Hello Australia!! - Labor sees a bright future after a "super Saturday" - The Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal claims one of the highest heads to date - Putin vs Pensioners - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Labor leader Bill Shorten declared a "super Saturday" after four important by-election wins in Braddon, Longman, Perth, and Fremantle, and claimed the by-election results are a harbinger to Labor winning government at the next federal poll.  "I promise the Australian people, we will continue the work of putting together a policy agenda for the next national Labor government, a program which will re-win the confidence and the support of working class and middle-class Australians," Mr. Shorten said.  The results certainly strengthen Mr. Shorten's position in Labor while casting doubt on the coalition's chances in the next election.   In the South Australian electorate of Mayo, Rebecca Sharkie held off a challenge from Liberal candidate Georgina Downer.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of 88-year old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who says he does not recall sexually assaulting a teenager nearly 50 years ago.  Several other accusers have since stepped forward.  The former Archbishop of Washington, DC is one of the top Catholic officials in the world to face such allegations, and although it took the church five decades to get to this point the rebuke is heavy by Vatican standards.  McCarrick must carry out "penance and prayer" pending a canonical trial, meaning he's being punished before a trial; he loses the titles of Cardinal and "your eminence"; he will be placed "in seclusion".  And - in a sign the Pope is losing patience with officials who don't come clean or get in front of sex abuse scandals - McCarrick is the first to be forced to resign from the College of Cardinals since 1927.

Other interesting resignations in America:  Far-right political pundit Ximena Barreto has resigned her communications post in the US Department of Health and Human Services for spreading anti-Muslim hatred and the particularly idiotic "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory which posits that Hillary Clinton was part of a child molestation ring in a pizza parlor basement (A - It's false, and B - The place didn't even HAVE a basement).  AND, the superintendent of an upscale school district in New Jersey has resigned, months after being outed as the guy taking dumps on the athletic field of a rival district; but "pooperintendent" Thomas Tramaglini plans to sue the cops for taking and publicizing his mugshot, claiming that public pooping doesn't require such treatment. 

Tens of thousands of people protested Russia's plans to raise the retirement age, which would literally have many people working until they drop dead.  Organized by Union and the Communist Party, they marched in Moscow and other cities carrying banners reading, "We want to live on our pensions, not die at work", "We won't live that long", and "The government must go".  The UN World Health Organization (WHO) says life expectancy in Russia is 66 years for men, 77 for women.  But the Kremlin wants to raise the pension age from 60 to 65 for men, and from 55 to 63 for women.  And the plan appears to be endorsed by Vladimir Putin, who didn't bother to mention it during his "re-election" in March.  Public trust in his presidency fell from 80 percent in May to 64 percent this month according to the state pollster, so who knows how it is in reality.

Julian Assange's lawyers are preparing for his eviction from the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, after sources told both the Times of London and CNN state that they're getting really, really tired of their houseguest.  Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador's former president Rafeal Correa, who was a fan of his media provocations and leaking of secrets; current President Lenin Moreno is not.  At all.  It is expected that as soon as Assange hits the London sidewalk, he will be arrested and given to the US for charges related to Wikileaks cooperation with Russia over meddling with the 2016 presidential election.

Egypt has sentenced 75 people to death for the violence that erupted after President Mohammed Morsi's removal in 2013.  The group including leaders of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, of which Morsi was a member.  Amnesty International says the trial was "grossly unfair" and a violation of Egypt's constitution.