A truck driver takes down a pedestrian skyway with deadly results – Hong Kong is culling chickens because of the bird flu – A veteran anti-apartheid fighter might shake up South African politics – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs.

Four people died when a truck smashed into a pedestrian bridge in Rio de Janeiro, and the walkway crashed onto the highway below, crushing some cars.  Traffic cameras recorded the truck traveling the crowded highway with its rear section fully lifted, right up until the point it crashed into the overpass.  Normally the metal bridge would have been crowded with kids at the time of the crash, but this is Brazil’s summer holiday and school is not in session.

Thousands of young people joined Latin American leaders in a march through Havana to celebrate the 161st anniversary of the birth of Cuban national hero Jose Marti, one of the great figures of Latin American independence.  On hand were the presidents of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro; Bolivia, Evo Morales; Uruguay, Jose Mujica; and other dignitaries of Latin America and prime ministers of Caribbean nations.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was especially upbeat at the Marti Day celebrations – he just cleared to run for a third term.  Nicaragua’s National Assembly scrapped the term limits clause in the constitution.  The opposition claims the change is a threat to Democracy, while Ortega’s Sandinista Party says long-term stability is essential to deal with its deep economic problems.

South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) Party will field anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele as its presidential candidate in this year's election.  She is the former companion of Civil Rights legend Steve Biko, murdered by apartheid cops in 1977, and a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle; a medical doctor and educator; and former World Bank managing director.  She brings a heck of CV to a party that usually lags way behind in recent elections.  Her switch to the DA comes alongside growing dissatisfaction with African National Congress’ handling of the poor economy.

Egypt’s former Islamist president Mohammed Morsi struck a defiant tone at the beginning of his trial for escaping from prison in 2011.  Morsi was shown on state television, wearing a white jumpsuit and questioning the judge’s standing to preside.  He’s charged with organising a mass breakout from the Wadi al-Natrun prison during the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, as well as the murder of prison officers.

Righting the wrongs of the 1990s:  The former army chief of the Bosnian Serbs Ratko Mladic is refusing to testify at The Hague as a defense witness for former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.  Mladic didn’t want to prejudice his own case at the world court.  Both men are accused of atrocities after the Iron Curtain came down and a gruesome civil war broke out in the former Yugoslavia. 

Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday will debate amnesty for protesters arrested in anti-government demonstrations.  President Viktor Yanukovich wants this to be dependant on demonstrators breaking down the barricades and protest camps they’ve manned for the past two months in Kiev.  The protesters are ruling this out and still demand Yanukovich’s resignation.

Hong Kong is culling 20,000 chickens after the H7N9 Bird Flu was detected in poultry imported from Mainland China.  All birds from the marketplace where the virus was detected will be destroyed, and poultry imports from the mainland are banned for the next few weeks.

Amnesty International is blasting police in the Philippines amid accusations of torture.  About 44 detainees say cops are operating a torture chamber in an unofficial location outside Manila where drug suspects are subjected to vicious beatings.  Cops apparently spun a wheel reminiscent of a television game show to determine which abuse prisoners would suffer.  SMDH.