School stabbing hospitalizes student By Abdullah Al-Maqati DHULUM – A secondary school pupil in Umm Daum in the north of Taif reportedly stabbed a fellow student in the stomach who had to be taken to hospital with what police described as injuries of “medium gravity” on Wednesday. The incident resulted from an argument, police said, and the victim remains in intensive care at Al-Kharma General Hospital. – Okaz/SG Road briefly closed for fleeing driver By Fahd Al-Muteiri JEDDAH – Exit points along the Makkah to Jeddah highway were closed off briefly on Wednesday as police patrols pursued a vehicle which had fled from a checkpoint in Al-Shumeisi, eventually ceasing the driver and detaining him in Al-Sabban. Police said that the fleeing motorist, a Turk with an unidentified woman as a passenger, was handed in to investigators in Al-Mansour for questioning. – Okaz/SG 25,000 porn films seized By Fahd Al-Muteiri JEDDAH – The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai'a) seized 25,000 CDs containing pornographic movies during inspections at stalls in the Al-Balad District Tuesday. The Hai'a staff made the inspections following information received concerning a stall owner's activities in the area and handed over four persons of Asian and Arab nationalities to the police. – Okaz/SG Bag-snatching trio in Jeddah police net By Ibrahim Alawi JEDDAH – Three Yemenis in their twenties were arrested Wednesday for snatching pedestrian women's handbags at various locations of the city. Police acting on information from women who had been victims of the trio's activities rounded up dozens of persons with previous records matching their descriptions and eventually identified the three Yemenis as suspects. Police said the detainees confessed to the crimes during questioning, and noted that they had been living in the Kingdom illegally. – Okaz/SG Burglars get passports and money from safe By Mohammed Al-Umeiri MAKKAH – Police are searching for a gang of burglars who broke into offices in the industrial district of Makkah on Tuesday and stole SR33,000 and 100 passports from a company safe, along with numerous legal documents. The gang, police said, broke into the premises through office windows some time before dawn, a time when the industrial zone is deserted. The owner of the company said that the same offices had been the target of burglars six years ago, and appealed to police to compare fingerprints with those of the perpetrators of the previous incident. – Okaz/SG Nepali booze dealer detained By Ibrahim Alawi JEDDAH – A Nepalese man was arrested on Tuesday accused of running an alcohol factory in the Al-Aziziya district of Jeddah. The man had reportedly turned a room at his apartment into a distilling area to produce ‘araq using pressure pots and plastic tubs, and sold his produce to customers at the site using a separate door giving private access to his lodgings. Police said that all materials recovered from the apartment had been destroyed. “The public can work with us to put an end to all the unwanted activities they may observe,” said Jeddah Police spokesman Misfer Al
