Good Morning Australia!! - 2016 is an awful year:  Prince is the latest legendary musician to die too young - London warns LGBT tourists in the US - hgf - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Funk, Rock, and Pop superstar Prince was found dead in his Paisley Park Studios near his beloved Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The cause of death is unknown, and the local Sheriff says it is under investigation.  However, it comes a week after he fell ill with flu-like symptoms after a show in Atlanta and his airplane had to make an emergency landing to seek medical treatment.  Despite ailing, Prince shortly afterward appeared at a yearly party he throws at his Paisley Park home studio compound where he told fans, "Wait a few days before you waste any prayers."  Fans also noted that he walked with the aid of a cane during recent solo Piano shows. 

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958 to a jazz musician father and mother whom he later said gave him his "wild side", Prince recorded his first album when he was just 19 years old, and played all of the instruments to boot - a practice he would continue to do on dozens of albums for the rest of his life.  Prince's music at the time already took full advantage of all of the available technology, incorporating multi-tracking, polyphonic synthesizers, drum machines, and numerous guitar effects to move effortless between guitar-based hard rock, funk, and techno - often within the same song.  Lyrically, he challenged race and gender roles, particularly in his song "Controversy" in which he asked listeners, "Am I black or white, am I straight or gay?" and finished with the Lord's Prayer.  Visually, he was made to bust out in the 1980s: Flashy, colorful, and influenced by Little Richard, Sly Stone, and James Brown, Prince bounced around stages on high heels that lifted his 5-foot-2 frame over provocatively shaped guitars.  His unique look filled MTV during its most influential years.

Upset over the murder of African American teenager Trayvon Martin by a self-styled "neighborhood watch" gunman in 2012, Prince co-founded "Yes We Code" with his friend former White House aide Van Jones.  Working on the premise that America sees black kids wearing hoodies as thugs but white kids wearing hoodies as the next Mark Zuckerberg, the organization aims to teach computer coding to 100,000 black teens from low income homes.  Van Jones says Prince worked on numerous social initiatives, but kept it on the low:  "But it's not just what he did with musical instruments.  It's what he did with his whole life.  He helped so many people.  Most people don't know that.  He wanted to keep his charitable activities a secret."  But a year ago, he could not remain silent any longer, writing and releasing the song "Baltimore" about police killing victims Michael Brown and Freddie Gray.

Moving Along...

The UK has issued a travel warning to LGBT tourists visiting the United States of America because of the "Bathroom Bills" recently passed by conservative-controlled legislatures and signed by governors in Mississippi and North Carolina.  These bills (which are flagrantly unconstitutional and will be overturned by the US Supreme Court) legalize discrimination against LGBT people under the guise of "religious liberty", and require trans persons to use public restrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates.  Ty Cobb of the Human Rights Campaign said it is "both frightening and embarrassing that one of our nation's staunchest allies has warned its citizens of the risks" of traveling to the US.

Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden filed a lawsuit in Norway to seek guarantees he wouldn't be arrested if he comes to collect the Ossietzky Prize for "outstanding efforts for freedom of expression".  The US has already asked Norway to arrest and extradite Snowden if he shows up.  Snowden currently lives under asylum in Russia, and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of US espionage charges.

Mexican authorities warn that the death toll of 13 at a petrochemical plant explosion could rise.  This happened in the southern port city of Coatzacoalcos at a facility owned by Mexico's state oil company Pemex, which produces vinyl chloride. 

At least two people are dead and more are missing in the collapse of an elevated bicycle path in Brazil, constructed especially for visitors to the upcoming Summer Olympics.  The path was built on stilts along a scenic stretch of the Atlantic Ocean in Rio de Janeiro, and wasn't intended for any Olympic events.  The cause of the collapse is under investigation.

Ethiopian troops have located more than a hundred children kidnapped in a cross border raid by cattle ranching tribesmen from neighboring South Sudan.  More than 200 people were killed in last Friday's raid in the Gambella region, and flags have been flying at half-staff across Ethiopia.  There are conflicting reports on whether the South Sudan government is assisting the Ethiopians in getting the children back from the Murle tribe; earlier accounts indicated "yes", but later reports said that South Sudan didn't want the Ethiopian troops to go any further.