tunisia injanuary 2011 has stability but little freedom. president ben ali maintains strict control of society, shored up by a vast network of spies, informers and secret police. ben ali came to power in 1987. he promised reform, democracy, women's rights and education. but he had failed to deliver a more free and open society. the protests that began in december erupt quickly. people are taking to the streets, railing against poverty, unemployment and political repression. 0n the evening ofjanuary 13, the president appears on television to address the nation, urging calm. a commanding ben ali says he will not step down. the bbc has obtained secret recordings of phone calls we believe to have been made by the president to some of his closest advisers. they have been forensically analysed by audio experts who found no evidence of tampering or manipulation. we have also played these recordings to people who know the individuals heard in them. they believe the voices to be genuine, further supporting the authenticity of the recordings. however, this is strongly disputed by some of those who appear to be in them. in the first recording, the president opens up to a close confidant, believed to be tarak ben ammar, an influential media tycoon. seemingly congratulated by one of tunisia's most influential media men, that his speech was a success, president ben ali ends the day reassured and still in control. but overnight, more than a dozen people die in clashes between demonstrators and police. as day breaks, tens of thousands return to the streets across the country. calling for the resignation of the president and an end to the regime. a state of emergency was declared. later that day, the president is seen escorting his wife and children to 0udna military airportjust outside the capital. what he does next will change the course of history for his country, the middle east and the world. ben ali joins his family on the plane. he decides to escort them to safety. while the plane is in the air, unconfirmed reports start to emerge of a missing president. uncertainty spreads across the country. prime minister mohamed ghannouchi appears on television to announce that the president is temporarily unable to exercise his duties. however, he did not confirm or deny the reports that ben ali had left the country. from the plane, ben ali calls who we believe to be his defence minister, ridha grira, for news about the situation on the ground. president ben ali is one of the last tunisians to know that an interim president has taken over. as night falls, the army and security forces have reclaimed control of the streets and a strict curfew is in place across the country. but one man goes out in defiance. this video becomes iconic across the arab world as the beginning of the end of the ben ali regime. 0n arab world as the beginning of the end of the ben ali regime. on his plane, ben ali makes another call, to a man who we believe to be his close confidant, kamel eltaief. the president then cause who we understand to be the head of the army, general rachid ammar. you want to know if it is safe to return. as he nears saudi arabia, and having been told not to return immediately, he contacted defence minister again for further advice. just after midnight, president ben ali plane lands injeddah. he orders the pilot to prepare for the return trip. but the pilot disobeys. he abandoned present ben ali who flies back to tunisia. january 15, 2011. it is a new dawn for tunisia. ben ali still hopes it is a new dawn for tunisia. ben ali still hopes to it is a new dawn for tunisia. ben ali still hopes to return. but in this last call to his defence minister, he learns that there is no way back. in under2li hours, in under 2a hours, one of the world's most fearsome and longest ruling dictatorships was totalled. the protesters had one. if, as our research suggests, the recordings are genuine, they reveal how president ben ali wanted to return immediately but some of his aides did not to support that. he remained in exile in saudi arabia until his death in 2019. hello. while some of you saw the sunshine today, there was a lot more cloud around across the country, and that will have a consequence for tonight, in that it will not be anywhere near as cold, so not as much frost around, and certainly less in the way of fog, too, and it's all because of what's happening out to the north—west of us. an area of high pressure is clearing away, allowing these weather fronts to approach in. this one bringing some showers across the south, this one bringing some wet and windy weatherfor a time in scotland, especially. now, we go into the night with most starting dry, but those showers develop across the southern areas, and then outbreaks of rain pushing southwards across scotland, northern ireland. could see strong to gale force winds for a time in the north, and overall a breezier night here. that will keep the frost at bay for many. temperatures by and large above freezing. as you can see, very little blue on the map, but there could be the odd pocket of frost, and also fog to take us into the start of sunday. so, this is the setup for sunday. got high pressure trying to build in again from the west, but for the time being, this weakening weather front to be working its way southwards, bringing the bulk of the morning rain across northern england and north wales, after it's quickly cleared away from scotland and northern ireland, leaving a dry, sunny day for many, but blustery, with a few showers in the far north. that cloud and patchier rain pushes through wales and the midlands during the middle part of the day, and then into the far south later on, by which time very little rain on it. winds still light across many southern areas on sunday. a blustery day across the north, but the winds aren't coming off the atlantic, so, if anything, it will be a milder day on sunday compared with saturday. temperatures a degree or two above where it would normally be at this stage injanuary. but as we go into sunday night, you can see clear skies across much of the country, lighter winds the further south you are. that will lead to some fog patches, and the blue appears back on our temperature chart — an indication of more widespread frost to take us into the monday morning commute. there will be temperatures in the towns and cities just above freezing, but well below it in the countryside, and that's because we've got high pressure in place. towards the south—west of the uk, and with winds lightest here, wales, south—west england, could be some lingering fog patches through the morning. elsewhere, most places will have a dry day. lots of sunshine around on monday, cloudy conditions in the far north of scotland, isolated shower or two. most, though, will be dry. temperatures not far off the seasonal average at this stage in the year. as for next week — well, after that sunny start to the week, there is the chance of some more cloud and some breezy conditions with outbreaks of rain in scotland, northern ireland, on tuesday and wednesday. that clears away, temperatures drop a little bit, but overall we go back to where we are now — many places dry by day, some frost, fog forming by night. bye for now. this is bbc news, these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. i'm martine croxall. the prime minister is told to "lead or step aside" as details of lockdown parties continue to emerge. the leader of the opposition says it's now in the national interest for borisjohnson to go. lawyers for virginia giuffre want two people in the uk to give evidence in her civil case against prince andrew. the duke's legal team argue ms giuffre "may suffer from false memories". prince andrew has repeatedly denied allegations of sexual assault. novak djokovic spends the night in an immigration detention hotel in melbourne ahead of a court hearing to decide whether he'll be deported from australia. the eruption of a giant underwater volcano near the island nation of tonga has triggered tsunami waves across the southwestern pacific.

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