June 12, 2013 Ten elderly women have escaped unharmed when the limousine they were in burst into flames while idling in northern California, authorities and a passenger say.

June 12, 2013 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has "no more tolerance" for the mass anti-government demonstrations that have engulfed the country, as police clashed with demonstrators in Istanbul on a 12th day of unrest.

June 12, 2013 European leaders, stunned by revelations of an extensive US surveillance program that included their citizens, have moved to demand more information from Washington and said they would discuss ways to bolster their already stringent privacy laws.

June 12, 2013 A large majority of Americans say the federal government should focus on investigating possible terrorist threats even if personal privacy is compromised, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Centre poll.

June 12, 2013 A US watchdog has launched an inquiry into claims that diplomatic security staff tried to cover up alleged sex-and-drugs charges against agents and diplomats.

June 11, 2013 The mystery of Bollywood actress Jiah Khan's death has deepened after a friend of hers was arrested on suspicion of abetting her suicide.

June 11, 2013 Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to meet on Wednesday with leaders of the movement whose peaceful protests in Istanbul spiralled into a wave of anti-government demonstrations across Turkey.

June 11, 2013 German authorities have urged 15,000 more people to flee their homes in a city on the swollen Elbe river as central Europe's worst floods in a decade also threatened Hungary after causing havoc in the Czech Republic and Austria.

June 11, 2013 The principal ballet dancer at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow has been told to leave by the end of the month amid allegations he was implicated in a feud in which the artistic director was almost blinded by an acid attack.

June 11, 2013 A fire at an Islamic boarding school near London in which 128 pupils and staff were evacuated was being treated as suspicious by police amid an increase in anti-Muslim incidents since the murder of the British soldier Lee Rigby.