Hello Australia!! - A giant snowstorm slams the US East Coast - Women's groups cry foul over the latest health warnings over the Zika Virus - A 13-year old girl is shot dead in the cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians - And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

At least 17 deaths are attributed to the giant snowstorm hitting America's East Coast, from Boston to North Carolina.  Some areas are expected to get more than a meter of snow.  New York City is expecting 65 centimeters and has banned all street traffic except for emergency vehicles and snow plows.  A little ways south in New Jersey, the storm surge is accompanied by a full moon, bringing a high tide that flooded the Jersey Shore.  More than 85 million people in 20 states will be impacted by this storm in on way or another.  Thousands of people are without power because the weight of the snow is snapping power lines; roads are iced up and traffic jams are lasting as long as twelve hours; thousands of flights are cancelled. 

At least Tian-Tian the Panda at Washington's National Zoo likes the weather.  So does baby girl Bei-bei.

It's not clear if the murder of a Good Samaritan in North Carolina is being included in the US snowstorm statistics, but it appears to be an unfortunate convergence of bad weather and America's stupid obsession with guns.  Police arrested 27-year old Marvin Jason Lee after his pick-up truck spun out of control, and he shot and killed one of three men who ran to his aid in the middle of a blizzard.  Mr. Lee then allegedly stood over the body of the man who tried to help, 26-year old  Jefferson Heavner, and fired more shots into his body. 

Officials in four Latin American and Caribbean countries are urging women to delay getting pregnant because of spreading Zika virus, which has been associated with thousands of birth defects in Brazil, where nearly 4,000 babies have been born with microcephaly - or abnormally small heads - since October.  "We are doing this because I believe it's a good way to communicate the risk, to tell people that there could be serious consequences," said Colombian Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria.  The other countries are Jamaica, Ecuador, and El Salvador - the last one asking women to put it off until 2018. 

Women's Rights campaigners are pushing back, saying that the Zika Virus warnings show that regional health officials have little idea how and why women get pregnant:  "It's incredibly naive for a government to ask women to postpone getting pregnant in a context such as Colombia, where more than 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned and across the region where sexual violence is prevalent," said Monica Roa of Women's Link Worldwide.  Women's rights activists have also faulted health ministries for failing to address the role of men in pregnancies.  Zika is not spread person to person, but rather by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.  A handful of cases have been reported in the US and UK, all in people who've recently returned from travel in Latin America.

Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly voted against granting President Nicolas Maduro's emergency powers to deal with the floundering economy.  "I'm very sorry the National Assembly is turning its back on the country," said President Maduro, "They prefer shows and confrontation."  Fearing prince controls and higher taxes on the wealthy, opposition lawmaker Elias Mata said, "The people voted for a change, not a failed communist model."  The opposition, which has attempted violent coups in the last, has vowed to find a "legal" way to remove Maduro by mid-2016.

An Israeli security guard shot and killed a 13-year old Palestinian girl outside the Almon settlement in the West Bank.  Palestinians are disputing an Israeli police claim that the girl argued with her parents about carrying out a stabbing attack before storming out of the house with a knife. Ruqqayah Eid Abu Eid is now one of at least 29 Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the last four months, according to Defense for Children International (DCI) in the Palestinian territories. 

A 17-year old boy is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, and seven counts of attempted murder, after the shooting at a school in La Loche, Saskatchewan, an indigenous community in northern Canada.  The Prime Minister called the situation, "every parents' worst nightmare."

Tens of thousands of people marched in cities across Italy, demanding legal recognition for same-sex couples.  Lawmakers are due to debate the issue soon.  Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy had violated human rights by failing to offer enough legal protection for same-sex couples.

A suspected piece of plane wreckage washed up on a beach in Thailand, and some are wondering it it's part of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.  "Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about 2 meters wide and 3 meters long," said local official Tanyapat Patthikongpan of the curved piece of metal.  The only other piece of the passenger plane which went missing nearly two years ago washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion - more than 5,800 kilometers away.  239 people including six Aussies were on board.