WASHINGTON – San Francisco authorities and the FBI are investigating an act of arson against the Chinese consulate there that caused a fire but no injuries, authorities reported.
The fire, which damaged the main door of the building, located in the Lower Pacific Height section of the city, was brought under control by firefighters shortly after it was reported at 9:33 p.m. Wednesday.
The consulate, in a communique posted on its Web page, said that an unidentified man parked a van in front of the building, poured gasoline from two containers onto the consulate’s gate and doorway and set it ablaze.
The incident was classified as “sabotage” on the consulate’s Web page, which urged U.S. authorities to investigate the attack and to guarantee the safety of Chinese diplomatic personnel.
“We strongly condemn this vicious, destructive act of arson towards the American consulate of China, which severely damaged the facilities and threatened the safety of consulate personnel and others,” the consulate said.
In what is being seen as a major boost for Saudi women seeking legal advice and help, Bayan Mahmoud Al-Zahran, the first Saudi woman lawyer who was issued license to practice law in the Kingdom, launched the first female law firm for the benefit of Saudi women on Wednesday. Bayan Al-Zahran became the first Saudi woman lawyer when she appeared at the General Court in Jeddah for the first time in November last year to defend a client. She had been working for years as a legal consultant and had represented dozens of people in criminal and civil cases besides family disputes. Al-Zahran told Arab News that the objective of her law firm is to fight for the rights of Saudi women and bring their problems before the court, since male lawyers in many cases couldn’t understand the problems and situations of a female plaintiff. She said that she was planning to take up labor cases and business disputes but would also dedicate her time to women’s cases. “I believe women lawyers can contribute a lot to the legal system. This law firm will make a difference in the history of court cases and female disputes in the Kingdom. I am very hopeful and thank everyone who supported me in taking this historical step,” she said. Al-Zahran said in the past, Saudi women faced problems finding a female lawyer who could represent them in the court. However, with the establishment of her law firm, this problem will be solved, she said, adding that she was ready to take up cases of both genders. She said she was looking forward to progress of women lawyers in Saudi Arabia in protecting the rights of women. “This is a very positive step toward the Saudi court and justices as right now, we are four female lawyers who got the license, but I am hopeful that in future, the number will increase,” she added. Al-Zahran’s father Sheikh Mahmoud Al-Zahran said this is the first step toward the protection of the women’s rights in the Kingdom. “We are very proud of our daughter who stands firm for protection of women’s rights. This will help all women who couldn’t go and speak to male lawyers about their problems,” he said. The launch was attended by Mazen Batterjee, vice president of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, Zuhair Nawab, president of the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS), Dr. Hussain Al Shareef , supervisor general of National Human Rights Organization, Makkah, Dr. Suhail Sawan, executive director of national committee for prisoners, Dr. Inam Ribwai, director of children surgery at King Fahad hospital and former director of family protection organization, and a number of businessmen and society ladies, doctors, lawyers, academics and jurists. Mazen Batterjee, while congratulating Bayan ad all the female lawyers, however, emphasised on Shariah law in every aspect of life and in law practice in Saudi courts. He said female lawyers should follow the restrictions of the court for hijab since Islam while giving rights to women, also had ethics in place for women while presenting themselves before a judge. He hoped this first step toward a women’s law firm will be successful and follow all the rules and regulations of court and religion. Dr. Suhail Sawan said that Al-Zahran was working for years as legal consultant and studying cases of prisons which gave her excellent exposure. This law firm is a milestone in that there are situations which can only be understood and represented by a female lawyer, he said.
The Civil Defense has not succeeded to retrieve the body of six-year-old Lama Al-Rouqi who died after falling into an abandoned well in Tabuk two weeks ago.
Lama was out picnicking with her family when she fell into the well in Al-Asmar valley in Haql Governorate on Dec. 20. She fell more than 30 meters into the 100-meter-deep and half-a-meter-wide well.
Maj. Gen. Mastour Al-Harithy, director of Tabuk’s Civil Defense, said at a press conference here on Thursday that the team was still trying to retrieve her body. They came close to the body on Wednesday, but it slid 11 meters further into the well because of loose soil in the hole.
Al-Harithy also outlined the events that took place since the Tabuk Civil Defense arrived at the scene after receiving a call for help at 3:54 p.m. on Dec. 20.
Lama’s father told them that she fell into the well while playing with her sister, said Al-Harithy. He said the rescuers first made sure the girl was not anywhere else in the valley.
“On examining the well, Civil Defense experts assumed that the girl had fallen into the well through a hole on the side because it was covered at the top,” said the official.
As a preliminary step, they pumped oxygen into the well and sent down a camera at the end of a cable. “The camera collided with some rock and mud at a depth of 30 meters and there was no sign of the body,” he said.
The Civil Defense dug a hole parallel to the well to reach the level where the girl was trapped. It was three meters away from the well.
