Good Morning Australia!! - The Pope finally takes on the latest clergy abuse scandal - A wild ride through a wild fire - A woman is killed defending her dog from an alligator - The PM who won't take a pay raise - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Pope Francis has issued his first direct response to a damning and scalding Grand Jury report from the US state of Pennsylvania that found the local and international church had covered up the sexual abuse by at least 1,000 children - probably much, much more - by 300 pedophile priests from the mid 20th Century to 2002.  "The heart-wrenching pain of these victims, which cries out to heaven, was long ignored, kept quiet or silenced," Francis wrote, "But their outcry was more powerful than all the measures meant to silence it, or sought even to resolve it by decisions that increased its gravity by falling into complicity."  The Pontiff said the church's conduct must change going forward, although he didn't detail how that would happen.  The Clergy Abuse Scandal has cost the Catholic Church US$3 Billion in the US alone.

Newly released video from below shows the moment of the Ponte Morandi Bridge Collapse in Italy, which killed 43 people.

South Africa opened a public inquiry into alleged graft and corruption during the terms of ex-president Jacob Zuma.  This investigation will focus on whether he took pile ol' piles of money from the wealthy Gupta family, who are accused of trying to buy influence in the country. 

Police in Spain say an attempted knife attack on police was terrorism.  A 29-year old Algerian man with a knife lunged at officers at a police station south of Barcelona, but the cops shot him down.  The area had been marking the anniversary of the 2017 jihadist attack on Barcelona.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern put a halt to a pay rise for herself and the rest of Parliament.  Officials were to get a three percent boost or more, but Ms. Ardern said politicians were already paid well enough.  "This move doesn't save a lot of money in the scheme of things, but it does send, we believe, a strong signal about what our government values," she said.  Although the Kiwi PM gets a salary 8.63 times larger than the average New Zealand worker's wage, Ardern is famous for living like a normal person - recently giving birth to her first child in Auckland's public hospital.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull gets $538,000 per year, which is 10.14 times the average Australian worker's annual salary - assuming he keeps his job.  Today, the Liberals have a party room meeting that some reports speculate could lead to a leadership challenge from cabinet minister Peter Dutton.  But Network Ten last night reported that Dutton may be in breach of the Section 44 of the Australia Constitution, which rules ineligible anyone who "has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth" and the report claims such an interest might exist.

A key UK trade minister says Donald Trump will be forced to back down from his trade war as it hurts more and more of his voters.  That was evidenced last week, as a manufacturer of safes and vaults closed its last two Illinois plants and packed up shop for Mexico where it won't have to pay price prices for steel and aluminum.  Speaking with Fairfax Media on a trip to Melbourne, Britain's Investment Minister Graham Stuart said Trump's tit-for-tat tariffs are "extraordinarily damaging and would cost jobs everywhere, not least in the US.  And I hope and expect that negative outcome (the tariffs being imposed) won't occur". 

A South Carolina woman is dead after trying to defend her dog from an alligator attack.  Such attacks are rare in that state.  45-year-old Cassandra Cline of Hilton Head Island died at the scene.  Wildlife officers "located and dispatched" the alligator.

A father and son shared harrowing video of their escape from a fast-moving forest fire in the wilderness of Montana.  Justin Bilton and his 70-year-old father were camping in the majestic Glacier National Park near the Canadian border, but a lightning strike started what would be called the Howe Fire, eating up thousands of acres of northern woods.  They barrelled down an access road as flames grew around them, eventually having to halt because of a downed tree.  The two reversed course and eventually were rescued.

Families from North and South Korea were reunited for the first time since the Korean War in the early 1950s.  Elderly folks who hadn't seen siblings since they were small children held tearful meetings at a North Korean resort island.  During times of relative calm over the past two decades, the two Koreas have managed to hold 20 such events.

Japan sent four basketball players home from the Asian Games in Jakarta after they were caught with prostitutes, who apparently solicited them while they were out having dinner with their uniforms on.  "We deeply apologize and intend to give the athletes thorough guidance from now on," said Japan's chef de mission Yasuhiro Yamashita said.  The Asian Games run through 2 September.