ANKARA (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale hit the Mediterranean Sea off the popular Turkish resort of Kas early yesterday, but there were no casualties or damage, the CNN-Turk news channel reported. The temblor struck at 12.36 a.m. (local time) with an epicenter 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Kas, the Istanbul-based Kandilli Seismological Institute said. The quake, also felt in neighboring towns, sent many people running into the streets in panic, while some chose to spend the night in the open in fear of aftershocks, CNN-Turk said.

BERLIN (AFP) - A suspected leader of a Turkish rebel group has been arrested in southern Germany, a spokesman for prosecutors in the city of Nuremberg confirmed yesterday. Remzi Kartal, a deputy chairman of Kongra-Gel, the new name of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), was arrested on an international warrant issued by Turkey on suspicion of being a member of a terrorist organization, he said. Kartal is based in Brussels but was in Germany to attend a cultural function when he was detained at a Nuremberg train station.

A Romanian tabloid said yesterday it had fired a reporter for making up a story about a couple who named their son Yahoo as a sign of gratitude for meeting over the Internet. Bucharest daily Libertatea published a story this month saying two Romanians had named their baby after the popular website and printed a picture of his birth certificate. The news was published internationally. (Reuters)

A minibus slid off a road in snowy and icy weather in Albania, killing five people, the police said yesterday. The accident occurred Sunday on a road near the town of Bulqize, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Tirana, when the driver lost control of the minibus, police said. (AP)

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged Turks to be more generous toward his country as it recovers after the tsunami disaster, in an interview in the Turkish newspaper Zaman published yesterday. «We would like the Turkish State and people to be more sensitive to the scourge that has befallen us,» the newspaper quoted him as saying. Turkish government aid for the tsunami relief effort amounts to about $5 million. (AFP)