EU The European Union opened landmark entry talks with Turkey after clinching a last-minute deal to allay Austrian concerns over the terms for the negotiations with the vast mainly Muslim state. France A nationwide one-day strike gripped France, spreading transport woes and dealing Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin his first major test in implementing labour and economic reforms. Iraq A British national has been arrested by Iraqi border guards near the Saudi border in Najaf province, British and Iraqi officials said. Iraq Some 2,500 US troops launched a new operation in the Euphrates Valley of western Iraq, around Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana, the military said. US US President George W. Bush nominated White House counsel and longtime loyalist Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, a move that may shape legal battles on divisive issues like abortion for decades. US US Representative Tom DeLay, a powerful ally of President George W. Bush, was indicted on a new charge of money laundering as his lawyers moved to dismiss a previous conspiracy indictment filed last week. Indonesia Indonesian police intensified their search for the masterminds of the deadly weekend bombings in Bali, as the predominantly Hindu island mourned on the eve of one of its holiest days. Mideast Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian woman at a checkpoint in the northern West Bank after she stabbed a female soldier in the face, sources on both sides said. Russia The leaders of Russia and the European Union were to meet in London to discuss ways of freeing trade across the entire European continent and deepening already vital East-West energy ties. Pakistan Pakistan and India held a meeting of a joint economic body for the first time in 16 years, marking a further thaw between the South Asian rivals. South Korea Two Samsung executives were found guilty of illegally handling the father-to-son transfer of company ownership, in a ruling expected to unsettle the country's biggest business group. China Hope faded for 59 police trainees missing after a landslide in southeastern China as the confirmed death toll from Typhoon Longwang rose to 15 and wild weather pummeled other parts of the country.