Getting a better look at the scale of the damage. The Catastrophe Modelling Firm karen clark and Company Estimates the total area burned at about 2,200 acres. Roughly 1,000 buildings have destroyed. Attempts to flee the devasting and fast moving fires were hampered as flames were fanned by winds coming from hurricane dora. The devastating and fast moving fires. We are now learning the harrowing stories of survival like this familys, who was forced to flee into the ocean. The ocean almost dragged my kids away a few times. But, yeah, we stuck together, we held on. I said, were not going to die, and were here, were alive. Some residents are now being allowed into destroyed areas. These pictures show residents and tourists waiting in traffic to return to the Historic Town of lahaina. For many, this will be the first time theyve been able to go home to see the damage for themselves. But a curfew is in place for the worst hit areas, and some remain closed entirely. 0ur correspondent John Sudworth is on the island of maui and has more. The restrictions on travel into the devastated town of lahaina have now been lifted. But residents who do choose to return to what, if anything, is left of their homes are being warned to brace for the Emotional Turmoil of what awaits them there. For many, of course, hawaii is a Paradise Tourist destination, but for a few hours on tuesday, that Community Faced what can only be described as scenes that are apocalyptic. The stories emerging are truly horrific, some describing their only recourse to escape from the wall of fire by seeking refuge in the ocean, trying to stop children from going under the waves whilst shielding them from the burning debris raining down upon them. There have been some questions raised about whether enough warning was given. Some residents say they did receive text alerts to say that the wildfire was threatening their community. Others say they got nothing. For now, though, for the authorities, the priority is to provide assistance to those who need it, as well as continuing that difficult task of looking for bodies. And for more on the hawaii wildfires, check out the live page on our website. We have the latest headlines, plus reporting from our team on the ground. Thats at bbc. Com news. In a surprise announcement friday, us Attorney General Merrick Garland named a Special Prosecutor in the investigation of president joe biden� s son, hunter biden. Garland named david weiss, a trump appointed us attorney for delaware, who has been leading the inquiry into hunter biden� s business dealings. Mr weiss will now continue overseeing the Hunter Biden Probe in Delaware Independent from the day to day supervision of the justice department. Now, a Special Counsel Appointment usually comes about when Thejustice Department feels it has a Conflict Of Interest or wants to avoid political entanglement. Mr weiss will now be provided with extra resources. Hell also be able to issue subpoenas, Search Warrants and indictments. He can bring further charges beyond the State Of Delaware and has already filed papers seeking to do so. Once he concludes his investigation, mr weiss will submit a report explaining any prosecutorial decisions. Requested the Special Counsel designation. Attorney general Merrick Garland says mr weiss requested the Special Counsel designation. Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, i have concluded that it is in the Public Interest to appoint him as Special Counsel. This appointment confirms my commitment to provide mr weiss all the resources he requests. It also reaffirms that mr weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently, based only on the facts and the law. A short time ago, i spoke about this with our North America correspondent anthony zurcher. Anthony, whats the significance of the appointment of this Special Counsel . I think, first of all, it shows that this case is not going away any time soon. There was a certain amount of debate after that plea deal was announced that this would be wrapped up and this is something that would reach a conclusion, even when they had the Plea Deal Hearing just last month. But, in fact, this is going to go on now. And in the court filing where weiss� s Team Announced that they were going to possibly change the venue to someplace else, whether its dc or california, where the crimes occurred, they said that this was because the Plea Negotiations with hunter biden� s legal team had reached an impasse. And its now the investigators� the prosecutors� belief that this could go or will go to trial. So were looking at an extended investigation that could expand into other charges and then ultimately a trial where the president s son is before a jury, facing what could be a Prison Sentence if hes convicted. So has there been any reaction from the president , from the biden administration, to this latest development . You know, the white house has had a policy of trying not to comment about this investigation ongoing. Now, hunter