Good Morning Australia!! - The White House tries to weasel out of Trump's latest delusion - Israel wants to make it easier to smoke weed.. Wait, what? Israel? Seriously? - China lowers expectations - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

The former US Director of National Intelligence says there is no truth to Donald Trump's delusional claim that Trump Tower communications were wiretapped before the election.  "There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, as a candidate or against his campaign," said James Clapper on NBC's Meet The Press.  When asked whether he still believes that Russians interfered in the U.S. election to help Donald Trump, Clapper said, "Yes, I do."  Trump has a history of deliberate obfuscation and lying, and it could be that he latched onto a report on a right-wing fake news website known for falsehoods, racism, and conspiracy theories to take attention from growing concern about Russian influence over Trump and his administration. 

White House spokesman Sean Spicer thinks he has devised an ingenious way to avoid talking about Trump's wiretap delusion:  Spicer tweeted that congress should investigate the baseless wiretap allegations as part of the wider probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.  "Neither the White House nor the President will comment further until such oversight is conducted," tweeted Spicy.  The ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff of California said, "Not even Spicer wishes to have to speak to such an unsubstantiated claim."

French presidential candidate Francoise Fillon defiantly declared "No one can stop me!" at a rally in Paris.  Although it looks like most of France's voters absolutely will stop him, as the mainstream conservative candidate's poll numbers have tanked and most people want him to step out because of the scandal over reports he paid his wife a public salary for work never performed.  And his own Republican party might stop him, too:  party officials spent the weekend looking for a way to dump Fillon with some dignity, and former prime minister Alain Juppe is expected to make an announcement on his candidacy later on Monday.  Time's a-wastin'.  The first round of France's presidential election is 23 April.

Turkish autocrat Recep Tayyip Erdogan is chiding Germany for alleged "nazi practices of the past".  Three German cities canceled Turkish government campaign rallies for the 1.4 Million German Turks who can vote in Turkey's April referendum, which could give Erdogan sweeping new powers (although he might seek an athletic protector instead, because of that time he had his balls kicked in by a horse).  Reasons include a lack of space and complaints that Ankara misled local authorities about the subject of the rallies.  Meanwhile, Turkey detained a German-Turkish journalist for alleged membership in the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK.  So:  Pot, kettle.

Israel is working up legislation to reduce penalties for Marijuana use and consumption.  The plan is to issue simple civil fines to first time offenders, and reserve criminal charges to those racking up multiple arrests.  "Israel cannot shut its eyes to the changes being made across the world in respect to marijuana consumption and its effects," said Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.  Prime Minister Netanyahu backs the plan, and it still must be approved by the Knesset.  But if Israel's wacky right-wing government can acknowledge the obvious, WTH is stopping other countries?

The Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht could walk away from all its ongoing projects in Peru within six months, according to the Andean country's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.  Odebrecht is embroiled in a massive pay-to-play scandal that has spread from its home country to practically the entire continent.  Kuczynski says officials are working to avoid a sudden withdrawal that would be a blow to Peru's infrastructure and modernization projects.

China is cutting its economic growth forecast as it seeks to cut its debt and create a "firewall" against financial risks.  The world's second-largest economy grew by 6.7 percent in 2016, but Premier Li Keqiang told the opening of the National People's Congress that 2017 would see only 6.5 percent growth.  Mr. Li also said his country will also cut steel capacity by 50 million tons and coal output by more than 150 million tons this year.