A flamboyant, tattooed basketball player returns to the stage of international diplomacy – Brazil might grant police protection to journalist Glenn Greenwald – A once-giant name in mobile phones gets bought – And German officials try to clean up the last of the war criminals.

Former pro-basketball player Dennis Rodman is back in North Korea, and apparently he’s the best chance a jailed American has of getting freed.  Kenneth Bae was convicted of “hostile acts against the state”, which apparently involved trying to smuggle out photos of starving orphans, and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.  Rodman had earlier tweeted a plea for Bae’s release, and had in February taken part of a goodwill demonstration of basketball before his good buddy, Kim Jong-Il.

While Brazil President Dilma Rousseff is considering calling off a long-planned trip to the White House, Brazil’s senate is requesting special police protection for the journalist who broke the story that the US National Security Agency spied on Rousseff.  Senators want journalist Glenn Greenwald and his domestic partner, David Miranda, protected because the future testimony of both is considered fundamental to their investigation of US spying.

Jamaica Police arrested a former judge for running a lottery scam.  They did not reveal the woman’s identity, but say she conned elderly Americans out of their retirement savings by promising that they've won millions in an international lottery but need to first wire a payment to cover taxes.  Of course, there never was a lottery prize in the first place.

Some 80,000 gold miners are on strike in South Africa for a 10 percent wage hike.  The strike could cost South Africa more than A$33 – A$40 Million a day.  The sector is still recovering from last year’s platinum miners’ strike.

Power blackouts have hit nearly half of Venezuela, including the capital city Caracas where it also affected the pumps providing water service, traffic lights, and subway service.  Even though Venezuela has the world’s biggest proven oil reserves, it has a lousy electrical grid and critics say the government has not invested enough to upgrade it.

Nokia may have found way to extend its 145-year life. Software giant Microsoft has agreed a deal to buy Nokia's mobile phone business for more than A$7.8 Billion.  Microsoft is looking at a world beyond computers, as more and more consumers shun PCs for tablets and smartphones.  Nokia (which started life in the 1800s as a rubber tyre and boot maker) has lost market share in double-digit percentages every quarter as its phones fall out of favor, but still locks up emerging economies where consumers can’t all afford the latest smartphone.

German justice officials are pushing for the prosecution of 30 former Auschwitz death camp guards for their complicity in atrocities.  23 live in Germany, seven are abroad.  More than 7 thousand SS members worked in the notorious death camp, but only a few hundred were ever prosecuted.

Six UK soldiers are in hot water in New York City, after allegedly ganging up on an off-duty cop outside of a bar over the weekend.  They’re charged with assault.  The six, all Fijian nationals in America for a Rugby tour, punched and kicked the officer and stole his cellphone when he tried to call for help.  He suffered a broken nose.

Okay, THIS is cool:  A flying motorbike.