WORLD at 1000GMT

NEW THIS DIGEST:

TURKEY-FREE SPEECH. Turkey weighs free speech law.

IRAQ. Iraqi troops withdraw after attack.

YEMEN-LAWMAKER KILLED. Militants assassinate a lawmaker northern Yemen.

FRANCE-CLIMATE TALKS. Sarkozy urges private money in low-carbon economy.

US-POPE. After intimate meeting, pope goes global at UN.

TOP STORIES:

ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS

HARARE, Zimbabwe _ Election disputes cast a shadow over the government's Independence Day celebrations as the browbeaten opposition makes a final stand in court to block recounts in some constituencies. By Angus Shaw.

WITH: US-ZIMBABWE; ZIMBABWE-TSVANGIRAI INTERVIEW; ZIMBABWE-INDEPENDENCE DAY

IRAQ

BAGHDAD _ A company of government troops abandoned its positions in Sadr City when the forces came under attack from Shiite militiamen who took advantage of a sandstorm, police say. By Slobodan Lekic.

AL-QAIDA-AL-ZAWAHRI

CAIRO, Egypt _ Al-Qaida's No. 2 said in an audiotape released Friday that the United States will lose whether it stays in Iraq or withdraws, and he sneered that U.S. President George W. Bush just wants to pass the problem on to his successor. By Pakinam Amer and Katarina Kratovac.

YEMEN-LAWMAKER KILLED

SAN'A, Yemen _ A security official says militants have assassinated a lawmaker in northern Yemen. The official says gunmen attacked Saleh Hendi and four of his bodyguards in their car in the northern province of Saada Friday, showering them with bullets. By Ahmed Al-Haj.

US-POPE

WASHINGTON _ After a dramatic three days in which he put the United States' clergy sexual abuse scandal front and center, Pope Benedict XVI turns his attention to the original purpose of his first U.S. visit as leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Developing. By Eric Gorski.

FRANCE-CLIMATE TALKS

PARIS _ French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the fight against global warming needs massive new flows of private investment and globally regulated "green" markets to succeed. About 90 percent of the funds for fighting global warming will come from the private sector over the long term, Sarkozy said at climate talks in Paris among the world's biggest polluters. By Angela Charlton.

SOUTH AFRICA-ZUMA

PRETORIA, South Africa _ ANC leader Jacob Zuma is looking more and more like a presidential candidate, reaching out to communities in his rainbow nation. Friday, he visits shantytowns housing poor whites. By Celean Jacobson. AP Photos.

CONGO PRIDE.

GOMA, Congo _ A street preacher shouts in this eastern Congo town, scene of so much devastation in recent years that some wonder whether the place is cursed. "Be proud, you are alive!" he says, a cheerful exhortation in a town with a seemingly endless succession of travails, including rebellions, outbreaks of disease, floods of genocide refugees, a spectacular volcano eruption and _ just this week _ a deadly plane crash. By Elizabeth Kennedy.

US-ELECTIONS

WASHINGTON _ The prolonged personal battle between Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has allowed Republican John McCain to pull even as he snatches away disgruntled independent and even some Democratic swing voters. By Steven R. Hurst. AP Photos.

US-POLYGAMIST RETREAT

SAN ANGELO, Texas _ A court hearing to decide the fate of the 416 children swept up in a raid on a West Texas polygamous sect descends into farce, with hundreds of lawyers in two packed buildings shouting objections and the judge struggling to maintain order. By Michelle Roberts. AP Photos.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS

JERUSALEM _ Israel closes off the West Bank and Gaza for at least a week for the Jewish Passover holiday, a day after Gaza militants attack a vital crossing, raising the possibility of a large-scale Israeli offensive within weeks. By Mark Lavie. Developing. AP Photos.

TURKEY-FREE SPEECH

ISTANBUL _ "How happy is he who says: 'I am a Turk.'" The nationalist motto was coined by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Its display in schools, hospitals and military barracks helps explain why Turkey is struggling to meet a key demand for membership in the European Union: changes to a law that bars insults to Turkish identity. Developing. By Christopher Torchia.

THAILAND-OLYMPIC TORCH

BANGKOK, Thailand _ The Olympic flame arrives under tight security in Thailand for the latest leg of its round-the-world relay and is quickly taken to a luxury hotel to await an official welcome by the country's crown princess. Lead moved. By Ambika Ahuja. AP Photos.

JAPAN-OLYMPIC TORCH

TOKYO _ A major Japanese Buddhist temple withdraws from a plan to host the Beijing Olympics torch relay, citing safety concerns and sympathy among its monks and worshippers for Tibetan protesters facing a Chinese crackdown. Moved. By Chisaki Watanabe. AP Photos.

WITH: CHINA-TORCH DEFENDER

CHINA-TIBET

BEIJING _ A new protest breaks out in a restive Tibetan region of western China, prompting wide-scale arrests and tightened security, local hotel workers and an activist group report. Moved. By Christopher Bodeen.

SKOREA-US-BEEF

SEOUL, South Korea _ South Korea tentatively agrees to relax quarantine regulations and resume U.S. beef imports halted over concerns of mad cow disease, just hours before a summit of the two countries' leaders.

PARAGUAY-ELECTION

ASUNCION, Paraguay _ Former Roman Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo asked thousands of supporters at his final campaign rally Thursday to help him end 61 years of one-party rule in Paraguay and to build a new nation for the poor and indigenous. By Bill Cormier.

GUANTANAMO-CANADIAN DETAINEE

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico _ Canada asked the United States not to send former child soldier Omar Khadr to Guantanamo after he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002, according to a newly released letter. By Michael Melia.

BUSINESS & FINANCE:

ITALY-BERLUSCONI-PUTIN

PORTO ROTONDO, Sardinia _ Italy's Premier-elect Silvio Berlusconi says he discussed Aeroflot's possible role in saving Alitalia with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Developing.

OIL PRICES

UNDATES _ Oil prices slip below US$115 a barrel in thin trading as the U.S. dollar holds its ground against the euro. By Pablo Gorondi.

CHINA-ECONOMY

BEIJING _ China's government issues more gloomy inflation news, saying wholesale prices for farm goods jumped 25.5 percent in the first quarter in a sign that consumers could face more sharp rises in living costs. Moved. By Joe McDonald.

TRANSLATING FACEBOOK

TOKYO _ The three-year-old social networking phenomenon Facebook, worth more than $15 billion by many estimates, got a good deal on going global. Its users around the world are translating Facebook's visible framework into nearly two dozen languages for free. Moved. By Tomoko Hosaka.

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