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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> set up, mubarak fears chaos if believes office. tensions escalate and washington holds talks with senior egyptian officials about plans for mubarak to resign immediately. >> we are looking for american citizens. u.s. citizens. >> fleeing the country, tourists and the egyptian nationals had to the airport. welcome to at "bbc world news." public demonstrations across the region that continuing as there is change wanted in yemen.

in his first interview since protests began, the egyptian president said that he would step down now, but he fears chaos. president mubarak says that he would never run away from egypt and that he would die on the egyptian soil. protesters continued to occupy part of tahrir square. the situation remains tense. >> id has been a day of barricades, blood, and stones. the protesters have organized themselves. collecting ammunition, tons of rubble to ruffling at the president's supporters.

>> she is saying, mubarak destroyed egypt. look at what he is doing to us. he should just leave. it has been a week and a half a protests and a day and a night of violence of exhaustion. before all of this, he was building a business. >> we are here to send our voice. >> he had just arrived from his job in london. >> mubarak is an egyptian. at some point, and he will realize that we all want democracy. so, the people have said the word, i think.

>> the battle of the square and the stones intensified in the afternoon. they broke out and rushed the supporters of the president and drove them out. some panicked, retreating back across the nile. others who did not go fast enough, were grabbed and dragged back into the square. the protesters believe they're being infiltrated by government spies. just kill me is what he says. egyptians are learning how to take each other. from time to time, the army tried warning shots to separate the two sides. the military presence here feels like a token of the generals make their decisions.

they are still checking for infiltrators here. they have been putting up a hard fight. the military is still the power in this land. it will decide which way egypt goes. the democracy, especially if these people get more people on the streets. the generals might want to preserve the system that has served them very well. is tearings will into the cold equations of power and might change them bank continues to gather strength here and across the middle east. arab autocrats a were complacent until this year about their ability to oppress and control their people. not anymore. >> we are trying to get our freedom. i have kids in good schools. i come from a decent background. i am not asking for food.

>> in the early evening, more dead and wounded in tahrir square. no one seems to have a good way to stop this without this getting more violent. >> president mubarak spoke to abc news. she gave us some details about the conversation at hand. >> i asked him whether he would step down. he said that he would when his term was up. if he did so now, even though he would like to resign today, there would be chaos and the muslim brotherhood would take over. that is the islamic party. when i asked about leaving office, he said that i am fed up after 62 years. i have had enough. i want to go. when asked about the protests in liberation square, he said that i was very unhappy about yesterday. i do not want to see egypt since

fighting each other. >> the obama administration is discussing a proposed deal with the egyptian officials that would have mubarak resign immediately. they gave more details about the discussions. >> this is a story that has arab officials and white house diplomats that among the the options being discussed is a proposition that would see mubarak step down immediately and his newly appointed vice president take over as the head of the traditional -- transitional government with the backing of the defense secretary, the head of the army, and the white house sees the deal with the voice of opposition voices including the muslim brotherhood including opening up the democratization of egypt. a pretty strongly worded story

from "the new york times." he was telling journalists that the president said that the president said that now is time to begin any reasonable and orderly transition. we have discussed a number of ways to move out for it. the white house is not denying that this plan exists and is being discussed with the egyptians. a senior administration official suggests that it is wrong to think that there is only one plan being discussed. >> this is an exciting development. obama is willing to take questions. >> barack obama has a meeting with the canadian prime minister in monday on friday. he is expected to take questions about this crisis for the first time on a day when the protests are expected to escalate.

