And then there is the surveillance and intimidation. Yet demonstrations have been gathering momentum throughout Saudi Arabia. It was reported that police opened fire on protests in the eastern provinces - home to the Shia minority - on Thursday night. We went to the eastern town of Dammam to meet the families of political prisoners - some of whom have been held without trial for up to 16 years.

Opposition activists say there are some 30,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia, the government puts the figure at one third of that. We didn't know we were being followed by the security forces, and after we had finished filming we were arrested and our tapes taken from us. The message is clear - people should not protest, and if they do, journalists should not report it.

On Friday, I was due to meet one of the demonstration organisers who said he would accompany me to see the protests. But an hour before the rally was due to begin, I received a text message. "My emails and mobile phone are being monitored. I cannot meet you. I am sorry. This is a sad day for Saudi Arabia." Demonstrations are illegal in the autocratic kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a country with no legal political parties or mass movements that has been governed by the House of Saud for 80 years.

The government claims people have no need to demonstrate because they have a method of government that works. But one opposition spokesman described his country to me as "a police state masquerading as a theocracy". Helicopters hovered overhead, there were road blocks and cars being searched, hundreds of police cars and thousands of police - but not a demonstrator in sight.

Libyan rebel forces have meanwhile suffered fresh setbacks including the loss of the key oil port of Ras Lanuf. Reports suggested that the rebel front line had been pushed back even further back, towards the town of Ujala. The Arab League vote for a no-fly zone was opposed only by Syria and Algeria, reports from the Cairo meeting said.

Nato has previously cited regional support for the idea as a key condition before it could possibly go ahead. The US welcomed the Arab League's call, saying it strengthened the international pressure on Colonel Gaddafi and support for the Libyan people. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Benghazi says there are fears the battle for Misrata could be even nastier than the one for Zawiya, which finally fell on Friday after days of fierce fighting. Misrata is a much bigger city than Zawiya, with a population of some 300,000 people, and one rebel leader has already said he fears a massacre, our correspondent says.

In Benghazi itself the mood in the city remains defiant, says the BBC's Pascale Harter: many wounded fighters are returning but other residents are heading for the front line.

About 170,000 people have been evacuated from the area near the plant. Meanwhile, police have warned that the death toll in tsunami-hit Miyagi prefecture alone could exceed 10,000. Officials previously said that more than 2,000 people died or were missing following Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

Millions remain without electricity and authorities are stepping up relief efforts as the scale of the tragedy becomes clearer. The BBC's Rachel Harvey, who is north of the city of Sendai, says piles of debris and vehicles have been strewn over a wide area by the tsunami, with the roofs of houses poking through in places. Officials announced that the number of troops helping with rescue work in the region would be doubled to 100,000.

The Japanese government has sought to play down fears of a radiation leak at the Fukushima plant. But the plant's operators, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said radiation levels around the plant had now risen above permissible limits. Government spokesman Yukio Edano acknowledged it was possible that a meltdown had occurred at reactor 3.

The BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says a meltdown at reactor 3 would be potentially more serious than at the other reactors, because it is fuelled by plutonium and uranium, unlike the other units which carry only uranium. Experts say as long as authorities can keep fuel rods in the core covered with water, they should be able to avoid a major disaster.

Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9 magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters). The temblor, which struck Friday afternoon near the east coast of Japan, killed hundreds of people, caused the formation of 30-foot walls of water that swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys. Some waves reached six miles (10 kilometers) inland in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's east coast.

The quake was the most powerful to hit the island nation in recorded history and the tsunami it unleashed traveled across the Pacific Ocean, triggering tsunami warnings and alerts for 50 countries and territories as far away as the western coasts of Canada, the US and Chile. The quake triggered more than 160 aftershocks in the first 24 hours - 141 measuring 5.0 magnitude or more.

The Japanese quake comes just weeks after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on February 22, toppling historic buildings and killing more than 150 people. The timeframe of the two quakes have raised questions whether the two incidents are related, but experts say the distance between the two incidents makes that unlikely.

Babies created with the therapy - called three-parent IVF - would inherit 98 per cent of their DNA from their 'real' parents. The rest would come from a female donor. The scientists say the donor genes would not alter the children's appearance or personality, but would stop them dying from painful diseases of the heart, liver and brain.

But the revelation has horrified embryo campaigners who accused doctors of 'meddling around with the delicate building blocks of life'.

It also raises questions about parental rights and whether the donor parent would have any say in the upbringing of a child. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has asked the fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, to investigate the safety of the technique. If MPs back the change, it could be introduced in 12 months.

The creation of three-parent babies raises a host of ethical and safety concerns, according to Dr David King, director of the secular pressure group Human Genetics Alert. By tampering with the genetic make-up of human embryos - and making changes that can be passed on to future generations - doctors are crossing a line, he said. 'It is altering the genetic constituents of every cell in the child's body,' he said. 'If it's a girl, then those changes will be passed down to all her descendants.'