biden� s legal team, however, has come forward and said that they still view their client as innocent, that he is going to be exonerated once the investigation is concluded and that the framework of the plea deal, what he said he was willing to admit to as far as guilt, will ultimately prevail. So they are going to perhaps wait for their day in court now to fight this out. So what does this all mean, then, for those republican led investigations that weve seen . Has there been any response from anyone in the Republican Party today . Well, theres been concern in republican members of Congress Starting with kevin mccarthy, the speaker of the house, on down that this was an attempt somehow to block the congressional investigations, because all of a sudden, now you have a Special Counsel whos going to continue to investigate and he wont be willing to testify because there was Talk About Weiss coming and testifying before Congress Next month. Hes not going to do that now that the investigation is ongoing. And they have said that their investigations are not going to be stymied by the Special Counsel investigation going along alongside it, that they still want to look into any possible ties Betweenjoe Biden and his son hunters business dealings. Now, republicans on the whole, honestly, theyve been pretty sceptical, suspicious of this announcement. They have soured on david weiss. You mentioned that he had been appointed by donald trump originally, but they viewed that plea deal as what they call a sweetheart deal, that hes been too easy on hunter biden and that the investigation has not been aggressive enough. So they think, by and large, that someone else should be put in charge of this investigation, someone who doesnt have the same history as david weiss. They dont think that david weiss is going to be able to bring this fully investigation fully into joe biden, where they think the real crimes and the real political implications might be. Theres been so much discussion about the politicisation of the department ofjustice, with all the full gamut of investigations that are going on. Whats happened today how does it feed into that . Well, you know, i think that it makes it a little easier for democrats to counter the republican accusations that theres some sort of two tier standard ofjustice, that donald trump has a Special Counsel who has been investigating him and has brought now multiple indictments against donald trump Whilejoe Biden and his family have been treated differently. Now theres a Special Counsel, with all the powers that you discussed of Special Counsels, investigating. Not joe biden directly, but, i mean, it could lead up to him if they find something, but hunter biden, the president s son, and his business dealings, and hunter biden very clearly was talking about his connections to his father when he was making these business deals. So maybe that makes it a little easier for the democrats to say, no, look, Thejustice Department has handed all these off, the investigations are all happening independently, but its still going to be a headache for the white house. Its still going to be a distraction. This is going to drag on now clearly into 2024, the president ial election cycle, maybe even after the election. Its going to be something that theyre going to have to deal with for the time forward. All right, anthony, thanks for bringing us up to speed with all those details. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other news now the former ftx boss Sam Bankman Fried is going to jail, after a judge in new york revoked his bail. Us districtjudge lewis kaplan agreed with prosecutors that he attempted to tamper with witneses. Bankman fried heads to trial in october. He face charges related to the theft of billions of dollars in customer funds. He has pleaded not guilty. The un has announced five Security Staff who were kidnapped in yemen by alqaeda militants were released after 18 months in captivity. The Staff Members included four yemeni nationals and one bangladeshi. Federal agents in brazil have searched the homes of four individuals linked to the former president jair bolsonaro. Its part of an investigation into embezzlement and Money Laundering allegations. Police say mr bolsonaro took at least 1 million in official gifts given by the leaders of other nations during his term in office. The former president denies any wrongdoing. Youre live with bbc news. New figures show a sharp rise in the number of migrants embarking on perilous journeys across the mediterranean. The data from the eus borderagency, frontex, suggests the number of migrants crossing illegally into the European Union is up 13 so far this year compared to the same period in 2022. More than 176,000 Illegal Migrants have reached europe in 2023. The route, known as the Central Mediterranean route, from north african countries like tunisia and libya to italy is one of the most busiest and dangerous sea crossings. For more, heres our reporter in italy, sofia