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breakers failed to reach the paralyzed vessel, officials said Tuesday.
• The 74 scientists, tourists and crew on the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been stuck since Christmas Eve, had been hoping the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis would be able to crack through the thick ice and allow them to continue on their way. The Aurora came within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the ship on Monday, but fierce winds and snow forced it to retreat to open water.
• On Tuesday, the weather remained bleak, and the crew on the Aurora said their vessel would also be at risk of getting stuck if it made another rescue attempt, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the rescue.
• A helicopter on board a Chinese icebreaker, the Snow Dragon, will be used to collect the passengers. The Snow Dragon, which is waiting with the Aurora at the edge of the ice pack, was also unable to crack through the ice, as was France's L'Astrolabe.
• But the helicopter must wait for a break in the weather before it can attempt a rescue, and conditions aren't expected to improve before Wednesday, the maritime authority said. The passengers will be flown back to the Snow Dragon in groups of 12, and then transferred by barge to the Aurora.
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• JERUSALEM (AP) -- Suspected Jewish vandals set fire to three vehicles in a West Bank village early on Tuesday and sprayed threatening graffiti referring to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of his expected visit to the region, police said.
• The graffiti read in Hebrew, "Blood will spill in Judea and Samaria," the Israeli term for the West Bank, and also, "Regards to Kerry," according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
• After spraying the graffiti on a building wall, the vandals fled the Palestinian village of Jalazoun. Rosenfeld said that police were investigating.
• The incident came as Israel released more than two dozen Palestinian prisoners convicted in deadly attacks against Israelis as part of a U.S.-sponsored deal to restart Mideast peace talks.
• The prisoners received hero's welcomes upon their return to the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greeted the men in the middle of the night at his headquarters in Ramallah, and pledged not to sign a final peace deal with Israel until all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are released.
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