June 13 () - TOP STORIES
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GENEVA - The death toll in Syria reached at least 93,000 at the end of April, but the true number of victims from the violence now in its third year may be much higher, the United Nations human rights office said on Thursday.
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BEIJING - China refused to be drawn on Thursday on revelations of U.S. electronic surveillance and on the American in Hong Kong who leaked the information, and a senior source said Beijing does not want to jeopardise recently improved ties with Washington.
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ISTANBUL/ANKARA - Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators chanted and sang in Istanbul's Taksim Square early on Thursday after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK party floated the offer of a referendum on development plans that stirred two weeks of protests.
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ATHENS - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras moved to defuse a political crisis over the government's abrupt closure of state broadcaster ERT as trade unions staged a 24-hour strike on Thursday in protest at what was officially called a cost-cutting measure.
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DUBAI - Campaigning in Iran's presidential election ended on Thursday, a day before the vote in which the sole moderate candidate has an unlikely chance to steal victory from his hardline rivals.
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ALEXANDRIA - The bread queue can be a dangerous and dishonest place in Egypt. People have killed over state-subsidised loaves. Corruption blights much of the trade.
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Clare Jim, Reiji Murai and Poornima Gupta - Apple Inc is exploring launching iPhones with bigger screens, as well as cheaper models in a range of colours, over the next year, said four people with knowledge of the matter, as it takes a cue from rival Samsung Electronics .
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HAVANA - Australian long-distance swimmer Chloe McCardel abandoned her quest to become the first person to make the 103 mile (166 km) swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, after she was severely stung by a jelly fish on Wednesday night.
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BRUSSELS - The European Union said on Thursday jail sentences handed down to three European feminist activists who staged a topless protest in Tunisia were too severe and urged the Islamist-led government to reform its laws on freedom of expression.
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SEOUL - North Korea blamed the South on Thursday for scuttling fresh dialogue that aimed to ease tensions between the rival Koreas, saying Seoul deliberately torpedoed reconciliation talks planned for this week.
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WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will name Avril Haines, a White House legal adviser, as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency after the current director, Michael Morell, said he would retire in August, the White House said on Wednesday.
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MUSHAF AIR BASE, Pakistan - With an olive green head scarf poking out from her helmet, Ayesha Farooq flashes a cheeky grin when asked if it is lonely being the only war-ready female fighter pilot in the Islamic republic of Pakistan.
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