1. Tunisia The violently anti-American rallies that churned the Islamic world over a video demeaning the Prophet Muhammad expanded to Tunisia in September 2012. Demonstrators storm the American Embassy. The Tunisian police said at least three protesters were killed and 28 people were wounded.

2. Algeria Algeria’s government has operated under a state of emergency for nearly two decades. Its battle with Islamic militants reached a peak in a brutal civil war in the 1990s, in which more than 100,000 people were killed. That conflict began after the military-backed government canceled elections that an Islamist party appeared poised to win.

3. Egypt In June 2012, a series of events threw the country’s troubled transition to democracy into a deeper confusion as Egypt’s two most powerful forces moved toward a showdown. The swift actions taken by the military and its allies left many observers in Egypt and the West wondering if they were witnessing a subtle military coup, or even a counterrevolution.

4. Libya After the Libyan civil war, the National Transitional Council has been responsible for the transition of the administration of the governing of Libya. The "liberation" of Libya was celebrated on 23 October 2011. Although Libyans are now celebrating the first anniversary of the revolution that removed Moammar Gadhafi from power, they are still frustrated with their new leaders. Many complain that the National Transitional Council has not moved quickly enough to prosecute senior Gadhafi officials.

5. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has asked Interpol for its help in apprehending dozens of wanted Saudis who are suspected of plotting attacks against Saudi Arabia from abroad. A report from Saudi Arabia's state-run news agency on Tuesday listed the names and nationalities of the 85 wanted men, which includes two Yemenis. The rest are Saudi nationals. Saudi Arabia is offering a reward for their capture and for information leading to their whereabouts, according to the Saudi Press Agency report. The announcement is significant because it is rare for the kingdom to announce that some of its wanted terrorists are on the loose.

6. Jordan Over 20,000 Syrian refugees have moved into Za'atari camp already, and the pace of new arrivals to the camp has more than doubled, with more than 14,000 arriving in the past week alone. Yesterday, we received over 3,000 new arrivals overnight, up from an average of 600 per day just last week.

7. Yemen Yemen is a poor, deeply divided country that has been in turmoil since January 2011, when protesters inspired by the Arab Spring took to the streets in a violent uprising against the autocratic rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh — at a cost of hundreds of deaths and rising chaos.

8. Syria As Syria's foreign minister blasted international calls for President Bashar al- Assad to step down, Syrian forces were shelling civilian neighborhoods and battling rebel forces, opposition leaders said. At least 183 people were killed Monday, including 12 children, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.