'Identity Thief' steals No. 1 spot at weekend box office

AP

Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman in a scene from "Identity Thief"

LOS ANGELES — "Identity Thief" has turned out to be the real thing at the box office.

The comedy starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy debuted at No. 1 with a $36.6 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Identity Thief" opened solidly despite the winter storm that buried much of the Northeast. Distributor Universal Pictures estimates the storm might have choked off as much as 10 percent of the movie's business.

"It took such a chunk out of the business this weekend. But we can't control Mother Nature," said Nikki Rocco, Universal's head of distribution. "We probably could have hit $40 million if it weren't for the weather this weekend."

The previous weekend's top movie, the zombie romance "Warm Bodies," fell to No. 2 with $11.5 million. That raises its domestic total to $36.7 million.

The weekend's other new wide release, Steven Soderbergh's thriller "Side Effects," had a modest opening of $10 million, coming in at No. 3.

Tom Cruise's 1986 hit "Top Gun" took flight again in theaters with a 3-D reissue that pulled in $1.9 million in narrow release of 300 theaters. The movie has a short run on the big-screen leading up to its Feb. 19 3-D release on DVD and Blu-ray.

Overall domestic revenues were down sharply from a year ago, when four movies had big openings — "The Vow," ''Safe House," ''Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" and a 3-D reissue of "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace."

Receipts totaled $105 million, down 45 percent from the same weekend last year — which was the only non-holiday weekend to have four movies open with more than $20 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

"The same weekend a year ago was such a tremendous weekend," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "It's really tough to live up to a weekend like we had last year. It was sort of a foregone conclusion that this was going to be a down weekend."

"Identity Thief" came in above industry expectations despite the storm and poor reviews for the comedy, which stars Bateman as a man chasing down a con artist (McCarthy) who has racked up thousands of dollars of charges in his name.

The combination of the actors and the premise made it a review-proof comedy, Rocco said.

"I think people just want to be entertained," Rocco said. "The chemistry between Jason and Melissa is the reason why this picture is doing so well."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Identity Thief," $36.6 million ($230,000 international).

2. "Warm Bodies," $11.5 million.

3. "Side Effects," $10 million.

4. "Silver Linings Playbook," $6.9 million.

5. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $5.8 million ($11.6 million international).

6. "Mama," $4.3 million ($6.1 million international).

7. "Zero Dark Thirty," $4 million.

8. "Argo," $2.5 million.

9. "Django Unchained," $2.3 million.

10. "Bullet to the Head," $2 million.

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NYC residents play while LI hit with more than 2 feet of snow, power outages

REUTERS

A man operates a snow plow in New York today.

A massive winter storm dumped as much as 2½ feet of snow on Long Island overnight and left thousands there without power while New York City residents, despite a foot of snow, counted themselves lucky Saturday.

Police in Suffolk County, on the eastern end of the island, used snowmobiles to reach some motorists stranded on the Long Island Expressway. Ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles and some snowplow trucks as well as passenger vehicles got stuck overnight throughout the area, said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, spokeswoman for Suffolk County.

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About 10,000 utility customers, most in eastern Suffolk, did not have electricity Saturday morning, said Wendy Ladd of the National Grid.

Ladd said those without power could be restored within a day if crews can get to them, but "access is an issue."

"We have plenty of crews available to do the restoration work, and if we can get to them, we're saying we can get them back in 24 hours," Ladd said. "But the issue is whether our big trucks can get to them if streets aren't plowed."

Suffolk County was hit harder than neighboring Nassau County, a relief for communities that were flooded during last October's Superstorm Sandy. The Weather Service said coastal flooding did not create major problems during the new storm.

REUTERS

A car buried in snow along the Long Island Expressway

Meteorologist David Stark said the community of Upton, where the weather service has a headquarters, had 30.3 inches of snow. Several other towns topped 2 feet: Setauket, Smithtown, Port Jefferson, Mount Sinai, Islip, Huntington and Commack.

In Nassau, by contrast, Wantagh reported 11 inches.

In New York City, the reading in Central Park was 11.4 inches and 12.1 at LaGuardia Airport. Stark said the city had a longer period of sleet rather than snow, which held town the totals.

But the city was spared the worst of the storm, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

He said more than 2,200 vehicles plowed streets overnight, clearing every major thoroughfare at least once and even most secondary streets. Traffic was flowing easily through most of the city's busiest streets.

"We're in great shape. We're lucky. ... We've dodged a bullet," Bloomberg told plow workers at a sanitation garage in Queens.

Bloomberg said all city streets will be cleared of snow by the end of Saturday and that all primary, most secondary and "60 percent" of tertiary streets have already been plowed.

Noting that areas to the north and east of the city got hit far worse, the mayor said he would make the city's equipment and manpower available if needed in Long Island, Connecticut and elsewhere.

"We want to make sure we provide whatever they need. When we were in trouble, the country came to our aid and we want to make sure we do the same," he said.

Later Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said several hundred snow plows from around the state are heading to Suffolk County on Long Island.

He said snowplows had a hard time because about 150 cars were stranded on the Long Island Expressway.

Hundreds of motorists had abandoned their vehicles on New York's Long Island, and even snowplows were getting stuck. Emergency workers used snowmobiles to try to reach stranded motorists, some of whom spent the night stuck in their cars.

Richard Ebbrecht, a chiropractor, left his office in Brooklyn at 3 p.m. on Friday and head for his home in Middle Island, N.Y., in Suffolk County, but got stuck six or seven times on the Long Island Expressway and other roads.

