Hello Australia!! - The coup attempt in Turkey fizzled out - Erdogan claims victory as hundreds are arrested - The attacker who killed scores of people in Nice, France leaves few clues about why he did it - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is promising retribution against the military members who took part in what appears to have been a failed coup d'etat.  He called it an act of "treason".  Reports indicate that at least 42 and possibly more than 60 people have been killed, mostly civilians.  With daylight over Istanbul, about 50 troops who took control of the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul the night before have surrendered to government authorities, walking with their hands in the air.  More than 750 people have been arrested in the aftermath.

From the start, the coup attempt appeared to be in trouble.  There was no popular support.  And although the military faction that tried to take over the state broadcaster and government buildings in the capital Ankara said it was doing so to preserve the democracy and secularism of Kemal Attaturk who founded the modern nation a century ago, the mobs backed Erdogan - the strongman who has oppressed the media, oppressed the Kurds, and repeatedly purged the military while consolidating autocratic power.  Not one of the three main opposition parties backed the coup - Erdogan rewarded their loyalty to democracy by calling on Turks to fill the streets in support of just his party.

Nor did the coup have any international support - although world leaders made clear that they supported Turkey's democracy without even mentioning Erdogan.  European Council president Donald Tusk said, "The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law."  US and NATO leaders appeared to have been caught flat-footed, and had little to say on the situation early on - despite Turkey's key role in the war on terror.  Both eventually released statements in support of the democratically-elected government and urging "continuity".

The situation in the capital Ankara is still hazy, and it might be significant that President Erdogan has remained in Istanbul instead of returning to the seat of government.  There is significant damage to the parliament building and to the presidential palace, gunfire is still being heard in the government center, and fighter jets have attacked tanks that were apparently operated by rebel soldiers.  The whereabouts of the military chief of staff are still unknown; General Hulusi Akar is reported to have been taken hostage by rebel soldier.

Meanwhile in Southern France, authorities are searching for a terrorism link to the attack in Nice that killed 84 people including ten children.  200 people are injured.  31-year old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was known to neighbors as a surly loner who beat his wife - but despite his criminal record for violence, had not appeared on authorities' radar as a potential jihandist.  On Thursday night, he drove a rented truck through a crowd of Bastille Day revelers, zig-zagging in the sea of people to maximize the carnage, before he was shot dead by police.  Bouhlel left no manifesto nor written allegience to any terrorist group - no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.