* In authoritarian states, protesters want more freedom * Financial adjustments bring anger in Western economies * Vicious cycle of inflation and unrest With the Middle East in turmoil, other authoritarian states jumpy and post-crisis economic pain prompting protest in western Europe and elsewhere, some suspect a systemic rise in worldwide unrest might just be

Young, married couples who had not started a family had the happiest relationships, according to a study of British attitudes published on Monday. The initial findings of Understanding Society, a 48.9 million pound study commissioned by the government-backed Economic and Social Research Council, showed older couples were less content than their younger counterparts, with women

The home of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle is the "most flirtatious city" of the modern world, a new study showed on Monday. Athens topped a "World Flirtation League", which ranked cities by the number of online flirtations initiated per month by the average user in each on online social networking site Badoo.com (www.badoo.com). Moscow came

Ireland's new leaders have a month to persuade European partners to relax the terms of a controversial bailout or risk the euro zone struggler buckling under the strain of its debts. Enda Kenny's centre-right Fine Gael party cruised to victory in a weekend parliamentary election dominated by anger at the country's economic meltdown and the

– Trial relating to sex scandal starts April 6 The trial of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on tax fraud charges resumed on Monday, the first of three cases to be revived after Italy's top court stripped him of his immunity from prosecution. Berlusconi was not present for the resumption of the trial, the first showdown

"Toy Story 3" won the Oscar for best animated feature on Sunday, becoming the fourth Pixar release to win the category in as many years. In perhaps the least surprising result at the Academy Awards, the hit cartoon beat out another Hollywood crowd-pleaser, "How to Train Your Dragon," and the British-French co-production "The Illusionist." "Toy

Japan's Nikkei average ended higher on Monday, reversing early losses with help from futures-led buying by commodity trading advisers and month-end window dressing by foreign investors who picked up blue-chip cyclical shares. The banking sector was active with Mizuho Trust & Banking Co Ltd and other units of Mizuho Financial Group jumping after a source