Hello Australia!! - The US pokes and prods Venezuela's borders - Putin's funnel to the far-right is probed - The Pope's summit at stopping clergy sex abuse is under criticism - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

At least two people are dead and several are injured in clashes on Venezuela's borders, as conservative opposition groups try to bring in shipments of US aid to undermine the authority of democratically-elected President Nicolas Maduro.  US-backed and self-declared "interim president" Juan Guaido claimed that two trucks did not in, which turned out to be two small pick-up trucks that got a few meters over the border from Brazil but stopped short of the line of National Guard troops.  Colombia claimed that two dozen members of the Venezuelan military defected during the chaotic day.

Italian opposition parties are demanding in investigation into reports the far-right League party of links to the Kremlin.  The League is part of the ruling coalition with the Five Star Movement.  L'Espresso magazine reported that Russians with close ties to President Vladimir Putin struck a deal to sell diesel fuel to an Italian oil company, diverting profits to the League.  Accusations that Putin is secretly financing the far-right movements of Europe have been around for a few years, and the League's Matteo Salvini angrily denied earlier accusations last year.  So far this time, he has no comment.

Tainted moonshine killed 98 people and sickened more than 200 more in Assam, northeast India.  The state health minister described the horror of being notified about a new death almost every two minutes at the height of the crisis.  It's believed that the 65-year old woman who made the bootlegged booze screwed up the recipe, accidentally substituting deadly methyl alcohol for ethyl in the brew.

A Chicago judge ordered singer R. Kelly be held on US$1 Million bail, a day after he was charged with sexually abusing at last four women, including a girl who prosecutors claim "repeatedly says she is 14 years old" in a sex video.  The bond requires Kelly to post $100,000 to be released.  Prosecutors say they have videos and DNA evidence which prove the charges.  If convicted, the 52-year old R. Kelly could go to jail for 20 years.

Senior US Roman Catholic officials are offering a potentially ground-breaking (or not) proposal to hold Bishops accountable for mishandling sexual abuse cases.  At the Pope's sex abuse summit in Rome, Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich suggested empowering Archbishops and Cardinals to investigate Bishops accused of negligence or misconduct.  The higher-ranking clerics would get input from lay experts and would ultimately make a recommendation to the pope as to the outcome.  Just saying, this seems to ignore the fact that Archbishops and Cardinals have been accused of taking part in the cover-up of widespread sex abuse - some have even been accused of taking part and others have already been sacked for it.  Critics are already saying the proposal seems pretty weak.