Caron said that he still believes that critically low oxygen levels in the water caused the sardines to suffocate, but it's possible the toxin may have been one explanation for why they crowded into the marina. The California Department of Fish and Game has blamed the die-off on oxygen deprivation and is also testing fish for toxins at its animal forensics laboratory. Results are not expected until next week.

Domoic acid is often found in the stomach of fish that have been feeding on plankton during toxic algae blooms. The toxin has been linked to neurological disorders, illnesses and deaths in seabirds, sea lions, sea otters and whales. Caron's lab is working to determine if the poisoning was caused by a toxic algae bloom spotted off Redondo Beach on Wednesday.

The presence of the toxin in the sardines could lead to health complications for pelicans, gulls and other sea life that have been feasting on the dead fish. "There were tons of birds feeding on these fish and it's conceivable that we'll see some bird mortality as a result," Caron said. The fish died late Monday and carpeted the water's surface the next morning, stacking up to 2 feet deep in some places. Crews have already scooped and hauled away more than 85 tons of fish to a composting center where they will turn into fertilizer.

As the tsunami raced across the Pacific at 500 mph, the first sirens began sounding across Hawaii late Thursday night. Early Friday, the tsunami waves reached Hawaii, tossing boats in Honolulu. The water covered beachfront roads and rushed into hotels on the Big Island. The waves carried a house out to sea. Seven-foot waves flooded low-lying areas in Maui. Many other Pacific islands also evacuated their shorelines for a time. In Guam, the waves broke two US Navy submarines from their moorings, but tug boats brought them back to their pier.

Outside Brookings, Oregon, just north of the California border, four people went to a beach to watch the waves and were swept into the sea. Two got out on their own, and the others were rescued, authorities said. In Crescent City, California, miles to the south, the Coast Guard searched for a man who was swept out to sea. He was taking photos near the mouth of the Klamath River. Two people with him jumped in to rescue him. They were able to get back to land, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies went door to door at dawn to urge residents to seek higher ground.

An 8-foot wave rushed into the harbor, destroying about 35 boats and ripping chunks off the wooden docks, as marina workers and fishermen scrambled between surges to secure property. Officials estimated millions of dollars in damage. On the central coast in Santa Cruz, loose fishing boats crashed into one another and docks broke away from the shore. The water rushed out as quickly as it poured in, leaving the boats tipped over in mud.

- More than 1,800 people likely dead or missing from the quake and tsunami, Kyodo news agency says.

- Kyodo reports 10,000 people in one town unreachable.

- Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) says radiation levels at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have risen above the safety limit but says this posed no "immediate threat" to human health. An explosion blew the roof off the plant, but authorities had said radiation levels were lessening.

- Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says efforts to eliminate radiation risks focus on air being vented out of the reactor and water being supplied to it.

- Evacuation ordered of 110,000 from 20-km (12-mile) radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 30,000 from 10-km (6-mile) radius around nearby Fukushima Daini plant. Kyodo says 300,000 evacuated overall, 5.5 million without power.

- Jiji news agency says a further 19 people may have been exposed to radiation from the reactor. The nuclear safety agency had earlier said up to 160 people may have been exposed.

- Nuclear safety agency rates the incident a 4 on the 1 to 7 International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, less serious than Three Mile Island, which was a 5, and Chernobyl at 7.

- Quake triggers tsunami up to 10 metres (30 feet). Waves swept away homes, crops, vehicles and submerged farmland.

- Bank of Japan to hold policy meeting Monday. The central bank vows to ensure financial market stability.

- Toyota Motor Co to suspend operations at all 12 factories Monday.

- Total insured loss could be up to $15 billion, equity analysts covering the industry say.

- Disaster sends oil, metals, and grain prices sliding on fears over its impact on demand, deepening their biggest decline in months; yen rises broadly on risk aversion by Japanese investors and expectations of repatriations by Japan's insurance companies; oil prices slide more than $3 a barrel.

A huge relief operation is under way after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 600. Hundreds more people are missing and it is feared about 1,300 may have died. The offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami which wreaked havoc on Japan's north-east coast, sweeping far inland and devastating a number of towns and villages. Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared a state of emergency at the Fukushima 1 and 2 power plants as engineers try to confirm whether a reactor at one of the stations has gone into meltdown.

It is an automatic procedure after nuclear reactors shut down in the event of an earthquake, allowing officials to take rapid action. Television pictures showed a massive blast at one of the buildings of the Fukushima 1 plant, about 250km (160 miles) north-east of Tokyo. A huge cloud of smoke billows out and large bits of debris are flung far from the building.

Japan's NHK TV showed before and after pictures of the plant. They appeared to show that the outer structure of one of four buildings at the plant had collapsed after the explosion. The Tokyo Electric Power Co, the plant's operator, said several workers had been injured. Cooling systems inside several reactors at both the Fukushima plants stopped working after Friday's earthquake cut the power supply.

Japan's nuclear agency said on Saturday that radioactive caesium and iodine had been detected near the number one reactor of the Fukushima 1 plant. The agency said this may indicate that containers of uranium fuel inside the reactor may have begun melting. Air has been released from several of the reactors at both plants in an effort to relieve the huge amount of pressure building up inside. Mr Kan said the amount of radiation released was "tiny".