"There was a bunch of us Long Islanders. We were all helping each other, shoveling, pushing," he said. He finally gave up and spent the night in his car just two miles from his destination. At 8 a.m., when it was light out, he walked home.

"I could run my car and keep the heat on and listen to the radio a little bit," he said. "It was very icy under my car. That's why my car is still there."

Plows and personnel from across the state and New York City were heading to Connecticut and Massachusetts as well as Suffolk County to clear roads, Cuomo said.

City residents didn't have too much trouble getting around.

AP

A shirtless jogger runs through Central Park today.

"It's not that bad," said carpenter Kevin Byrne, as he dug his car out of its Manhattan parking spot. "It's not as bad as everybody said it was going to be."

But he said he left his shovel at home.

"I'm using a scraper to shovel out, which is not good," he said. "But was anybody prepared? The last two winters have been so mild."

Efrain Burgos, a native New Yorker, took no chances on driving.

"I took the subway for the first time in 10 years," said Burgos, who took the No. 2 train from his home in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx.

He said that while roads were well-plowed near the Upper West Side neighborhood where he works as a doorman, in the Bronx, "the roads are packed with ice."

On Father Capodanno Boulevard in Staten Island's Midland Beach, frigid gusts blew in from the water, but those residents who have moved back in to their houses said the wind wasn't as bad as feared even at the height of the storm. "Not like during Sandy, when the roof was flying away," said Dmitriy Pilguy.

He chuckled a bit at the pre-storm hype. "It's only snow," Pilguy said as he cleared his driveway. "I'm from Russia. I don't care."

REUTERS

A child sits buried in the snow waiting for his father to take his photo in Central Park.

Bloomberg said police have been checking on families from Superstorm Sandy who still have no heat but had encountered no problems so far.

Con Edison's Mike Clendenin said there were just 317 customers without power in the city on Saturday morning, mostly in Brooklyn. He said the number could increase as people wake up and discover they have no electricity.

But he said the low total "is certainly encouraging." There were no failures reported in Westchester County he said, although some villages there, including Scarsdale and Bronxville, reported more than 20 inches of snow.

Clendenin said there were about 3,000 power failures reported during the storm, "but we've been able to keep up and get them back."

Stark said winds had not been as strong as expected in the northern suburbs, with gusts remaining below 35 mph. In Suffolk, he said, they reached 50 mph.

The New York region's three major airports have also reopened after the snowstorm but flights are limited.

Port Authority spokesman Anthony Hayes says commercial flights started taking off from Kennedy and LaGuardia airports at around 9 a.m. Saturday. He said commercial flights should take off from Newark Liberty Airport at around 11 a.m.

Hayes says many flights have been canceled and passengers should check with their airline before heading to the airport.

The Port Authority says the first inbound passenger flight at JFK International Airport landed at 9:30 a.m.

Boston's Logan Airport remains closed but said it expects to reopen Saturday afternoon. Across the region, flights are expected to be back on close to normal schedules on Sunday.

Flight-tracking website FlightAware says airlines have canceled 5,368 flights due to the storm.

New York City subways are running with scattered delays. City buses are running.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says hourly service on the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem and Hudson lines will resume after 11 a.m. The MTA says service on the New Haven line will remain suspended because of heavy snow accumulations.

Service is limited on the Long Island Rail Road.

New Jersey Transit resumed bus service north of Interstate 195 as of 7 a.m. Saturday, including service into New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal.

NJ Transit suspended all northern bus service Friday evening due to treacherous driving conditions.

The agency says rail service on the Morris & Essex, Montclair-Boonton and Midtown Direct lines will resume at noon. It was suspended at 8 p.m. Friday.

Meanwhile, Amtrak said the New York-Boston train route would remain closed Saturday as crews cleared tracks of snow and fallen trees. Trains were running south from New York, and between New York and Albany.

REUTERS

A woman takes a photo of a snow man that was erected at the fountain at Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week on Friday.

Meanwhile, snow totals in New Jersey ranged from 5-15 inches, with the highest snowfalls spread across the northern part of the state while other areas were spared.

The National Weather Service reports River Vale in northern Bergen County got 15 inches. West Milford, Hillsdale and Scotch Plains all got more than a foot of snow. Cedar Grove residents woke up to about 10 inches of snow Saturday morning.

Newark had been projected to get up to a foot of snow or possibly more but received about 5 or 6 inches. About 5 inches fell on Jersey City and about 6 inches fell at Newark Airport.

More than 28 inches of snow had fallen on central Connecticut by early Saturday, and areas of southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire notched 2 feet or more of snow — with more falling.

At least five deaths were being blamed on the storm, three in Canada and two in upstate New York. In southern Ontario, an 80-year-old woman collapsed while shoveling her driveway and two men were killed in car crashes. In New York, a 74-year-old man died after being struck by a car in Poughkeepsie; the driver said she lost control in the snowy conditions, police said.

A 23-year-old man in Germantown, NY has died after he went off the edge of a roadway while plowing his driveway with a farm tractor in Columbia County, state police said.

Troopers say the accident happened shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, about 35 miles south of Albany. The National Weather Service says about 7.5 inches of snow has accumulated in that area overnight. The tractor rolled down a 15-foot embankment.

The man was pronounced dead at Columbia Memorial Hospital. His name hasn't been released.

More than 650,000 people across the Northeast were without power this morning, with most of the outages occurring in New England.

