World AM News Briefs For Friday, 13 May 2016
Good Morning Australia!! - Malcolm and Bill will debate tonight - Brazil's Dila Rousseff is suspended and you won't believe how her cabinet was replaced - A German court seems to be woefully ignorant of history - How not to bribe an official - And more in your CareerSpot International News Briefs:
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will debate of sorts tonight. This will be in a so-called people's forum format, with the two leaders taking questions from 100 undecided voters at the Windsor RSL Club in western Sydney. Mr Turnbull spent Thursday campaigning in Victoria, while Mr. Shorten spent the day campaigning in North Queensland - both will campaign in Sydney on Friday in the hours before the debate.
Calling it a "coup" and a "farce", Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff denounced the senate vote to suspend her from office pending an impeachment trial for accounting irregularities, insisting that her alleged offenses were not crimes. As the first female president of the country greeting her supporters in the capital Brasilia, her interim replacement - Vice President Michel Temer, who is being investigated for actual, demonstrable financial crimes - announced his cabinet would be made entirely of white males. Rousseff is vowing to fight on - she retains her salary and title of President by law, but she will not be fulfilling the duties of that office for the next 180 days, likely through the Summer Olympics.
The Republican Party speaker of the US House of Representatives met with fascist demagogue Donald Trump to bring the party together before the fall election. Although they issued a joint statement calling the meeting "positive", Ryan failed to endorse Trump's run for the White House.
A court in Germany is ordering a Munich beer hall with a historical connection to Hitler to host a political rally by the far-right "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) Party. Optics, people, optics. The AfD had booked the Hofbraeukeller before annoucing the change in its policy to become explicitly anti-Muslim - and the AfD leader scheduled to speak has said that German police should open fire on immigrants upon arrival. Owner Ricky Steinberg cancelled the booking because he didn't want the security problems and media attention, but the court said the gig is on. Hitler gave his first political speech at the Hofbraeukeller in September 1919.
The UK government is stepping back from an attempted power grab of the BBC, with major broadcasting personalities accusing the government of threatening the institution's independence. But the Cameron government will create a new body to oversee the BBC (without telling it what to broadcast and when), and publish the salaries of top broadcasters in the interest of "transparency" (and totally not to stoke resentment amongst Brits who pay for BBC licenses while earning lower incomes).
Car falls into big sinkhole in London. Blimey!
The world's largest cruise ship has been delivered in France can hold 8,000 passengers. That's a lot of norovirus.
South Africa's national broadcaster SABC is requiring its radio stations to ensure that 90 percent of the music played on airwaves is locally-produced. The move has has been hailed by local musicians after years of campaigning. Officials claim it willl promote South African culture and heritage. Commercial radio stations are not bound by the rule.
The deal to give Turkish citizens visa-free travel in the European Union in exchange for Turkey cutting off the flow of refugees flowing into Europe appears to be in trouble. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is balking at a key condition, which is to narrow Turkey's definition of "terrorism". Erdogan (who once had his balls kicked by a horse) brashly demanded to know, "Since when are you running this country? Who has given you the authority?" Critics believe Erdogan is expanding the definition of "terrorism" in order to attack more opposition memebrs, journalists, and Kurds. And in fact, the deal was negotiated by outgoing Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is stepping down despite being democratically elected because of differences with Erdogan.
French prosecutors have opened an investigation into a AU$2.7 payment made from a Japanese bank to the son of the former world athletics chief Lamine Diack and whether it was linked to Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. The payment from the mysteriously named "Black Tidings" company of Singapore to Papa Massata Diack was labelled "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Bid". At least it didn't say, "flagrant bribe money, shh don't tell." Both Diacks are already under investigation in France for alleged corruption.
The Cannes Film Festival is on in the south of France. Money Monster is supposed to be pretty good.