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Friday, January 3, 2014 – Daily News 3B WORLD BRIEFING Snowstorm pushes into Northeast BOSTON (AP) — A storm expected to bring more than a foot of snow, stiff winds and punishing cold pushed into the Northeast on Thursday, extending Christmas break for some students while posing the first test for New York's new mayor and perhaps the last challenge for Boston's outgoing one. Some schools in New England and New York closed well ahead of the snow, while cities mobilized plows and salt spreaders, and state offices sent workers home early. Some major highways were ordered shut down overnight. U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,300 flights nationwide on Thursday in advance of the storm. The heavy weather began rolling in just a day after New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was sworn in to lead the nation's largest city and a few days before Boston Mayor Thomas Menino ends 20 years in office. Menino announced a parking ban and said schools would be closed Friday in Boston, where up to 14 inches of snow was expected. Boston's airport said it would not handle any flights after 8:30 p.m. Thursday. ''What a New Year's gift, to receive one last snowstorm as mayor,'' said Menino, whose successor takes office Monday. At least 5 dead in explosion BEIRUT (AP) — An explosion tore through a crowded commercial street Thursday in a south Beirut neighborhood that is bastion of support for the Shiite group Hezbollah, killing at least five people, setting cars ablaze and sending a column of black smoke above the Beirut skyline. It was the latest in a wave of attacks to hit Lebanon in recent months as the civil war in Syria increasingly spills over into its smaller neighbor. The violence has targeted both Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods, further stoking sectarian tensions that are already running high as each community in Lebanon lines up with its brethren in Syria on opposing sides of the war. The Lebanese army said 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of explosives were placed in a dark green SUV. It said authorities were investigating how the explosives were set off. A security official said that human remains were found in and around the vehicle, and that authorities were investigating whether the blast could be a suicide bombing. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said a DNA test will be conducted to try identify the person who was in the car. Lebanon's official National News Agency said at least five people were killed and more than 50 wounded in the explosion, which left the mangled wreckage of cars in the street and blew out the windows of store fronts. The director of the Bahman Hospital, where dozens of the wounded were taken, said some of the injured were in critical condition. Kerry: Mideast peace accord still possible JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted his Palestinian partner in peacemaking efforts on Thursday, accusing him of embracing terrorists ''as heroes,'' harsh words that clouded the start of Secretary of State John Kerry's tenth trip to the region to negotiate a peace deal he claims is ''not mission impossible.'' Kerry arrived in Israel to broker negotiations that are entering a difficult phase aimed at creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel. He had dinner with Netanyahu and planned to be in the West Bank on Friday to talk with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Kerry is asking both leaders to make tough, highly charged political decisions in hopes of narrowing differences on a framework that will outline a final peace pact. Netanyahu greeted Kerry at the prime minister's office and joked that it had been a long time since he'd seen him. But after the initial small talk, the Israeli leader took aim at Abbas. He claimed Abbas' homecoming for Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails earlier this week had led more Israelis to wonder if the Palestinians seriously want to find a way to end the decades-long dispute. ''I know that you're committed to peace,'' Netanyahu told Kerry. ''I know that I'm committed to peace, but unfortunately, given the actions and words of Palestinian leaders, there's growing doubt in Israel that the Palestinians are committed to peace.'' Netanyahu was referring to events surrounding Israel's release on Tuesday of more than two dozen Palestinian prisoners convicted in deadly attacks against Israelis. Netanyahu has faced political pressure from Israeli hard-liners for agreeing to release a total of 104 Palestinian prisoners as part of the U.S.-brokered package to restart the peace talks. As with earlier releases, the Palestinian prisoners received a hero's welcome upon their return to the West Bank and Gaza, with officials and jubilant relatives lining up to greet them. At his headquarters in Ramallah, Abbas waited to meet the men in the middle of the night, and he pledged not to sign any peace deal until all prisoners were released. While he gave them a hero's welcome, Abbas, a long-standing critic of violence who has pledged his commitment to a two-state solution, did not condone the prisoners' deeds. Netanyahu, however, accused Abbas of embracing terrorists ''as heroes.'' ''To glorify the murders of innocent women and men as heroes is an outrage. ... How can he say that he stands against terrorism when he embraces the perpetrators of terrorism and glorifies them as heroes?'' Netanyahu asked. ''I'm wondering what a young Palestinian would think when he sees the leader of the Palestinian people embrace people who axed innocent men and women — axed their heads or blew them up or riddled them with bullets. What's a young Palestinian supposed to think about the future?'' ''This is not the way to achieve peace,'' Netanyahu said. Reacting to Netanyahu's words, Wasil Abu Yousif, a Palestinian official, lamented: ''We, the Palestinians, are under the Israeli occupation. Israel is taking our land and giving it to Jewish settlers. This is the only reason we don't have peace here. ... Netanyahu is trying to divert the attention from the real reason to a fake one.'' Under heavy pressure from Kerry, Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace talks in July. As a precondition, the Israelis agreed to release prisoners, and the Palestinians dropped a demand for a halt in Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, captured areas they claim for a future state. The Palestinians say continued settlement construction on these lands is a sign of been compromised. Gibson Security did not publish the last two digits of the phone numbers. Gibson says users can delete their Snapchat account if they wish, but ''this won't remove your phone number from the already circulating leaked database.'' Users can also ask their phone company to give them a new phone number. ''Lastly, ensure that your security settings are up to scratch on your social media profiles. Be careful about what data you give away to sites when you sign up — if you don't think a service requires your phone number, don't give it to them,'' Gibson said. This was Gibson's second warning to Snapchat, following one in August that the security firm said was ignored. ''Given that it's been around four months since our