Terri Schiavo’s body was cremated yesterday as disagreements continued between her husband and her parents, who were unable to have their own independent expert observe her autopsy.

An autopsy will be performed after Terri Schiavo dies to show the extent of her brain damage, her husband’s lawyer said.

TERRI SCHIAVO'S parents know their brain-damaged daughter is dying and are "dealing with reality", a family spokesman said yesterday, even as their supporters pledged to take their fight to Washington.

Terri Schiavo’s parents asked supporters to return home to spend Easter Sunday with their families as the couple’s severely brain-damaged daughter went a ninth day without food or water.

More than two million people were told to flee from the path of 110 mph Hurricane Charley as it roared toward Florida’s west coast tonight.

Around a million residents and tourists have been warned to leave parts of Florida over fears that Tampa and other parts of the west coast could be submerged by the massive storm surge when Hurricane Charley strikes the state’s central gulf coast today.

TROPICAL storm Bonnie began to make landfall in Florida’s Panhandle yesterday, while residents in the Florida Keys and southwest Florida prepared to meet the stronger Hurricane Charley.