In several countries of the Middle East and North Africa, youthful and rapidly growing populations face rising food prices, high unemployment and lack of political representation. Some are also ruled by aging autocrats facing succession issues.

Which are the countries involved, and what is the likelihood of real change?

EGYPT has many similarities with Tunisia - tough economic conditions, official corruption and little opportunity for its citizens to express their dissatisfaction with the political system. President Hosni Mubarak, 82, has an almost complete monopoly on power, has been in office for three decades and is seeking re-election this autumn. But change will not come easily in Egypt - the country is about eight times the size of Tunisia, the people are on average less literate and educated, and less internet-savvy. The trade unions are not as powerful, and the powerful security apparatus of Mr Mubarak is well equipped and more experienced at quashing dissent.

YEMEN - There have been several days of protests in Yemen - the Arab world's most impoverished nation, where nearly half of the population lives on less than $2 a day. Youths and opposition groups have taken to the streets of the capital, Sanaa, and the southern city of Aden demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh - in power for nearly 32 years.

ALGERIA - As the winter protests escalated in Tunisia, its western neighbour also saw large numbers of young people taking to the streets. As in Tunisia, the trigger appeared to be economic grievances - in particular sharp increases in the price of food. A state of emergency has been in place in Algeria since 1992, and public demonstrations in the capital have been banned. There are regular impromptu protests elsewhere in the country, but in recent weeks these broke out simultaneously across Algeria for the first time, including in the capital, Algiers.

LIBYA - "There is none better than Zine to govern Tunisia. Tunisia now lives in fear." Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's sharp reaction on Saturday to the overthrow of President Ben Ali would seem to reflect his own nervousness about a possible domino effect.

After 41 years in power, Colonel Gaddafi is the longest serving ruler in Africa and the Middle East, and also one of the most autocratic. Protest of any kind is strictly prohibited, but even so there were reports of unrest over the weekend in the city of al-Bayda.

JORDAN - Thousands staged protests across Jordan in a "day of rage" on Saturday in protest against rising food prices and unemployment. Some demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai. The government had last week slashed prices on certain foods and fuels, but the protesters say more needs to be done to tackle poverty caused by inflation.

MOROCCO - Like Tunisia, Morocco has been facing economic problems and allegations of corruption in ruling circles. Morocco's reputation was damaged after Wikileaks revealed allegations of increased corruption, in particular the royal family's business affairs and the "appalling greed" of people close to King Mohammed VI.

This is because in hot conditions there is initially so much melt-water that it runs off into channels below the ice, thereby decreasing the lubricating layer which sits on top of the ice sheets and causes melting over a much larger surface area. Owing to this, the acceleration of melting appears to stall early on in hot summers, whereas it does not in cool ones.

The findings, reported in the journal Nature, have important implications for future assessments of global sea level rise. The Greenland ice sheet covers roughly 80 per cent of the surface of the island and contains enough water to raise sea levels by 7 metres if it were to melt completely.

Rising temperatures in the Arctic in recent years have caused the ice sheet to shrink, prompting fears that it may be close to a 'tipping point' of no return. Some of the ice loss has been attributed to the speed-up of glaciers due to increased surface melting. Despite their findings, however, the researchers were keen to emphasise that the ice sheet is 'not safe from climate change'.

The Meteorological Agency raised the volcanic alert to level 3 as ash today continued to spew from Shinmoedake on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, and residents have been banned from going within a mile of the volcano following its worst eruption in 50 years.

Agency volcanologist Sei Iijima said the eruption did not pose a threat to nearby cities, and a major eruption was not imminent. But he added: 'You can never say never with a volcano, although the lack of magma movement beneath the surface leads us to believe that this activity won't lead to a large-scale eruption,' he told ABC News.

The volcano, one of 20 inside Mount Kirishima, began erupting around 7.30am yesterday morning and by 3pm heavy smoke had risen to nearly 5,000ft, prompting the meteorological agency to raise the alert level. Volcanic activity is often reported at Kirishima, but this is the largest eruption recorded there since 1959.

The call says that "a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount will help stop the desecration. Remember who sets the agenda on the Temple Mount: it is only the Israeli police. The more Jews that go up to the Temple Mount, the less Arabs that will be allowed to go up by the police."

The call also noted that Muslim holy sites such as Mecca and Islam are treated respectfully by Arabs, and that only on the Temple Mount may one find Arab children playing ball or Arabs harvesting olives.

