More than 5,000 people have died in the nine-month Syrian uprising, the UN’s human rights chief has said.

THE Pentagon said yesterday it is working with Turkey to resolve a “serious problem” posed by the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, but declined to comment on a media report of secret plans to stop rebel violence.

After a rash of bombings, a Kurdish militant group has warned that it will turn Turkey "into hell", and urged tourists to avoid travelling to the country, in what appeared to be a trend in the Kurdish guerrilla war against the Turkish state – bombings against “soft targets”.