Howdy Australia!! - Trump appears to incriminate himself in real time - The atrocity cops are inflicting on Chilean protesters - Putin and Zelinskiy will meet over Ukraine - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

One of the wildfires in New South Wales was allegedly set by a man trying to protect his cannabis crop.  The 51-year old was refused bail to appear at Armidale Local Court on Saturday.  Authorities say accuse him of lighting the fire as a backburn to protect his weed, and made no attempt to control it, and then hoped to benefit from government recovery payments in the aftermath.  For the latest information on the bushfire emergency, please click through to QLD RFS for Queensland, NSW RFS for New South Wales and Emergency WA for Western Australia.

US House Democrats are accusing Donald Trump of attempting to intimidate a witness at his impeachment investigation.  Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was testifying before the House Intelligence Committee about Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani's attempt to smear her name after 33 years of public service to the United States - and then Trump tweeted in the middle of it, "Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad," without any citation or proof.  Stunned reporters and pundits - even on Trump-friendly Fox news - condemned the tweet.  Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told reporters it was "intimidation in real time by the President of the United States."  After Ms. Yovanovitch finished her testimony, the room broke out in applause for her; it's not clear if Trump's backfired stunt will be added to the upcoming articles of impeachment.

Long-time US Republican party henchman Roger Stone has been found guilty on multiple counts of lying to Congress, obstruction of Congress, witness tampering, and other crimes.  This was for his actions to obstruct the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.  Stone, who dressed like a cartoon gangster and relished his reputation for political dirty tricks dating back to the Watergate Scandal, assuming his pal Trump doesn't pardon him.  Or, you know, Jeffrey Epstein.  Shhhhhh.

A top US counter-terrorism official says his country is offering to help Australia repatriate Australian families of Islamic State (IS) fighters trapped in Syria.  There are believed to be eight IS fighters of Australian origin who are imprisoned, plus more than 60 women and children stuck in in the al-Hawl camp in northern Syria.  The Government repatriated a group of orphans from the camp last month, but thusfar refuses to extract any more.

Indian federal police raided the offices of Amnesty International in the southern city of Bangalore in what the group says was a clear attempt at retaliation over its criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government.  The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it was acting on a Home Ministry complain:  "It was alleged that the provision of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010 and Indian Penal Code were contravened," the cops claimed.  After Modi became prime minister in 2014, India tightened surveillance of non-profits with thousands having their licenses to receive foreign funding canceled or suspended.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany will meet for the first time since 2014 to discuss the Ukraine's Russian separatist problem.  The talks will take place next month at the Elysees Palace in France and were scheduled after there had been "major advances" in negotiations since summer, according to French PResident Emmanuel Macron's office.  Ukraine has been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Donbass region for more than five years.

Police have blinded more than 200 people in Chile during the weeks of intense protests against President Sebastian Pinera and his ruinous right-wing economic policies.  It's primarily due to the use of shotgun pellets fired directly at protesters, instead of over their heads.  "We are facing a real health crisis, a health emergency given that in such few days, in three weeks, we have had the highest number of cases involving serious ocular complications due to shots in the eye," said Dr. Patricio Meza, vice president of the Medical College of Chile.  Citizens are demanding reforms to health care, education, the pension system, and the country's constitution.