want the tense day of political upheaval in egypt, president mubarak says he would like to step down now, but fears chaos if he does so. heavy gunfire in the center of cairo as the army tries to stop the clashes. in an attempt to diffuse the violence, the vice-president is offering talks with the man from the islamist muslim brotherhood. >> i have invited them, but they have been hesitant to enter into dialogue, but i believe it is in their interests. >> a very warm welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast on pbs in america and around the globe. tens of thousands of temenis tape to the streets demanding an end to their presidents rule --

tens of thousands of yemenis take to the streets demanding an end to their president's rule. hello. in his first interview since protests began more than a week ago, egyptian president hosni mubarak said he would step down now, he is fed up, but fears chaos if he does so. he told abc news that he would stand aside when his term in office is up. >> welcome to the egyptian capital, cairo, 11:00, almost an end to a tense day of rage. the anchor has boiled over on both sides, running battles between pro-mubarak supporters and the anti-government protesters who have bothered -- who have gathered in central

cairo, voicing their demands that president mubarak must go. sohe explain why he would not sp down now, saying that he would if he could, but if he did there would be instability. heightened tensions seem to spread into the streets surrounding the square, with more barricade set up, both to prevent the pro-mubarak elements advancing towards the square and prevent the protesters from advancing their to make their protests known. there are large crowds in the square tonight. we have this report from our world affairs correspondent. i should warn you, there are some disturbing pictures. >> there is a revolution underway in cairo. it is brutal and bloody. the opposition movement has been

threatened and beaten, but early this morning the protest entered a new and deadly face. opposition protesters were gunned down, some killed, more than a dozen wounded. the finger of suspicion was pointed at a barracks, and least on a government desperate to cling on to power. an army smokescreen tried to separate the sides, but it will take more than this to bring order out of the chaos. they came in great numbers, trying to keep the peace. but there's simply not enough of them to do that. the egyptian prime minister apologized for what has happened, calling it a disaster, and there is growing anger from britain and others at the scenes here. the protesters have had 10 days of this. despite the pressure, they have stood their ground, and there is no sign that it will quit until

the president goes. >> mubarak is a terrorist, not us. >> he is a killer. >> we tried to film the protest. a hidden camera catches what happens. supporters of the president, angry at the images on tv, fought back, deliberately targeting journalists. we watched as a reporter was around, the army trying in vain to help him. -- we watched as a reporter was surrounded. the mob smashed his care and led him away. today has been much colmar, but late in the afternoon, this happened. anti-government protesters charged forward. they may have been beaten, but they are not battered. there were running battles, and those who were too slow to

escape or trampled. there was panic as the army struggled to keep order. they said they will not take sides. which has left them call in the middle of a battle they seem unable to control. undermanned and overwhelmed, they were forced to retreat. the opposition crowd advanced, and this time it was the turn of the president's men to run away. hundreds have been killed and injured so far, and this afternoon two more protesters were gone down. in the last few minutes, a large portion of the anti mubarak protesters left the square and are underneath the overpass. facing on the road above them is the pro-the barack group. there have been angry clashes, they have exchanged gunshots, and the military appears to have

pulled out, leaving the sides to face each other. there had been some hope and expectation today would be more peaceful, but that is clearly not the case. running battles over the river, a reminder of the billion dollar tourism industry that is now in tatters. this is a city that now seems to be at war with itself and a country whose future has rarely seemed so uncertain. >> those are the battles in the heart of cairo. the prime minister, in an unprecedented apology for the violence, said all of the incidents would be deeply investigated. talk about a deep wound in society which will take a long time to heal, but he said two egyptians in this culture, if you have disagreements with the father, you will kick him out of the house, a reference to president mubarak.

tonight, and american journalist had a conversation with president mubarak, and this is what he said. >> i have just come from the presidential palace in cairo, where i met with president mubarak, the first time a journalist has seen him since the protests erupted more than nine days ago. we spoke, not on camera, about 30 minutes, and i asked him a range of questions. i asked whether he would step down. he said he would it when his term was up, but if he did so now, even though he said he would like to resign today, there would be chaos and "the muslim brotherhood would take over." when asked about leaving office, he said, "i am fed up after 62 years. i have had enough. i want to go." when i asked about the violence in it liberation square yesterday and overnight, he said, "i was very unhappy about

yesterday. i do want to see egyptian fighting each other." he denied his regime or supporters were responsible for it. he told me president obama did not ask for him to go immediately. he said he thought president obama was a very good man, but he said, "i told obama you don't understand the egyptian culture and what would happen if i step down now. if i resign today, there will be chaos and the muslim brotherhood would take over." for now, president mubarak remains in the presidential palace with his family. there had been widespread rumors that his son had fled, perhaps to london, but we saw him there when we spoke to him. president mubarak told me, "i would never run away from this country. i will die on this soil," and he defended his legacy, recounting the many years he spent leading this country.

