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TOP STORIES

Britain braces for election gridlock as polls predict dead heat

LONDON - Britons votes in the tightest election for decades; one that could cause government gridlock, push the world's fifth-largest economy closer to leaving the European Union and stoke a second attempt by Scotland to break away. (BRITAIN-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 4, PICTURE, TV, GRAPHIC), expect by 1600 GMT/NOON PM, by Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn, 960 words)

+ See also:

- BRITAIN-ELECTION/EU (UPDATE 1), moved, 265 words

- BRITAIN-ELECTION/POLL-ICM, moved, 135 words

- BRITAIN-ELECTION/POLL-POPULUS , moved, 100 words

- BRITAIN-ELECTION/MARKETS (UPDATE 2), moved, by Anirban Nag, 500 words

Saudi Arabia offers five-day Yemen ceasefire

RIYADH/CAIRO - Saudi Arabia has offered a five-day humanitarian truce to the Houthi militia it has been hitting with weeks of airstrikes in Yemen on condition that fighting stops across the country, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir says. (YEMEN-SECURITY/SAUDI-OPERATIONS (UPDATE 2), moving shortly, by Lesley Wroughton and Mohammed Ghobari, 860 words)

Investigation begins of alleged child abuse by French troops in Central Africa

PARIS - An investigation of alleged child sex abuse by French soldiers in the Central African Republic has begun, Paris prosecutors say. (FRANCE-CENTRALAFRICA/ABUSE (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, 255 words)

Maersk Tigris ship released by Iran, crew safe

ANKARA/LONDON - Iran has released a Marshall-Islands flagged container ship and its crew which were seized last month in one of the world's major oil shipping lanes, the vessel's operator says. (IRAN-DENMARK/SHIP-RELEASE (UPDATE 4), moved, by Parisa Hafezi and Jonathan Saul, 535 words)

AFRICA

Man burned alive in Burundi protest against presidential bid

BUJUMBURA - Protesters burn a man alive on the streets of Burundi's capital, saying he was a member of the ruling party's youth wing that had attacked them during demonstrations against the president's third-term bid, a witness says. (BURUNDI-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 2, PICTURE, TV), moved, by Patrick Njuwimana and Njuwa Maina, 555 words)

Why gold threatens Ivory Coast's peace

GAMINA, Ivory Coast - Nestled among the cocoa plantations of western Ivory Coast is a gold mine that does not feature on any official maps. It is not run by an industrial mining company, nor does it pay taxes to the central government. (IVORYCOAST-GOLD/ARMY (SPECIAL REPORT, PICTURE, GRAPHIC), moved, by Joe Bavier, 2,000 words)

EUROPE

Greece defies euro zone on pension, labour reform

ATHENS/BRUSSELS - Greece defies its international creditors by sticking to "red lines" on pension and labour market reforms and urging lenders to give ground, dimming prospects of progress next week towards securing desperately needed financial aid. (EUROZONE-GREECE/ (WRAPUP 1, TV, PICTURE), moved, by Renee Maltezou and Alastair Macdonald, 740 words)

+ See also:

- EUROZONE-GREECE/DEFAULT, moved, by John O'Donnell, 835 words

French court rules tapping of Sarkozy phone was legal

PARIS - French magistrates rule that authorities have acted legally in tapping ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy's phone as part of an investigation into allegations of influence peddling, in a potential blow to his hopes to run for president in 2017. (FRANCE-POLITICS/SARKOZY (UPDATE 1, PICTURE, TV), moved, by Chine Labbé, 360 words)

+ See also:

- FRANCE-LEPEN/ (ANALYSIS, PICTURE, TV), moved, by Ingrid Melander and Gregory Blachier, 835 words

Spain's ruling PP retains poll lead but hung parliament looms

MADRID - Spain's ruling People's Party (PP) is seen winning a year-end election with the socialists coming a close second, an opinion poll shows, although the most disputed vote in 40 years is likely to lead to a hung parliament. (SPAIN-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, by Julien Toyer, 335 words)

Separatist conflict colours Ukraine's war anniversary events

LVIV - With Ukrainian servicemen dying almost daily in fighting against Russian-backed separatists, Kiev's pro-Western government is using the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two to highlight Russian belligerence. Some fear this will deepen splits in a politically divided population and hand propaganda gifts to Moscow. (WW2-ANNIVERSARY/UKRAINE (PICTURE, TV), moved, by Richard Balmforth, 900 words)

+ See also:

- WW2-ANNIVERSARY/RUSSIA-TANK (TV, PICTURE), movred, 495 words

Rome airport gradually reopens after terminal fire

ROME - Rome's main Fiumicino airport is gradually reopening after a fire badly damages the main international terminal building and forces the cancellation of dozens of flights, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. (ITALY-AIRPORT/ROME (UPDATE 4, PICTURE, TV), moved, by Philip Pullella, 345 words)

MIDDLE EAST

Ethiopians reported kidnapped in Libya arrive at Cairo airport

CAIRO - A group of Ethiopians reported to have been kidnapped in Libya arrived at Cairo airport after Egyptian authorities manage to get them released, Egyptian state television says. (EGYPT-LIBYA/ETHIOPIA (UPDATE 3), moving shortly, by Mahmoud Mourad, 450 words)

Syrian army, Hezbollah advance in areas along Lebanon border

BEIRUT/AMMAN - Syrian army bombing in the mountainous area along the border with Lebanon kill dozens of insurgents and help regain hilly territory overlooking Hezbollah strongholds, the Lebanese group says. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/HEZBOLLAH (UPDATE 2), moved, by Laila Bassam and Suleiman Al-Khalidi, 390 words)

Israel's Netanyahu faces uneasy future with single-seat majority

JERUSALEM - Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to find much comfort at home or abroad in his fourth term as prime minister after taking six weeks to form a coalition that will hold a parliamentary majority of just a single seat. (ISRAEL-POLITICS/ (ANALYSIS), moved, by Dan Williams, 590 words)

Palestinian football chief firm on Israel's FIFA suspension

RAM, West Bank - The head of the Palestinian Football Association reinforces his call for Israel to be suspended from FIFA, saying the Israeli Football Association is part of an "apartheid, racist government" that is damaging Palestinian soccer. (SOCCER-FIFA/PALESTINIANS (PICTURE, TV), moved, by Ali Sawafta, 640 words)

UNITED STATES

NSA phone surveillance not authorized-US appeals court

NEW YORK - A federal appeals court says a National Security Agency program that collected the records of millions of Americans' phone calls was not authorized by Congress. (USA-SECURITY/NSA (UPDATE 1), expect by 1430 GMT/10.30 AM ET, by Jonathan Stempel, 550 words)

ASIA

Hundreds of bodies may be buried in Nepal avalanche, official says

KATHMANDU - Body parts are strewn on the slopes of a mountain in Nepal, and up to 300 people, many of them foreigners, are believed buried there by an avalanche set off by last month's devastating earthquake, an official says. (QUAKE-NEPAL/ (UPDATE 1, PICTURE, TV, GRAPHICS), moving shortly, by Gopal Sharma, 230 words)

+ See also:

- NEPAL-EARTHQUAKE/AID, moved, by Krista Mahr, 375 words

- QUAKE-NEPAL/LANGTANG (SPECIAL REPORT, PICTURE, TV, GRAPHICS), moved, by Andrew MacAskill and Douglas Busvine, 1937 words