WORLD at 0400GMT

NEW THIS DIGEST:

COMOROS. Blasts, gunfire resound on Comoros island after invasion threat.

PALESTINIANS-NO UNITY. alestinian unity talks unravel, exposing disarray in Abbas government.

US-MCCAIN-IRAQ. McCain says US succeeding in Iraq as American death toll hits 4,000.

ITALY-MUSLIM CONVERT. Muslim journalist who renounced Islam for baptism supports Israel.

VENEZUELA-CHAVEZ-OIL. Venezuela's Chavez celebrates legal victory over Exxon Mobil Corp.

JAPAN-TOYOTA MALL. Toyota develops new shopping mall to woo Japanese consumers.

US-BEAR STEARNS. JPMorgan Chase raises offer for Bear Stearns to $10

TOP STORIES:

TORCH LIGHTING

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece _ Anti-Chinese protesters disrupt the start of the Olympic torch relay, eluding tight security to run onto the field during the lighting of the flame. A Tibetan woman covered in fake blood briefly blocks the torch's path. And pro-Tibet campaigners vow to continue protests as the torch moves across the world. By Nicholas Paphitis. AP Photos.

CHINA-TIBET

BEIJING _ China's state media says clashes in western Sichuan province left one policeman dead and several others injured, in the latest sign that a huge security buildup has not stamped out protests in restive Tibetan areas. Moved. By Audra Ang. AP Photos.

COMOROS

ANJOUAN, Comoros _ Explosions and gunfire resound in the Indian Ocean nation of Comoros at dawn, a day after the president warned of military action to oust a renegade colonel who seized Anjouan island last May. Developing. By Jerome Delay.

PAKISTAN-POLITICS

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan _ A loyalist of slain ex-leader Benazir Bhutto is set to be sworn in by President Pervez Musharraf as prime minister and head of a new coalition government that has vowed to slash the president's sweeping powers. Moved. By Matthew Pennington. AP Photos.

TURKEY-KURDS

ANKARA, Turkey _ Police break up a protest by hundreds of masked and stone-throwing Kurdish demonstrators during the fifth straight day of clashes that have killed two people and injured dozens, news reports say. Moved. By Selcan Hacaoglu. AP Photos.

WITH: TURKEY-CHENEY.

IRAQ

BAGHDAD _ The U.S. military blames Iranian-backed Shiite militia factions for a spate of rocket attacks that struck the Green Zone and surrounding areas, a day after the overall U.S. death toll in the five-year conflict rose to 4,000. Moved. By Kim Gamel. AP Photos.

US-BUSH-IRAQ-CASUALTIES

WASHINGTON _ Marking a grim milestone, a determined President George W. Bush says the lives of 4,000 U.S. military men and women who have died in Iraq "were not lost in vain." The White House made clear that additional American troops will not be pulled out of the war soon. Moved. By Ben Feller. AP Photos.

PALESTINIANS-NO UNITY

RAMALLAH, West Bank _ The rival Palestinian Fatah and Hamas groups return to their conflict just hours after they signed an agreement designed to restore orderly government to the West Bank and Gaza. Moderate President Mahmoud Abbas is reported to be upset that his Fatah envoy signed the accord at all. Moved. By Karin Laub. AP Photos.

AL-QAIDA-TAPE

CAIRO, Egypt _ Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri callson Muslims to strike Jewish and American targets anywhere in the world in revenge for Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip in an audiotape, part of a new push by the terror network to use anger over the violence to rally support. Moved. By Lee Keath. AP Photos.

UN-FOOD AID

ROME _ A U.N. food aid agency announces an "extraordinary emergency appeal" to donor countries for US$500 million (324 million) to prevent cutbacks in its global operations because of soaring food and fuel costs. Moved. By Frances D'Emilio.

CHINA-SILENT NEIGHBORHOOD

CHENGDU, China _ Her phone calls home don't go through, and there's been no word from her family in their locked-down Tibetan area for days. But every day, Zuoni smiles as she greets backpackers at her restaurant in this Chinese city that is the most popular gateway to Tibet. As dozens of armed police took up posts to prevent protests, anxious Tibetans here have tried to go about their normal lives. Moved. By Cara Anna. AP Photos.

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR-REBELS

QUITO, Ecuador _ Ecuador seeks the aid of the Organization of American States in condemning the killing of an Ecuadorean citizen in a cross-border military raid on a Colombian guerrilla camp that has strained relations between the Andean neighbors. By Jeanneth Valdivieso.

PHILIPPINES-AQUINO

MANILA, Philippines _ Roman Catholic bishops and political leaders across the Philippines offer prayers for former president and democracy icon Corazon Aquino after her family announced she was battling colon cancer. Moved. By Hrvoje Hranjski. AP Photos.

US-ELECTIONS

WASHINGTON _ Hillary Rodham Clinton had the Democratic presidential campaign trail to herself, but the camp of vacationing rival Barack Obama challenged the former first lady on her claim to have landed in Bosnia 12 years ago under sniper fire. Clinton characterized the episode as a "misstatement" and a "minor blip." Moved. By Steven R. Hurst. AP Photos.

WITH: US-MCCAIN-IRAQ; US-CLINTON-BOSNIA.

UKRAINE-TALLEST MAN

PODOLIANTSI, Ukraine _ His exceptional height has forced Leonid Stadnik to stoop in his own house and left him without the job he loved. But Stadnik, at 2.57 meters (8 foot 5) the world's tallest man, also has been shown kindness: well-wishers have sent clothes and a giant bicyle and equipped his home with running water. By Olga Bondaruk. AP Photos.

ITALY-MUSLIM CONVERT

ROME _ The Egyptian-born commentator who renounced Islam and converted to Roman Catholicism with a baptism by Pope Benedict XVI has built his career crusading against what he calls the "inherent" violence in Islam and championing Israel's existence. Magdi Allam, a deputy editor at the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera who has been honored for encouraging tolerance between cultures, angered some in the Muslim world with his high-profile conversion in an Easter vigil service led by Benedict in St. Peter's Basilica. Moved. By Frances D'emilio. AP Photos.

BUSINESS & FINANCE:

US-BEAR STEARNS

NEW YORK _ JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s higher offer for Bear Stearns has given the investment bank control of nearly 40 percent of its ailing rival, blunting the threat that angry shareholders could scuttle the deal. Moved. By Joe Bel Bruno.

WITH: US-CLOSING STOCKS.

US-ECONOMY

WASHINGTON _ Sales of existing homes increases unexpectedly in February after six months of decline, but private economists say it is too soon to say that the prolonged slide in U.S. housing is coming to an end. Moved. By Martin Crutsinger. AP Photos, AP Grpahic.

VENEZUELA-CHAVEZ OIL

CARACAS, Venezuela _ President Hugo Chavez praises a recent legal victory over Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., calling a British judge's ruling that favored Venezuela's state oil company a defeat for Washington. By Jorge Rueda.

JAPAN-TOYOTA MALL

YOKOHAMA, Japan _ A new shopping mall is being developed and run by Toyota Motor Corp., desperate to woo Japanese consumers who are losing interest in cars so quickly that auto sales are sinking to 27-year lows. The usual old ways of selling cars like showrooms and TV ads are no longer working, Toyota officials say. Expected by 0800 GMT. By Yuri Kageyama. AP Photos.

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