Can a spy give you various info.

[Sfinks]

Can a spy planted in another civilization do anything else beside steal technology and share an intrigue?
Also, one of my spies has been promoted to special agent (in just few turns she steals a tech from Rome and after I moved her to my capital she kills Roman spy )and I'd like to know if she is superior to the other spy in other tasks, like staging a coup, or as a diplomat?

 

[ToborajniN]

You can also see how that city's citizens are spread out and what buildings are currently built. You will also get information about when that city starts constructing wonders etc.

And yes, promoted spies are better spies. They work faster and more efficiently. (higher chance of capturing enemies at home)

 

[Sfinks]

thanks ToborajniN. So while my spy is in any city of romans, it will report wonder building ? What if they started building wonder in another city few turns before my spy arrived at their city?

 

[Teproc]

thanks ToborajniN. So while my spy is in any city of romans, it will report wonder building ? What if they started building wonder in another city few turns before my spy arrived at their city?

It will only report on the city you have a spy in.

 

[themathmajician]

Go to the espionage window, click "View" under "Move Spy" and you can see the city and what the AI is building.

 

[PH-SYM]

I use themathmajician's suggestion a lot to check if a certain AI is going to beat me when building a certain wonder. It also informs me if the AI is building a lot of military units and at what techlevel it is.
In Civ4 a spy could even sabotage a certain build which was a great way to delay a certain wonder long enough to build it yourself.