whereas mubarak said that he had to stay in power to prevent a descent into chaos, the white house believes the exact opposite. take think he has to go to prevent violence and chaos. they are prepared to work with some of the closest confidantes of hosni mubarak. >> the death toll is rising in cairo. but so are the number of people getting injured. he is a doctor from cairo, -- cairo university. he says that the pro-government supporters are intent on causing the violence. >> what happened yesterday, people attacked the protesters in the square. these are not people who stand for a point or have a radical

cause. in my opinion, and they are thieves, mercenaries, and funds. they are not people protesting for a cause. the major part of the egyptian society over the streets is those people that are pro the change and want the change to occur. they are against the protests right now. this is affecting their lives right now. they want to regain the stability and regain their normal lives and go to work every day. this is an increasing number of people. the people are pro the change, but against instability and the protests that are happening. >> what do they expect to happen on friday? more protests planned? >> yes. friday is a very frightening day

for us. nobody can predict what will happen. for myself, i am afraid that confrontations will have between the egyptian people. what happened yesterday was not between the egyptian people. it was between peaceful protests and thugs. i am afraid that yesterday's the aggressiveness of the situation is increasing. i am afraid that tomorrow this will lead to a confrontation between the pro protests and the people that are still against mubarak, but at the same time, they want a more stable life style. >> the british government says that and it evacuee has arrived back in the u.k. he joined some of those as they make their journey to the

airport in cairo. possible control this morning is on the marble floor. a five-star central hotel in cairo. nothing is normal here anymore. that is why these people decided it is time to get out. on the ubs, the -- bus, the name check is done behind closed doors. for some pro-government supporters, foreigners are now a target. as we head up towards the airport, i asked a british egypt and why he is leaving. >> i do not know what is happening. people go crazy. you cannot expect that good will happen tomorrow. machine guns, i cannot risk my family. >> next to him is a british

engineer who has lived in egypt for four years. >> we have got no army, no police, know anybody. and evening with weapons. >> at the cairo airport, we meet up with the other bosses. 1000 britons are thought to have left egypt and then -- in the last two days alone. the people leaving here are not just tourists. there are people here who have worked here for years. they own businesses here. after the violence of the last 48 hours, they feel like they have no choice. the united states ordered all of its remaining citizens to get to cairo airport as soon as possible. there is a general exodus from egypt.

nobody is sure when any of these people will be back. for egypt and its economy, this is a disaster. >> you can follow the developments in egypt and throughout the region anytime on our website. there you will find a live web page with streaming video and updates from correspondent in the region as they unfold. take a look. you are watching bbc news. blond ambition, the lithuanians companies said -- that said that brunettes need not apply. in the past 24 hours, and egyptian authorities have partially reopened access to the internet. it has been partially shut down for the last five days after protesters used social networking sites to close down the demonstrations.

>> supporters of mubarak have some -- started to use the internet to send their own videos. they are in support of the embattled president. they are hitting back at pro- reform demonstrators who dominated the social media. they are also posting and videos attacking opposition figures like khobar die. -- elbaradei . >> when the internet was back in egypt, there was an abnormal amount of comments supported mubarak. >> text messages were out supporting the government's mind. the government said that they were forced to send them out under egyptian emergency legislation. they protested to authorities that the current situation

regarding these messages is unacceptable. we have made clear that all messages should be transparentñ and clearly attributable to the originator. social media websites have been used by thousands of people to overcome attempts to obstruct the flow of information in egypt. popular unrest forced the departure of a president. they have helped spread the contagion of unrest, which has led to deaths and injuries on the streets. they are a new phenomenon which the government has found beyond their control. >> in his first interview since the protests began, mubarak said that he feared that egypt would descend into chaos and if hit

the power right now. washington talks to senior egyptian officials for president mubarak to resign immediately. president mubarak has been a number of concessions since the uprising in egypt. our world affairs editor considers the options which remain open to him. there are some of violent images in this report. >> 40 years at the top of the egyptian politics, 30 of them as president. hosni mubarak has been america's rock-solid asset in the middle east. he has been willing to coexist with israel. he has dealt with islamic fundamentalism here in egypt. it all seems to be ending like this. his party headquarters trashed and burned. his capital is occupied by people demanding that he goes. what can he do next?