after my meeting with president mubarak, i sat down for an exclusive interview with his new vice president. i asked whether he would ever authorize the army to use force against the anti-government protesters, and he insisted repeatedly he would never order force against the protesters. he hoped they would go home. he said he hopes, "they don't follow through with their pledge to have another massive march on friday after midday prayers." he said the people should understand president mubarak has met their demands to step down and not run for reelection. he said they would reform the constitution and the election law, and that he said is under way in getting started. he authorized talks to start with the opposition, including the muslim brotherhood, but he said he would not talk to the former diplomat who has been the

figurehead leader of the opposition movement. >> reports on the thoughts of president of market, including his statement that the americans did not understand -- the thoughts of president mubarak, including his statement that the americans did not understand his culture. interesting comments, there is no intention of standing down soon, even though that is what we understand barack obama would like him to do. >> in some ways, mixed messages. one of the more interesting lines was he said he was fed up, tired, he would like to resign, but he could not do so because that could mean chaos and it would mean the muslim brotherhood taking over. the same muslim brotherhood that apparently now the vice president is preparing for talks with. but, as you are saying, the americans are clear there would like him to go, but their

options for forcing him to do so now are very limited. >> do you think the americans share the concern that the president expressed that if he stood down, there would be instability and the muslim brotherhood, which is a banned but tolerated network, would take over? >> i think in one way, what president mubarak said about the muslim brotherhood will play to the fears of some here who have been saying that mubarak it going means the muslim brotherhood taking over. that will certainly have some resonance. on the other hand, the way people are seeing it is it is a situation of increasing chaos, and the white house has made clear that it believes that president mubarak cannot stay on until september, until the planned elections. but they are in a very difficult position. they don't want to come out and

stay -- and say publicly he should go, but their options of forcing him to do so, try to make their wishes go through, are very limited. really all they have left is the aid that they give to egypt, $1.5 billion. >> difficult relations between close allies. we will have more reaction from washington later in the program, but let's get a sense of what the protesters are saying. there are still thousands in the square. from what we understand, that are still planning to come out in large numbers tomorrow. the call at the day to out president mubarak, their main demand. we will have to wait and see how that unfolds. let's listen to this protester, who is also an oxford university graduate. >> today, the numbers in the square has increased tenfold after what people saw yesterday done by that regime. even those who listened to

president mubarak's last speech, were starting to have second thoughts, becoming quite compassionate with the president, they have changed their minds after they saw the horrible scenes that we all saw yesterday and the amount of people who were injured and the amount of people killed by thugs, who is increasingly becoming known now were hired by certain people in the party, even the people in the square who called the thugs. their identities prove they are up from security forces. some protesters tell me they have seen sometimes police officers standing with them. i have not seen it, but some of the protesters have seen that. the regime has lost the trust, really, of the people, after what we saw yesterday happening. >> the army seems to be playing

a more active but limited role in trying to separate the sides. do you feel safer now in the square? >> not really. the only reason i would feel safer is the amount of people has increased dramatically, and they are the ones who are protecting us. they are very organized. the problem is that because the thugs are sponsored and organized, they take shifts on us. we are more or less the same people. i am not defending, obviously. it is mostly men who were doing that. but the men become tired. but the thugs, and go and have shifts, so that have a lot of energy. some of our friends who are coming over to us over the bridge have been faced by thugs who are opening cars, stopping any people giving medical supplies, food, water, from

entering into the square or leaving the square. it is not just about the square, it is also an attempt at providing support and solidarity to the people there. >> just a sense of the determination of the protesters, part of our extended coverage on bbc news. >> to stay with us on "bbc world news." queensland survives one of the most powerful storms ever to hit australia. no deaths, but cyclonic yes he has this look -- has destroyed hundreds of homes. egyptian authorities have partially reopened access to the internet. it had been closed five days because of demonstrators had been using it to court in a protests. now the battles on the streets

are making their way onto the internet. >> supporters of hosni mubarak have started to use the internet to send their own videos. shops on mobile phones of demonstrations in support of the embattled president. and they are hitting back at pro-reform demonstrators, who dominate special -- social media. they are also posting media attacking the opposition figures. >> most of the comments we get were anti-mubarak. then with the internet came back, we were starting to get a lot, an abnormal amount of commons supporting mubarak. >> text messages were sent out by mobile phone. vodafone has protested the

current situation regarding these messages is not acceptable. "we have made clear all messages should be transparent and clearly a tribute to the originator -- and clearly attributable to the originator." facebook and twitter have been used to overcome the attempt to stop the flow of information, or popular unrest forced the departure of the president. they have helped spread the contagion of unrest that has led to deaths and injuries on the streets. they are a new phenomenon which authoritarian governments have found are beyond their control. the latest headlines at this hour, out on the 10th day of political upheaval in egypt, president mubarak has said he would like to step down now, but fears chaos if he does so.

