Hello Australia!! - Trump finds a way to look like a bigger jerk - Two more singers back out of performing at Trump's inauguration - An impressive display of the next space technology  - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Unfortunately, it's idiot news again:  Fascist demagogue and US pretender-elect criticized civil rights legend and US congressman John Lewis, on the weekend celebrating the man Lewis marched alongside - Martin Luther King.  Lewis on Friday said that Trump is not a legitimate president, because of Russian interference in the US presidential election on Trump's behalf: "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected," the congressman said, "And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton." On Saturday, the thin-skinned orange clown responded like a 12-year old in a schoolyard shoving match, saying Lewis - one of the most respected men in Washington and the entire country - was "all talk"; and that his district - which includes Fortune 500 corporations, wealthy suburbs, and inner-city Atlanta - was a "mess" and "crime ridden". 

US Congressman John Lewis has engendered respect from both sides of the aisle; he is the last surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington which was led by Martin Luther King.  Lewis also braved and bared the police violence of the biggest moments of the US Civil Rights Movement, and he's been a member of congress since 1987.  Trump's petulant childishness was rejected, quickly:  "John Lewis and his 'talk' have changed the world," and, "John Lewis is a hero," said Republican US Senator Ben Sasse.  California Democratic Party US Senator Kamala Harris said it was wrong to treat Lewis in this way: "John Lewis is an icon of the Civil Rights Movement who is fearless in the pursuit of justice and equality," she tweeted.  Trump takes office later this week as the most-unpopular president-elect in US history.

Singer Jennifer Holliday and and the legendary Paul Anka have backed out of performing at the Trump inauguration.  That leaves Country "singer" Toby Keith, 1990's has-beens 3 Doors Down, and perennial US jingoist Lee Greenwood as the only performers with any name recognition bothering to show up.

German police caught two men with a stash of 155 kilograms of explosives; they are now under investigation for links to a violent right-wing terrorist group.  The magazine "Spiegel" this weekend is reporting that the men - aged 18 and 24 - are members of the "Old School Society" (OSS), which was planning attacks on refugee centers and mosques.  Cops found all the usual crap linking the men to extremism, such as leaflets, stickers, flags, shopping bags, hitler teddy bears, beer cozies, etc.

Poland formally welcomed an armored brigade of US troops to its eastern frontier, with a ceremony attended by hundreds.  The Americans arrived in Zagan last week in fulfillment of NATO promises of shoring up Poland's border in the face of an increasingly troublesome Russian.  "The presence of American soldiers in Poland is another step in our strategy to ensure safety and security for Poland and the region," said Prime Minister Beata Szydlo.  Russia has branded the operation a "threat" to its own security.

Iraqi forces are reporting progress in retaking Mosul from the so-called Islamic State:  "Security forces have fully liberated the Mosul University," said General Taleb Sheghati al-Kenani of the elite terrorism-combat service.  "The forces seized chemicals in the laboratories of the universities and defused explosives and car bombs," he added.  Iraqi forces had now recaptured 85 percent of the eastern side of the northern city, while IS still controls the west.

Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully carried out a rocket launch on Saturday, the first since a fiery explosion destroyed one of its rockets in September.  The Falcon 9 rocket and went up and came back down, landing on a platform in the Pacific Ocean - just as it was designed.

Chinese linguist Zhou Youguang is dead at age 111.  He's the guy who standardized the translation of Chinese characters into Romanization in the 1950s, and raised Chinese literacy rates from 15 percent to almost 100 percent.  In recent years, he has become a critic of the Chinese Communist Party and has written many books about reform - some of which are banned in China.

Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies this week will discuss an online petition to drop French and German as official languages, and make Luxembourgish the country's only official tongue.  I know!  I didn't know there was a Luxembourgish, either!  Apparently, it's a dialect of German.  All three languages are taught in schools, and legislation is written in French.  The petition writer insists he's just trying to preserve the local language and disassociating it from right-wing nationalists, who seem to have their undies in a bunch over people commuting into the country from France, Belgium, and Germany to their jobs at the countries numerous European Union offices.