bettiza. What these new figures show us is that many more migrants have reached europe this year compared to last year. The number of people caught making irregular Border Crossings into the eu had never been this high since 2016. Now the main routes that migrants are taking is whats known as the Central Mediterranean route, so crossing the Mediterranean Sea from north africa to italy. Frontex says that many people are coming from guinea, from the ivory coast and from egypt. They are often fleeing persecution and war. Now we are seeing a new, dangerous trend of many people using low quality metal boats, and those boats often break during the journey and its very easy for them to capsize. And thats exactly what happened here in italy just a few days ago. A boat, a small metal boat, that was carrying 45 people on board capsized near sicily, and as a consequence, 41 people died. But what frontex says is that those deaths wont stop people who want to try and get to europe. And thats because in tunisia and in libya, there is fierce competition between criminal groups. And that means that people smugglers are offering much lower prices to people who want to make the journey. Now, last month, the eu has signed a deal with tunisia to try and deal with irregular migration. That deal has pledged more than 100 Million Euros to crack down on people smugglers, to work on policies to send migrants back and to strengthen eu borders. But so far, that hasnt really worked. If you take italy, for example, the right wing government was elected on a promise to crack down on illegal migration. But so far this year, nearly 94,000 migrants have reached italy by sea. So despite all the tough talk by the italian prime minister, giorgia meloni, people keep coming here. And the issue is that this is a very dangerous journey. So far this year, more than 2,000 people have died trying to reach europe. And so the fear is that more people will come here and more people could die trying to get to europe, searching for a better life. Lets return to our top story, those wildfires in hawaii. The states governor has ordered a comprehensive review of the states actions in the hours after devastating wildfires broke out on the islands earlier this week. That includes why Warning Sirens were not used to alert residents on maui. A short time ago, my colleague carl nasman spoke with pao shin chu, A Hawaii State Climatologist at the University Of Hawaii. Thank you so much forjoining us. We have been seeing these images of destruction, there in maui. To extent do you believe, as someone who studies meteorology and climate change, that Climate Conditions played a role in such a destructive wildfire was yellow actually we know the Climate Variability modelling in hawaii. When we have el nino, the following winter and the spring, with hawaii, it is very dry, and this is a rainy season. This means that we have almost like a six month drought. And following this drought period, by spring and the summer of next year, then we seat large acres burning by wildfires in hawaii. Previously, we knew that on this timescale, climate does influence wildfire. This is ocean phenomenon, does influence wildfire. This is ocean phenomenon, which affects notjust is ocean phenomenon, which affects not just the is ocean phenomenon, which affects Notjust The Pacific but also the entire globe. What is it about that phenomenon that affected hawaii so drastically . That affected hawaii so drasticall . , drastically . Yeah, because if ou drastically . Yeah, because if you have drastically . Yeah, because if you have el drastically . Yeah, because if you have el nino, drastically . Yeah, because if you have el nino, studies drastically . Yeah, because if. You have el nino, studies show that when you have el nino there, there is a better chance for more hurricanes to occur in the central north pacific, including hawaii regions. So this is no surprise to us. This year, we have injuly, a Tropical Storm calvin, in august, we had hurricane dora, which was pretty strong, so this is something we are always watching, this Hurricane Development following el nino. There was around 90 less rainfall in hawaii recently then in a century ago. What is behind that . Do those numbers strike you as out of the ordinary . Strike you as out of the ordina . , , ordinary . Yeah, those numbers are really ordinary . Yeah, those numbers are really alarming. Ordinary . Yeah, those numbers are really alarming. I ordinary . Yeah, those numbers are really alarming. I think are really alarming. I think that, of course, the climate is changing, it is different from before, and we do see more and more wildfire activity, temperature rise, sea level rise, we have more hurricane activity, we have more droughts. So they are all adding together. We droughts. So they are all adding together. We have also seen these adding together. We have also seen these kind adding together. We have also seen these kind of adding together. We have also seen these kind of devastating