WORLD BRIEFS

NEW ZEALAND: New quakes hit Christchurch

A series of earthquakes shook Christchurch on Monday, collapsing a building and briefly trapping two workmen in a damaged church. Power was cut to 10,000 homes in the eastern suburbs and dust billowed from the cordoned-off inner city devastated in February's major earthquake. People fled buildings in panic when a 5.2-magnitude quake struck at lunchtime; just over an hour later, a 6.0 was recorded, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Six people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries from falling debris. The city has been shaken by thousands of aftershocks since the 6.3-magnitude quake Feb. 22 killed 181 people.

LIBYA: Fighting renewed on coast

From east and west, working with NATO airstrikes, resurgent rebels battled government forces Sunday at flash points along the Mediterranean coast, rebel commanders reported. The government said their victory claims were "wishful reporting." Insurgents had reported fighting street by street to retake the port city of Zawiya, 18 miles west of Tripoli, a prize that would put them within striking distance of the capital and cut off one of Moammar Gadhafi's last supply routes from Tunisia.

JORDAN: King yields on some demands

Bowing to popular demands for reform, King Abdullah II said future cabinets will be formed according to an elected parliamentary majority. In a speech Sunday marking his 12th year as Jordan's ruler, Abdullah promised further constitutional changes, but did not elaborate.

BAHRAIN: Prison for protesting poet

A woman who recited poems critical of Bahrain's rulers and claimed later she was beaten in jail was sentenced Sunday to a year in prison as part of the kingdom's crackdown on Shia protesters calling for greater rights. Ayat al-Qurmezi, 20, became a minor celebrity among protesters after reciting poems critical of the king and the prime minister during gatherings in Pearl Square in the capital, Manama.