New York City suffered surprisingly few power outages during the snowstorm.

Con Edison spokesman Mike Clendenin says the city has just 317 customers out, 206 in Brooklyn. No outages were reported in Westchester County.

In New Jersey, the state's two largest utilities were reporting minimal outages as of Saturday morning.

By late Saturday morning, about 5,000 customers in the state were without power. About 4,900 of those are customers of Atlantic City Electric in Atlantic County, with a handful of customers in Gloucester County also awaiting restoration.

The state's two largest utilities reported minor power failures. PSE&G had just 16 customers without service, while JCP&L reported fewer than 25. Orange & Rockland Electric reported no outages in New Jersey.

It's a far cry from the 2.7 million customers left in the dark after Superstorm Sandy last October, or a similar number affected by a snowstorm in October 2011.

Forecasters said wind gusts exceeding 75 mph could cause more widespread power outages and whip the snow into fearsome drifts.

On Saturday, Connecticut Gov. Malloy ordered all roads closed until further notice, saying that stalled or abandoned vehicles will only slow the recovery process. The storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow over much of the state.

State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance says drivers and even some troopers have been getting stuck on the snow-covered highways. He said a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed Friday night in Prospect.

Vance said troopers are still out responding to calls but it's imperative that people stay off the roads.

In New York City, there will be delayed openings at public libraries in all five boroughs. Most will be open from noon until 5 p.m.

With Post Staff

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Police search for alleged ex-LAPD killer in snowy CA mountain town

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — Police spent all night searching the snowy mountains of Southern California but were unable to find the former Los Angeles police officer accused of carrying out a killing spree because he felt he was unfairly fired from his job.

Authorities planned a midmorning Friday news conference about 80 miles east of LA at Big Bear Lake, where Christopher Dorner's torched pickup was found Thursday. The area was under a winter storm warning, with snow falling and temperatures well below freezing.

Local ski areas were open, but Bear Valley schoolchildren had the day off because of the manhunt.

AP

San Bernardino Sheriff's Department officer Steven Spagon mans a check point during the search for fired Los Angeles officer, Christopher Dorner in Big Bear Lake, Calif. Friday, Feb. 8, 2013.

AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department

Christopher Dorner

About 150 miles to the south, up to 16 San Diego County sheriff's deputies spent the night surrounding and searching a rural home after a hoaxer reported Dorner was there. There were people at home but Dorner wasn't one of them, said Lt. Jason Rothlein. Investigators have a pretty good idea who made the call and will seek criminal charges, he said.

Though the focus is on the resort area, the search for Dorner, 33, stretches across California, Nevada, Arizona and northern Mexico. LAPD officers are especially on edge because Dorner, who was fired from the force in 2008 after three years on the job, promised in rambling writings to bring "warfare" to police and their families.

"We don't know what he's going to do," said Cindy Bachman, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, one of many law enforcement agencies whose primary purpose has become finding Dorner. "We know what he's capable of doing. And we need to find him."

Tracks that surrounded the truck and hours of door-to-door searching around Bear Mountain Ski Resort turned up nothing, and authorities conceded that the whereabouts of Dorner, also a former Naval reservist and onetime college running back, remained a mystery.

"He could be anywhere at this point," said San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon, who had 125 deputies and police officers and two helicopters searching the community of Big Bear Lake, where light snow fell early Friday morning.

The saga began Sunday night, when Monica Quan, the daughter of a former Los Angeles police captain, and fiance Keith Lawrence were found shot in their car at a parking structure at their condominium in Irvine. Quan was an assistant women's basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton.

The following morning in National City, near San Diego, some of Dorner's belongings, including police equipment and paperwork with names related to the LAPD, were found in a trash bin.

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Ackman fires off 40 pages of questions aimed at Herbalife

Bill Ackman has a lot of questions for Herbalife — as a matter of fact, 284 of them.

The hedge fund manager fired off 40 pages of questions at the controversial nutrition company that he has called a “pyramid scheme” and is shorting to the tune of $1 billion.

Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square Capital, focused his questions on the lack of clarity about retail sales and product consumption. He also hammered away at the company’s recruiting practices and its much-touted “Nutrition Clubs,” which are forbidden from advertising or selling products.

REUTERS

Bill Ackman

Ackman also brought up some new issues regarding product safety at a manufacturing facility and asked if the company was aware of alleged money laundering through an Herbalife account in Mexico, which was the subject of a published reported a year ago.

The hedge fund activist, who announced his short thesis against Herbalife in detail on Dec. 20, promised to come back to Herbalife with a set of questions after the company refuted his initial claims at a Jan. 17 investor presentation.

“Herbalife executives have repeatedly committed to have a fact-based conversation and total transparency about Herbalife’s business,” said Ackman in introducing his laundry list of questions.

“If the company is committed to ‘total transparency’ as it has claimed, Pershing Square would welcome responses to the following questions.”

Ackman’s latest attack on Herbalife quoted several legal opinions related to the pyramid scheme issue.

He cited a 1986 California injunction that restricts Herbalife from compensating its distributors on anything other than retail sales. But since the company has repeatedly said it doesn’t and cannot track retail sales, Ackman asked, ”How is it possible for the company to be in compliance with the injunction?"

In its Jan. 17 presentation, Herbalife also claimed that most of its distributors buy the product to get a discount for their own consumption and that of family and friends — not to make money.

