In Brief

HOSTAGES – A couple armed with grenades and guns took over a junior high school in central Tehran yesterday, police told an AFP correspondent on the scene.

The hostage takers are a man and a woman of approximately 35 years of age, a police officer speaking under the condition of anonymity said. * EMERGENCY – Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has directed his government to immediately send Frederick Chiluba for cardiac treatment in South Africa, Chiluba’s spokesperson said yesterday.Mwanawasa authorised Chiluba to travel for treatment after his doctors said his cardiac condition had deteriorated to a point where a heart transplant is now being considered, Chiluba’s aide Emmanuel Mwamba said.* TRIAL – Saddam Hussein and six of his former commanders returned to a Baghdad court yesterday to face charges of crimes against humanity over a military campaign against ethnic Kurds in the late 1980s.* ALERT – Somali Islamists yesterday dismissed as fake two letters purportedly signed by their most influential leader and which led to a US warning of possible suicide attacks in Kenya and Ethiopia.Washington issued its warning to US citizens on November 2 in response to what it said were “terrorist threats emanating from extremist elements within Somalia”.* SUSHI HIKE – Japan, the world’s biggest tuna consumer, expects an import crunch driving up prices of favourite sushi and sashimi dishes after a decision to slash the catch of Mediterranean tuna, officials said yesterday.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-AP* EMERGENCY – Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has directed his government to immediately send Frederick Chiluba for cardiac treatment in South Africa, Chiluba’s spokesperson said yesterday.Mwanawasa authorised Chiluba to travel for treatment after his doctors said his cardiac condition had deteriorated to a point where a heart transplant is now being considered, Chiluba’s aide Emmanuel Mwamba said.* TRIAL – Saddam Hussein and six of his former commanders returned to a Baghdad court yesterday to face charges of crimes against humanity over a military campaign against ethnic Kurds in the late 1980s.* ALERT – Somali Islamists yesterday dismissed as fake two letters purportedly signed by their most influential leader and which led to a US warning of possible suicide attacks in Kenya and Ethiopia.Washington issued its warning to US citizens on November 2 in response to what it said were “terrorist threats emanating from extremist elements within Somalia”.* SUSHI HIKE – Japan, the world’s biggest tuna consumer, expects an import crunch driving up prices of favourite sushi and sashimi dishes after a decision to slash the catch of Mediterranean tuna, officials said yesterday.Nampa-Reuters-AFP-AP