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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman told Congress on Thursday that crude oil prices have reached record-high levels of $135 a barrel because global oil production has failed to keep up with demand.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Police said on Thursday they had jailed 19 people suspected of burning to death 11 elderly Kenyan men and women accused of being witches in a case that has horrified the east African nation.

PARIS (Reuters) - French unions staged nationwide protests on Thursday against pension reform plans, while fishermen blocked ports in a battle over fuel costs.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Afghan army could by early next year be leading the vast majority of military operations against enemy insurgents in the country, the U.S. soldier in charge of training them said on Thursday.

ROME/PARIS (Reuters) - High food prices are here to stay for the foreseeable future, potentially forcing millions more people into hunger, two reports from the United Nations and the OECD showed on Thursday.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A top Canadian official blamed for triggering the leak of a memo that cast doubt on the sincerity of Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama will quit his job soon, Canadian media reported on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lead U.S. and North Korean nuclear negotiators are expected to meet in Beijing next week, a diplomatic source said on Thursday, in a sign Pyongyang may be closer to making a declaration of its atomic programs.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday he would return home on Saturday ahead of an election run-off against President Robert Mugabe.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police said on Thursday they had released two men who had been held on suspicion of planning to sabotage a nuclear power station.

DOHA (Reuters) - Rival Lebanese leaders signed a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict that had threatened to push the country to a new civil war.

BAIJI, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi police said on Thursday a U.S. helicopter airstrike killed eight civilians, including two children, but U.S. forces said the six adults killed were militants suspected of links to a bombing network.

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.

SUNRISE, Florida (Reuters) - The souvenir vendors outside Hillary Clinton's campaign appearances have added a new button to their wares that reads "Chelsea in 2016" with a picture of the former first daughter.

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.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives will vote again on sending the $289 billion U.S. farm bill to the White House to clear up an embarrassing clerical error discovered after the bill was vetoed, Democratic leaders said on Thursday.

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.

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Barack Obama sounded like the Democratic presidential nominee on a visit to the November election battleground of Florida on Wednesday, praising rival Hillary Clinton and targeting Republican foe John McCain.