That would help explain why 88 percent of their US distributors make no money, according to new figures the company released yesterday.

But if that’s the case, Ackman asked: “Why are discount customers required to sign a 48,000-word Distributor Agreement in order to purchase Herbalife products?”

Ackman’s presentation also noted a Federal Trade Commission statement posted on its website Jan. 28 after it shut down Fortune High-Tech Marketing. The statement read:

“If the money you make is based on your sales to the public, it may be a legitimate multilevel marketing plan. If the money you make is mainly based on the number of people you recruit and your sales to them, it’s a pyramid scheme.”

“In light of the above statements by the FTC, does the Company still believe that it can be indifferent to the amount of product sold or consumed within the network versus the amount of sales to independent third parties in the determination as to whether Herbalife is a pyramid scheme?” Ackman asked.

Ackman also asked the company whether it knows if the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Herbalife “or any of its affiliates” or if there are any ongoing investigations by Herbalife by any US federal or state agencies or by any foreign regulatory agencies.

The market seemed unimpressed. By midday, Herbalife stock had jumped 2.8 percent to $36.81.

mcelarier@nypost.com

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Cop's tweets proved right after 2 parolees arrested again for crimes in B'klyn

Eduardo Guzman, left and Efrain Gauthier, right.

He was right.

A Brooklyn captain who took heat for using his Twitter account to warn the public about the release of parolees in his command was on to something -- two career criminals he tweeted about were recently cuffed again for crimes in Brooklyn.

Captain Jeffrey Schiff, the commanding officer of the 76th precinct, had tweeted about the release of parolee Eduardo Guzman, as well a criminal wanted for grand larceny in his command.

Guzman, 39, was arrested on Jan. 24 for stealing women’s clothing from a Carroll Gardens apartment building, Schiff said at a recent community council meeting.

A cop spotted him pushing a shopping cart with women’s garments wrapped in plastic, and a woman’s name and address on it about 12:30 p.m. Jan. 24, court papers state.

He was charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

Schiff had also tweeted about Efrain Gauthier, who was wanted for grand larceny, and said at the meeting that police had cuffed him in Bay Ridge.

Gauthier was arrested on Jan. 24 for speeding down a sidewalk on 8th Avenue and 70th Street in a bike while holding onto a second bicycle, according to court papers.

When he was arrested, police found a pipe with crack cocaine and a hypodermic needle in his bag. He allegedly told cops that they were the leftovers from the day before, when he was shooting up heroin, court papers state.

He was charged with disorderly conduct, criminally possession of a hypodermic instrument, possession of burglar’s tools and operating a bicycle on the sidewalk.

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Alleged SoHo firebug 'stressed from jealousy' lawyer claims after man pleads not guilty to setting fatal blaze

Steven Hirsch

Wei Chu Hu pleaded not guilty today to setting a blaze on Jan. 11 in SoHo that left one woman dead and destroyed the homes of numerous other residents.

He was "stressed," the Manhattan man accused of setting a deadly SoHo fire last month -- out of jealousy -- explained afterward.

"He said he burned a building down because he was stressed about family matters," police detectives said of the confession of accused killer arsonist Wei Chu Hu, 45.

"He said nobody got hurt to his knowledge," according to the confession, released today as Hu pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court to the Jan. 11 blaze at 41 Spring Street, which left a young newlywed woman charred and lifeless on a third floor fire escape.

"He said he believed his wife was having an extramarital sexual relationship and that he and his wife got into an argument about this and she left the building with their son," the confession notes, recorded early the next morning by Fifth Precinct detectives.

Hu also admits starting the fire using a lighter -- first igniting the bedding in his wife and son's bedroom, then the bedding in his own bedroom -- and then fighting with first responders to keep them from entering the building.

"When a detective asked him how he felt about what he had done, defendant said he really didn't care either way and that he had no hard feelings," the confession continues.

Stephen Yang

The back of 41 Spring Street after a fire ripped through the building.

Hu made additional statements that were videotaped by prosecutors but not released. He remains held without bail.

"We're trying to find out to what extent there is a viable psychiatric defense," his lawyer, Kevin Walsh, said after court. Hu's records were destroyed in the fire; the lawyer said he is in the process of retrieving additional health documents from China.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon set April 2 for Hu's next court date.

"A woman died without warning as a result of the destructive, callous actions for which the defendant stands accused," Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said in a written statement issued after the arraignment.

"As a result of this fire, none of the building's residents have been able to return to their apartments and many lost a lifetime of belongings," he said.

"Many more neighbors could have been injured or had their homes destroyed if not for the swift and courageous work of the FDNY and NYPD, who put their lives on the line that night," he added.

Stephen Yang

The back of 41 Spring Street after a fire ripped through the building.

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Texas couple rent fancy Manhattan condo to 'revoling door of complete strangers': lawsuit

A Texas couple turned a designer Manhattan condo into a virtual flophouse by renting their unit to transient, hard partying guests, a new lawsuit alleges.

Robert and Marilyn Blodgett, of Houston, have allegedly used 3K "as a vacation rental property,” drawing a “revolving door of complete strangers,” despite repeated cease and desist demands from the condo board of 340 E. 23rd Street, the Manhattan Supreme Court suit states.

The couple owns a vacation website called Luxe VR, which markets high-end properties across the U.S. to travelers for stays of a few days to many weeks.

At least 27 tourists have bedded down in 3K since August 2011, but it was recent guest Malcolm Kee, who sent residents into a tizzy, according to court documents.

