Unpredictable Antarctic weather is hampering efforts to rescue a stranded ship – A judge almost succeeds in forcing a 14-year old rape victim to bear her step-father’s baby – The journalist closest to Edward Snowden promises more leaks – China changes its one-child policy.  That and more in today’s CareerSpot World News Briefs:

An Aussie research expedition to the Antarctic will have to wait a while to be rescued.  The Chinese Icebreaker Snow Dragon sent to rescue their stranded ship has itself been stopped by ice.  Captain Wang Jiangzhong told reporters it might take the icebreaker another two days to get to the trapped ship.  The Aussies are among 74 people on the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy attempting to recreate Australian explorer Douglas Mawson's century-old voyage to Antarctica.

An Argentine court will allow a 14-year old rape victim to get an abortion, overturning a lower judge’s earlier decision.  The girl was assault by her mother’s partner, but the lower court judge in the conservative, provincial city of Salta claimed the fetus’ rights trumped those of the traumatized teen.  His order to the girl to bear a child and then give it up for adoption is vacated.  Despite other progressive legislative victories in Argentina, abortion is largely illegal with exceptions for rape victims.  Cops got the step-dad, he’s in prison.

The US National Security Agency’s (NSA) that collects records of millions of Americans' phone calls does not violate the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, according to a Federal Judge, who called it a “counter-punch” against terrorism.  It overrules a lower court judge who said the NSA’s scooping up of all telephony metadata is “almost Orwellian” and an “indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion” of privacy.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will appeal the new ruling and the whole thing is very likely to go to the US Supreme Court.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald says “a lot” more NSA secrets will be revealed from the trove of US intelligence documents smuggled out of America by fugitive Edward Snowden.  He accuses the NSA and its partners in the Anglophone “Five Eyes” of attempting to eliminate privacy all over the world.  Greenwald made his comments in the keynote address to the Chaos Communications Congress (CCC) in Germany, which he made via link – Greenwald has been advised not to travel abroad from Brazil, because he’s angered many intelligence agencies. 

The top Bitcoin exchanges in India are shut down after the central bank issued a rare public advisory detailing the risks of using Bitcoin and other digital currencies.  India cites reports that the virtual currency is used by drug dealers and for other illicit activities, making it too volatile.  It comes a week after China and other countries forced local exchanges to stop dealing in the currency.

Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia is defecting, asking Canberra for asylum.  Jacqueline Zwambila accused President Robert Mugabe's government of stealing July’s elections, and said that as an appointee of Mugabe’s political foe, her life is in danger if she returns to Zimbabwe.  Canberra, Washington, and London questioned the results of the elections.

Mali will investigate its former President Amadou Toumani Toure for High Treason, for failing to stop an armed Islamic insurgency that plunged the country into chaos.  The 2012 Tuareg Rebellion caused hundreds of deaths, and Toure’s mishandling of it prompted his own troops to oust him by coup d’etat.  Eventually, a coalition of French and West African troops ousted the Islamists from their strongholds.

China is easing its “one-child” policy.  The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed a resolution allowing couples to have two children if either parent is an only child.  A proposal to abolish re-education through labor camps was also approved.

US Troops will remain based on the Japanese Island of Okinawa.  After years of deadlock over where to relocate the US base on the overcrowded island, Governor Hirozaku Nakaima agreed to landfill work on the north part of the island to create a giant new US military base.  Locals in Naha and Nago objected to the huge US presence, especially after crimes involving (usually drunken) American troops.

Turkey’s military will not get involved in the current political scandal swirling around Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan.  Turkey’s Lira is falling against other currencies as prosecutors investigate bribery for construction projects and illicit money transfers to Iran.  Erdogan blames it on “foreign plots”.