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PARIS (Reuters) - French unions staged nationwide protests on Thursday against plans by President Nicolas Sarkozy to make people work longer to qualify for a full pension.

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Courted by pro-Western and nationalist rivals for a coalition government, Serbia's Socialists are torn between seeking new respectability in Europe and the legacy of their founder, autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.

TBILISI (Reuters) - President Mikheil Saakashvili claimed victory on Thursday in Georgia's parliamentary election, which European officials generally welcomed despite lingering concerns about the fairness of the ballot.

GAZA (Reuters) - A truck laden with four tonnes of explosives blew up near an Israeli border crossing with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Thursday but only the suicide bomber was killed in the blast heard 30 km (18 miles) away.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China vowed on Thursday to seize a chance for reconciliation with Taiwan and respect the desire of Taiwan's people to be their own masters, a sign it is in no hurry to bring the island it claims as its own back to the fold.

KYONDAH RELIEF CAMP, Myanmar (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon saw flooded rice fields and destroyed homes during his mission on Thursday to bring large-scale international aid to 2.4 million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's National Movement of President Mikheil Saakashvili was leading with 60.92 percent of the vote in the country's parliamentary election, early official results showed on Thursday.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African soldiers joined police in operations around Johannesburg on Thursday to help end attacks on African immigrants that have killed at least 42 people.

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy will come under renewed pressure on Thursday when trade unions hold a nationwide strike against his pension reform plans.

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a Guatemalan public prosecutor who was investigating the gruesome murder of a 9-year-old girl, the country's attorney general said on Wednesday.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed in talks with a U.S. congressional leader that a naval blockade be imposed on Iran to try to curb its nuclear program, an Israeli newspaper reported on Wednesday.

BELFAST (Reuters) - Brian Keenan, a former guerrilla leader in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who fought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, has died, his close ally Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said on Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's prime minister won the backing of the country's main ruling party on Thursday, fending off a challenge to his leadership from the former premier that threatens to deepen political turmoil.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran made an official protest to the United States, via a Swiss intermediary, on Wednesday about what Tehran says is Washington's support for a group blamed for bombing an Iranian mosque, a news agency reported.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Thursday claimed victory in a parliamentary election that the opposition says was rigged.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NATO will continue to rotate command of its troops in the violent South of Afghanistan despite U.S. generals' concerns that the arrangement disrupts operations, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police detained two men on suspicion of planning to sabotage a nuclear power station on Wednesday after one of them was discovered entering it with small amounts of a highly explosive material.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan's government promised to "gradually" pull out troops from the northwestern valley of Swat after signing a peace agreement with Taliban militants on Wednesday.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki gave approval on Wednesday for the army to help end attacks on foreigners that have killed more than 40 people.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel and Hamas still differ on terms for a ceasefire that Egypt is mediating, a Palestinian official familiar with the talks said on Wednesday.