World AM News Briefs For Monday, 22 May 2017

Good Morning Australia!! - Trump's feckless reversals and hypocrisy are on display in Saudi Arabia - It's another deadly year at the top of the world - Canada's "nice guy" PM dazzles for prom - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Donald Trump dropped three crucial words from his speech about US relations with the Muslim world in Saudi Arabia:  He failed to use the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism", which he had repeatedly criticized President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for not saying.  "This is a battle between good and evil," Trump said, "Terrorists do not worship God, they worship death."  He echoed the exact same policy as predecessors George Bush and Barack Obama:  "This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects or different civilizations, this is battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people all in the name of religion, people that want to protect life and want to protect their religion."  Many Trump supporters were aghast when he referred to Islam as "one of the world's great religions".

An awkward image from Trump's visit to the so-called "Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology" is going viral:

It shows Trump with King Salman and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi looking like supervillains, putting their hands on a glowing orb that for some reason is in the global anti-terror center that for some reason is located in the country that is at least suspected of funding much of that terrorism.  There's no way social media is going to let them get away with that:  "Hail Hydra"; "Attention Marvel Super Heroes, we have found the last infinity stone!"; and "This remake of "the Dark Crystal" looks great!"

In another eyebrow-raising reversal, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have pledged US$100 million to the World Bank's Women Entrepreneurs Fund, which was proposed by Trump's daughter and senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump.  Keep in mind that less than a year ago, Trump blasted Hillary Clinton for Saudi Arabia's contributions to the Clinton Foundation:

"These are people that push gays off buildings.  These are people that kill women and treat women horribly," Trump said about the Saudis in 2016.  For the record, the Clinton Foundation didn't take a penny of Saudi money while Hillary was Secretary of State.  But now it's magically okay!

Just so we're clear, the Saudis gave US$100 Million to a fund proposed by Ivanka Trump after her husband Jared Kushner negotiated a discount for them in a US$110 Billion arms deal, which Donald Trump signed off on despite once labeling the Saudis as "responsible" for the 9/11 attacks.  "This brazen disregard for human rights and humanitarian law will only serve to further embolden states in the Gulf and around the globe in their pursuit of 'security' at the expense of people’s basic rights," said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is angrily telling ministers and party leaders to attend the airport reception for Donald Trump on Monday.  Israel's major newspapers reported that many wanted to sit it out because there was no point to them being there - the White House asked that an elaborate welcoming ceremony had been whittled down to a handshake between Trump and Bibi at Ben Gurion airport.  Trump's 26 hours in Israel will take place under tight security with about 10,000 police guarding scheduled events.

Attackers stormed a guest house in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing a German woman, beheading an Afghan bodyguard, and apparently kidnapping another woman from Finland.  Authorities are investigating if the attack was an act of terrorism or violent crime, although it did coincide with a series of Taliban attacks elsewhere in the country.  All of the lodgers at teh guesthouse worked for the international releief charity "Operation Mercy".

North Korea launched another missile.  The medium-range projectile took off from a launch site near Pyongyang and travelled east into the Sea of Japan, failing to reach Japanese territorial waters.  South Korea's Foreign Ministry said the launch "throws cold water" on new President Moon Jae-in's plans to seek closer relations with the North; Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to push for a hard line against North Korea at the next G7 Summit.

An American has died trying to climb Mount Everest and an Indian climber has gone missing over the weekend.  The Yank is identified as 50-year old Roland Yearwood of Alabama; he is the third confirmed death on Everest this year.  Ravi Kamar fell ill on his way down, and his Sherpa guide only managed to crawl back to camp, suffering from frostbite and altitude sickness.  The potential for death on Everest is significantly increased this year:  Nepalese authorities issued a record number of climbing permits to make up for those who couldn't climb in 2014 and 2015, the earthquake years; and the famous "Hillary Step" has collapsed (probably during the quake), making the climb more dangerous.

Imagine a world leader who is such a nice guy and is so well-loved that he doesn't need to travel around with a phalanx of bodyguards.  Canada's dreamy fitness buff Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was logging on Vancouver, BC's waterfront Friday night when he came upon of High School seniors on their way to prom.  That guy in the middle is the PM:


Geez, he didn't even work up a sweat.  The young people were stunned to see the leader of the nation just casually running by, and called out to him for a photo - and he merrily obliged.  "We were stoked!" said teenager Constantine Maragos about his prom photo to remember.