In Brief

* BIRD FLU SPREADS – The H5N1 bird flu virus has been identified for the first time in France, Iran and India, where it may have killed a 27-year-old farmer, but Nigeria said it was bringing the deadly disease under control.

* IRAQ UNREST – Four people were killed in rebel attacks in Iraq, including three policemen who died in a series of roadside bombings that left nearly a dozen others wounded, police said. * NIGERIA CURFEW – Troops enforced a curfew in parts of northern Nigeria after protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed triggered riots in two cities that left 16 people dead and 11 churches burned.* OIL HOSTAGES – Nigerian authorities were seeking to negotiate the safe release of nine foreign workers who were taken hostage during the latest day of violence to rock Africa’s biggest oil industry.* U.S.FLOODS – Many densely populated US regions face the threat of flooding as disastrous as after Hurricane Katrina, due to urban spread into river floodplains, scientists warned.* FREE BASH – The Rolling Stones rocked the night away on Rio’s fabled Copacabana beach with more than 1,2 million fans in one of the biggest concerts the world has ever seen.* WAR DRAMA – Bosnian drama ‘Grbavica’, about the plight of the thousands of women raped during the wars in the Balkans, won the Golden Bear prize for best picture at the 56th Berlin Film Festival.- Nampa-AFP* NIGERIA CURFEW – Troops enforced a curfew in parts of northern Nigeria after protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed triggered riots in two cities that left 16 people dead and 11 churches burned.* OIL HOSTAGES – Nigerian authorities were seeking to negotiate the safe release of nine foreign workers who were taken hostage during the latest day of violence to rock Africa’s biggest oil industry.* U.S.FLOODS – Many densely populated US regions face the threat of flooding as disastrous as after Hurricane Katrina, due to urban spread into river floodplains, scientists warned.* FREE BASH – The Rolling Stones rocked the night away on Rio’s fabled Copacabana beach with more than 1,2 million fans in one of the biggest concerts the world has ever seen.* WAR DRAMA – Bosnian drama ‘Grbavica’, about the plight of the thousands of women raped during the wars in the Balkans, won the Golden Bear prize for best picture at the 56th Berlin Film Festival.- Nampa-AFP