A 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan's Fukushima prefecture early on Saturday morning, the United States Geological Survey said.

The moderate quake hit 34 kilometers (21 miles) east of coastal Namie city in Fukushima prefecture, where a devastating quake-tsunami in March 2011 sparked a nuclear disaster and caused massive damage.

Secretary of State John Kerry vowed Friday that the United States would defend Japan against attack including over islands claimed by China as tensions boil between the Asian powers.

Kerry, who said he would visit China next week, met in Washington with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and reaffirmed the 1960 treaty that commits the United States to protect its ally.

French President Francois Hollande's dumped ex, Valerie Trierweiler, is to sue Closer magazine after the French glossy published pictures of her getting over her break-up on a tropical beach.

The former first lady announced the move in a statement to Agence France Presse.

A Turkish MP from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party quit Friday in protest at his handling of a major corruption probe, the ninth such departure since the scandal broke in December.

Lawmaker Ilhan Isbilen is close to Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic preacher living in the United States whose Hizmet network Erdogan has blamed for orchestrating the investigation.

Greece gave its backing Friday to renewed talks on unifying Cyprus following discussions between its prime minister and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said he had held "detailed discussions" with Anastasiades on the resumption of talks, which he described as "one of the leading priorities of Greek foreign policy".

Turkey scrambled an F-16 jet Friday to force down an airliner from Ukraine when a would-be hijacker on board ordered it to Sochi where the Winter Olympic opening ceremony was underway, Turkish officials said.

Turkish media reported that a Ukrainian man brandishing a detonator tried to gain access to the cockpit of the aircraft operated by Turkey's Pegasus Airlines while it was in the air.

Spain on Friday denied its security forces had fired rubber bullets at migrants trying to swim to Spanish soil, after nine Africans drowned in the attempt.

The nine, including one woman, drowned on Thursday while trying to reach the Spanish territory of Ceuta from a beach in neighboring Morocco. Other migrants tried to storm through a land checkpoint.

International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Friday she has opened an initial probe into "serious crimes" committed in the Central African Republic, the scene of spiraling sectarian violence.

"My office has reviewed many reports detailing acts of extreme brutality... and allegations of serious crimes being committed. I have therefore decided to open a preliminary investigation into this... situation," she said in a statement in The Hague.

Colombia's FARC guerrilla movement said Friday it would not observe a ceasefire during legislative elections next month unless the government also agreed to a truce.

President Juan Manuel Santos has repeatedly rejected rebel calls for a bilateral ceasefire, arguing that the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) would use it to regroup.

Two Greeks were convicted Friday of the 2012 gangland slaying of five men in the popular tourist resort town of Ayia Napa and given unprecedented life sentences on each count.

Four of the victims were working as security guards for businessman Fanos Kalopsidiotis, who police believe was the intended target but who was not in the car targeted in an ambush on a busy weekend night in the main square.