Hello Australia!! - The heat is on and getting worse for the world - Putin's mysterious government reshuffle - Dreads should always be cool for school - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs: 

The previous decade was the hottest on record, and the past year was the second hottest on record.  The nations of the world are already halfway towards blasting through the limits on global warming proposal in the Paris Climate Accord:  "The last decade was easily the warmest decade in the record and is the first decade more than 1 C above late 19th-century temperatures," said Gavin Schmidt of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, "What is important is the totality of evidence from multiple independent data sets that the Earth is warming, that human activity is driving it and the impacts are clearly being felt."    

And the United Nations World Meteorological Organization is warning that at the rate we're going, hotter years are ahead.  "The year 2020 has started out where 2019 left off - with high-impact weather and climate-related events," said WMO chief Petteri Taalas.  Human-made greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced 7.6 percent each year through 2030 in order to limit temperature rises to 1.5 C degrees over pre-industrial level.  But the current pledges of out world governments will only cut carbon emissions so much and the planet's average temperature is expected to warm several degrees by the end of the century.

The director of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) is blasting Australia's government for cutting its funding back in 2017, when Tony Abbott was Prime Minister and the Current PM Scott Morrison was treasurer.  Jean Palutikof says the result was to render Australia "not well positioned" to deal with fires such as the crisis we're facing this year, nor the "silent killer" of the years-long drought, nor other negative effects of global warming.  And Professor Palutikof is warning of complacency and mounting misinformation:  "I worry if it starts to rain and bushfires cease to be an immediate risk some money will be pumped in and then we’ll forget about it," she said.  "The government will call it adaptation and resilience but people will be left in the same vulnerable state they were when these bushfires hit."

Anyway...

The US House of Representatives appointed seven lawmakers as "impeachment managers" and sent the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Republican-controlled Senate.  The House, controlled by opposition Democrats, impeached Trump last month and accused him of obstructing congress and abuse of power.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already indicated that he is coordinating with the White House to basically sluff the whole thing off and let Trump off.  The trial starts next Tuesday.

Russian president Vladimir Putin announced plans to overhaul of the country's leadership including constitutional amendments that would limit his successors' power.  Prime Minister Dmitri Medved and the government resigned, and Putin appointed a New PM.  No one expects Putin to step down entirely, and since he is not term-limited out of office for another four years, observers are wondering what he's up to.  

Syrian and Russian warplanes hit targets in rebel-held Idlib, killing at least 18 civilians at a market and in an industrial zone.  The attack on the rebels' last stronghold took place despite the ceasefire brokered earlier this month by Russia and Turkey.

Sudan's army and put down the rebellion of ex-special forces troops loyal to ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir.

A court in Malawi is ordering the government to admit children with the hairstyle known as dreadlocks to school, after a primary school refused entry to a little girl with dreads.  "We are delighted by this order, which recognizes that not only the applicants, but all Rastafari children whose rights to dignity, education and religion are affected by the policy," said Tadala Chinkwezule, president of the Women Lawyers Association of Malawi (WLAM).

For the first time, a Japanese cabinet minister will take family leave time off of work.  Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said he will take two weeks off when his baby is born later this month.  Only six percent of workaholic Japanese men have taken Paternity Leave, and the telegenic son of former PM Junichiro Koizumi hopes to inspire others to spend more time with their kids.