The Norwegian woman at the centre of a Dubai rape claim dispute says officials have dropped her 16-month sentence for sex outside of marriage.

Government troops fired mortar rounds that slammed into a main market in a town in northern Syria on Sunday, killing at least 20 civilians, activist groups said.

A coordinated wave of seven car bombs have torn through bustling commercial streets in Shiite areas of Baghdad, part of a relentless wave of violence that killed at least 46 inside and outside the capital.