World news in brief

BAHRAIN: Seventeen anti-government protesters were handed 15-year prison sentences today for links to a bombing last year that injured four policemen.

The April 2012 blast was part of a massive escalation of political unrest as Shi'ites demanded greater power from the Sunni monarch.

Eight of the defendants were in custody and the others were tried in absentia.

Pakistani MPs make history

PAKISTAN: Parliament became the first democratically chosen body in the country's history to finish its full five-year term on Saturday.

But unrest lingers as politicians have failed to agree on a caretaker government in time for new elections to be held.

Constitutionally Pakistanis will have to go to the polls within 60 days, but no timetable has been agreed.

Palestinian hunger striker ends protest

PALESTINE: A hunger striker ended his fast today as part of a plea bargain that will see him forced to live in the Gaza Strip, away from his family.

Ayman Sharawneh was one of four long-term hunger strikers and had been refusing food since July to protest his detention. He had feared he would receive a lengthy prison term in sentencing due tomorrow.

Waffen SS tribute

LATVIA: More than 1,000 people commemorated fallen Waffen SS soldiers on Saturday.

Many Latvians consider the nazi-conscripted soldiers to be war heros who fought Soviet rule. Rival protesters argued they were glorifying fascism and whitewashing the Holocaust.

Car bombs leave at least nine dead

IRAQ: Two car bombs went off today in Basra, killing nine and wounding 24 in a rare attack in the Shi'ite-dominated south of the country.

The nine were killed in a blast near an outdoor market while five of the injured were hit by another bomb in a car park by tax offices.

An al-Qaida affiliate took responsibility today for an attack on the Justice Ministry in Baghdad last week.

The attack, involving gunmen and car bombs, killed at least 24 people.

PM appoints new defence minister

ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed former army commando Moshe Yaalon as his new defence minister today.

Mr Yaalon is a hardliner who led the military from 2002 to 2005 during the second intifada and resigned because he opposed the decision to remove Israeli military bases from Palestinian land.

While being unlikely to help peace with the Palestinians, he views "the nuclear threat on the part of Iran" as the biggest danger to Israel.

Five arrested after tourist is gang raped

INDIA: Police arrested five men today in connection with the gang rape of a Swiss tourist who was on a cycling holiday with her husband.

All five admitted to the attack on Friday night as the couple camped out in a forest in Madhya Pradesh state.

Police are looking for two more men thought to have been involved in the attack in which the husband was also beaten.

The 39-year-old woman was released from hospital on Saturday.

Flights cancelled after strikes

NIGERIA: Strikes have forced major airline Aero Contractors to cancel its flights.

The company said on Saturday that the strikes - which started on Wednesday over poor working environments - had "temporarily" halted flights.