Kee, in his mid-twenties, checked in on Jan. 14, allegedly threw three ragging parties, invited friends who threatened and cursed out building staff, and still hasn't checked out, the lawsuit claims.

Attempts to curb Kee's alleged bad behavior have proven unsuccessful. “Much to the horror of the residents of neighboring unit 3L, Kee, his travel companion, or one of his party guests responded in a retaliatory manner by defacing 3L’s doorway with an obscene depiction of male genitalia,” court papers claim.

“It’s amazing to me that you could be in this luxury condo building and pay millions of dollars for your apartment and right next door you have some crazy person,” said the condo board’s attorney, Steven Sladkus.

For $299 a night tourists “can experience living like a real Manhattanite,” a website for the rental boasts, adding that the address is a short walk to “famous restaurants and bars and Third and First Avenue.”

The board of the Gramercy Condominium, by celebrity designer Phillippe Starck, wants to shut down the illegal hotel and unspecified monetary damages.

Sladkus said the practice of renting out units on a short-term basis has proliferated in the past year.

“Unfortunately there’s a big trend lately for people renting out their condo units on a short-term basis,” said Sladkus. The practice “not only violates most building’s bylaws, but also violates the Multiple Dwelling Law that says essentially you can’t have paying guests for less than 30 days.”

Sladkus said the unit’s owners, the Blodgetts, have completely ignored three requests to stop the rentals. The Blodgetts did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment.

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Deadly deserts

Ralph Peters

Violence in Allah’s name in northern Africa won’t end in my lifetime — and probably not in yours. The core question is: To what extent can the savagery be contained?

From the Atlantic coastline to the Suez Canal, struggling governments, impoverished populations and frankly backward societies struggle to find paths to modernization and to compete in a ruthless global economy. Religious fanatics for whom progress is a betrayal of faith hope to block development.

Still, if the only conflict was between Islamist terrorists and those who want civilized lives, the situation could be managed over time. But that struggle forms only one level in a layer cake of clashing visions and outright civil wars bedeviling a vast region. Much larger than Europe, the zone of contention encompasses the Maghreb, the countries touching the Mediterranean, and the Sahel, the bitterly poor states stretching down across desert wastes to the African savannah.

AFP/Getty Images

Figthers of the Islamic group Ansar Dine

The Sahel is the front line not only between the world of Islam and Christian-animist cultures in Africa’s heart, but between Arabs and light-skinned tribes in the north, and blacks to the south. No area in the world so explicitly illustrates the late, great Samuel Huntington’s concept of “the clash of civilizations.”

If racial and religious differences were not challenge enough, in the Maghreb the factions and interest groups are still more complicated. We view Egypt as locked in a contest between Islamists and “our guys,” Egyptians seeking new freedoms. But Egypt’s identity struggle is far more complex, involving social liberals, moderate Muslims, stern conservative Muslims (such as the Muslim Brotherhood) and outright fanatics. The military forms another constituency, while the business community defends its selfish interests. Then there are the supporters of the old Mubarak regime, the masses of educated-but-unemployed youth and the bitterly poor peasants.

Atop all that there’s the question of whether the values cherished by Arab societies can adapt to a globalized world.

The path to Egypt’s future will not be smooth — yet Egypt’s chances are better than those of many of its neighbors. Consider a few key countries in the region:

Mali

Viva la France! (Never thought I’d write that in The Post.) Contrary to a lot of media nonsense, the effective French intervention in Mali demonstrates that not every military response to Islamist terror has to become another Afghanistan: The French are welcome.

As extremists invariably do, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allies rapidly alienated their fellow Muslims — after hijacking a local uprising. The local version of Islam is far more humane and tolerant than the Wahhabi cult imposed by Islamist fanatics. To the foreign extremists, the Malian love of Sufi mysticism, ancient shrines and their own centuries of religious scholarship are all hateful — as is the Malian genius for music that’s pleased listeners around the world.

Have a comment on this PostOpinion column? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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White House releases photo of Obama shooting rifle amid gun-control push

AP

President Obama shoots clay targets on the range at Camp David last August in this photo released today by the White House.

Holy skeet!

Amid a fierce debate in Congress over gun control, the White House today released a photo of President Obama skeet shooting at Camp David.

The photo was taken last Aug. 4, on Obama’s 51st birthday.

Obama, wearing goggles and earmuffs, peers down the barrel of a shotgun while his left index finger pulls the trigger.

Bam! A spray of smoke shoots out of the weapon.

The release of the photo is a head scratcher to both supporters of gun control and gun rights.

The last thing some advocates of gun control want is an image of the president as a gun lover on the shooting range while they’re trying to get Congress to pass stricter firearm laws in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting massacre.

Meanwhile gun owners suspect this is a phony attempt by Obama to show his respect for law-abiding gun enthusiasts and that he’s not trying to take away their rights.

“I don’t know how often [he does it],” White House spokesman Jay Carney said of Obama’s skeet shooting. “He does go to Camp David with some regularity, but I’m not sure how often he’s done that.”

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Clinton raps Benghazi critics in final one-on-one interview

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is leaving office with a slap at critics of the Obama administration's handling of the September attack on a US diplomatic mission in Libya. She told The Associated Press that critics of the administration's handling of the attack don't live in an "evidence-based world," and their refusal to "accept the facts" is unfortunate and regrettable for the political system.

