Good Morning Australia!! - A Russian election shocker (just kidding, Putin was re-elected) - Washington warns Trump - Turks route Kurds from a Syrian city - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

A state exit poll says Russian President Vladimir Putin won his re-election bid with 73.9 percent of the vote (as if he were going to lose), extending his rule over the country for another six years as it collides with the West more often.  The weeks leading up to the election had Putin bragging about invulnerable new Russian nuclear weapons; Putin openly smirking over the poisoning of an ex-spy in the UK by a Russian chemical agent; and Russian forces bombing the living crap out of Syrian civilians in a rebel-held district to support its Syrian government allies in that country's civil war.  The only candidate who could have been a threat to Putin - Alexei Navalny - was barred from contesting the election.  He focused instead on urging people to boycott the process and rob Putin of a high turnout that he could use to argue his legitimacy.  Turnout was 60 percent - lower than the 2012 presidential election.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is accusing Russia of "creating and stockpiling Novichok", the chemical agent used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal in Salisbury two weeks ago.  Both remain in a critical condition.  He also dismissed a Russian claim that a UK company was manufacturing the chemical weapon, a claim that cam e a day after Moscow suggested the Czech Republic manufactured the uniquely Russian weapon.  "Their response has been a mix of smug sarcasm and denial and obfuscation," said Johnson, who added that the Kremlin's behavior "was not the response of a country that really believes itself to be innocent".  Officially, Russia denies any role in the Skripal attack.

Republicans - allies and rivals - are joining Democrats in warning the orange clown Donald Trump not to fire US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, after twitter barrage and threats from Trump's lawyers.  Senators Jeff Flake and Lyndsay Graham, plus Rep. Trey Gowdy, all suggested that Trump wasn't behaving like a person who has nothing to worry about from the investigation into Russian influence over the 2016 election.  Graham said that firing Mueller would be the "beginning of the end" of the Trump infestation of the White House.  Meanwhile, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe who Trump ordered fired last week because of his support of Mueller has reportedly handed his memos documenting his interactions with Trump over to Mueller.

Turkish forces and their "Free Syrian Army" allies took control of the Syrian city of Afrin after driving out Kurds who had kept the place safe through the Syrian civil war.  The invaders raised Turkish and Syrian flags over the center of town.  But the Kurds are now signalling a switch to guerilla tactics:  "Our forces are present all over Afrin's geography," said Afrin executive council co-chair Othman Sheikh Issa, "These forces will strike the positions of the Turkish enemy and its mercenaries at every opportunity.  Our forces all over Afrin will become a constant nightmare for them."  The Turks invaded Afrin last month believing local Kurdish forces are an extension of Kurdish separatists in southwestern Turkey.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al Assad visited his troops in East Ghouta, now that the government has retaken about 80 percent of the formerly-rebel held district.  Tens of thousands of residents have been displaced in the month-long offensive.

Belgium is taking back control of the Grand Mosque of Brussels and terminating Saudi Arabia's lease over fears it had been used to promote radicalism.  The Saudis had been given control of the mosque in 1969 in exchange for cheaper oil for Belgium.  Riyadh quickly accepted the decision, signalling movement on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's stated goal of promoting a more moderate form of Islam.

The United Nations is backing July elections in Zimbabwe, a major test of its democratic potential after the overthrow of long-time strongman ruler Robert Mugabe in November.  President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was installed as the 93-year old Mugabe was pressured to stand down, has pledged fresh elections, which the UN recognizes "as an important milestone for a successful transition".  Zimbabwe's economy after 37-year of Mugabe is a shambles, with high unemployment rates and inflation alongside a near-worthless currency.