Good Morning Australia!! - Obama lays another trap for Republicans, and they appear to be stupid enough to walk right in again - Authorities identify the gunman in the big anti-terror raid in Belgium - Guatemala makes another attempt to convict its former fascist dictator of genocide - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

US President Barack Obama has nominated a veteran moderate judge to replace the late ultra-conservative Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.  Mr. Obama says 63-year old Merrick Garland "is the right man for the job", and that "he deserves to be confirmed".  Mr. Garland won praise from Congressional Republicans when they approved him as Chief Justice of the DC Appeals Court, meaning that those republicans will come off as total hypocrites if they follow through the plan to block the nomination in an election year.

Women's Rights advocates are furious with Nigeria's Senate for rejecting the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill that would have eliminated "all forms of discrimination" against women, while promoting women's equality in marriage, inheritance and education.  Opponents of the bill claimed that it is not compatible with Nigerian culture and religious beliefs, both in the Muslim north and Christian south.  "Every Senator that voted against the bill should hide in shame," said prominent actress Uche Jombo.

Lula is back in government in Brazil.  Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will become the new chief of staff for current President Dilma Rousseff, in advance of a possible run to return to the presidency in 2018.  This move also shields Lula from possible prosecution in the investigation into corruption at the state-owned oil company Petrobras, because cabinet members can only be tried in the supreme court.  Cops detained Lula for questioning earlier this month, which he claims was politically-motivated.

Argentina's coast guard chased and eventually sank a Chinese fishing vessel that had violent the South American country's exclusive economic zone in the the southern Atlantic Ocean.  All 32 crew members of the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010 were rescued.  Beijing is protesting and urging a "thorough investigation"  China has the world's largest long-reach fishing fleet with 2,000 vessels. 

The US is urging North Korea to release a young American convicted of vandalism and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.  The White House accuses Pyongyang of using 21-year old Otto Warmbier and other jailed US citizens as "pawns to pursue a political agenda".  Mr. Warmbier - who sobbed at his show trial and clearly is not prepared for this - was for some reason a tourist in the most-repressive state in the world, and admits he tore down a propaganda poster to take home as a souvenir.  North Korea has in the past detained tourists and used them for leverage against their home countries.

Authorities in Belgium say the gunman killed in an anti-terror raid yesterday was an Algerian national named Mohammed Belkaid, taken down by snipers as he fired an AK47 out his apartment window at police.  Two more suspects are still on the loose.  The raid was related to the investigation into last November's terror attacks in Paris.  Meanwhile, French authorities say they arrested four people as part of a wider investigation into a possible plot against French targets.  At least one of the suspects has a record and suspected ties to Islamic State.

Guatemala has began its fourth attempt to try former dictator Efrain Rios Montt fo crimes against humanity during his rule in the 1980s.  He's accused of ordering his troops to murder some 2,000 Ixil Mayan indigenous people for allegedly sheltering "Leftists" in 1982 to 1983.  The 89-year old was convicted in his first trial in 2013 and given 80-years in prison, but that was overturned on a technicality.  Two more attempts to try him last year were delayed.  He's since been declared unfit for a regular trial because of dementia; the special closed-door hearing currently taking place in Guaemala City can determine his guilt, but cannot sentence him to prison.

Police in Spain detained a woman for making three attempts to kidnap newborn infants from at least two hospitals in Valencia.  The 21-year-old suspect wore a white lab coat when she entered a hospital room and told the father of a newborn that the baby needed a test - Dad grew suspicious because she couldn't explain the test and refused to hand over the baby.