World AM News Briefs For Wednesday, 2 Oct 2019
Hello Australia!! - Hong Kong cops shoot their first protester - A cop awaits her sentence for killing the wrong man - The Australian connection in a US Congressman's guilty plea - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:
A Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrator is recovering after being shot in the shoulder by police during a raucous protest. The 18-year old is believed to be the first protester hit with a live round, although numerous members of the pro-democracy street crew have been hit with rubber bullets and bean bags. Hong Kong Police Commissioner Stephen Lo said the officer's actions in pulling his handgun were "reasonable and lawful" because he feared his life was in danger and he had no other choice.
Chinese officials hoped the world's eyes would have been on Beijing for China's 70th anniversary festivities. President Xi Jinping wore a Mao-style suit to promise an "even brighter future" and preside over a parade featuring 100,000 performers and 15,000 troops extolling China's achievements. Xi spoke of maintaining the "One China, Two Systems" policy that helped fuel the city's economic might, but emphasized "peaceful reunification" - a phrase targeted at Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
A white former Dallas, Texas police officer has been found guilty of murdering her black neighbor. The proceedings against 31-year ex-cop Amber Guyger immediately moved into the sentencing phase, and she could face up to life in prison. Guyger claimed she thought she was walking into her own apartment after her police shift in September 2018 when she was startled by what she thought was an intruder; in reality, she walked into the wrong apartment and shot and killed 26-year old Botham Jean, the rightful resident of the unit and law abiding citizen who was just sitting on his couch eating ice cream. Through every step of the case, Guyger's lawyers tried to eschoo responsibility and put it on the victim.
At least one woman is dead and ten other people are hurt in a sword attack at vocational school in Kuopio, a city in eastern Finland. Police say the suspect also carried a firearm, although they didn't say if the suspect had fired it. The suspect is described as a native Finn born in 1994 who was a student at the college.
Austria's far right and ironically-named Freedom Party is on the ropes, having lost a lot of votes in last weekend's election. The party has dumped former leader Heinz-Christian Strache amid an investigation into his expenses; he was caught in a sting offering huge favors to someone he thought represented a Russian oligarch earlier this year, prompting conservative PM Sebastian Kurz to pull the plug on his coalition with the Freedom Party, and call new elections which he won.
A French court ruled that former president Nicholas Sarkozy should go to trial for alleged campaign finance violations, spending that didn't help him anyway since he lost to Emmanuel Macron in the last election. Prosecutors allege the Sarkozy campaign used fake invoices to spent nearly 43 Million Euros on his failed 2012 re-election bid - almost double the legal limit.
Six people are missing after the collapse of a bridge in Taiwan. A typhoon had smalled the area just a day earlier.
The first US Congressman to endorse Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Republican Chris Collins, has pleaded guilty to taking part in an insider trading scheme involving an Australian biotech company Innate Immunotherapeutics. As a board member, he used insider information on a failed drug test to dump his stock before word got out, thus avoiding a major financial loss - until now. At 69-years old, he resigned from Congress yesterday and is now facing around five years in prison with his plea deal.
Two demonstrators are dead in violent protests in Baghdad, where the Iraqi government has not plan to reverse the country's dismal 25 percent youth unemployment rate. "We want this government to be changed," said 21-year-old unemployed protester Fadhel Saber, "This is a government of political parties and militias."