Friday, September 04, 2009 LOS ANGELES: The investigation into a deadly Los Angeles wildfire became a homicide probe on Thursday as authorities revealed that the mammoth blaze burning near the city was caused by arson. As weary crews tightened their grip on the monster inferno, which has been blamed for the deaths of two firefighters since it erupted on August 26, officials confirmed the blaze was set deliberately. "Arson investigators have concluded that the fire was the result of an act of arson," said US Forest Service official Rita Wears."The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide bureau has initiated a homicide investigation due to the tragic deaths of the two Los Angeles County firefighters as the result of this fire." The two firefighters Ted Hall, 47, and Arnie Quinones, 35 were killed when their truck plunged down a mountainside as they battled flames in a remote location on Sunday.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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