In her last one-on-one interview before she steps down on Friday, Clinton told the AP that the attack in Benghazi was the low point of her time as America's top diplomat. But she suggested that the furor over the assault would not affect whether she runs for president in 2016.

EPA

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington yesterday.

Although she insisted that she has not decided what her future holds, she said she "absolutely" still plans to make a difference on issues she cares about in speeches and in a sequel to her 2003 memoir, "Living History," that will focus largely on her years as secretary of state.

Clinton spoke to the AP Thursday in her outer office on the seventh floor of the State Department less than 24 hours before she walks out for a final time as boss. She was relaxed but clearly perturbed by allegations from Republican lawmakers and commentators that the administration had intentionally misled the public about whether the attack was a protest gone awry or a terrorist attack, or intentionally withheld additional security for diplomatic personnel in Libya knowing that an attack could happen.

An independent panel she convened to look into the incident was scathing in its criticism of the State Department and singled out four officials for serious management and leadership failures. But it also determined that there was no guarantee that extra personnel could have prevented the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans. Clinton herself was not blamed, although she has said she accepted responsibility for the situation.

"I was so unhappy with the way that some people refused to accept the facts, refused to accept the findings of an independent Accountability Review Board, politicized everything about this terrible attack," she said. "My job is to admit that we have to make improvements and we're going to."

Hours after Clinton made those remarks, a suicide bomber linked to a domestic terror group exploded a device just outside the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, killing himself and a guard.

Clinton faced a barrage of hostile questions about Benghazi from Republican lawmakers when she testified before Congress recently in appearances that were delayed from December because of illness. Afterward, some lawmakers continued to accuse her and the administration of withholding evidence. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-SC, told a television interviewer that he thought Clinton was getting "away with murder."

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Fla. man arrested after pocket-dialing 911 then talking about selling drugs: cops

ORANGE CITY, Fla. — A conversation with two passengers landed a Florida tow truck driver in jail after his cell phone pocket-dialed 911 and dispatchers listened in.

Authorities say 19-year-old Matthew Dollarhide of Orange City was surprised when a Volusia County Sheriff's deputy pulled him over on Tuesday and asked why they had been talking about selling drugs.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports deputies were alerted at 9:42 p.m. Tuesday and sent to a location where dispatchers said the phone signal was coming from. From the conversation, dispatchers learned that they were driving a tow truck and heard the name Harry. Deputies pulled over a Harry's Towing truck moments later.

Authorities said deputies found a crack pipe on Dollarhide, who was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

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Cop killed self because female boss made him trade sex for good schedule, wife claims in suit

A Queens cop killed himself last year because his female boss made him trade sex for a favorable work schedule, his wife claims in a bombshell lawsuit.

Gina Schindler claims her late husband, Officer Matthew Schindler, was forced to have sex with his supervisor, Sgt. Christine Hertzel, to determine his workload and schedule.

Schindler, 39, "was made to understand that he would suffer tangible detriment in his job, job assignments, work conditions and future prospects if he did not submit to the sexual advances and demands of Hertzel," according to the lawsuit filed in Queens Supreme Court.

Byron Smith

The 115th Precinct was the precinct where Matthew Schindler worked before killing himself.

The widow claims in the lawsuit that her husband and Hertzel had "sexual relations" during his time at the 115th precinct in Jackson Heights — from March 2011 until his death on Feb 13, 2012.

Schindler "realized and/or believed he could not escape the continuing sexual advances and demands of Hertzel," the lawsuit said.

On Feb. 13, the 15-year veteran told Hertzel he would kill himself over the "guilt" and asked for the affair to stop, the suit says.

She allegedly refused.

Hertzel told her captain about their relationship and Schindler's suicide threat, the suit says.

The captain allegedly tried to call Schindler to "rectify his hostile work environment and persuade him against suicide," the lawsuit said.

But the father of three killed himself with his NYPD service pistol that same day.

Schindler's wife is suing the city, the NYPD and Hertzel for violating her husband's civil rights.

A spokeswoman for the City Law Department declined to comment. Schindler's attorney didn't immediately comment.

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Greenwich Village 'Bomb Dad' pleads not guilty, just a 'pathetic junkie': defense lawyer

He's no arch enemy, lawyers for a notorious, weapons-loving trust fund junkie said today after he pleaded not guilty to possessing explosives powder, two shotguns and knives in his Greenwich Village apartment.

"There were no plans ever to blow up the Washington Square Arch," defense lawyer Isabelle Kirshner said after this morning's arraignment of Aaron Greene, 31.

Two weeks ago, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced at a press conference that Greene told pals he planned to blow up the iconic marble structure, and would walk around Washington Square Park sprinkling explosives powder on the sidewalk and setting it off by hitting the powder with a rock.

Handout

Aaron Greene

Today, defense lawyers insisted the two are just heroin addicts, not terrorists.

"They are truly pathetic junkies, from nice families," Kirshner said of Greene, son of a prominent architectural restorer, and Morgan Gliedman, his Dalton-grad co-defendant and live-in baby mama.

"They are an illustration of the scourge of addiction," the lawyer said.

So-called "Bomb Mom" Gliedman, 27, is the daughter of Dr. Paul Gliedman, head of radiation oncology at Beth Israel Booklyn, and did not appear at her baby-daddy's side before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon today. She is being held in a locked rehab ward in the city as a condition of her bail.

She gave birth to her daughter by Greene -- "Melody Sunshine," described by sources as not drug addicted despite her mother's drug issues -- a day after being arrested with Greene on Dec. 29 in their posh West Ninth Street apartment.

