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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set to slide at the open on Thursday, adding to a more than 1 percent drop a day earlier, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined the start of a wind-down of stimuli that has been instrumental to the market's rally.

PARIS (Reuters) - France's data protection watchdog ordered Google on Thursday to change its privacy policy or face fines, leading a Europe-wide push to get the Internet giant to clarify its intentions and methods for collecting user data.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - James Gandolfini, the burly actor best known for his Emmy-winning portrayal of a conflicted New Jersey mob boss in the groundbreaking TV series "The Sopranos," died on Wednesday vacationing in Italy. He was 51.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A co-founder of file-sharing website Pirate Bay was sentenced to two years in jail on Thursday for hacking into computers at a company that manages data for Swedish authorities and making illegal online money transfers, a court said.

DOHA (Reuters) - A fresh effort to end Afghanistan's 12-year-old war looked in disarray on Thursday after a diplomatic spat about the Taliban's new Qatar office delayed preliminary discussions between the United States and the Islamist insurgents.

June 20 - June 20 marks World Refugee Day as forced displacement reaches 18-year high. Paul Chapman reports.

June 20 - The Fed hasn't yet slowed down the QE cashflow, but it has changed the emotional tone. Forget the old risk-on, risk-off dichotomy, it's all about wild flight now.

June 20 - What motivates a banker? Not money, apparently. Oh, and they are proud to tell a stranger they work in finance, according to a YouGov survey.

RAQQA, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian boys looked edgy and awkward. Three months ago their town, the eastern desert city of Raqqa, had fallen to rebel fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's government. Now the four boys - clad in tight jeans and bright T-shirts - were whitewashing a wall to prepare it for revolutionary graffiti.

TOKYO/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian markets buckled badly on Thursday after the Federal Reserve heralded an eventual end to free money and China turned the screw on credit even as factory activity in the world's second largest economy hit a nine-month low.

MEXICO CITY, June 19 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Barry, the second of the Atlantic hurricane season, strengthened as it churned toward Mexico on Wednesday, threatening to bring heavy rains to oil and power installations near the country's Gulf coast.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressman who has been blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng's main champion in Washington said people working for New York University have tried to keep him from meeting Chen, barging into a meeting on Capitol Hill and pulling Chen out on one occasion.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Courts in China's far western region of Xinjiang have sentenced 19 ethnic Uighurs to up to six years in jail for promoting racial hatred and religious extremism online, in the latest crackdown on what China sees as violent separatists.

June 20 - Brazil's biggest protests in 20 years win a cut in public transport fares as its soccer team beats Mexico in a crucial cup match. Paul Chapman reports.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - James Gandolfini, the burly actor best known for his Emmy-winning portrayal of a conflicted New Jersey mob boss in the groundbreaking cable TV series "The Sopranos," died on Wednesday vacationing in Italy. He was 51.

June 20 - A U.S. former university professor just added to the FBI's most-wanted list is detained in Mexico. Paul Chapman reports.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A year after Facebook Inc's fumbled IPO, Wall Street remains slow to recognize what Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg argues has been an across-the-board improvement in its business.

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - North Carolina's governor, hoping to resume executions in his state, on Wednesday signed the repeal of a law that has allowed death row inmates to seek a reduced sentence if they could prove racial bias affected their punishment.

KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Revived Afghan peace talks hit their first roadblock on Wednesday, a day after they were announced, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not join U.S. talks with the Taliban and would halt negotiations with Washington on a post-2014 troop pact.

Tropical Storm Barry, the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has become a little stronger, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona death row inmate who wrote to the state Supreme Court asking for a speedy execution died on Wednesday after being found unresponsive in his cell, authorities said.

YANGON (Reuters) - Her adoring compatriots believe democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is destined to become Myanmar's next president. But don't bet on it.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's blossoming protest movement is a coming-of-age for what had been one of Latin America's most politically disengaged youth populations, but does not appear to constitute a major threat to governability or established political parties.

SEATTLE, June 19 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday that users of its forthcoming Xbox One game console will be able to play games offline without establishing an Internet connection, and will be able to lend or sell used disc-based games.

June 19 - At least 30 people are dead after a bus plunged into a ravine in central Peru, landing in the Tarma River. Deborah Gembara reports.

MIAMI (Reuters) - LeBron James, one win away from a second consecutive NBA title, is refusing to let relentless critics shift him from his goal of earning a place as one of the game's greatest.

June 19 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Barry, the second tropical storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season, formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.

June 19 (Reuters) - Watch out Ivy League, there's a new generation of elite universities on the rise around the globe, according to a new "100 Under 50" report from Times Higher Education magazine.

June 19 - FBI calls off for its search for the remains of missing union boss Jimmy Hoffa in suburban Detroit field. Katharine Jackson reports.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks hit session lows on Wednesday shortly after the Federal Reserve said it would keep buying $85 billion in bonds per month and gave no explicit indication that it was close to scaling back the stimulus program.