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Baltimore police are investigating a firebombing at Baltimore Hebrew University after an employee reported a loud noise and then a fire at the base of a side door of a building in the 5800 block of Park Heights Ave. in Northwest Baltimore.

The incident occurred about 2:45 p.m. yesterday. Agent Donny Moses, a city police spokesman, said the female employee alerted maintenance workers who came and extinguished the small fire and then alerted authorities.

Moses said detectives determined the fire was started by an incendiary device, such as a Molotov cocktail, thrown at a steel door, causing no damage. It is being investigated by the department's arson unit, but has not yet been classified as a hate crime.

"At this point, there's nothing that would indicate that this is a hate crime," Moses said. "They have problems with juveniles in that area."

The spokesman said no notes or messages were left. Any witnesses are asked to contact the arson unit at 410-396-2645.

Brazilian synagogue damaged by Molotov cocktails
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

A synagogue in southeastern Brazil sustained minor damage after attackers threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at the building early Saturday, authorities said.

Three or four unidentified people attacked the synagogue in Campinas, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Sao Paulo, and painted "Lebanon, the true Holocaust" on the sidewalk, the press office of the Sao Paulo State Public Safety Department said.

Authorities said windows and the synagogue's main entrance were damaged but no one was injured in the incident. A small fire broke out but was rapidly contained by passers-by. No arrests had been made.

Eight Brazilians have been killed in Israel's month-old military offensive against Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon, including a teenager who was fighting for Hizbullah.

Sydney synagogue attacked
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SYDNEY, Australia
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An attack on a Sydney synagogue may have been fueled by anger over the Middle East conflict and the spiraling civilian death toll in Lebanon, a rabbi said Monday.

Rabbi Wernick, who cited religious reasons in declining to give his first name, and his young family were inside a house attached to a synagogue in suburban Parramatta when it was attacked Sunday evening.

Concrete blocks smashed the windows of two cars, and other projectiles were hurled at the synagogue roof. Shortly after the incident, witnesses told police they saw a group of about 10 Middle Eastern men laughing and running down a nearby street.

Werner said the conflict between Israel and Lebanon might have been a trigger for the attack.

"I don't see how people could link something that is going on the other side of the world to a small family synagogue," the 32-year-old Werner told reporters. "I feel a little sorry for them, that they think that is an appropriate action."

Police Acting Inspector Col. Green said police had stepped up their patrols of Jewish and Islamic sites following Israel's attacks on Lebanon.