wildfires in other parts of the globe, hitting the western of the united states. How vulnerable was hawaii previously to wildfires . Was it considered a risk zone . Usually wildfires do considered a risk zone . Usually wildfires do not considered a risk zone . Usually wildfires do not received considered a risk zone . Usually wildfires do not received muchl wildfires do not received much attention in hawaii, because the land area is allegedly small, and basically in the tropical islands, we have lots of vegetation, compared to california, that hawaii is not considered wildfire prone region. But this time, it is very unusual, because we had some kind of combination of various strong Pressure Gradient between north of hawaii, we have this High Pressure, and to the south of hawaii, we had this hurricane dora, which is low pressure so this generated a very strong Pressure Gradient and if you have a very strong Pressure Gradient force of this drives very strong winds. This is on a large scale, but on the island scale, we have this mountainous topography in hawaii, so we have what we call this very strong. It usually occurred at night time. You have this strong dance window you have this large scale Pressure Gradient, so they combine to create the wind so gusty here, reaching Something Like 60, 70 or gusty here, reaching Something Like 60,70 or even 80 mph. And this kind of strong wind, together with the very dry vegetation, summer usually is the dry season in hawaii. You have the dry vegetation, strong winds and also no humidity, so Everything Isjust like winds and also no humidity, so everything is just like for the wildfire occurrence. Everything isjust like for the wildfire occurrence. Paoshin chu, professor wildfire occurrence. Paoshin chu, professor of wildfire occurrence. Paoshinl chu, professor of meteorology at the University Of Hawaii and hawaii state climatologist, thank you for being here. Hundreds of supporters of the coup leaders in niger have held a demonstration near a French Military base on the outskirts of the capital, niamey. Cellphone footage shows protesters shouting slogans against the former colonial power in the country, as well as the regional bloc ecowas. Its been more than two weeks since Military Officers in niger seized control of the country, deposing president mohamed bazoum. Some of those supporting the coup are calling for closer ties with russia. 0ur africa correspondent Catherine Byaru Hanga sent this report. The fallout from nigers coup is starting to bite. Sanctions have cut off imports, causing the prices of popular staples to go up. Zara kadar owns a Small Business selling food in the capital niamey. Translation the price of rice has increased,. But also that of cooking all, an increase of 4 us dollars in just one week. This causes us problems because if i prepare the rice, i cant sell it. No profit, only losses. Nigers soldiers seized power two weeks ago. Rallies like this one at the National Stadium suggest they have widespread support. And look, some in the crowd are waving russian flags. Moscows propaganda promotes russia as a better partner for africa than the old colonial powers. Ibrahim suleiman is a tailor and says he has been inundated with orders. Translation it was with | the advent of the coup that i started sewing flags, especially russian flags. People come to buy them a lot because they use them to support our soldiers whove taken power. People buy them because we are in conflict with france. Foryears, france has only caused us problems and the military wants to put an end to it. France sees its former colony niger as an important security partner, but its been accused of having too much influence in the country. And the Military Takeover has unleashed anti french sentiments. Its embassy was attacked during demonstrations. Niger is only the latest to experience this. Six african countries have had coups since 2020. Five of them are former french colonies. West african states have been pressuring the junta to restore the democratically elected president mohamed bazoum. They say they will use force if necessary. Any time from now, the force could be deployed. And for operational reasons, we have to maintain the strategic ambiguity, when we are going to deploy the force. The worry is that should another Military Takeover in africa succeed, it will encourage other ambitious soldiers. Catherine byaruhanga, bbc news. A well known Norwegian Mountaineer has denied accusations that her team climbed over an injured guide during a bid to break a world record. The porter, mohammed hassan, had fallen off a ledge on the worlds second highest mountain, k2, in pakistan in july. Video on social media appears to show a group past by mr hassan, who died reportedly a few hours later. Bethany bell reports. K2 is one of the worlds most dangerous and challenging mountains. The norwegian climber Kristin Harila went there in a bid to secure a world record, the fastest climber of all the highest peaks. But tragedy