The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
_0">* Iraq's government girded to protect the capital from advancing insurgents, as Iranian security officials said their forces had joined the battle on Baghdad's side and the United States weighed military assistance. (r.reuters.com/xyw99v)
* Iran has deployed Revolutionary Guard forces to fight militants that have overrun a string of Iraqi cities, and it has helped Iraqi troops win back control of most of Tikrit, Iranian security sources said. (r.reuters.com/zyw99v)
* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd IPO-ALIB.N, responding to concerns from investors that it has been too tight-lipped, plans to give out more details about its Internet empire as it readies its potential $20 billion initial public offering. The Chinese e-commerce company, which plans to go public in the next few months, is preparing a new regulatory filing that will give metrics on some of its individual businesses. (r.reuters.com/zuw99v)
* Facebook Inc took another step to reap commercial benefit from the lives of its billion-plus users, saying it will allow advertisers to target ads based on users' web-browsing habits. The move reversed Facebook's previous position on users' browsing data and renewed critics' concerns about the company's commitment to user privacy. (r.reuters.com/dyw99v)
* The U.S. government on June 27 plans to auction almost 30,000 bitcoins, valued at $17.3 million, that were seized as part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's crackdown last year on the Silk Road online marketplace for illicit drugs, the U.S. Marshals Service said Thursday. (r.reuters.com/fax99v)
* Tesla Motors Inc is offering the proprietary technology at the heart of its Model S electric car to any company that wants to build vehicles, and its chief suggested BMW already is interested in sharing certain patents. (r.reuters.com/gax99v)
* The European Union's second-highest court on Thursday upheld a record 1.06 billion euros ($1.43 billion) fine against Intel Corp for abusing its dominant position in the microprocessor market, the latest in a long line of victories for EU antitrust authorities at the European courts. (r.reuters.com/jyw99v) (Compiled by Supriya Kurane in Bangalore)