"This behavior may undermine the fact that the Muslims themselves believe the Temple Mount is a holy site for Islam," reads the call. "And what they claim as Muslim holiness on the Temple Mount, might really be an excuse to harm the Jewish presence on the Temple Mount."

Politicians and ratings agencies have long warned that Japan needs to lower its debt pile. Japan's debt burden is by far the worst among industrial economies, but does it face a crisis similar to what is plaguing Europe's smaller economies? By some measures Japan is in a worse mess than Greece and Ireland, both of which sought bailouts due to their high debt.

Japan is also worse off than countries that investors speculate will need bailouts in the future, such as Spain, Portugal and Belgium. Japan's outstanding long-term government debt is set to reach 869 trillion yen (6.64 trillion pounds) at the end of March this year, or 181 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the Ministry of Finance says. If short-term debt is added, Japan's liabilities will hit 204 percent of GDP this calendar year, larger than 137 percent for Greece and 113 percent for Ireland, according to the OECD.

They call it Sponsored Stories. Advertisers call it a godsend. "If you can get your advertising into the activity feed, that's the best time to touch people -- and the launch of sponsored stories is doing just that," Vijay Pullur, CEO of social media marketing company SocialTwist, told FoxNews.com.

He pointed out that the move was completely expected in the advertising world -- inevitable even. But it may come as a shock to Facebook's 500 million users, who have unwittingly been clicking "Like" buttons across the Internet, unaware that they may be helping market and promote brands at the same time.

GOP lawmakers introduced such a measure Wednesday in the Idaho House, and Alabama, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Nebraska, Texas and Wyoming are also talking about the idea. The efforts are completely unconstitutional in the eyes of most legal scholars because the U.S. Constitution deems federal laws "the supreme law of the land." The Idaho attorney general has weighed in as well, branding nullification unconstitutional.

"There is no right to pick and choose which federal laws a state will follow," wrote Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane. Regardless of the very dubious constitutional nature of the efforts, the nullification push has become a rallying cry in conservative states at a time when anti-government angst is running high and "state's rights" are a popular belief among the tea party crowd.

Nullification has been invoked several times over the years - to no avail. South Carolina wielded it in the 1830s to fight federal tariffs - and nearly provoked armed conflict. Historians see that state's "Nullification Crisis" in 1832 as a prelude to the Civil War.

Only female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spread dengue fever, which killed 134 people in Malaysia last year. However, the plan has sparked criticism by some Malaysian environmentalists, who fear it might have unforeseen consequences, such as the inadvertent creation of uncontrollable mutated mosquitoes.

Critics also say such plans could leave a vacuum in the ecosystem that is then filled by another insect species, potentially introducing new diseases. A similar trial in the Cayman Islands last year - the first time genetically modified mosquitoes have been set loose in the wild after years of laboratory experiments and hypothetical calculations - resulted in a dramatic drop in the mosquito population in a small area studied by researchers.

Government authorities have tried to allay the concerns by saying they are conducting small-scale research and will not rush into any widespread release of mosquitoes. The Malaysian government-run Institute for Medical Research said it released about 6,000 non-biting sterile male lab mosquitoes in an uninhabited forest area in eastern Malaysia on December 21.

In the Cayman Islands, genetically altered sterile male mosquitoes were also set loose by scientists in a 40-acre region between May and October last year. By August, mosquito numbers in that area dropped by 80 per cent compared with a neighbouring area where no sterile mosquitoes were released.

According to a recent article in Women's Wear Daily, the formulas are designed for young skin and have natural ingredients like white willow bark to exfoliate, chamomile, lavender and calendula to calm and antioxidants. There's a cleanser, mineral blush, liquid2power shadow, feather-lash mascara, face shimmer and body mist, among the offerings. The line, which will replace the space vacated by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen cosmetics in Walmart, is set to debut next month in stores and at geogirl.com.

The unrest began on Tuesday in what anti-government activists called a "day of revolt", inspired by the uprising in Tunisia which ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. On Wednesday, they staged fresh demonstrations in central Cairo, despite official warnings that anyone taking to the streets would be prosecuted. "We've started and we won't stop," one demonstrator told the AFP news agency.

The Egyptian government, ruled by President Hosni Mubarak since 1981, tolerates little dissent and opposition demonstrations are routinely outlawed. But on Wednesday, Mrs Clinton said it was facing "an important opportunity to implement political, economic and social reforms that respond to legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people".

"We support the universal right of the Egyptian people, including the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly," she told reporters at the state department, calling on all parties to show restraint. Egypt is a key political and military ally of the US in the Middle East, so Washington has been cautious in its response, but it has urged the authorities "not to prevent peaceful protests nor block communications, including on social media sites".

