In Brief

* DEADLOCK – Sri Lanka’s warring sides formally ended a three-year deadlock in their peace bid by shaking hands at a Swiss chateau at the start of talks on saving their truce.

* PRISONER DEATHS – Nearly 100 prisoners have died in US custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since August 2002, including at least 34 suspected or confirmed homicides, the Human Rights First organisation said ahead of the publication of a report. * BOMB PROTEST – Thousands of Iraqi Shi’ites took to the streets of Samarra to protest the bombing of one of their holiest shrines, only a day after a car bomb ripped through a Shi’ite market in Baghdad, killing at least 21.* CARTOON ROW – Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the global row over Prophet Mohammed cartoons first published in his country had now evolved into a clash between the entire European Union and the Muslim world.* MINERS TRAPPED – Rescuers burrowing deep into the ground had yet to reach 65 miners trapped for nearly three days after an explosion inside the northern Mexico coal mine caused a cave-in.* BIRD FLU – The deadly strain of bird flu reached a seventh European Union country, as Hungary reported its first case, and officials worldwide underlined the problems in combating the spread of the virus.* ROCKET LAUNCH – Japan conducted its third successful satellite launch in less than a month, deploying an infra-red camera to probe the origins of distant galaxies, officials said.- Nampa-AFP* BOMB PROTEST – Thousands of Iraqi Shi’ites took to the streets of Samarra to protest the bombing of one of their holiest shrines, only a day after a car bomb ripped through a Shi’ite market in Baghdad, killing at least 21.* CARTOON ROW – Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the global row over Prophet Mohammed cartoons first published in his country had now evolved into a clash between the entire European Union and the Muslim world.* MINERS TRAPPED – Rescuers burrowing deep into the ground had yet to reach 65 miners trapped for nearly three days after an explosion inside the northern Mexico coal mine caused a cave-in.* BIRD FLU – The deadly strain of bird flu reached a seventh European Union country, as Hungary reported its first case, and officials worldwide underlined the problems in combating the spread of the virus.* ROCKET LAUNCH – Japan conducted its third successful satellite launch in less than a month, deploying an infra-red camera to probe the origins of distant galaxies, officials said.- Nampa-AFP