last Snapchat release, we figured we'd do a refresher on the latest version, and see which of the released exploits had been fixed (full disclosure: none of them),'' Gibson wrote on the Gibson Security website. AP photo President Barack Obama smiles as he walks from the 18th green at MidPacific County Club in Kailua, Hawaii Wednesday. The first family is in Hawaii for their annual holiday vacation. bad faith. Kerry and the European Union also have bitterly criticized settlement construction. Ahead of Kerry's arrival, Israel said it would formally announce plans to build 1,400 new settlement homes — an apparent attempt to blunt hard-line anger over the prisoner release. But in a gesture to Kerry, Israel backed off the announcement this week. Israeli media have said the construction will be approved after Kerry leaves. In what they said was a message to Kerry, a senior Israeli Cabinet minister and more than a dozen hawkish lawmakers poured cement at a construction site in a settlement in the West Bank's Jordan Valley on Thursday, saying Israel will never relinquish the strategic area. Feds warn Bakken oil may be more flammable BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Following a string of explosive accidents, federal officials said Thursday that crude oil being shipped by rail from the Northern Plains across the U.S. and Canada may be more flammable than traditional forms of oil. A safety alert issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation warns the public, emergency responders and shippers about the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil patch. The sprawling oil shale reserve is fueling the surging industry in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, which is now the nation's second-largest oil producer behind Texas. The warning declares that the Bakken's light, sweet crude oil may be different from traditional heavy crudes because it is prone to ignite at a lower temperature. Experts say lighter crudes, which contain more natural gas, have a much lower ''flash point'' — the temperature at which vapors given off by the oil can ignite. The government's warning comes after a huge explosion on Monday caused by a crude train derailment near Casselton, N.D. No one was hurt, but worries about toxic fumes prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents from the small eastern North Dakota town. The oil boom in the Bakken has reduced the nation's reliance on imported oil and brought thousands of jobs to the region. But as companies increasingly rely on trains instead of pipelines to get that oil to lucrative coastal markets, public safety in communities bisected by rail lines has become a major concern. Passengers on ship stuck in Antarctic rescued by helicopter CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — 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 from the ice a dozen at a time. The dramatic international rescue operation became possible once the weather finally cleared. Blinding snow, strong winds, fog and thick sea ice forced rescuers to turn back time and again. The twin-rotor helicopter — its red and yellow colors contrasting starkly against the ice and snow — 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. At one point, the passengers linked arms and stomped out a landing site in the snow next to the Russian ship for the helicopter, which is based on a Chinese icebreaker. The eagerly anticipated rescue came after days of failed attempts to reach the vessel, which was trapped since Christmas Eve. Snapchat quiet after hacking NEW YORK (AP) — Snapchat, the disappearing-message service popular with young people, has been quiet following a security breach that allowed hackers to collect the usernames and phone numbers of some 4.6 million of its users. Company spokeswoman Mary Ritti said Thursday that the company is assessing the situation, but did not have further comment. The breach occurred after security experts warned the company at least twice about a vulnerability in its system. Snapchat's seemingly detached response is causing some security specialists to wonder whether the young company can handle the spotlight that it's been thrust into over the last year as its service has become enormously popular. In response to a warning by Gibson Security Dec. 25 —which followed an earlier alert in August— Snapchat said in a blog post last Friday that it had implemented ''various safeguards'' over the past year that would make it more difficult to steal large sets of phone numbers. Snapchat hasn't detailed the changes it made. Even so, regarding Snapchat's response, Gartner security analyst Avivah Litan said it ''doesn't seem that responsible to be so nonchalant about it.'' As Americans rang in the New Year, hackers reportedly published 4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers on a website called snapchatdb.info, which has since been suspended. The breach came less than a week after the most recent warning from security experts that an attack could take place. The incident bruises the company's image and may threaten its rapid growth. Los Angeles-based Snapchat has no source of revenue, but its rapid rise to an estimated 20 million U.S. adult users prompted Facebook to extend a reported $3 billion buyout last year. Snapchat's 23year-old CEO Evan Spiegel turned down the overture. The user number estimate is based on census data and data from the Pew Research Center. What should users do? Gibson Security, the firm that warned Snapchat of the security vulnerability on Christmas Day, has created a site, — http://lookup.gibsonsec.or g/ — that lets users type in their username to see if their phone number was among those leaked. Of two user accounts that The Associated Press checked, one was found to have Obama, New Zealand PM hit golf course in Hawaii HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama rounded up a new golf partner Thursday: New Zealand Prime Minister John Key. The two leaders teed off on a sunny and breezy morning at a course at a military base on Oahu, the Hawaiian island where Obama is renting a vacation home. Key owns a home in Hawaii. The golf outing put Key in rarified company. Obama is an avid golfer, but prefers to limit his playing partners to a close circle of friends and advisers. Among those who have also scored invitations to play with Obama in the past are former President Bill Clinton and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Rounding out the foursome Thursday were Max Key, the prime minister's teenage son, and Marvin Nicholson, Obama's personal aide. Media access to Obama's rounds is typically restricted, though reporters and photographers were permitted to briefly watch the two leaders Thursday. The foursome pulled up to the green on the second hole in two golf carts, with the president and prime minister driving together. Obama's first putt was short of the hole and his second landed just wide. Rather than putt a third time, he opted for a gimme shot, where all players agree to count a shot as made rather than take another stroke. After the younger Key sank his putt, Obama gave him a high-five and joked, ''He's doing it in front of the cameras, too.'' Key has served as New Zealand's prime minister since 2008. Business Managers: Business slow? Energize it with a shot of