Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was an avid reader, fed birds and told jokes while he was in US custody, an American military nurse who looked after him said in interviews with US media. Robert Ellis, 56, an operating room nurse assigned to Saddam during his US military detention, described a courteous, contemplative figure in stark contrast to the brutal reputation Saddam earned during his rule over Iraq. "He basically talked about his wife, and his children," Ellis told CNN on Monday. "He was an avid reader. Loved to read and write. He had a lot of stories that he...