The forum's deliberations took place against the background of the turmoil in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world. Terrorism is also back on the agenda, after the bombing of Moscow airport. And the increasingly tense relationship between China and the US has served as a backdrop to many of the discussions at the WEF. Davos delegates do not seem to know how to react to events in Egypt. The young people demonstrating on the streets of Cairo are not the kind of voices that are represented at the forum.

The most prominent voice from the Arab world in Davos has been Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League and a former foreign minister of Egypt. But, in his public appearances, Mr Moussa has restricted himself to bland and generalised calls for "reform" in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world. He has also suggested that unrest on the streets of Egypt and elsewhere partly reflects frustration at a lack of progress in the Middle East peace process.

Other participants from the region have suggested that the Middle East is now subject to a "political contagion", similar to the financial contagion that caused sovereign-debt crises to cross borders in Europe.

Fitch has lowered its outlook on Egyptian sovereign debt to negative from stable. Richard Fox, head of Fitch's Middle East and East Africa sovereign ratings, warned that "a continuation or intensification of significant unrest that seriously threatened economic and financial performance and the economic reform process would lead to a rating downgrade."

The situation could have ripple effects worldwide if the Suez Canal becomes jeopardized or even shut down. According to Canaccord Genuity, "this may be impactful as approximately 1.8 million barrels per day of oil was transported through the Suez Canal in 2009. A closure of the canal would result in an extra 6,000 miles of travel for any oil being transported out of the region, an additional cost which could drive up oil prices."

Despite the rapid transformation of the web during its short history, and the unprecedented freedom of expression it has enabled, the internet still has vulnerable points that can be exploited by governments or for commercial interests. Renesys's Cowie contrasted a country such as Egypt with those that have highly dispersed international connections. "In the United States you have every global carrier available to you, you have multiple cable landing points ...you have a country that effectively can't be taken off the internet," he told Reuters.

Bristol Water said conditions in its area were even worse than those that preceded the great drought of 1976, and had not been drier for more than 75 years. Reservoir levels in the Bristol area are more than a quarter down on the same time last year. Other water authorities also reported that stocks were down as leaks caused by burst pipes in the December freeze added to the pressure on supplies. Ian Michaelwaite, director of Netweather, a private forecasting company, said that at this time of year reservoirs should be at 100 per cent capacity, barring a few exceptions.

Bristol Water said conditions were caused by a lack of Atlantic weather systems, which usually cross Britain bringing bands of rain, especially to Western regions. "They showed some signs of returning to their usual pattern occasionally, only for a blocking cold front to take over again," said Mr Williams.

Piers Corbyn, of the long range forecaster, Weather Action, predicted more cold winters and cool summers. "In the winter reservoir levels will be low but they will probably pick up in the summer because we will have more rain. There will be regional differences because it will depend on where the high pressure might be." Mr Corbyn said the conditions had "nothing to do with global warming", and he added: "The world is now cooling." He said: "It is changes in the position of the jet stream caused by changes in solar activity and lunar modulation.

At the same time the United States, Britain and others have encouraged their central banks to pump money into the system as a means of stimulating the economy.

"We are going to see the recovery of nationalism and protectionism, I think we're going to face some type of currency war," said Jose Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, president and CEO of Brazilian oil giant Petrobras. "The US is going to try to use weak dollar policy to help recovery in the US, and Brazil, India are not going to accept that and will fight back, and then we're going to see some struggle and conflicts," he said.

His words echoed concerns expressed by many participants of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, where ways to maintain the fragile global recovery - and risks to it - are being hotly debated. Beijing has been wary of letting go control of its currency even as food price rises are driving up inflation - a situation that has been partly blamed for spurring anti-government protests in the Middle East this week.

The US rating agency cut Japan's $10.6 trillion (6.6 trillion pounds) debt one notch to AA-, warning that the mix of government paralysis, a shrinking workforce and a fast-rising interest burden have left the country's debt dynamics on an unsustainable footing. Julian Jessop, from Capital Economics, said the unfolding drama in Tokyo has global implications since Japan is the world's top external creditor with $3 trillion of net assets abroad. "This is potentially a much bigger story than any default in Greece," he said.

The concern is that Japanese banks, pension funds and life insurers may be forced to repatriate large sums to cover losses at home if the fiscal crisis triggers a jump in bond yields. This could set off a worldwide fall in asset prices.

The get-out-of-jail-free card may prove to be some sort of stealth default through inflation, perhaps spiralling into hyperinflation very fast once the genie is out of the bottle. James Bullard, the head of the St Louis Federal Reserve, said recently that the US is "closer to a Japanese-style outcome today than at any time in recent history". That bears thinking about.

The most closely-watched barometer of consumer confidence revealed an "astonishing collapse" in January as the VAT rise took effect, according to market research group GfK NOP. The first taste of the fiscal tightening to have a widespread impact on consumers appeared to have hit sentiment hard, researchers said, even before the full impact of the public spending cuts is felt.

"In the 35 years since the index began, confidence has only slumped this much on six occasions, the last being in the midst of the 1992 recession," said Nick Moon, managing director at GfK NOP Social Research. "Today's figures, when combined with the bleak economic forecast, will make talk of a double-dip recession unavoidable."

The eight-point plunge in optimism took the barometer's headline reading to -29, the lowest since March 2009, when the UK was mired deep in the last recession. Their findings will prompt more questions as to whether the Coalition risks tipping the economy back into recession through its programme of tax rises and spending cuts to reduce the budget deficit.

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.