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TOKYO (Reuters) - Former foreign minister Taro Aso leads the race to become Japanese prime minister, analysts and media said on Tuesday, after unpopular Yasuo Fukuda became the second leader to abruptly resign in less than a year.

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - Police in riot gear battled hundreds of protesters with pepper spray and smoke bombs and arrested 130 people on Monday at the start of the Republican presidential convention.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan began searching for a new prime minister on Tuesday after Yasuo Fukuda became the second leader to resign in less than a year, threatening a further policy vacuum as the economy teeters on the brink of recession.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - More than 4,400 Colombians were driven from their rural communities or pinned down in their homes on Monday by gunfights among leftist rebels, other armed groups and state security forces, the Red Cross said.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada looked to be heading for its third election in four years on Monday after Prime Minister Stephen Harper failed to persuade the country's main opposition leader to keep his minority Conservative government alive.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - A humanitarian plane went missing during a storm in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, U.N. humanitarian coordinator OCHA said.

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.