Good Morning, Australia! – Charleston goes to church after last week’s racist massacre – Greek debt efforts are intensifying – Apple thinks artists and writers should pay for its freebie to streaming music subscribers – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:
European Leaders are trying to cut some sort of deal over the Greek Debt Crisis before Monday’s emergency summit of EU leaders in Brussels. Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Athens on Sunday night to support the government, which was elected on promises to end the austerity imposed on Greece by its EU creditors. But even so, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is offering a “mutually beneficial” compromise to Europe to prevent Athens from defaulting on its 1.6 Billion Euro IMF loan.
Charleston, SC’s Emanuel AME Church opened its doors for the first time since last week’s murders within its walls. Hundreds gathered to honor the nine victims of a scrawny white supremacist who got his hands on one of America’s easily-available guns. Near the altar, the seat of the pastor, the reverend Clementa Pinckney was draped with a black cloth. Many more were gathered outside, and Charleston had many rallies over the weekend calling for the state government to take down the racist confederate flag from the capital grounds.
In Germany, Al Jazeera journalist Ahmed Mansour will face a judge after being detained at the request of Egypt, which tried him in absentia last year and found the 52-year old guilty of torture and other crimes. Egypt accuses Al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, and jailed Aussie AJ journo Peter Greste for 400 days. It’s a test of the West’s hypocritical relationship with oppressive Egypt, a crucial ally in the war on terrorism. “Germany must not be a henchman of Egypt’s politically-controlled justice system,” said opposition Social Democrat foreign policy spokesman Niels Annen.
The jihadist group Al Shabaab attacked a training center for Somalia’s national security agency in the capital Mogadishu. The government says troops “foiled the attack” and that three people were killed. Militants have vowed to step up attacks during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which began last week.
American singer Taylor Swift has pulled her most recent album “1989” from Apple’s new music streaming service in protest of the three-month free trial offered to subscribers. “I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months,” Swift wrote in an open letter to the company, noting that most artists, producers, and writers can’t really go three months without being paid. “We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”
Poep Francis visited the Cathedral in Turin, Italy to view the Shroud of Turin, which some consider to be the burial cloth of Jesus – but which science says is a medieval fake.
Stonehenge! Thousands marked the summer solstice at the mysterious ruins in England.
62-year old Oswaldo Ochoa got a hero’s welcome in the Guatemalan capital as he finished his 200 kilometer march from his home city – a march in protest of rampant corruption in the Central American nation. Ochoa says he was inspired by the spirit of Gandhi, and is seeking social, political and agricultural change. Guatemala’s vice president was forced to resign last month. But the president is standing his ground and staying in office with the backing of the military, despite several investigations swirling around him.