The rescuers sought the help of teams from Madinah, Qassim, Riyadh and the Taif Civil Defense directorates, including experts from Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Geological Survey, Al-Harithy said. Three academics from Tabuk University were present to provide advice on such rescues.
Experts from an Italian company and Saudi Binladin were also consulted on Saturday. However, they could not help because they did not have equipment to deal with such a situation.
A company was contracted to provide support for the wall of the well while digging took place.
The teams started taking special care to ensure the safety of the diggers when they reached a depth of 27 meters on Tuesday evening. However, they then hit hard rock at 30 meters.
About 72 hours after they started digging the parallel well, the Civil Defense rescuers managed to open a small hole of 30 cm in diameter and gain access to the well. At that spot, the teams could smell the decaying body of the girl.
They also came across a doll, which relatives said belonged to the child. Unfortunately, the body fell 11 meters further because of loose soil.
By: Sarah Weiss A woman was found dead inside her apartment along with three drunk guys, according to police reports in Israel.
Be’er Sheva Police said that the dead body of a local 40-year-old woman was found on Saturday morning, in her apartment.
Magen David Adom paramedics who were called to the scene, pronounced her dead. Police opened an investigation into the circumstances of the case. Three men who were drunk at the apartment were detained for questioning.
Police came to the woman’s apartment after a call came into the police phone line (100) asking for a welfare check on the woman.
When police officers went into her bedroom they saw the unresponsive woman on her bed.
According to the initial police investigation, the woman along with the three men drank alcohol throughout the night, and in the morning, the woman did not wake up.
One of the three men went to a neighbor in order to get help.
The woman's body was transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute to determine the cause of death. The three men will be freed if the autopsy shows no criminal activity.
BEIRUT: Lebanese troops have arrested the leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked group that claimed a double suicide bombing at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut in November, the defense minister told AFP Wednesday. Majid Al-Majid, the “emir” of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, “was arrested by the intelligence services of the Lebanese Army in Beirut,” Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said, without specifying when the arrest took place.
“He was wanted by the Lebanese authorities and is currently being interrogated in secret,” the minister added. Majid was on a list of 85 suspects wanted by the kingdom. The Azzam Brigades was designated in the United States as a “terrorist organization” in 2012, and has in the past claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The group was formed in 2009 and is believed to have branches in both Lebanon and the Arabian Peninsula. According to the group's sites, Majid was revealed to be the leader of the Brigades in 2012. On Wednesday, a Twitter account belonging to Sirajeddin Zreikat, a member of the Sunni Muslim extremist group, appeared to have been suspended. Zreikat had claimed responsibility in the group’s name for the double bombing at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut that killed 25 people
PRAGUE: The Palestinian ambassador to the Czech Republic died Wednesday in an explosion that occurred when he opened an old safe that had been left untouched for more than 20 years, officials said. Ambassador Jamal al-Jamal, 56, was at home with his family at the time of the explosion, according to Palestinian Embassy spokesman Nabil El-Fahel. Al-Jamal was seriously injured and rushed to a hospital where he died, according to police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said no foul play was suspected, noting that the safe had been left untouched for more than 20 years.
It also appeared that the door of the safe had been booby-trapped, according to Zoulova. It was unclear how al-Jamal tried to open it or what type of safe it was.
The safe was recently moved from the old embassy building, but it had come from a building that used to house the Palestinian Liberation Organization's offices in the 1980s, Malki said.
"The ambassador decided to open it. After he opened it, apparently something happened inside (the safe) and went off," Malki told The Associated Press.
It was not immediately clear how Malki knew the safe had been untouched for more than 20 years or why and when the safe would have been booby-trapped.
During the 1980s — before the fall of the Soviet Union — the PLO had close ties with the Eastern bloc countries. In recent years, relations have been tense and the Czech government was seen as largely taking Israel's side in the Mideast conflict, said Nabil Shaath, a foreign affairs veteran and leading official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.
"The safe was sitting neglected in one of the areas of the old embassy. It was in one of the corners. No one had touched it for 20 to 25 years," Malki said.
BEIRUT: A large car bomb killed five people and wounded at least 20 in a Hezbollah bastion in south Beirut on Thursday, a health ministry source told AFP. “According to an initial toll, five people have been killed and more than 20 injured,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television said: “The terrorist explosion targeted a densely populated residential area, just 150 to 200 meters (yards) away from Hezbollah’s political bureau.” The official National News Agency reported that the explosion was caused by an explosives-packed four-wheel-drive vehicle in the Haret Hreik neighborhood. The district is a symbolic one for Hezbollah, which once based many of its leadership institutions in the area. Much of the neighborhood was reduced to rubble during the massive Israeli air bombing that accompanied its 2006 war with Hezbollah, but it has since been rebuilt
WASHINGTON – San Francisco authorities and the FBI are investigating an act of arson against the Chinese consulate there that caused a fire but no injuries, authorities reported.
