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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> a full from power, tunisia's president leaves after the worst violence in decades. the president promises widespread reform and democratic elections. president obama praises the tunisian people, but encourages to avoid violence. exploiting the oil and gas reserves, bp closed as a massive deal with russian energy giant. the rain hampers rescue efforts.

hello and welcome. the active president has arrived in saudi arabia. this follows the worst violence in decades. dozens of people have died in recent weeks. this goes with food price rises and corruption. the people have been offered a democratic elections. in the last few hours, more violence has been reported. >> despite those brutal measures to suppress demonstrations, young people decided that today was the chance to overthrow a corrupt government. after weeks of sickening violence by police, the protest

reaches a crescendo. the day had started with a peaceful demonstration at the ministry of the interior building. they promised concessions allowing greater freedom of speech. they demanded that he leave. >> we should not let this go. are we have to make this happen. >> people want change and i guess changes happening. >> security forces were ordered to show restraint. the grip was backfiring. >> this was a very public demonstration. the president said he was going to open up the democratic space. dozens of people have gathered outside the home and are protesting.

in four weeks of protests, doesn't have been killed. -- and dozens have been killed. several have been shot or beaten to death by riot police and soldiers. tunisia's hospitals have creek -- treated more than gunshot wounds and broken bones. the events start unfolding at an alarming rate. the rally at the capitol was broken up by teargas. a state of emergency was declared. they announced on television that the president was no longer head of state. he had gone after 23 years in office. there are reports that he has spread -- fled the country tonight.

that is left behind a nation in turmoil. hundreds of people are going home. the violence that devastated when asia people saw firsthand -- who neva -- tunisia. >> in bed and clear the shooting and shouting outside. >> under the state of emergency, a nighttime curfew is in place and no public gathering of more than three people is allowed. until a few days ago, it was one of the most stable nations and resilient economies in north africa. bbc news.

>> president obama has praised the people and calls on the authorities to hold elections. they have urged all parties to avoid violence. events have dominated news bulletins across the region. >> these are not the sort of holidays they are planning to take home. in the country that welcomes 7 million visitors a year, tourism is a mainstay of the economy. it will do untold damage. >> the situation is very serious and it is clear that it is making most people very restless. we will take care of those that are still there. >> the evening curfew returns some column to the streets.

a state of emergency was put in place. other international observers feel there could be more unrest to come. >> i am saddened by the loss of life and the use of force and poor respect for people. >> others might be looking over their shoulders, too. these protests [unintelligible] the fact that they came together, it is present elsewhere in north africa, too.

gosh they have a very bad reputation. -- >> they have a very bad reputation. >> they are likely to make other authoritarian regimes more tolerant of dissent. it could be put to a stern test. >> he is a senior fellow in washington. president obama praises the people. does it sound a little hollow seeing as washington was a staunch supporter of the former president? >> is a bit of a misnomer to say a staunch supporter.

tunisisa is an important but secondary ally. it was precisely because it is a secondary allies of the united states. there are not the kind of strategic and dressed the there are in egypt or jordan. >> i assume the americans are very concerned about what form of government will take over? >> that is certainly the case. there is some hope that demands from the society will be mad by the new leadership what emerges. there is obviously going to be great concern about instability having effects in places where the united states has a central

interests like algeria and egypt. >> is it likely that it will have a domino effect on the west -- rest of the region? >> just as activists in cairo are learning lessons from these situations, so are the leaders of egypt drawing their own conclusions and learning their own lessons. i don't suspect that they would permit a situation to get out and. it seems he made one mistake after another. with them removed, it will come a time when he will walk away from this had a democratic government can be put into place?

>> is clear that the news coming out that they intend on keeping the pressure of. he is someone who is a servant of the regime and they want to hold a leadership's feet to the fire. they want a more accountable and open democratic government. >> let's cross over. he is 24 years old and has only known life under the president. how does it feel to have him removed? >> we are really happy about it because we pushed for it in we got it. we're really happy, and it is an

amazing thing. we are free for the first time. >> many people have died for this. >> many people died for this, and we did this for them. a lot of them died. they did very awful things to them. >> what is happening right now? are you aware of any activities on the streets at the moment? >> there are some locals trying to make this huge event something bad. the army is trying to control things and trying to get things better.

[unintelligible] things are very calm down. it is going the right direction. >> with the army maintaining peace, would you be happy that that is what kind of establishment will continue? >> we don't like the army to control everything. but this is temporary. we are going to try to have another government tried to run things. we want to have something to do with this new tunisia. >> be you have people in place, opposition leaders that could step in? it seems things are quite vague in terms of opposition.

