Hello Australia!! - South America pushes back against the conservative economic agenda - The first charges are filed in the deaths of 39 immigrants in the UK - What does it take to shut the power off for nearly a million Californians? - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Argentina's presidential election is Sunday.  President Mauricio Macri faces a tough contest as dissatisfaction with his pro-market economy spreads, with one in three Argentinians now living in poverty.  He's up against the center-Left ticket of Alberto Fernandez and his running mate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (no relation), the popular former president who was term-limited out of office in 2015 and replaced by Macri.  His polls are way down, and voters are hungry for a return to the generous social spending on education, healthcare, and housing that boosted the perennially-troubled South American nation's economy.  To avoid a run-off in late November, the top candidate needs to secure 45 percent of votes, or 40 percent and a 10-point lead.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has asked his cabinet to resign for a major reshuffle after a week of historic protests against economic inequality that have left the rest of his term in office in doubt.  The subway fare hike that sparked the whole thing has been rescinded, but the demands for free, quality higher education, healthcare, and help with fuel and housing costs remain.  "I have put all my ministers on notice in order to restructure my cabinet to confront these new demands," said Pinera.  He's also calling an end to the state of emergency and curfews in Santiago and other cities: "It is my intention that we start the week with full constitutional normality."

Spanish police clashed with masked protesters outside the Barcelona police headquarters, following a massive protest of 350,000 Catalan separatists demanding their leaders be released from prison.  The independence leaders were sentenced to prison terms of nine to 13 years each for sedition and waste of public funds spent on the failed, illegal 2017 secession referendum.  Around half of Catalans reject severing ties to Madrid, and the issue could figure into the national election in two weeks when Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will try to stay in power and the far-right attempts to make gains.

UK authorities formally charged a truck driver with manslaughter for the 39 Asian immigrants found dead in the refrigerated trailer he was hauling in Essex.  25-year old Maurice Robinson of Northern Ireland also faces charges of human trafficking, immigration and money laundering offences.  Three others remains in UK police custody, and another 25-year old man arrested by Garda in Dublin, Ireland is said to be a person of interest.  The victims were initially believed to be Chinese nationals, but police say they've heard from many Vietnamese families concerned about the safety of their loved ones.

With high winds forecast in California, the private utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is cutting the power to 940,000 customers in its loathed "Public Safety Power Shutoff" program.  Critics, and they are many, accuse PG&E of neglecting its duties of maintaining and upgrading the power grid to pay executives big bonuses and sate shareholders - and they'd have a point.  Last year's killer wildfire that destroyed Paradise, California and killed 85 people was caused by sparked from a poorly maintained PG&E powerline.  And the company admits that one of its lines "malfunctioned" near the starting point of the current wildfire burning through the Sonoma County wine country.  Forced outages are in effect for 48, mostly around the San Francisco Bay area (without impacting the city itself), but are also scattered throughout the Golden State all the way from Humboldt County in the far north (where marijuana comes from!) all the way south to the Grapevine, the gateway to the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Australia's worst serial killer is dead.