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BRASILIA (Reuters) - Opposition leaders demanded an inquiry on Monday into a report that Brazil's intelligence agency spied on the Supreme Court chief and members of Congress, in the latest scandal to hit President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government.

CARACAS (Reuters) - A power blackout hit major parts of Venezuela on Monday, including the capital and an oil-producing province, darkening buildings, knocking out traffic lights and disrupting plane and train journeys.

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - Thousands of exuberant, sign-waving protesters filled the streets of St. Paul on Monday, as Republicans prepared for a low-key opening to their presidential nominating convention.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The head of Canada's main opposition party, speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said on Monday that there would be a general election.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - At least 35 people were hurt in clashes on Tuesday between supporters of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and anti-government protesters in Bangkok, a Health Ministry official said.

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush warned on Monday the danger to the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Gustav was not over as he sought to assure Americans his administration had learned the lessons of the botched handling of Katrina in 2005.

LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of bare-breasted virgins competed for Swaziland King Mswati III's eye on Monday in a traditional Reed Dance.

ROME (Reuters) - Freed French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt hugged Pope Benedict on Monday and told him how she was overcome with emotion when she heard him appeal for her freedom on a radio broadcast during her seven years of captivity in the jungle.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda resigned on Monday over a political deadlock, becoming the second leader to quit abruptly in less than a year and threatening a policy vacuum as Japan slips towards a recession.

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus leaders launch talks on September 3 to reunite the divided island in what diplomats say is the best chance in decades to end a conflict threatening Turkey's European Union aspirations.

NAZRAN, Russia (Reuters) - Police in Russia's troubled Ingushetia region were in a standoff on Monday with protesters angered by the death of a leading opposition journalist who was shot in the head while in police custody.

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - The 17-year-old unmarried daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.

KABUL (Reuters) - NATO-led forces said on Monday that foreign forces had accidentally killed three children in southeast Afghanistan, a toll that fuelled mounting anger over civilian casualties.

PASO QUEMADO, Cuba (Reuters) - Her pigs and some government help will be her salvation, Evangelina Torres said on Sunday as she looked up from her living room at the open sky that is her new roof.

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine troops have restricted aid workers from visiting conflict zones in the south to distribute relief supplies to nearly 450,000 displaced people, the military and aid workers said on Monday.

LONDON (Reuters) - A economic downturn in Britain could aggravate racial tensions and grievances that help to feed terrorist recruitment, according to a leaked government document.

KABUL (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters blocked a road in Kabul on Monday accusing U.S.-led troops of killing three members of a family, including two children, in a raid in the city, residents and witnesses said.

PATNA, India (Reuters) - The Indian army and navy stepped up efforts on Monday to rescue hundreds of thousands of people marooned by floods, while rising river levels also rang alarm bells in neighboring Bangladesh.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - At least four people were killed and around 20 more wounded by a car bomb in the Colombian city of Cali in one of the worst urban attacks this year, authorities said on Monday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - An earthquake that hit China's southwest killed 38 people, Xinhua news agency said on Monday, two days after the most recent in a series of tremors to hit the region.