1.   A court hearing into the alleged arson attack said to have been sparked by rivalry between two triad gangs has been scheduled for March.

2.   An ancient Christian Orthodox Church has been destroyed in a fire in nortwestern Macedonia, the authorities said Sunday, blaming ethnic Albanian rebels for alleged arson.

3.   Blanes has denied the crime but said he could not remember anything because he was drunk at the time of the alleged arson early Saturday, Kyodo reported.

4.   He did not say how many companies had been probed so far for alleged arson.

5.   Police arrested four suspects and are investigating the alleged arson, which occurred late Sunday afternoon, said police Superintendent Dawood Kader.

6.   State security officials have been assigned to investigate other alleged arson cases around the country.

7.   The group was being investigated on charges of alleged arson in relation to the attack, a Tokyo police spokesman said on condition of anonymity.