Hello Australia!! - Scotland will try another independence vote - Trump's wiretap delusion crumbles to the ground - China declares war on a cartoon pig - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirms she will a second referendum on Scottish indepedence to take place within two years, and the main issue will be the UK's Tory-led drive to leave the European Union.  "I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence and to do so before the UK leaves the EU - if that is necessary to protect our country's interests," said Ms. Sturgeon.  Scottish voters went 55 percent to 45 percent against independence in a 2014 referendum; but since then there is concern the country will be harmed by the Brexit.  And there is the growing realization that the UK Tory government renegged on promises of a government of equals - England, Wales Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the latter two which want to stay in the EU. 

EU leaders are cautioning Turkish autocrat Recep Tayyip Erdogan to avoid inflammatory language after he threatened economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Netherlands.  It was one of a few European countries to cancel planned rallies by Turkish officials to lure ex-patriot Turks to vote for constitutional changes that would concentrate even more unchecked power into the hands of Erdogan (who once had his balls kicked in by a horse).  The Turkish leader was already accusing his European critics of "nazi" like tactics when Dutch riot police cracked down hard on a protest against the cancellations, throwing one Turkish politician out of the country and refusing entry to another.  Despite five countries preventing rallies, Erdogan can't afford to ignore the ex-pat vote - Germany alone has 1.7 million Turks eligible to vote.  To me, that kind of suggests that Turkey is a great place to leave?

The White House is trying to weasel out of delusional Donald Trump's unsubstantiated allegation that President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the 2016 election.  On the deadline to offer proof to congressional investigators, White House spokes.."man" Sean Spicer told the White House press corps, "The president used the word wiretaps in quotes to mean, broadly, surveillance and other activities."  In reality, Merriam-Webster's dictionary specifically defines wiretapping as tapping into "a telephone or telegram wire in order to get information".  Spicy also claimed Trump didn't mention former President Obama specifically - but he did.

Earlier, the White House allowed Kellyanne Conway out of the doghouse long enough to suggest the US government is spying on people through their microwave ovens.  Seriously, she said this out loud.  And was ridiculed.

Sean Spicer is being accused of racism in dealing with a heckler over the weekend.  An activist named Shree Chauhan confronted Spicy in a Washington, DC Apple store, asking loaded questioned like, "How does it feel to work for a fascist?" and, "Have you helped with the Russia stuff?  Are you a criminal as well?  Have you committed treason, just like the president?"  Yow!  Instead of ignoring her or leaving, Spicer replied: "Such a great country that allows you to be here."  Chauhan, an American citizen if Indian descent who was born in New York City, says she believes Spicy was reacting to her skin color.  "That is racism and it is an implied threat," wrote Chauhan.  "I am still stunned by the boldness of having my citizenship threatened on camera."

Is a prominent US conservative congressman is flirting with ethnic cleansing?  Rep. Steve King, Republican of Iowa, tweeted his agreement with Dutch xenophobe Geert Wilders' statement, "We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies."  That sort of white nationalist rhetoric goes beyond the usual "close the borders" talk, and attacks the children of not just immigrants but of those who don't match King's view of civilization.  Condemnation came from a few Republicans but mostly from Democrats:  Civil rights icon and Georgia Rep. John Lewis said King's tweet was "bigoted and racist";  California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu wrote, "Steve King is wrong: Civilization is threatened by racism and xenophobia."

The death toll in the children's home fire in Guatemala is now 40 lives lost, mostly teenage girls, as victims perished in hospital.  The tragedy at the government-run Virgen de Asuncion shelter last week has sparked widespread protests over the lax safety standards and failings in the country's child protective services.

In Ethiopia, authorities raised the death toll in the trash dump landslide to more than 60 fatalities, with scores of people still missing.  A number of makeshift houses are still buried under as much as five decades worth of the capital Addis Ababa's waste.

The Chinese Communist Party is ordering online retailers to severely cut back on the sales of foreign children literature, because of intolerable "inflow of ideology" from the West.  This includes Peppa Pig (snort), Winnie-the-pooh, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, et cetera.  Some believe this won't be possible to implement:  "I can't imagine this restriction to be possible, because its implementation is so difficult, and it also has no benefit whatsoever for the people or the country," one Chinese editor told the Financial Times.