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TOP STORIES

U.S. private payrolls growth eases; productivity falls

WASHINGTON - U.S. private employers hire fewest number of workers in more than year, further diminishing hopes of strong rebound in economic growth after slump. (USA-ECONOMY/ (WRAPUP 3), moved, by Lucia Mutikani, 741 words)

Yellen cites 'potential dangers' in U.S. stock valuations

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says high equity valuations could pose potential dangers but that stability risks across U.S. financial system remain in check. (USA-FED/YELLEN (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Michael Flaherty and Anna Yukhananov, 545 words)

European lenders dash Greek hopes for quick aid deal

ATHENS/FRANKFURT - European lenders dash Greece's hopes for quick cash-for-reforms deal in coming days, leaving Athens in increasingly desperate financial position ahead of major debt payment next week. (EUROZONE-GREECE/ (WRAPUP 3, PIX, TV), moved, by George Georgiopoulos and John O'Donnell, 864 words)

Obama puts Nike in trade spotlight despite sweatshop stigma of past

WASHINGTON - President Obama will make high-profile pitch for Pacific trade deal he promises will protect workers Friday at Nike, company once reviled for using Asian sweatshops to make its famous sneakers. (USA-TRADE/OBAMA (GRAPHIC, PIX), moved, by Roberta Rampton and Krista Hughes, 634 words)

Tightest UK election in a generation goes down to the wire

LONDON - Late burst of opinion polls suggests that Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour challenger Ed Miliband fight each other to standstill on eve of Britain's most unpredictable election in generation. (BRITAIN-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 3, PIX), expect by 2000 GMT/4 PM ET, by Andrew Osborn, 700 words)

+ See also:

- BRITAIN-ELECTION/TRADERS, moved, by Nigel Stephenson, 673 words

UNITED STATES

Baltimore asks U.S. Justice Dept to review police practices

Baltimore officials ask U.S. Justice Department to investigate its police department for civil-rights violations after death of black man from injuries suffered in police custody, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says. (USA-POLICE/BALTIMORE (UPDATE 4), moved, by Ian Simpson, 399 words)

Boeing poised to clinch $3 bln-plus Kuwait F/A-18 order

Kuwait is expected to announce in coming weeks order for 28 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, $3 billion-plus deal that will keep jets' St. Louis production line running well into 2019, according to people familiar with deal. (BOEING-KUWAIT/, moving shortly, by Andrea Shalal, 400 words)

AMERICAS

Venezuela probes drugmakers for alleged improper currency use

CARACAS - Venezuela's socialist government investigates whether drug companies improperly profit from subsidized foreign exchange amid growing medicines shortages, health minister tells Reuters. (VENEZUELA-PHARMACEUTICALS/ (INTERVIEW, PIX, TV), moving shortly, by Brian Ellsworth and Corina Pons, 600 words)

EUROPE

Lithuania stages 'little green man' war games, with eye on Moscow

VILNIUS - Lithuania launches military exercise to simulate attack on its new gas terminal, move its strongly anti-Moscow president says is intended to show Kremlin that tiny country would defend itself. (LITHUANIA-WARGAMES/ (TV, PIX), moved, by Alistair Scrutton and Andrius Sytas, 736 words)

Germanwings pilot rehearsed crash on outbound flight

PARIS - Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing jet in French Alps rehearsed fatal maneuver on morning of disaster, and was twice refused medical papers needed to fly, investigators say. (FRANCE-CRASH/GERMANWINGS-REPORT (UPDATE 3), moved, by Tim Hepher, 898 words)

MIDDLE EAST

Over 120 die in Yemen as Houthis take key Aden district

ADEN/CAIRO - Yemen's Houthi militia battles its way into Aden's Tawahi district despite Saudi-led air strikes, strengthening its hold on city whose fate is seen as crucial to determining country's civil war. (YEMEN-SECURITY/ (WRAPUP 4, PIX, TV), moved, by Mohammed Mukhashaf and Mohammed Ghobari, 630 words)

King's changes make Saudi policy less predictable

RIYADH - Changes in Saudi Arabia's leadership concentrate power in inner circle of Al Saud dynasty, removing constraints on monarch and making conservative kingdom's strategic positions less predictable. (SAUDI-POLITICS/ (ANALYSIS), moved, by Angus McDowall, 785 words)

AFRICA

Almost 40,000 flee Burundi amid political crisis

BUJUMBURA - Nearly 40,000 refugees flee Burundi to neighboring Rwanda, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo, amid protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for third term, United Nations says. (BURUNDI-POLITICS/ (PIX, TV, UPDATE 2), moving shortly, by Patrick Nduwimana, 500 words)

ASIA

India investigates bank accounts of Gates Foundation - source

NEW DELHI - India investigates finances of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, senior Home Ministry official says, part of growing crackdown on thousands of foreign funded charities and activists that alarms Washington. (INDIA-USA/NGOS (UPDATE 2), moved, by Rupam Jain Nair, 509 words)

SCIENCE

Deep-sea microbes called missing link for complex cellular life

WASHINGTON - Deep beneath Atlantic Ocean between Greenland and Norway, scientists find microorganisms they call missing link connecting simple cells that first populated Earth to complex cellular life that emerged roughly 2 billion years ago. (SCIENCE-MICROORGANISMS/ (PIX), moved, by Will Dunham, 400 words)

+ See also:

- SPACE-SPACEX/TESTFLIGHT (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, by Irene Klotz, 400 words)