World News

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — An earthquake centered beneath the Aegean Sea shook cities and islands in Turkey and Greece on Tuesday, causing panic in some areas but no injuries or damage, officials said.

The Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory said the quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2, occurred at 4:16 p.m. (1416 GMT) off the coast from Turkey's northwestern Canakkale province.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Officials have fired the leader of an investigation of a bomb attack in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver for revealing sensitive information about the probe to the media.

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — A Kuwait newspaper says an online journalist has been sentenced to two years in prison for posts deemed "insulting" to the Gulf nation's ruler — the second such ruling this week.

The decision reflects a widening social media crackdown across the Gulf Arab states to quell perceived political dissent.

Kuwait's pro-government Al Watan newspaper reported Monday that Ayyad al-Harbi, a journalist at news website Sabr, was charged with posting Twitter messages considered offensive to the nation's Western-allied emir. No other details were given.

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Monti has unveiled his logo for February elections and pledged to scrutinize parliamentary candidates on his ticket to eliminate those with conflicts of interest, convictions or organized crime ties.

Moving forward in his campaign, Monti summoned journalists Friday evening to show off his symbol, a circle with stripes of red, white and green, the colors of the Italian flag — and the slogan "Civic choice with Monti for Italy."

LILONGWE, Malawi (AP) — The chief of the International Monetary Fund is in Malawi to assess reforms aimed at steering the southern African nation out of an economic crisis. Opponents of the measures say they only make matters worse.

The arrival of IMF director Christine Lagarde on Friday was seen as a show of support for Malawi's president, Joyce Banda, who has been criticized by domestic opponents for sharply devaluing the national currency in line with prescriptions from the international lender.

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Egyptian authorities seized six U.S.-made missiles in the Sinai Peninsula Friday that security officials said were likely smuggled from Libya and bound for the Gaza Strip.

Libya's 2011 uprising and subsequent civil war left the country awash in weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and other munitions. Since the end of the country's eight-month conflict, smugglers have transferred some of the weapons to Islamic militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which has faced a security vacuum since the country's own uprising, and from there onward in underground tunnels to neighboring Gaza.

BAGHDAD (AP) -- A car bomb explosion tore through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims returning home Thursday from a religious commemoration, killing at least 20 and reinforcing fears of renewed sectarian violence, according to Iraqi officials.

The blast erupted late in the afternoon in the town of Musayyib, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of the Iraqi capital. It targeted worshippers returning from the Shiite holy city of Karbala following the climax of the religious commemoration known as Arbaeen.