The 8.9-magnitude tremor struck in the afternoon local time on Friday off the coast of Honshu island at a depth of about 24km, 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. It was nearly 8,000 times stronger than last month's quake in New Zealand that devastated the city of Christchurch, scientists said.

The 5,853-foot (1,784-meter) mountain is located on Siau, part of the Sulawesi island chain. It last erupted in August, killing four people.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is located on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The eruption happened hours after a massive earthquake in Japan that triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami.

Witnesses said groups of policemen manned street corners and intersections and a helicopter flew over the city. By midday, no protesters had showed up in the capital and the police presence significantly decreased. On Thursday, rare violence broke out at another protest in the country's east when Saudi police opened fire to disperse demonstrators in the city of Qatif, where minority Shiites live. At least three protesters and one police officer were wounded.

Although protests have so far been confined to small rallies in the east, activists have been emboldened by other uprisings in the region that have toppled longtime rulers of Tunisia and Egypt. The Saudi activists have set up online groups calling for protests in Riyadh on Friday. Any violence at Friday's planned protests could reverberate through the world's markets because of the importance of Saudi oil exports.

Waters at Diamond Head, on the south coast have now retreated 300 feet, suggesting a bigger wave could be on its way, local television reports. Some residents attempted to go back to their homes after the first wave hit, but police are keeping them away warning the second could be higher. The ocean has begun to churn in Waikiki, it is reported, but no waves have hit yet. Experts predict they could reach six feet, and will come around 15 minutes apart.

Tidal gauge readings showed sea levels had already risen by two feet on the south-eastern coast of Hawaii, suggesting higher waves could hit the north coast which is less well-protected. The 8.9 magnitude quake has devastated Japan after it struck off its north eastern coast this morning and sent 30ft high waves sweeping through the city.

The warnings affect coastal areas in the US states of Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California.

Germany's Angela Merkel is facing two major European summit meetings on Friday. First, in the early afternoon, she will attend the European Union's special summit on Libya. Afterwards, she will remain in Brussels into the evening for the "informal meeting" of the 17 leaders of the euro-zone countries. And although it is likely that further sanctions against the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi will be agreed upon easily, things are expected to get a bit hairier when it comes to setting the future course of Europe's common currency, which has experienced a rollercoaster ride in the past year.

The EU leaders plan to reach an agreement about a major currency reform at the next EU summit at the end of March. Between now and then, Europe's leaders will negotiate the contents of the final plan. What will the permanent rescue fund look like starting in 2013? Which sanctions will it include for deficit offenders? Each euro-zone nation is under considerable pressure. Deficit offenders like Ireland and Greece are pushing for improvements in the conditions under which they have received loans. But countries like Finland and the Netherlands vehemently oppose those calls.

Friday's meeting is a pre-summit in the run-up to a much larger one with all 27 member states on March 24-25. Euro-zone leaders want to reach preliminary agreements on a restructuring of the stability pact prior to the regularly scheduled event later this month, when the final reform package on Europe's common currency is expected to be approved. The fact that the club of 17 are meeting prior to that summit is already being celebrated in some quarters as the first step toward the creation of a common economic government - a step Merkel and Germany had long resisted until the scope of the euro problems became clear.

A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant but officials said there were no radiation leaks. At least 40 people have been killed by the quake, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. The region has been rocked by a number of powerful aftershocks. The tremor, measured at 8.9 by the US Geological Survey, hit at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) at a depth of about 24km.

Strong waves hit Japan's Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, officials said, damaging dozens of coastal communities. Kyodo news agency said a 10-metre wave (33ft) struck the port of Sendai in Miyagi. Japan's NHK television showed a massive surge of debris-filled water sweeping away buildings, cars and ships and reaching far inland. Motorists could be seen trying to speed away from the wall of water.

Farmland around Sendai was submerged and the waves pushed cars across the runway of the city's airport. Fires broke out in the city's centre. The UN's nuclear agency said four nuclear power plants had shut down safely. The earthquake also triggered a massive blaze at an oil refinery in Ichihara city in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo, engulfing storage tanks.

The public broadcaster showed flames and black smoke billowing from a building in Odaiba, a Tokyo suburb, and bullet trains to the north of the country were halted. Black smoke was also pouring out of an industrial area in Yokohama's Isogo area. TV footage showed boats, cars and trucks floating in water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in northern Japan.

"The building shook for what seemed a long time and many people in the newsroom grabbed their helmets and some got under their desks," Reuters correspondent Linda Sieg said. Passengers on a subway line in Tokyo screamed and grabbed other passengers' hands. The shaking was so bad it was hard to stand, said Reuters reporter Mariko Katsumura.

The US Geological Survey earlier verified a magnitude of 7.9 at a depth of 15.1 miles and located the quake 81 miles east of Sendai, Honshu. It later upgraded it to 8.8. The Tokyo stock market extended its losses after the quake was announced. The central bank said it would do everything to ensure financial stability.