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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)

Left turn in Canada's oil-rich Alberta stuns energy industry

CALGARY - Canadian oil and gas shares tumble and country's main stock index hits one-month low after left-wing New Democratic Party surges to power in oil-rich province of Alberta on promises that included energy industry reforms. (CANADA-POLITICS/ALBERTA (UPDATE 3, PIX), moving shortly, by Scott Haggett and Nia Williams, 400 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)

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

WASHINGTON - 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 the jets' St. Louis production line running well into 2019, according to people familiar with deal. (BOEING-KUWAIT/ (EXCLUSIVE, PIX), moved, by Andrea Shalal, 578 words)

United Kingdom votes in most unpredictable election in decades

LONDON - British voters get to decide Thursday whom they want to rule world's fifth largest economy in tight election that could yield weak government, propel United Kingdom toward a vote on EU membership and stoke Scottish desire for secession. (BRITAIN-ELECTION/ (PIX, TV), expect by 2330 GMT/7.30 PM, by Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn, 600 words)

Fed wary of bond 'cliff,' plans cautious cuts to portfolio

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO - Federal Reserve is sketching out plans to prevent abrupt contraction in its massive balance sheet next year, when some $500 billion in bonds expire and risk disrupting markets and U.S. economic recovery. Asked publicly and privately about longer-term strategy, Fed policymakers say they are in no rush to shrink portfolio, suggesting they will seek to avoid disruptive end to reinvestments that might come if bonds are simply allowed to run off through maturity or prepayment. (USA-FED/PORTFOLIO, expect by 0500 GMT/1 AM ET, by Jonathan Spicer and Ann Saphir, 800 words)

UNITED STATES

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)

Texas attack represents evolution of 'lone wolf' militants -U.S. officials

WASHINGTON/AUSTIN - U.S. investigators believe two men killed after opening fire on Texas event that offered prize for cartoons of Prophet Mohammad represent evolving model of "lone wolf" militants who are radicalized partly by themselves and partly through long-distance engagement with organized militants. (USA-SHOOTING/TEXAS (UPDATE 1, TV, PIX), moved, by Mark Hosenball and Jon Herskovitz, 479 words)

Former U.S. House Speaker Wright, who quit in scandal, dies at 92

WASHINGTON - Jim Wright, Texas Democrat fond of hardball politics who quit as U.S. House of Representatives speaker amid accusations of financial impropriety and decried "mindless cannibalism" of his colleagues, dies at age 92. (USA-WRIGHT/ (UPDATE 3), moved, by Will Dunham, 600 words)

AMERICAS

Cuba insists it has oil; U.S. companies still uninterested

HAVANA - Cuba issues new data claiming there is oil in its Gulf of Mexico waters, but oil companies remain wary over previous drilling that came up dry, low prices and more attractive alternative in Mexico. (CUBA-USA/OIL, moving shortly, by Marc Frank, 400 words)

MIDDLE EAST

Netanyahu clinches deal to form new Israeli government

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clinches deal to form new government just before deadline expires, but his coalition will rule by slimmest of majorities in Israel's turbulent parliament. (ISRAEL-POLITICS/ (TV, PIX, UPDATE 2), moved, by Jeffrey Heller, 675 words)

Kerry pushes for pause in Yemen fighting in Saudi meetings

RIYADH - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Riyadh to press for pause in Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, so food and medicine can be delivered to people caught in fighting. (YEMEN-SECURITY/KERRY (UPDATE 2), moved, by Lesley Wroughton, 562 words)

+ See also:

- YEMEN-SECURITY/UN (UPDATE 1), moved, by Michelle Nichols, 277 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)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Kristin Chenoweth juggles dual roles as Tonys co-host, nominee

NEW YORK - Kristin Chenoweth, star of Broadway musical "On the Twentieth Century," will juggle two roles during Tony Awards as co-host and nervous nominee for theater's biggest honors but what she wants most is for her show to win this year. (PEOPLE-KRISTINCHENOWETH (TV, PIX), moved, by Patricia Reaney, 400 words)