PENINSULA DAILY NEWS for Friday/Saturday, January 3-4, 2014 P A G E
A3 Briefly: Nation Winter storm bears down on the Northeast HARTFORD, Conn. — Light snow was falling Thursday in parts of the Northeast, making commutes hazardous for the first work day of the new year and giving some students an extra day off school following Christmas break, as a winter storm promising significant snowfall, strong winds and frigid temperatures bore down. Snow began falling overnight in parts of New England and New York, but the real brunt of the storm wasn’t expected to hit until later Thursday. As much as a foot of snow or more was forecast for some areas overnight Thursday into today, and temperatures were expected to plummet, with some areas seeing highs just above zero, according to the National Weather Service. Up to 14 inches of snow is forecast for the Boston area, and the National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for Long Island — where 8 to 10 inches of snow could fall and winds could gust up to 45 mph — from Thursday evening into this afternoon.
ted with an electronic monitoring device. After that, he’ll be released, probably to the custody of a family memLynn ber, one of his lawyers said. Lynn, 62, was the first U.S. church official ever charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children. He was the point person for those complaints in Philadelphia from 1992-2004. Prosecutors charged him with felony child endangerment. But the appeals court said the law that existed at the time didn’t cover people who don’t directly supervise children.
Victims still critical
MINNEAPOLIS — At least three of the 14 people injured in an explosion and fire at a Minneapolis apartment complex remain hospitalized in critical condition Thursday, as crews were beginning the process of going through the building. The victims suffered burns, broken bones or both. No fatalities have been reported, but authorities were still not sure Thursday whether Priest is released any residents were inside. PHILADELPHIA — A Roman The building’s roof had parCatholic church official who won tially collapsed, making it too an appeal of his landmark condangerous for firefighters to viction in the priest-abuse scanenter earlier, but crews were dal left state prison Thursday beginning the process of debris after 18 months behind bars. removal Thursday morning. Monsignor William Lynn left Officials said the cause of the the prison in Waymart in north- fire wasn’t immediately clear. eastern Pennsylvania, prison Abdi Warsame, a Minneapolis spokeswoman Terri Fazio said, city councilman-elect, said the vicand was being taking by the tims are members of the city’s Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office to a Somali community. The Associated Press city jail, where he would be fit-
Kerry arrives in Israel for new round of talks A Palestinian state is focus of meetings BY DEB RIECHMANN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM — Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that finding peace between Israel and the Palestinians is not “mission impossible,” but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the Palestinian leader as someone who embraces terrorists “as heroes.” Kerry arrived in Israel to broker Mideast peace talks entering a difficult phase aimed at creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
In West Bank today He had talks scheduled Thursday in Jerusalem with Netanyahu and planned to be in the West Bank today to talk with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Kerry is asking both leaders to make tough, highly charged political decisions. Netanyahu on Thursday criticized the actions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying Abbas embraced terrorists as
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Secretary of State John Kerry arrives at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday to broker Mideast peace talks aimed at reaching a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians. heroes when he welcomed Palestinian prisoners’ release from Israeli detention. “To glorify the murderers of innocent women and men as heroes is an outrage,” Netanyahu said.
recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and give up the so-called “right of return” for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were expelled in the war over Israel’s creation in 1948.
1967 borders
Process still on track
Netanyahu is likely to be asked to accept — with some modifications — the borderlines that existed in 1967 before Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Abbas fears being asked to
Kerry insisted the peace process is still on track and said he plans to work intensely with both sides over the next couple of days to narrow differences on a framework that will outline a final peace accord.
Briefly: World Newspapers call for clemency in Snowden case LONDON — The Guardian and The New York Times newspapers have called for clemency for Edward Snowden, saying that the espionage-workerturned-privacy advocate should be praised rather than punished for his disclosures. Snowden’s revelations about the United States’ world-spanning espionage activities have ignited a global debate over civil liberties and surveillance. But his mass disclosure of top-secret data has earned him spying charges in the U.S., and he has settled in Russia following an abortive attempt to flee to Latin America. In editorials, the Times and the Guardian — both of which have published material from Snowden’s intelligence trove — backed Snowden’s decision to go public and said the 30-year-old deserved praise for his action, not prosecution.
smoked crack “in a drunken stupor.” Ford was the first candidate to show up at City Hall when registration opened Thurs- Ford day for the city’s municipal election Oct. 27. The conservative mayor of Canada’s largest city has said he would run again, even after the revelations last year about his drug use pushed him into the international media spotlight. The City Council has stripped Ford of most of his powers, but support from the city’s more conservative suburbs continues.