>> we don't know a lot of people that can take this position, but we are in a transition phase. there is a huge debate about it. the things we are happy about, we get to decide. this is what we are happy about. >> i spoke to the activist and a specialist on human rights. she never thought this would happen in her country. >> this is really extraordinary. anyone does this is a country that is like an iron fist for many years.

it has one of the he worst human rights records. it is behind china, russia, zimbabwe. this corruption is really the last straw that broke the camel's back. >> what happens next in terms of a possible and german government for an election? >> the people here have a lot of credibility because people [unintelligible] they are the ones who go through the corruption and bribery. this is the country that is generally quite peaceful. one of the most educated

populations in the world. the u.s. ambassador was shocked by the corruption. the president has taken over the entire economy. the son-in-law, for example has succession plans. they had enough. >> is there not a chance that they will be able to reform? >> this is clearly what they are trying to do. he does not have the right to do this under the constitution. but the interim government, there are many opposition parties out there.

they are willing to come forward and put a unity government together. >> you have been speaking to people and you say that they are not willing to accept this kind of situation. not only the deaths that have happened, it is corruption. facebook is severely restricted. people are not enjoying the fruits of the economic growth that the u.s. and you're up have had. the wall of silence has been broken. >> there is a full background on the bbc website.

prosecutors are investigating italy's's prime minister. allegations that he paid to have sex with teenage dancers. she received money but they denied having sex. she had been arrested on suspicion. he denied doing anything wrong. >> he is the prime minister that can't seem to shake off this jinx. now being investigated over his connection to a teenage belly dancer. they questioned her over allegations of underage prostitution and claim that he improperly called police to get them to release the woman. this is her. her stage name is ruby. she was 17 at the time she

attended parties given by the prime minister. she claims that on one occasion, she received $9,000. he says he knew her and asked the police to let her go but denies having sex with her. the allegations come out a bad week for the italian leader. he has yet to hear when he will go back on trial. >> the latest claims are groundless, but they come at an awkward time for the prime minister. he wants to strengthen his weak government and not have been distracted by more allegations. the duncan kennedy, bbc news.

>> weeks of violence have forced the president out. the president has promised widespread reform. bp has signed a joint-venture to exploit potentially [unintelligible] cost billions. >> even if you are the chief executive, there are people that will keep you waiting. the exploitation of what had been hoped to be vast reserves

are undersea at the arctic. the russian prime minister is the very latest [unintelligible] >> it is in its very early days. the art technology centers for developing in the arctic and environmental terror -- environmental care. >> they believed to be under these cost file seeas. unproven estimate provshow tonsf oil and gas.

>> the arctic is a major undeveloped oil province. bp has a very prime position. if the geologists and the scientists are correct, this could be the kind of the century. -- deal of the century. >> the disaster in the gulf of mexico has left it with billions of dollars of potential liability. doors are closing in its face across america. bp had had its problems in russia, too. in 2008, the company experienced an orchestrated campaign. now russian controllers will take a share. bp gets 9.5% in return.

bp has been investing here for more than 20 years. a couple of years ago, it seems to be turning sour. the company's vital relationship with russia is back on track. >> that ends of the floods that have already claimed more than 500 lives, it is the worst natural disaster the country has seen for decades. they are struggling to access the more remote areas. one particularly effective location is the mountain area and lend -- affected area is inland. >> these highly destructive areas, there is a massive struggle to reach the victims. floods are so powerful, houses

have been pulverized. >> i lost my mother, my daughter, and my granddaughter. i don't know what to do from now on. yesterday, we reported on the rescue of this woman. she held on but lost her dog. later, she spoke to reporters. >> i really don't know how i am alive, she said. the rain is all the more damaging because of where it is. >> the giant city has grown and people build inland with cheap construction. my colleague is there. seeing the devastation firsthand.

>> the rain has lost its intensity. the situation remains very dangerous. the soil is extremely wet and unstable. the cleanup and rescue operations are risky. landslides could happen at any moment. >> brazil's president has reviewed the damage. she now faces the country oppose the worst national disaster for decades. she promised $500 million for aid and stronger buildings. >> we will work on the rescue and rebuilding efforts. we're here to guarantee that it will help prevent future disasters. >> the final death toll is not known. but long lines of graves have been thdug.

>> at least 27 people have died and more are missing in central sri lanka. government agencies are struggling to get supplies to the million people in the -- in need. flood waters begin to recede in australia. many areas remain without power. 25 people have been killed in queensland. hillary clinton has called on china to carry out political reform alongside the united states to help solve international problems. in a speech by the chinese president, mrs. clinton said that the countries had reached a critical point in their relationship. a reminder of our main news now.

they fled the country in the face of violence against xinhua -- him in tunisia. >> 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? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.