Hello Australia!! - Bushfires are threatening homes in the ACT - Republicans sweep the evidence against Trump under the rug - A cop is seen using a civilian as a human shield - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

The bushfire danger today in Canberra is the worst it has been since the deadly 2003 fires:  "The combination of extreme heat, wind and a dry landscape will place suburbs in Canberra's south at risk," said ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr.  Meanwhile, the NSW Rural Fire Service has hiked the fire danger rating to "severe" in the southern slopes, southern ranges, far South Coast, Monaro alpine, and Illawarra/Shoalhaven regions, and declared total burn bans in each area.  Click through these links for the ACT Rural Fire Service, the NSW Rural Fire Service, Emergency VIC, SA Country Fire Service, NT Fire and Rescue Service, Emergency WA, Tasmania Fire, and QLD Fire.

With Republicans in the majority, the United States Senate narrowly defeated a motion to call witnesses and subpoena documents in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, effectively refusing to consider and covering-up evidence of what the US House had already determined was Trump's impeachable corruption and abuse of power.  The vote was 51 against calling witnesses - all Republicans - and 49 for the motion, including All Democrats, both Independents, and two Republicans.  This sets the stage for closing arguments to commence on Monday in Washington, and a final vote on removing Trump from office on Wednesday; and it looks like that vote will fail.

One of the Republicans to vote against the tide was Utah Senator and former Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney.  Although Romney won his senate race with a commanding 62 percent of the vote, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) quickly announced that it was un-inviting Romney from speaking at this year's gathering sociopaths.  Given Romney's strong position at home, it is unlikely he cares.  CPAC regularly features politicians pandering for the support of big money donors, talk radio hosts, and increasingly video bloggers.  

The UK officially left the European Union.  Now comes months and possibly years of protracted trade negotiations to replace the simple, easy-to-live-with deals that were in place for decades.  Good luck with that.

Police in the West African nation of Guinea are facing a storm of criticism over video that shows officers using a woman as a human shield against stone-throwing protestors.  "Today, I'm in a lot of pain.  My right foot is sprained and I have scratches on almost all of my legs," said the woman manhanded by cops, Fatouma Bah, who has filed a complaint with police.  "It was an insult to my dignity," she added.  The cop was arrested, and he's claiming that Ms. Bah was supplying rocks to the protesters and that he was trying to protect her.  His bosses said there was no doubt he had been sheltering behind the woman.

At least three people died in anti-government protests in Chile this week, marking a return to violence in the demonstrations against conservative President Sebastian Pinera that started last October.  A police truck ran over a soccer fan on Tuesday, prompting protesters to attack police stations throughout the country; another young man was struck and killed by a hijacked bus; and police shot a third man in the head in the early hours of Friday.  More than 30 people have died in the protests that began over a fare hike on the Santiago subway system - the last straw to throngs of Chileans who believe their government just doesn't give a damn about them.

A worker has been killed in a stadium collapse in Russia.  Disturbing video shows the man taking part in the dismantling of the Saint Petersburg SKK, a huge arena originally constructed in 1979, when the roof of the massive building collapses beneath him.  He runs, but doesn't make it back to the basket suspended by a crane just meters away.  The venue hosted countless sporting events, and some of the first major cross-cultural events at the end of the Cold War such as concerts by Billy Joel and Scorpions.