Beirut blast kills 5
BEIRUT — An explosion tore through a crowded commercial street Thursday in a south Beirut neighborhood that is a bastion of support for the Shiite group Hezbollah, killing at least five people and wounding more than 50. The nature of the blast that hit during rush hour in the Haret Hreik neighborhood was not immediately clear, but a Lebanese Ford files to run again security official said it appeared to TORONTO — Toronto Mayor have been caused by a car bomb. Rob Ford has put his name on the The official spoke on condition ballot to run for another term, of anonymity because he was not defying repeated calls for him to authorized to brief the media. step down after admitting he The Associated Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Passengers from the trapped Russian vessel MV Akademik Shokalskiy prepare to board a Chinese helicopter Thursday in the Antarctic.
Ice-bound ship passengers rescued by helicopter Weather thwarted recent attempts BY ROD MCGUIRK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CANBERRA, Australia — All 52 passengers trapped for more than a week on an icebound Russian research ship in the Antarctic were rescued Thursday when a Chinese helicopter swooped in and plucked them
Quick Read
from the ice a dozen at a time. The dramatic international rescue operation became possible once inclement weather finally cleared. Blinding snow, strong winds, fog and thick sea ice forced rescuers to turn back time and again. The twin-rotor helicopter carried the scientists and tourists from the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy to an Australian icebreaker, according to the Australian Maritime
Safety Authority’s Rescue Coordination Centre, which oversaw the rescue.
Impromptu landing site At one point, the passengers linked arms and stomped out a landing site in the snow next to the Russian ship for the helicopter. The rescue came after days of failed attempts to reach the vessel, which had been trapped since Christmas Eve.
. . . more news to start your day
West: Police name suspect in killing of California priest
West: Arson suspected at San Francisco consulate
Nation: Weinsteins seek confirmation on prisoner
World: Rwandan leader under fire following killing
POLICE IN EUREKA, Calif., identified a suspect Thursday in the killing of a respected priest who was found dead in a church rectory in Northern California on New Year’s Day. Eureka police have issued an arrest warrant for Gary Lee Bullock, 43, of Redway in the bludgeoning death of the Rev. Eric Freed, according to a statement. Officials are still investigating a motive in the killing, but Bullock had been in and out of police custody in the hours leading up to Freed’s death. It is not clear exactly when Freed was killed as he was last seen during Tuesday evening Mass.
INVESTIGATORS WERE ON the scene Thursday following a suspected arson overnight at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco. The consulate said in a statement a person came out of a minivan parked late Wednesday night in front of the consulate’s main entrance and splashed two buckets of gasoline onto the front door before setting it on fire. It was unclear how the consulate knows this or whether there was video surveillance footage or witnesses. Firefighters brought the flames under control minutes later. No injuries were reported.
FAMILY MEMBERS OF an American development expert kidnapped in Pakistan by al-Qaida more than two years ago said a recently released video and letter haven’t convinced them he’s alive. His family released a statement Thursday asking for “date-specific” confirmation that Warren Weinstein of Rockville, Md., is alive and well. Weinstein appeared in a video sent last week to reporters in Pakistan, appealing to President Barack Obama to negotiate his release. It was the first video of Weinstein since September 2012. There was no indication of when it was made.
THE BODY OF Rwanda’s former spy chief was found, possibly strangled, in a hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa, police said Thursday. Rwandan dissidents accused President Paul Kagame of ordering his assassination. The suspicious death of Patrick Karegeya, a former Kagame ally who turned against him, follows a pattern of assassinations ordered by the Rwandan president, said Theogene Rudasingwa of the opposition coalition Rwandan National Congress. Kagame’s government vehemently denies charges it has targeted dissidents.