there has been heavy gunfire at the center of cairo as the army tries to stop clashes between pro and anti-government demonstrators. tens of thousands of yemenis have taken part in protests in the capital, demanding an end to the president's power, who has been in control more than three decades. >> these aren't the president's supporters. -- these are the president's supporters. they have come out in the thousands in his favor. but they are calling for change. their slogans say, yes, to the father of corruption. >> we are calling on him to see the killings that have happened in egypt and tunisia. we call on them to be one with the people.

>> there are rallies taking place here near the university. thousands took to the streets and are calling for immediate change. opposition wanted an immediate and radical reform, but not a street resignation of the president -- but not a straight resignation of the president. >> it is too late. we have kept asking for reform, and we have been patient up until now. we have even been patient with ponder, but the authorities do not hear arrest. >> the square was full, but only a few people are left, calling for immediate change. the opposition says this is only the beginning of their protests. yemen has a majority of youth who for the moment have little hope. egypt has historically been seen at by the west and the arab

world as a force of stability. if it descends into further chaos, there is fear the instability could spread across the region. >> egypt's border with israel has been largely quiet for three decades. it today, the sands are shifting. president mubarak and israeli prime minister met regularly. this was last month. now in jerusalem, the smiles have vanished. >> there is a domino effect that some other countries will have the same situation, with the uprising or change every scene. -- or change of regime. >> looked out across the eastern flank to jordan. politics, so long hidden in the corridors of power, is now on the streets. that is the real revolution.

this is a small protest, and they're not calling for king abdullah to step down, so jordan's rulers do not have anything to fear from their own demonstrators. what they're worried about is egypt defending -- descended into chaos. they fear that will cause instability in the middle east. the worry extends into the plush living room of the general, one of the late king hussein's and her circle. >> there will be tremendous pressures on us, as far as our relations with neighboring countries, with the peace treaty we have with israel, and our relations with the west in general. if egypt disappears as we know what today, as the political system that we know it today, i can easily see the west revising its policy is totally regarding

the middle east. >> for the regimes that made the tactical decisions to ally themselves with the west, that could spell danger. world food prices rose to a record high in january according to the u.n. food and agriculture organization. it's as prices of cereals, which form a staple part of diets, are still climbing. rising food prices is seen as one factor in the current anti- government demonstrations in egypt and neighboring countries. queensland has been hit by a major cyclone. yasi was one of the worst storms in the country's history, but it was not as bad as some officials had predicted. the city was bear the full force of the cyclone, though there was major damage.

from sydney, we have this report. >> daylight exposed the ferocity of cyclone yasi, a category 5 storm that pummeled queensland. several towns were directly in its path. rooftops were ripped off in a matter of seconds. some 200 homes were destroyed or badly damaged. search and rescue teams had to salt into a string of coastal villages. finding residents who had seen, heard, and felt the storm found around them. >> terrible, never seen anything like it in our life. >> the last half hour was really scary. >> this was one of the most ferocious cyclones in australian history. although the damage was severe,

it was nowhere near as bad as state officials had feared. two cities were largely spirit. babbitt is a great relief this morning to be able to say at this stage we still have no reports of casualties, serious injury, or any fatalities. >> inside the crowded evacuation center, this japanese woman gave birth to a baby girl after three hours of labor. i have the confidence, a british midwife was on hand to help with the delivery -- by happy coincidence, a british midwife was on hand to help with the delivery. >> will come to australia. >> thank you very much. >> it could have been so much worse. australia feared a hurricane katrina-scale disaster, but somehow it survived cyclone yasi without any loss of life.

the world's longest-running trade dispute has ended. after the european parliament approved a bill to cut import tariffs on the american bananas. it began in the early 1990's. but american producers said that he was breaking trade laws by importing bananas duty-free from africa, the caribbean, and the pacific while charging terps on their effort. the eu said were trying to protect small producers. in his first interview since protests began in egypt tenders ago, president hosni mubarak said he is fed up and like to step down now, but fears chaos if he does so in a takeover by the muslim brotherhood. he said he cares for his country and intends to die on its soil. the vice president said he will

not talk to the diplomats. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

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