Good Morning, Australia! – Greece meets its deadline, but will Europe accept it? – Confederate flag lovers strike back in Washington, DC – London tells its people to leave Tunisia – More about that eyebrow-raising gift given to the Pope – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Greece has sent its proposals to deal with its debt to the European creditors, beating the midnight deadline by two hours.  It reportedly contains a hike in the value added tax (VAT) and changes to pensions, but details are not yet confirmed.  The troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are scheduled to review the new proposal in Brussels on Friday.

Leaders of the BRICS nations vowed to coordinate to protect their economies from the volatility of global financial markets.  Meeting in the Russian city of Ufa, the heads of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa also launched the group’s development bank and a currency pool, and called for a quick resolution of a deal to end Iran’s nuclear program.

But US Secretary of State John Kerry rejected that.  “We will not rush, and we will not be rushed,” Kerry said at the negotiations between Iran and the six major world powers in Vienna.  Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says he’ll stay in Vienna “for as long as necessary” to reach agreement.  Kerry said some of the toughest issues have yet to be resolved, but as long as progress is still being made the deadline could and should continue to be extended.  The US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China want Tehran to give up its nuclear program in exchange for lifting crippling economic sanctions.

The UK is urging all of its nationals to leave Tunisia, citing the threat of another terrorist attack.  Last month, an Islamic State-trained gunman killed 38 tourists at a Tunisian beach resort, 30 of them Britons.  There is no specific threat, but a “further terrorist attack is highly likely,” according to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. 

The most prominent former member of the Pakistani Taliban who defected to Islamic State has reportedly been killed in a drone strike.  Police in eastern Afghanistan confirmed the drone strike and the death of Shahidullah Shahid’s death.  NATO is the only force capable of launching a drone strike in the region, but has not commented.

A bill to fund the US Interior Department was stalled when House Republicans backbenchers stealthily added an amendment to allow confederate flags to be flown at national cemeteries.  It’s a major embarrassment for the national Republican Party, which is trying to distance itself from the racist symbol before an election year.  The supporters spouted the usual lies about “heritage” and blah blah blah, but republican leaders were not amused and left dumbfounded as opposition Democrats seized on the issue.  Okay, “more dumbfounded than usual”. 

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed legislation ordering the removal of the confederate flag from government buildings in the state – the garish red and blue banner will be taken down on Friday morning local time, and relegated to a US Civil War museum.  That set off the collective butthurt of millions of cultural conservatives and confederate flag supporters in the United States, but who cares what they think. 

Everyone LOVES Baby Zebras!  At Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago.

Pope Francis slammed consumerism in an open air mass in the vast Christ the Redeemer Plaza in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.  Francis denounced what he called a “mentality in which everything has a price, everything can be bought, everything is negotiable. This way of thinking has room only for a select few.”

It turns out that Hammer and Sickle Crucifix presented to Pope Francis by Bolivian President Evo Morales in La Paz yesterday is from a surprising source.  It was designed by one of Francis’ fellow Jesuits, one Fr. Luis Espinal, who was assassinated by right-wing paramilitaries in 1980 for his advocacy of social justice.  Pope Francis made a point of praying at the spot where Espinal was killed 35 years ago – although the Vatican makes it clear the Pontiff didn’t know that Espinal designed such as symbol.  Pope Francis is bringing Liberation Theology in from the cold, although conservative Catholics object believing it is influenced by Marxism.  BTW, Evo Morales is now seeking a meeting with US President Barack Obama.