Reuters World News Highlights 0600 GMT July 31

TOKYO - Japan's ruling party, facing possible defeat in an election next month, looked set to try to steal some of its opposition rival's policy thunder on Friday with a pledge to boost household income and revive the economy.

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YANGON - A Myanmar court on Friday adjourned the trial on security charges of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with a verdict now expected next month, court and diplomatic sources said.

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits seven nations in Africa next week, anxious to show the continent is a priority for the Obama administration even as it tackles a host of other issues.

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WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama braced the country for more bad economic news on Thursday, saying second-quarter GDP figures would show the economy contracted and job losses were still a "huge" problem.

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WASHINGTON - The White House is facing uncomfortable questions about its strategy for selling President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul to Americans, after a series of opinion polls showed eroding support for it.

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SINGAPORE - Oil extended gains well above $67 a barrel on Friday, after a 5.7 percent jump in the previous session on U.S. data and earnings which renewed hopes of an economic recovery and drove up equity and commodities markets.

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. government's $1 billion "cash for clunkers" auto sales incentive program reached its funding limit unexpectedly after an avalanche of business exhausted its funds, an Obama administration official said late Thursday.

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ARBIL, Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is due to meet Kurdish President Masoud Barzani next week, a rare encounter between two leaders whose standoff over territory, power and oil threatens renewed bloodshed in Iraq.

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TEGUCIGALPA - The de facto Honduran government insisted on Thursday that it would not allow ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to office, dampening hopes of a deal to end a political crisis after last month's coup.

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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - The leader of a radical Islamic sect in northern Nigeria has been killed in police detention hours after being captured by the security forces, a police spokesman said on Thursday.

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JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's council workers union said on Thursday wage negotiations had made progress but no deal has been reached and a strike will be extended, keeping up pressure on President Jacob Zuma.