(CNN) — Yang Lan got her start in an audition two decades ago, when she beat out 1,000 other young college women for a spot on television. Today she is a TV star and media entrepreneur in China who says her shows have been watched by more than 200 million people per week. An ambassador for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she’s often called China’s Oprah.

Yet while Yang Lan is an example of the opportunity available in China, she told the TED Global conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in July, there are also daunting obstacles to progress for many younger people.

Start with the gender disparity: Under China’s one-child policy, “because of selected abortion by families who favored boys to girls, now we have ended up with 30 million more young men than women.”

TED.com: Understanding the rise of China

China’s population is aging, and young people are expected to support their parents financially. In the cities, college graduates can start their careers earning about $400 a month, but the average rent is above $500. Young couples who want to buy an apartment would need 30 to 40 years of earnings to pay for it.

A migrant worker force of about 200 million people is caught between the city and the countryside, working long hours at low pay. Income inequality in China, she said, is greater than in the U.S.: “the bitterness and even resentment towards the rich and the powerful is quite widespread. So any accusations of corruption or backdoor dealings between authorities or business would arouse a social outcry or even unrest.”

TED.com: Hans Rosling on China’s rise — how and when

A good way to gauge the feelings of Chinese youth is to read what they say on microblogs, which she described as the Chinese version of Twitter. “And because, as you know, the traditional media is still heavily controlled by the government, social media offers an opening to let the steam out a little bit. But because you don’t have many other openings, the heat coming out of this opening is sometimes very strong, active and even violent.”

Environmental issues animate the conversation on microblogs. Polluted air and water and poisoned food are among the issues. “All these things have aroused a huge outcry from the Internet. And fortunately, we have seen the government responding more timely and also more frequently to the public concerns.”

Still, with all the challenges, she said young Chinese adults are well educated and are coming up with creative solutions. Among them, a “naked wedding” which doesn’t involve nudity but does forgo a ring, a party, a house and a car. Microblogging is enabling people to find missing children and to rescue animals.

And Yang Lan is upbeat: China’s younger generation is “going to transform this country while at the same time being transformed themselves.”

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular is $3.42, the Lundberg Survey found.

That’s down more than 12 cents over the past two weeks, and down 25 cents in the past month, the survey found.

“This is the rest of the crude oil price reductions of prior days,” said publisher Trilby Lundberg, “plus the downward pull on gasoline prices from our September gasoline demand falling below demand of the prior September.” Gasoline demand remains low largely because of unemployment and underemployment, she said.

Crude oil prices edged up at the end of last week, Lundberg noted. “It does suggest that this may be it for the decline.”

The price is 65 cents higher than it was a year ago.

The Lundberg Survey tallies prices at thousands of gas stations nationwide.

The city with the lowest average gas price found in the latest survey, conducted Friday, was Albuquerque, New Mexico, at $3.07. The city with the highest average was San Francisco, at $3.81.

Average prices in some other cities:

-Boston $3.55

-Atlanta $3.27

-Miami $3.40

-Baton Rouge, Louisiana $3.17

-Chicago $3.61

-Phoenix $3.28

-Denver $3.38

Dr. Sheriff Doss, the head of Egypt’s chief association of Coptics, said that 17 civilians died and 40 were injured.

In addition, three army officers were killed and at least 20 were injured, according to Alla Mahmoud, an interior ministry spokesman.

Egyptian state TV put the total death toll at 19 — including both troops and civilians — and reported that 183 had been injured.

The protesters — many of them Coptics or supportive of their cause — said they had been marching peacefully toward the Egyptian state television building, demanding equality and protection of Coptic places of worship.

“Suddenly, we were attacked by thugs carrying swords and clubs,” one protester, Magdi Hanna, told CNN.

According to Mahmoud, the government official, some protesters began “firing live ammunition at the army.” Military trucks were later seen burning on the street as the clashes continued.

The January 25 youth revolution coalition, which has been involved in various anti-government protests including Sunday’s demonstration, denied that any participants shot at the Egyptian forces.

Samir Bolos, one of the demonstrators, added Sunday that “some unknown people may have fired at the army, but not us.”

Witnesses said the army forces fired on the protesters near the state television headquarters.

Hundreds of demonstrators also went to Tahrir Square, the hub of the revolutionary movement that led to the ouster of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year, according to Bolos. He claimed military police stormed the square with sticks, while protesters fought back with rocks.

The protests and clashes follow the September 30 burning of the Mar Girgis church in Edfu, a city in Aswan governorate in southern Egypt.

Ahmed al-Tayyeb, a prominent Egyptian Muslim leader and the grand imam of Al-Azhar, condemned that attack and urged national unity days later, according to a statement from him on the official Egypt State Information Service.

The burning of the church marked the latest of several examples in which Coptic Christians have been targeted in the North African nation.

About 9% of Egypt’s 80 million residents are Coptic Christians. They base their theology on the teachings of the Apostle Mark, who introduced Christianity to Egypt, according to St. Takla Church in Alexandria, the capital of Coptic Christianity.

The religion split with other Christians in the 5th century over the definition of the divinity of Jesus Christ.

In Egypt, they have been targeted of late, including the New Year’s Day bombing of a Coptic church in Alexandria that left 23 people dead. There have also been sectarian clashes, including one in Cairo on May 7 in which at least 12 people were killed.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent bipartisan federal agency, earlier this year added Egypt to a list of countries named as the worst violators of religious freedom.

Sunday’s incident also marks the latest skirmish between protesters and government forces.

An incident last Tuesday outside a military court in Nasr City resulted in the arrests of two protesters. Journalists covering the demonstration were assaulted, according to witnesses.

The same day, military police fired shots into the air to disperse about 400 pro-Coptic demonstrators who had attempted to stage a sit-in in front of the state television building after marching through the streets of Cairo.

The cause of death was not immediately available.

According to Welsh’s official website, he was a painter before he made the the shift to music at 19. A decade later, he had achieved fame as the bassist for the band Weezer, replacing the band’s long-time bassist Matt Sharp.

Welsh was part of the band’s 2001 “Green Album” release, which featured “Hash Pipe.” The single became one of the band’s biggest hits, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard’s Alternative songs chart.

Welsh left the band shortly after, saying he had suffered a nervous breakdown.

The band remembered Welsh as vital chapter to their history and one to never “shy away from the absurd, dangerous or strange,” according to the statement on the Weezer’s website

Weezer plans to play as scheduled Sunday during Chicago’s RIOTfest.