World AM News Briefs For Tuesday, 28 November 2017
Good Morning Australia!! - There's a royal wedding coming up - Indonesia's Mount Agung is close to erupting according to Jakarta - Leftists close in on a US ally - Kiwi cops break the internet! - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:
Britain's Prince Harry is to marry the American actress Meghan Markle, known to US television audiences for her role on the show "Suits". The engagement appears to be getting good reviews all the way around, with UK and other officials extending their congratulations. Prince Charles spoke for himself and the Duchess of Cornwall, "We're both thrilled. We hope they'll be very happy indeed." The bride-to-be's parents are similarly pleased. The wedding will be somewhat historic because Ms. Markle has described herself as a "strong, confident mixed-race woman" - her father is Caucasian and her mother is African-American. She'll be known as Her Royal Highness, Princess Henry of Wales.
Indonesia is warning that Mount Agung could erupt at any moment. 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, and flight cancellations will likely be extended - that's on top of the 445 flights that were halted as of yesterday, impacting some 59,000 passengers. The last time Mount Agung erupted in 1963, the death toll was estimated at 1,000-1,500 lives lost.
Myanmar's military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing told Pope Francis the country has "no religious discrimination at all", and the military "performs for the peace and stability of the country". The general is largely seen as the architect of the ethnic cleansing in Rakhine state that sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims over the border into Bangladesh. Francis, the first pope to visit Myanmar, will visit de facto ruler Aung San Suu Kyi today - she has been under intense criticism for allowing the military and nationalist mobs to run roughshod over the Rohingya.
The opposition candidate is ahead in Honduras' presidential election over the weekend, but the counting could go on for days or even weeks in the highly contentious contest. Former sportcaster Salvador Nasralla leads a Left-Right coalition ticket that is running five points ahead of conservative President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is credited for lowering the murder rate but reviled for rampant corruption. Hernandez shouldn't be running at all because the constitution bans consecutive presidential terms, one of many Latin American countries with similar rules intended to discourage dictatorships. Nasralla worries Honduras' benefactors in the US because of his close relationship with Leftist former President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a 2009 coup that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton allowed to slide by. Both candidates are claiming victory.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in crucial talks with her former coalition partners on the center-Left to form a unity government and avoid another election. Last week, she failed to form a coalition government with the free-marketeer Free Democrats and the Greens. This week's talks might be equally difficult, as the Social Democrats (SPD) vowed to go into opposition on a platform of greater spending on education and infrastructure, and no cap on refugees. Merkel was said to be pursuing a tax cut and cutting some refugees in order to win back some disgruntled voters on the right.
Russia is denying bombing civilians in Syria. But two sources said Russian aircraft in support of the Syrian government bombed the rebel-held village of al-Shafah on Sunday, killing 25- to 53-people, including many women and children. The death toll could rise as debris is cleared away and the extent of the damage is revealed.
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe might have gotten a golden parachute, but some of his officials are in deep trouble after the long-time ruler's ouster. Mugabe's former minister of finance and economic development Ignatius Chombo has been denied bail in his corruption case. He was arrested on Friday as interim President Emmerson Mnangagwa was inaugurated.
New Zealand Police have won the Internet with their new recruitment video that features plenty of helicopters, bagpipes, dancing, parkour stunts, and a police cat.