Hello Australia!! - The clock winds down on Manus Island - Louis CK says "the stories are true" - Ellen Page says the director of the X-Men outed her - US Republicans abandon accused child molester Roy Moore, who refuses to quit - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

PNG authorities are already dismantling makeshift shelters at the Manus Island detention center.  More than 400 men have refused to leave the center over safety concerns about being placed in Papua New Guinea.  The United Nations says Australia is responsible for the well-being of those refugees, but the government has not plans to relocate the men to Oz.  PNG said it plans to remove them by force; the ABC says UN personnel on the scene have found no translators to explain PNG's instructions to the men, so.. good luck with that.

There will be a little strong and uncouth language in the next few items.

US Comedian Louis CK, to his credit I guess, is refusing to blame the victims and admitting that the "stories are true".  Five female comedians told the New York Times that he had exposed himself and masturbated in front them during incredibly awkward encounters.  CK's upcoming TV appearances and film openings were cancelled.  On Friday in the US, he released a statement that uses the word "regret" a lot, although doesn't contain "apology" nor "sorry".  However, it does list the people he regrets hurting, including his children and their mother, the people who worked with him on several recent projects, and on and on.

Louis CK said he talked himself into believing his behavior was okay because he asked the women first, which he now admits is inadequate:  "But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn't a question.  It's a predicament for them.  The power I had over these women is that they admired me.  And I wielded that power irresponsibly," and, "The hardest regret to live with is what you've done to hurt someone else.  And I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them."  Some of the women responded by noting he might have asked, but they didn't say "yes". 

Next, actor Ellen Page has joined the #MeToo movement with her own gut-wrenching tale of harassment posted on Facebook.  At a meet and greet before her first X-Men movie, director Brett Ratner allegedly pointed at the 18-year old Page - who was not out yet, not even to herself - and told an older woman, "You should f*ck her to make her realize she's gay."  Page said she fell silent, no one stood up for her, and she "felt violated".  Fellow actors Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge also accused Brett Ratner of sexual harassment and misconduct.  Page's tale of the piggish and IMHO illegal behavior of some of Hollywood's male population continues with other cringe-inducing examples.  She said the exposure of the rampant harassment is a "long awaited reckoning", and said she was "grateful to anyone and everyone who speaks out against abuse and trauma they have suffered.  You are breaking the silence.  You are revolution."

Another US Olympic Gymnast has come forward to accuse team doctor of sexual abuse.  Aly Raisman - one of the most decorated American gymnasts in history - confirms she was molested by longtime USA Gymnastics doctor Lawrence G. Nassar, who is currently in prison in Michigan after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.  But he served as team physician for three decades, and Ms. Raisman is demanding to know, "What did USA Gymnastics do, and Larry Nassar do, to manipulate these girls so much that they are so afraid to speak up?"  Three weeks ago, Raisman's teammate McKayla Maroney also accused Nassar.  "People should know that this is not just happening in Hollywood," Maroney wrote.

Nope, not just Hollywood - in politics as well. 

The US Republican party has severed a fundraising arrangement with Senate candidate Roy Moore, a day after the Washington Post reported allegations that he molested at least one 14-year old girl when he was in his 30s.  It's one of the only steps the national party can take, because it's too late in the game to remove Moore's name from the ballot in next month's special election to fill the Alabama Senate seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  Moore denies the story, although his defenders have strangely - and disgustingly - taken the position that there's somehow nothing wrong with grown-ass men molesting girls, and somehow it is biblical.  With strong support from his state GOP, there are clear indications that Moore is still on track to win the election.

And that has the national, non-child molesting Republican Party in a blind panic.  Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney took the hardest line against Roy Moore and in support of his accuser:  "Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections," he Tweeted, adding, "Moore is unfit for office and should step aside."  Most Republicans distanced from Moore, but hid behind the caveat "if the allegations are true".  And while Democrats don't want a pedophile backwoods redneck in the US Senate, they are stunned at the GOP's predicament:  "What does that say about the (Republican) party?" asked former Louisiana Senator John Breaux, "Basically, a child molester is going to be a United States senator."

Anyway...

The US is actually paying an ex-KGB general to provide security at its Moscow embassy.  The Trump administration signed a deal with Elite Security Holdings, which was founded by the ex-KGB General Viktor Budanov - a close friend of British double-agent Kim Philby who defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.  I mean, Trump isn't even bothering to hide it..

Hezbollah is accusing Saudi Arabia of "declaring war" on Lebanon.  The Iran-backed group also claims the Saudis are holding former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri against his will, after he mysteriously flew to the Saudi capital Riyadh and resigned.  The rivalry between the Saudis and Iran has heated up considerably in the past couple of weeks as new Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman led a vast anti-corruption crackdown that by total coincidence removed all rivals of him and his branch of royal family from power. 

Japan plans to clamp down on "suicide websites", where people share their suicidal thoughts and even look for people to join them in killing themselves.  This comes after the discovery of nine dismembered corpses in an apartment outside Tokyo.  Police believe 27-year old Takahiro Shiraishi found his victims on these "suicide websites".