Yemen's president has told parliament he will not seek another term in office or hand power to his son — an apparent reaction to protests in his own country that have been inspired by Tunisia's revolt and the turmoil in Egypt.

The U.S.-allied Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for nearly 32 years, spoke Wednesday to lawmakers in both houses of the assembly.

Syrians are organizing campaigns on Facebook and Twitter that call for a "day of rage" in Damascus this week, taking inspiration from Egypt and Tunisia in using social networking sites to rally their followers for sweeping political reforms.

Like Egypt and Tunisia, Syria suffers from corruption, poverty and unemployment. All three nations have seen subsidy cuts on staples like bread and oil. Syria's authoritarian president has resisted calls for political freedoms and jailed critics of his regime.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged on Tuesday that he would not stand for re-election in September, in an address to the nation that came after eight days of anti-government demonstrations.

"In all sincerity, regardless of the current circumstances, I never intended to be a candidate for another term," he said.

Fernando Torres was sold from Liverpool to Chelsea on Monday for a British record transfer fee, said to be 50 million pounds ($79.5 million).

Monday's deal is soccer's third-most expensive transfer, exceeded by Real Madrid's 2009 purchases of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for 80 million pounds ($131 million) and Kaka from AC Milan for 65 million euros ($92 million). It will be a similar figure to that received by Inter Milan when the Italian team sold Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona the same year, a deal that sent Samuel Eto'o to Inter.

A section of the brain involved in memory grew in size in older people who regularly took brisk walks for a year, researchers reported Monday.

The new study reinforces previous findings that aerobic exercise seems to reduce brain atrophy in early-stage Alzheimer's patients, and that walking leads to slight improvement on mental tests among older people with memory problems.

The last of Egypt's main Internet service providers, the Noor Group, has gone dark.

The Noor Group had remained online even after Egypt's four main Internet providers — Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr — abruptly stopped shuttling Internet traffic into and out of the country Friday morning.

Omar Sharif, Egypt's most famous actor, says he's concerned for the future of his country.

Cairo's Tahrir Square, where protests have been centered, is visible from his high-rise apartment and helicopters buzz overhead.

Lebanon's recent political turmoil is likely to scare off Western travelers although Beirut has repeatedly proven its resilience, emerging from civil war and conflict with Israel to rebuild and live up to its image as the "Switzerland of the Middle East," the Associated Press reported.

"People's memories are surprisingly short," says Janet Moore, owner of Distant Horizons, a Long Beach, California, travel agency specializing in the Middle East.

South Korea's president pressed North Korea on Tuesday to change its pattern of provocations and take responsibility for two deadly attacks last year, saying that could lead to a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

President Lee Myung-bak's appeal came as the rival Koreas are to hold a preliminary meeting next week to lay the groundwork for high-level defense talks — the first in more than three years — to ease months of hostility on the Korean peninsula that have raised fears of war.

Novak Djokovic's commanding Australian Open win over Andy Murray broke the Federer-Nadal Grand Slam monopoly and heralds a new era for men's tennis, Australian media said Monday.

The Serbian world number three dominated Sunday's three-set clash with a display described as "crushing" by the local press.