The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says the US is clearly watching events on the streets of its most populous Arab ally with growing concern, fearing the potential of violent unrest at the heart of the Arab world. Washington has been reliant on Mr Mubarak's autocratic regime for decades, but the unrest could now mean the US has to tread very carefully as it seeks to influence events in the region, says our correspondent.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said the 21 billion pounds cost of public sector fraud could pay for 800 secondary schools or 615,000 nurses. He said: "Contrary to what many people think, fraud and error is not just confined to benefits and revenue. It affects every government department and impacts on the government's ability to deliver better public services, while stripping the civil service of vital resources. We can't and won't allow this to happen any more."

The cost to the private sector was 12 billion pounds and charities lost 1.3 billion pounds, the NFA reported, while individuals' losses were estimated at 4 billion pounds. Frauds included marketing scams, bogus operators, fake lotteries and online ticketing and rental crimes.

Public gatherings would no longer be tolerated, the interior ministry said. Anyone taking to the streets against the government would be prosecuted, it added. The BBC's John Leyne in Cairo says the authorities are responding in familiar fashion, treating a political crisis as a security threat.

Protesters have been inspired by the recent uprising in Tunisia, vowing to stay on the streets until the government falls. Tuesday's protests were co-ordinated through a Facebook page, where organisers say they are taking a stand against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment.

One page called for protesters all over Egypt to gather after prayers on Friday. Twitter also played a key part, with supporters inside and outside Egypt using the search term #jan25 to post news on Tuesday, but it was blocked later in the day. Technically minded protesters have found ways of evading the restrictions by routing their messages through proxy servers - web facilities based in other countries.

Egypt has many of the same social and political problems that brought about the unrest in Tunisia - rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption. However, the population of Egypt has a much lower level of education than Tunisia. Illiteracy is high and internet penetration is low. There are deep frustrations in Egyptian society, our Cairo correspondent says, adding that Egypt is widely seen to have lost power, status and prestige in the three decades of President Mubarak's rule.

Mr King issued the warning in a speech in Newcastle upon Tyne after official figures showed that gross domestic product fell by 0.5 per cent during the final three months last year. The Government blamed the unexpected reduction - the first since the third quarter of 2009 - on the freezing weather that paralysed much of the country last month. But there were fears that the country was poised to slip back into recession, defined as two successive quarters of negative growth. Economists said the situation was "an absolute disaster".

Mr King said he was unable to offer any imminent hope of a rise in interest rates in coming months because of the poor economic outlook. Savers and "those who behaved prudently" would be among the biggest losers in the squeeze, he admitted. Disposable household income has been hit by sharp increases in the cost of food, fuel and tax, coupled with restricted wage rises for most workers. Last year, take-home pay fell by about 12 per cent, official figures showed, and the trend was expected to continue in 2011.

The governor warned that the Bank "neither can, nor should try to, prevent the squeeze in living standards". He said that the economic figures were a reminder that the recovery will be "choppy". However, he said the biggest threat facing the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates, was rising inflation.

Savvas Savouri, partner and chief economist at Toscafund, has called for tighter scrutiny despite a wave of recent regulation tackling bank capital requirements and bonuses as lawmakers try to avert a repeat of the credit crisis. "Finance is almost lawless. The nature of regulation is so light touch that it may as well not be there at all," Savouri said at the London School of Economics' Alternative Investments Conference.

"It (the financial services sector) is like medicine in the 18th century - it's full of frauds... and is very poorly regulated... You need to be that much better (than your rivals) if you don't perform underhand or insider trades." Savouri's comments make Toscafund one of the few hedge fund firms to argue the case for more regulation following the European Union's Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive which seeks closer supervision of hedge funds even though many regulators say they were not directly responsible for the crisis.

The UK was the first country in the G7 to release economic growth figures for the last quarter of last year and the 0.5 percent GDP contraction, instead of an expected 0.5 percent expansion, sent the pound 1 percent lower against the dollar and the euro and knocked down European stocks.

David Blanchflower, a former Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member known for his dovish stance and currently a professor of economics at Dartmouth College, said the figure was "awful, dreadful." Britain's government, formed of a coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, has implemented tough austerity measures to cut state spending and increase revenues in order to persuade markets it is still worthy of its triple-A investment grade.

The Bank of England's hands are tied when it comes to fighting inflation, as it will probably have to take more quantitative easing steps, according to Blanchflower. "I think people have underestimated the sheer size of this shock," he said.