struck. Mohammed hassan, a porter on the mountain, fell off a ledge. You can see him here, his body lying on the narrow ridge known as the bottleneck. Someone is with him. Two climbers from austria and germany were on the mountain that day, taking some different footage with a drone, for a documentary. One of them, wilhelm steindl, says their pictures show that no one tried to Rescue Muhammed and take him down the mountain. We saw the drone shots and suddenly we were seeing this guy alive, people stepping over him, and nobody started a rescue mission. How did that make you feel . Really sad and also a little bit angry, because you dont behave like this on the mountain. But Kristin Harila said she and her team tried for hours to help mohammed in treacherous conditions. She says it would have been too dangerous to turn the whole team back. He wasnt left alone, not from our team, and when this thing is filmed, and it is from many hours after that, and its not like it is possible to just turn everyone around there, its very hard to do a rescue up there, and its notjust like to carry him down from there. Mohammed worked as a porter to earn money to educate his children. Wilhelm went to visit them and is trying to raise money to help them now that their father is gone. Bethany bell, bbc news. Thats all from us here in washington for now. Well be back at the top of the hour with a special half hour look at the tragedy in hawaii. Stay with us here on bbc news. We will leave you now with this dramatic Drone Footage from Inside The Fire Zone on the island of maui. Im caitriona perry. Do stay with us here on bbc news. Hello. It is shaping up to be yet another unsettled weekend of weather, but that doesnt mean its going to be raining all the time. Far from it. While it will be showery and quite breezy, therell be some drier spells too. In fact, parts of the south and the east are going to see the driest of the weather, furthest away from the centre of this area of low pressure. That is what will be driving the showers over the weekend. And see all the white lines, the isobars squeezing together . That shows that we are going to have some quite brisk winds, particularly around western coasts. A band of rain through the morning pushing its way northwards and eastwards across scotland, Northern England seeing some of that, maybe parts of wales. Behind that, sunny spells and showers, some of them heavy and thundery. A few showers breaking out down towards the south east corner, but actually a decent amount of dry weather to be had here. So theres confirmation of what will be a breezy, indeed quite windy day around some western coasts. Temperatures a little down on where they have been. The warmest weather in Eastern England at 2a degrees, more generally around 16 to 22. And then as we head through saturday evening, well continue to see some showers, particularly across the north and the west of the uk. Some areas of cloud, some clear spells too, and another relatively warm night, 12 to 15 degrees. So for sunday, our area of low pressure just continues to swirl, centred close to the north west of scotland. So that will be driving the showers. This frontal system here to the south west, thatll be running in later in the day. So some spells of sunshine to be had, but also some showers, maybe some longer spells of rain at times for Northern Ireland and western parts of scotland. And then late in the day, some cloud and perhaps some rain into the far south west of england, maybe the far south west of wales. Temperatures between 18 and 23 degrees. Breezy again, perhaps not quite as windy as on saturday. Now, through the coming week, low pressure will be with us initially, but then it looks like High Pressure will build for a time. And, actually, as that high shifts eastwards, it may be that we start to pick up a feed of slightly warmer air from the near continent. The big question mark is about how quickly this area of low pressure then swirls in from the west to turn things unsettled once again. But signs are that as we head through the coming week, there will at least be some drier and warmer weather on the way for many of us. This is bbc news, well have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour straight after this programme. Good girl. Wow, molly. Straight on. My name is lucy edwards, and nine years ago, i lost my eyesight completely. Since then, ive been on a mission to use social media to showjust because im blind, it doesnt mean im broken. How does a Blind Girl Play tennis . Girl organise her wardrobe . How does a blind girl ride a motorbike . She revs the engine. I dont my dad does. Im going to get off this now because its scary. She screams. When i first lost my sight, it felt like my world had shrunk forever. But now im embarking on a great big african adventure in kenya. With the help of my cane and a guide, ill tackle some challenging terrain. And you were using my cane, werent you . She laughs. Its the toughest. The toughest thing that ive ever done