International news in brief

Charges expected in grisly trash bag discovery

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP):

Charges were expected to be filed against a registered sex offender who was arrested following the discovery of three bodies in trash bags in a poor Ohio neighbourhood riddled with abandoned houses.

The search for additional bodies was suspended Sunday after police and volunteers scoured about 40 empty homes, with no immediate plans to resume, said East Cleveland Police Chief Ralph Spotts.

Spotts identified the suspect as 35-year-old Michael Madison. He said Madison is expected to be formally charged on Monday, but did not elaborate.

Mayor Gary Norton said the suspect has indicated he might have been influenced by Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell, who was convicted in 2011 of murdering 11 women and sentenced to death.

It's the latest in a series of high-profile cases involving the disappearance of women from the Cleveland area.

Dubai pardons woman charged with illicit sex after rape claim

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP):

A Norwegian woman at the centre of a Dubai rape claim dispute says she has been pardoned and is free to leave the country.

Marte Deborah Dalelv told The Associated Press she was given back her passport Sunday by the public prosecutor's office and that her 16-month sentence for having sex outside marriage has been dropped.

The 42-year-old Dalelv claimed she was raped in March by a co-worker, but she was charged with the sex offence after going to police in Dubai in a case that highlighted the clash between the city's Western-friendly atmosphere and its Islamic-based legal codes.

Her sentencing last week stirred outrage in the West.

China says death toll from NW quake rises to 75

BEIJING (AP):

China says the death toll from a shallow earthquake in the country's northwest has risen to 75.

The quake struck a dry, hilly, farming area in western China early Monday near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province.

The government's earthquake monitoring service said an additional 459 people were injured.

The centre said the initial quake at 7:45 a.m. (2345 GMT Sunday) was magnitude-6.6 and subsequent tremors included a magnitude-5.6. According to the centre, the earthquake struck about 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) beneath the surface, while the Gansu provincial earthquake administration said it was just 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) deep.

The United States Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the initial quake as 5.9 and the depth at 10 kilometres (6 miles).