up to now, he has offered a compromise after compromise. he has promoted his closest ally to vice-president to help ease his own way out of power. he is the one that appears on television now, not mr. mubarak, and makes the announcement. demonstrators still must insist that the president must go. what will mr. mubarak do now. they say that the president will offer a compromise in the next few days. >> people to understand that it is not a tactic to just let them go home. it is a mind-set change for their protests. >> a referendum on a new constitution could take place within 2.5 months? >> between 60-90 days. >> of the crowds in the square are not chanting mubarak's out

in 60-90 days, they want him out now. incidence of serious brutality where a security van rammeed its way through a group of demonstrators have made people more determined than ever to get rid of him. does the president have any other options? the army is a bedrock of the regime. they had their chance when the gang started moving in yesterday, but the soldiers sided with the demonstrators instead. the big danger is that if president mubarak goes away, he will leave a huge power vacuum behind him. what worries western countries is that free and democratic elections might allow the muslim

brotherhood to take power here with the possibility they might turn egypt into some kind of iran. >> the muslim brotherhood are not thinking of establishing an islamic state unless the majority -- crushing majority of the people are behind it. otherwise, it will be another islamic dictatorship. >> those are questions for the future. those in the streets have turned the city into an angry, frightened, violent place with no real law and order. it is hard to think that things will be better tomorrow. >> this has also reached yemen. tens of thousands have taken place -- taken protests in the capital. he has been in power for more than three decades.

she has this report. >> it is a day of anger. these are his supporters. they came here in thousands. they are calling for change. they say yes to the fighter of corruption. >> we are calling on them to see the killings that have happened in countries like egypt and tunisia. we call on them to be one with the yemenis people. >> the real rally is taking place here at the university. thousands took to the streets. they are now calling for immediate change. they want an immediate and radical reform. >> we hate promises. it is too late. we have kept asking for reforms

and we have been patient up until now. we have even been patient with hunger. the authorities do not hear us. >> the square is full, but only a few people are left. they are staying here. the opposition says this is the -- only the beginning of their protests. yemen has a majority of youth that for the moment has little hope. >> twice in five years, the world's biggest rain forest, the amazon, has been hit by drought. this may have implications for the global climate. it usually takes out vast amounts of carbon dioxide. the draft last year and in 2005, trees died by the billions and released the greenhouse gas. >> this is how much of a picture lush jungle.endsese,

every once in awhile, they get no rain. the rivers dried up and fish died in huge numbers. a drought this severe was meant to strike only once a century. then it hit again last year. was this becoming a pattern? the red areas and show where the rains failed in 2009 compared to the much larger area affected last year. this brazilian researcher at witnessed the last drop. the dryer and the forest gets, the less carbon can store. >> it is sad to see what can happen. as we are losing our capacity to absorb the carbon from the atmosphere. >> new research in the journal of science has studied the last two drafts and their implications. in a typical year, the force of

sorts 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide. in the drought, they released 5 billion tons of co2. last year, up 8 billion tons. america and its 5.4 billion tons burning fossil fuels in 2009. the rain forest really matters. researchers at are not sure about the cause. >> one possibility is that this is a natural climatic variation. the alternative is that it associates with high greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, that it is related to climate change. we will see this intensify in the future. >> this farmer duck himself a well. he does not normally need one in the rain forest.

>> one company has a rather unusual hiring policy in the millennia -- lithuania. they want to open up a holiday but only people of a certain hair color may apply. >> gentleman may prefer blondes, but so too do certain interests. one company calling itself oo lala, sells computers. they are turning their attention to holidays. they want to set up a resort. every member of staff will have to be blond. an idea that has not gone down well with some. >> this is something that should be accepted as a very beautiful and desirable and all women would like to feel like they're beautiful should be blond.

>> the company resisted self, of non-blonds need not worry because they can wear a wig. >> it is not a discrimination that we give you an example. if a ballet is doing an all male performance, it is not discrimination against women when they hire all men. they will have to wear the specific uniform with the wig. the results with high-heeled shoes has a tentative launch in a 2015. with a fair wind, fair hair may rowin the day. >> our top story at this hour. in his first interview is cents a week ago, president mubarak feared that egypt would descend into chaos if he left office at

the moment. >> 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.

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