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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Along with TV cameras and funny hats, the 45,000 Democratic and Republican convention-goers will bring something more important to Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul: their credit cards.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers meet on Monday to discuss pleas by Georgian separatists for Moscow to recognize their independence, a move that could stoke tensions with the West over Russia's military intervention in pro-Western Georgia.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States has pressed for the immediate release of eight Americans detained in Beijing for staging pro-free Tibet protests during the Beijing Olympics.

DENVER (Reuters) - Democrats preached party unity on Sunday on the eve of a four-day convention to nominate Barack Obama for the White House, with former rival Hillary Clinton preparing to urge her disgruntled supporters to back Obama.

GAZA (Reuters) - Two boats carrying activists challenging an Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip reached the shore of the Hamas-controlled territory on Saturday.

TORONTO (Reuters) - A food poisoning outbreak that has killed four Canadians and sickened at least 21 others has been genetically linked to meat produced at a plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods Inc, authorities said on Saturday.

GOLAN HEIGHTS (Reuters) - Saddles off, the horses stand quietly on a hill on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the sun gleaming on the blue waters of the Sea of Galilee below.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces freed a cameraman for the Associated Press in Baghdad on Saturday after holding him for three months without charge, the news agency said.

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador's national police chief stepped down on Saturday after local media reports accused two close advisers of corruption and links with drug traffickers.

MADRID (Reuters) - The death toll from Wednesday's crash of a Spanair passenger jet at Madrid airport rose to 154 on Saturday following the death of a badly burnt 31-year-old woman, state news agency EFE reported.

QUITO (Reuters) - Thousands marched on Saturday to back Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa who polls show is inching closer to winning a September 28 vote to pass a new constitution that would expand the leftist's authority.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped eight Iraqis from their homes on Saturday and held them through the day in volatile Diyala province, where al Qaeda militants continue to roam despite a crackdown by Iraqi security forces, police said.

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) - Recent U.S. growth has been better than expected but the country could still see activity shrink in the second half of the year, a top International Monetary Fund official said on Friday.

YANGON (Reuters) - A U.N. envoy left Myanmar on Saturday after failing to meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi or coax concessions from the military junta during his six-day mission, diplomats said.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto's widower will be a presidential candidate, an official of his party said on Saturday, a move that will be controversial if the presidency retains strong powers.

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - Russia would violate the ceasefire agreement by setting up checkpoints or permanent facilities in Georgia, the White House said on Saturday as Russian soldiers were seen in the Georgian port city of Poti.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A fight over abortion between Mexico's federal government and the capital's leftist lawmakers goes to the Supreme Court next week, with the attorney general urging judges to reinstate a ban on women terminating pregnancies on demand.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Senator Joe Biden may be one of the only U.S. politicians that can get Iraq's feuding Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish politicians to agree. But not in a good way.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The widower of assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto will be a candidate for president, an official of his party said on Saturday.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen kidnapped two Western journalists on Saturday near Somalia's capital Mogadishu, residents and a security source said.