A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Chavez warns against US attack on Iran
LONDON - Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said yesterday that if the US attacked Iran in its dispute with Tehran over nuclear technology, the price of oil could soar to triple figures.
"If the United States attacks Iran . . . oil could reach $100 a barrel or more," Mr Chavez told a meeting hosted by London mayor Ken Livingstone. - (Reuters)
'Core' British values to be taught
LONDON - Schoolchildren in the UK should be taught "traditional British values" as part of an attempt to challenge extremism and promote a more cohesive society, the UK's higher education minister, Bill Rammell, will say today.
Under the proposals, all 11- to 16-year-olds will learn about free speech and democracy in the UK, as well as the contribution made by different communities. Mr Rammell will announce a six-month review of the school curriculum by a leading headteacher to see how best "core British values" can be incorporated into the school timetable. - (Guardian service)
SPD elect new moderate leader
BERLIN - Germany's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) yesterday elected a moderate new leader it hopes will boost its profile in the ruling coalition with chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and avert division in party ranks.
Kurt Beck, the bearded 57-year-old premier of Rhineland-Palatinate state, was elected to succeed the younger Matthias Platzeck, who stunned the harried party when he said last month that he was standing down for health reasons. - (Reuters)
28 bodies found in militants' hideout
ALGIERS - Security forces found 28 dead bodies, including those of 21 children, in a cave used as a hideout by an Algerian Islamic militant group, it was reported yesterday.
The bodies were discovered on Saturday in the Beni Khatab mountains, about 450km (280 miles) east of the capital, where authorities were hunting down suspected members of the al Qaeda-linked Salafist Group for Call and Combat. - (AP)