dismembered Khashoggi.  While the Saudis have denied he allegations through official and various back channels, CNN is reporting that US intelligence is expecting to get more information from Turkey this week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's political allies have suffered massive losses in the state election in Bavaria, the CSU's (Christian Social Union) political stronghold it has government with an outright majority since 1957.  It's seen as a referendum on Merkel and her policy of welcoming immigrants, but the results are open to interpretation:  The CSU got about 37 percent, and the pro-immigration Green Party surged to 18 percent.  The anti-immigration far-right Alterative fur Deutschland (AfD) did not-see it coming because they came in way back third, although with enough to be represented in state parliament for the first time.

Meanwhile in rural central Germany, a Cessna plane crashed through an airport barrier and hit two women and a child during a botched landing on Sunday, killing all three.

A truck crashed in central Turkey, killing at least 22 people including a group of migrants apparently being rushed to a port where they could hop on rafts and head to Europe in hopes of claiming asylum.  Several children were among the dead.  A day earlier, an overcrowded people-smuggling vehicle crashed in Greece while transporting a group of immigrants who managed to make it across from Turkey, killing eleven people.

Somalia executed a man involved in the country's worst bombing on the anniversary of the terrorist attack. A truck exploded at a busy crossroad in the capital Mogadishu, killing 600 people on 14 October 2017.  A court convicted Hassan Adan Isak of driving one of the vehicles involved in the attack.  Responsibility has not been assigned, although the terrorist group Al Shabaab is suspected.

Iran arrested a member of the military over the September attack on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz that killed 24 people.  Gunmen disguised as memners of the Revolutionary Guard opened fire on troops and their families in last month's attack.

Cyclone Leslie slammed into Portugal with wind gusts as powerful as 176 kilometers per hour. At least 300,000 people were left without power in the aftermath, and 27 are injured.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from jail Sunday after three weeks behind bars for organising anti-Kremlin protests.

Brazil far-right president candidate Jair Bolsonaro might learn this week if he's healthy enough to take part in a debate with People's Party social democratic rival Fernando Haddad.  Bolsonaro, known for his hate-laced tirades against everyone who isn't a far-right wing white male, is recovering after being in the belly during a campaign rally last month.  Despite the raging intolerance of his rants, or perhaps because of them, he leads the polls going into the second round of the election at the end of this month.