Hello Australia!! - World history turns a page today - A White House battle spills out into the public - Erdogan races the clock - Old attitudes fail in South Africa - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

The Castro-era is coming to an end in Cuba later today, when President Raul Castro steps down at age 86 and passes the baton to First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who at 57 years old wasn't even born yet when Fidel and Raul successfully led the revolution against the US-backed gangster government in 1959.  An electrical engineer and teacher by training, Diaz-Canel has been steadily working his way up Cuba's political ladder since his 20s.  Although he hasn't granted many interviews to foreign journalists, it's known that he "likes the Beatles and The Rolling Stones and has an iPad" - indicating a more modern outlook - but is expected to continue the Castro legacy of universal healthcare and education, and anti-imperialism.

Turkish autocrat Recep Tayyip Erdogan called snap elections to take place in June.  With no organized Leftist opposition to challenge him, it's believed Erdogan has three goals:  Lock in power for another five years with even more authority passed by sycophantic lawmakers; kneecap his right-wing rival Merel Aksener, whose new nationalist party hasn't had time to form a serious challenge; and beat the economic clock.  Under Erdogan's leadership the Turkish Lira has plunged to the most-disappointing of emerging markets currencies while inflation remains too high, leading some to believe he wants some job security in place before a potential crash.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is striking back against a White House official who belittled her as "confused" over scuttled US economic sanctions against Russia.  Over the weekend, Haley announced the sanctions over Russia's support for Syria were going to happen; the next day, the orange clown Donald Trump stabbed her in the back and refused to punish Russia.  On Tuesday, Trump's new economic adviser Larry Kudlow said, "There might have been some momentary confusion about that."  Once that hit the media, Haley said:  "With all due respect, I don't get confused."  Kudlow back-tracked.  But the incident shows the disconnect between the White House and the US' de facto top diplomat (since there's no Secretary of State at present); and even when Russia backs Syria when it gasses its own people, Trump won't dare lift a finger against Vladimir Putin.

Former US First Lady Barbara Bush is dead at age 92.  She had been in ill health for some time and had refused further medical treatment in recent days.  Because of the orange clown's acrimonious relations with the Bush family, the funeral for a former First Lady and Mother of another US President will be attended by Trump's third wife Melania; Barack and Michelle Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton will also attend the funeral in Texas this weekend.  Flags flew at half-staff in Washington, but not at Trump's Mar-a-Lago golf course.

Video of an anti-Semitic attack has riled Germany:  It shows three suspects hurling verbal abuse at two men wearing Kippehs (Yarmulkes) and striking one of the victims with a belt.  The physically abusive suspect also yells the word "Jew" in Arabic.  The victim isn't Jewish:  Identified as "Adam", he says he grew up in an Arab-Israeli family but is disgusted with anti-Semitism:  "I wanted to have evidence for police and the German people and the world to see how terrible it is these days as a Jew to go through Berlin streets."

The first white South African to be convicted of racist abuse lost her appeal and will have to serve the full prison sentence of three years minus one that was suspended.  Vicky Momberg was sentenced last month for repeatedly berating a black police officer with a local racist epithet.  Racism remains a big issue in South Africa almost a quarter decade after the fall of apartheid.

Zimbabwe's new leader fired 15,000 striking nurses who had walked out for better pay and working conditions.  Some see the move as leverage to force the nurses back to work, but the nurses say someone has to stand up against the vile conditions in hospitals - rampant and often deadly bronchitis spreads too easily, women give birth on cold floors because no one is there to assist, vital medicine is in short supply.

The top bureaucrat in japan's Finance Ministry stepped down amid sex harassment allegations.  Junichi Fukuda says he's innocent after the Shukan Shincho weekly magazine published a story about him drunkenly perving on a female reporter's breasts, but says he can't continue doing his job under a cloud.  Fukuda claimed he would sue the magazine, but shortly after that TV Asahi dropped a bombshell:  At a midnight news conference, the network announced that at least one of its journos made recordings of Fukuda sexually harassing them.  It's a major blow to the waning credibility of the government of PM Shinzo Abe, mired in financial, influence peddling, and sex harassment scandals.