There cops seized two shot guns, 60 shotgun shells, knives, and seven grams of a highly explosive white powder called HMTD. According to police statements released this morning, Greene insisted to cops that "he made the HMTD found in his apartment."

"He indicated he was aware of the weapons in the apartment and they belonged to him, in particular a shotgun," according to the police statements. "He stated he had possessed more guns but had given them away to a friend in law enforcement."

A week later, cops, following that lead, raided the Rockland County home of Greene's corrections officer pal, Daniel Whittaker, 33, where they recovered 21 guns, including an Uzi 9mm submachine gun. They also found two stun guns, brass knuckles and a switch blade.

The ownership of those guns remains under investigation. For now, Greene and the Park Avenue-raised Gliedman have been indicted on first degree weapons possession for the powder, and additional lesser weapons charges for the shotguns and knives.

Gliedman's police statements were also released this morning.

"My name is Morgan Gliedman," the statements record her telling cops during the 6 a.m. arrest at 8 West 9th St.

"I live here with my boyfriend Aaron Greene. He's home. Come in. I know about the case," she told cops, referring to unrelated grand larceny charges concerning her alleged theft of electronics and a wallet from an acquaintance she'd met at a bar and gone home with overnight in February.

"I was told the situation was taken care of," she told cops of the alleged larceny, according to her statements.

Three hours later, at the Midtown South precinct, "Defendant stated she had not realized the extent of defendant Greene's collection of weapon and ammunition," the statements say.

"After the Newtown shooting, defendant Greene told her they ought to go buy more guns before the law is changed," she told cops.

As for the alleged larceny, "Defendant Greene made her go into the bar, and go home with 'that guy.' She took the laptop to pay the drug dealers in Washington Heights."

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SI soldier who lost all 4 limbs has double-arm transplant

Chad Rachman

Army Sgt. Brendan Marrocco

The first soldier to survive after losing all four limbs in the Iraq war has received a double-arm transplant in Baltimore.

His father says Brendan Marrocco had the operation on Dec. 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Marrocco is 26 and lives in Staten Island. He was injured by a roadside bomb in 2009.

He also received bone marrow from the same donor who supplied his new arms. That novel approach is aimed at helping his body accept the new limbs with minimal medication to prevent rejection.

It is the seventh double-hand or double-arm transplant done in the United States. The military is sponsoring operations like these to help wounded troops. About 300 have lost arms or hands in the wars.

Surgeons plan to discuss the transplant Tuesday.

Marrocco was a high school student on Staten Island on Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorism attack on the World Trade Center set in motion historic events that would define his life in devastating ways.

"Being a New Yorker, it's just great to see it," Marrocco said this past Independence Day while sitting in a wheelchair at the lip of one of the two mammoth reflecting pools that dominate the site where the twin towers once stood.

The disabled soldiers' visit to ground zero was organized by the Gary Sinise Foundation — started by the actor who played the amputee character Lieutenant Dan in the film "Forrest Gump" — and by The Stephen Stiller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, named after a New York City firefighter who died responding to the 9/11 attack. The charities are working together to build so-called "smart homes" that allow the wounded veterans to lead more independent lives.

"It's just a relief to not have to rely on other people so much," Marrocco, whose arms and legs were blown off by a roadside bomb in April 2009, said of moving in with his brother.

Marrocco said at the time he has no regrets.

"I wouldn't change it in any way. ... I feel great. I'm still the same person."

Marrocco "totally rejects that hero stuff," said his father, Alex. "In his mind, he was just doing his job."

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Long Island man shot to death by armed intruders: cops

Authorities say a Long Island man was shot to death in his home after armed men broke in.

Suffolk County police were looking for the suspects who fled after the attack early Sunday morning in the hamlet of Flanders.

The shooting was reported by a 911 caller.

When Southampton town police responded, they found 21-year-old Demitri Hampton with a gunshot wound to the chest.

He was pronounced dead at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.

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27 die in Egypt riot after soccer violence verdict

CAIRO — Angry relatives and residents rampaged through an Egyptian port city Saturday in rioting that killed at least 27 people after a judge sentenced nearly two dozen soccer fans to death for involvement in deadly violence after a game last year.

The unrest was the latest in a bout of violence that has left a total of 38 people dead in two days, including 11 killed in clashes between police and protesters marking Friday's second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

President Mohammed Morsi canceled a scheduled trip to Ethiopia Saturday and instead met for the first time with top generals as part of the newly formed National Defense Council.

AP

An Egyptian soccer fan of Al-Ahly club displays scales to fans celebrating a court verdict that returned 21 death penalties in last years soccer violence, inside the club premises in Cairo, Egypt.

The violence in Port Said erupted after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection with the Feb. 1 soccer melee that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly team. Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.

All the defendants — who were not present in the courtroom Saturday for security reasons — can appeal the verdict.

Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid did not give his reasoning when he read out the verdicts for 21 out of the 73 defendants Saturday. The verdict for the remaining 52 defendants, including nine security officials, is scheduled to be delivered March 9. Some have been charged with murder and others with assisting the attackers.

Die-hard soccer fans from both teams, known as Ultras, hold the police at least partially responsible for February's violence, which was the world's worst soccer violence in 15 years, saying officers at the game did nothing to stop the bloodshed. They also criticize Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi for doing little to reform the police force or the judiciary since he took office in July.

The opposition says Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected and civilian president, and his Muslim Brotherhood allies in government have failed to restore stability amid continued political turmoil and crime, and point to a worsening economy.

In a statement Saturday, the main opposition National Salvation Front said it holds Morsi responsible for "the excessive use of force by the security forces against protesters." They threatened to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections if Morsi does not meet their demands that include amending articles in the new constitution.

The Brotherhood said in its statement that "misleading" media outlets were to blame for "enflaming the people's hatred for the current regime and urging them to act violently."

Immediately after Saturday's verdict was read live on state TV, two policemen were shot dead outside Port Said's main prison when angry relatives tried to storm the facility to free the defendants. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as well as live rounds, at the crowd outside the prison.

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2nd suspect arrested in Texas college shooting

HOUSTON — A man suspected in an argument that exploded into gunfire at a Houston-area college was arrested Friday some 250 miles away in a Dallas suburb, authorities said.

Trey Foster, 22, was taken into custody in Plano and has been returned to Houston for questioning, Harris County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Christina Garza said. Foster arrived at daybreak, handcuffed and shackled at the ankles, and was led into the sheriff's office by deputies.

Officials have said at least 10 shots were fired in the incident Tuesday at the Lone Star College campus in north Houston. Three men were wounded, including a maintenance worker who was caught in the crossfire.

Getty Images

Harris County Sheriff Officers work the scene at Lone Star Campus after a shooting occurred on January 22.

According to court documents, an argument broke out after 25-year-old Jody Neal bumped into Foster on campus. About 30 minutes later, Foster and his friend, 22-year-old Carlton Berry, spotted Neal near the doorway to the Academic Building and Foster fired at Neal, who was wounded in the abdomen and leg, the documents said. Neal ran into the campus library and collapsed.

According to the affidavit, Neal told investigators that Foster shot him. Berry, who was shot in the leg, was arrested at the scene, and a manhunt for Foster ensued. Bobby Cliburn, a 55-year-old maintenance worker who was standing nearby, was shot in the leg.

The affidavit does not say who shot Berry and Cliburn.

Both Berry and Foster are charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Investigators were trying to determine whether Berry fired the handgun that was used. He is under police supervision at a Houston hospital and is being held on a $60,000 bond. Berry is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Court documents say Foster is being held on a $50,000 bond and will appear in court Monday.

Arriving at the sheriff's office Friday morning, Foster acknowledged to reporters that he knew Berry but ignored other questions.

Witnesses reported seeing one person flee on foot after the shooting, the affidavit said.

Berry had a Lone Star College ID but officials are still determining whether he or Foster were enrolled at the school. Neal was pursuing his GED. Authorities do not expect to file charges against Neal, the Harris County Sheriff's Office has said.

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Crazed thief chomps staffer's hand while trying to make off with Jimmy Choos

They’re Jimmy Choos, not Jimmy chews!

A crazed shopper chomped down a store employee’s hand to maintain her grip on a pair of Jimmy Choo boots inside a East Village consignment shop and then bit a cop who tried to arrest her, records show.

Melissa Scott, 28, grabbed a pair of knee-high Jimmy Choos and two scarves and put them inside her red bag inside Cadillac’s Castle on Ninth Street around 12:45 p.m., Sunday, court papers state.

When a clerk spotted the $350 merchandise protruding from the bag and tried to Scott from leaving with the loot, the rabid shoe fanatic bit the employee, records show.

Scott, who has a lengthy rap sheet for theft and assault, bore down so hard that bystanders told cops they were unable to pry the pitbull off.

When cops responded and tried to arrest Scott, she ran until they caught her and then chomped on a cop’s hand, drawing blood, records state.

Scott was charged with possession of stolen property and assault. She also has pending cases in Brooklyn for theft and allegedly stabbing a woman during a dispute in 2009, records show.

kconley@nypost.com

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2 NJ men suing Subway over shorter footlong sandwiches

MOUNT HOLLY, NJ — Two New Jersey men have sued Subway, saying the world's biggest fast-food chain has been shorting them on its so-called footlong sandwiches.

The filing made Tuesday seeks compensatory damages from the company and a change in practices.

Plaintiffs' lawyer Stephen DeNittis says the company should either make their sandwiches 12 inches long or stop advertising them as footlongs.

He said he's measured sandwiches from 17 area shops and not one has been 12 inches long.

The issue got widespread attention last week when a man posted a photo of a sandwich and a ruler on the company's Facebook page.

Brian Zak

This subway footlong only measures about 11 inches.

Milford, Conn.-based Subway did not immediately return a call to The Associated Press.

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Tuiasosopo apologized to woman whose picture was used to portray fake Te'o girlfriend

The woman whose photo was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Manti Te'o's supposed girlfriend says the man allegedly behind the hoax confessed and apologized to her.

Diane O'Meara spoke to NBC's "Today" show Tuesday. She says Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating a fake woman called Lennay Kekua. Te'o asserts he was tricked into an online romance with Kekua and, until last week, believed she died of leukemia in September.

O'Meara went to high school with Tuiasosopo, but she says they're not close. She says he called to apologize Jan. 16, the day Deadspin.com broke the hoax story, but "I don't think there's anything he could say to me that would fix this."

Photo of the image used to portray Manti Te'o's imaginary girlfriend Lennay Marie Kekua.

The 23-year-old O'Meara is a marketing executive in Los Angeles. She says that for five years, Tuiasosopo "has literally been stalking my Facebook and stealing my photos."

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