thousands of cats have died. now, veterinarians are dispensing human anti—covid pills to stop the spread. and blast off — sir richard branson�*s virgin galactic launches from new mexico — with the first mother and daughter to head into space — on board. first, the latest in a series of extreme weather events around the world that experts say have been made more likely by climate change. firefighters continue to battle wildfires in hawaii. at least 36 people have been killed. the popular tourist town of lahaina, on the island of maui, has been largely burned to the ground. us presidentjoe biden has declared a major disaster, triggering the release of federal funding — for the people in maui county. us soldiers have joined search and recovery efforts. let's take a listen to what president biden has had to say — in the last few minutes. i want to say a word about the devastating wildfires that have claimed at least 36 lives in maui in hawaii. we havejust approved claimed at least 36 lives in maui in hawaii. we have just approved a major disaster declaration for hawaii which will get aid in the hands of people who desperately need the help now. they have lost, anyone who has lost a loved one whose home has been damaged or destroyed is going to get help immediately. and i directed that we assert support to these emergency personnel working around the clock they're risking their lives. ijust got off around the clock they're risking their lives. i just got off the phone before i got here off a long conversation with governorjoss greene letting him know that i will make sure the state has everything it needs to recover. the fema administrator will be in maui tomorrow and i have directed her to streamline any processes with requests to health and survivors to register for assistance without delay. fema is on the island and will help survivors access to recovery systems. and for anyone who wants to know out there where to go if this is televised, they can go to disaster assistance .gov. disaster assistance .gov to learn if you are eligible for assistance. i have ordered all available federal assets on the island including the us coast guard, the navy third fleet and the us army to assist local emergency response crews through the hawaii national guard. we are working as quickly as possible to fight the fires and evacuate residents in taurus. in the meantime, our prayers are with the people of hawaii but notjust are with the people of hawaii but not just our are with the people of hawaii but notjust our players, every asset we have will be available to them and we have seen homes and businesses destroyed and some have lost loved ones to this. is not over yet. my colleague clive myrie has been taking a closer look at the scale of the fires — and the extent of the destruction: paradise well and truly lost. the hawaiian island of maui more dantes inferno. look at the harbour! a helicopter pilot used to ferrying tourists over a magical landscape... oh, my god! ..now watching blonde, pristine beaches turn black. this looks like baghdad or something. the high street in the historic city of lahaina. shops and livelihoods burned. explosion. explosions as petrol stations, anything combustible, ignites in the ferocious heat. this is not even the worst of it. you still get dead bodies in the water floating and on the seawall — they've been sitting there since last night. we've been pulling people out since last night, trying to save people's lives. and ifeel like we're not getting the help we need. i woke up this morning and got on our phones, took pictures of our house. just down to the... ..slap — nothing but smoking. and here's another picture. this, a satellite image of lahaina taken last month. and this image, takenjust yesterday, a holiday snap from hell. we understand our hawaiian homelands was destroyed. a school was destroyed. many of the businesses, a church was destroyed. it's going to take years. years to fix a broken land. but with the specter of climate change an ever present danger. let's speak to our washington correspondent, lorna gordon. us troops are assisting with rescue efforts, what are authorities in hawaii saying about how they've progressed? tell us what the presidents declaration means. ella mikey declared a major emergency unlocking aid in the recovery effort giving money to the ones who really need it he said he will prioritise ones who have lost loved ones, those who have lost their hand and this really was and had been a catastrophic situation on maui. the spires were fast, they were destructive, they were deadly. eyewitnesses stop back some of the testimony quite distressing. talk of having just minutes to leave their homes. once at the fire storm was so fast that he doused himself with water, tried to run to the sea, but his rubber slippers were melting as he ran. another who lost his home talked of seeing bodies floating in the seawall by the harbour. that number of 36 reported dead is expected to rise. the efforts to contain the fires are still ongoing. president biden has set _ fires are still ongoing. president biden has set all— fires are still ongoing. president biden has set all federal- fires are still ongoing. president biden has set all federal assetsl fires are still ongoing. president. biden has set all federal assets in the area will help because of course there are a number of military bases in hawaii. there is a naval base, one of the fleeces in the area, the army, the national guard, the coastguard as well are all now assisting. the local authorities say at any one time 100 firefighters are on the ground to try and contain the blazes but there are difficulties with communications. some of the cell phone networks have been down. there is talk of people sleeping in their cars. thousands have been evacuated to shelters. thousands more are being evacuated all of the island. toursits are being assisted to get home. others who were planning to go to lahaina because it is a destination are asked to not to head there. and authority say that damage will take months to assess but they are already saying it could run in the billions. let's go to maui now. we can talk to malika dudley, a meteorologist and resident of the island. thank you forjoining us and what is a difficult time. we understand that you and yourfamily had to a difficult time. we understand that you and your family had to flee. tell us about that. this you and your family had to flee. tell us about that.— tell us about that. this tuesday mornin: tell us about that. this tuesday morning around _ tell us about that. this tuesday morning around 1am _ tell us about that. this tuesday morning around 1am i _ tell us about that. this tuesday morning around 1am i woke - tell us about that. this tuesday morning around 1am i woke up i tell us about that. this tuesday l morning around 1am i woke up to tell us about that. this tuesday - morning around 1am i woke up to the smell of smoke. that is not uncommon on the island of maui, we have strong winds and there was a warning posted, so i had actually reported on itjust posted, so i had actually reported on it just the posted, so i had actually reported on itjust the day before as a meteorologist. so we knew that there was low humidity and high winds and lots of dry brush and all of it would take is just a little spark to make a fire spread very quickly. in the past, we were dealing with one fire. forthe the past, we were dealing with one fire. for the most part those fires tend to happen in the unheard inhabited areas of maui to the central valley because that is where the winds are strongest and with high—pressure the north that pressure gradient brightness for the high winds. we were expecting 60 mile our progress we got 80 mile—per—hour gusts so that is what theissue mile—per—hour gusts so that is what the issue was. that is what had power lines going down and when they go down they spark. obviously there is no official cause of the file or because investigations have not yet been done, but from witnesses that what we understand. it's that first fire started and actually took a home almost immediately and started to spread down the mountain towards my subdivision. my subdivision was the very first subdivision to get evacuated so we got a phone call at three a:m., i was trying to sleep from 1am to three a:m., to smelling smoke and thinking it was probably far away. smoke and thinking it was probably faraway. it smoke and thinking it was probably far away. it was not. at 3am we got a call, get out. that was our neighbour calling. in the sky was red. so i grabbed my three children and i also have a child of a friend staying with us. grabbed all four kids through them in the car, drew her past fire truck. police officers redoing door to door evacuations and it was really very scary. i can it was really very scary. i can imaaine it was really very scary. i can imagine that _ it was really very scary. i can imagine that must've - it was really very scary. i can imagine that must've been i it was really very scary. i can i imagine that must've been such it was really very scary. i can - imagine that must've been such a harrowing experience. tell us how things are at the moment. how people coping? i things are at the moment. how people coin: ? ~ ., things are at the moment. how people co . in i ? ~' ., ., things are at the moment. how people coin: ? ~ . . ., coping? i think we are all in a state of shock _ coping? i think we are all in a state of shock and _ coping? i think we are all in a state of shock and if - coping? i think we are all in a state of shock and if you - coping? i think we are all in a state of shock and if you are l coping? i think we are all in a i state of shock and if you are not in a state of shock you are in a state of mourning at this point. a lot of people lost their homes and that was already hard enough, but hearing the number continue to rise and knowing that we are starting to hear stories coming out of lahaina that people were running for their lives, literally. and knowing that there are people who are not as mobile people who are bedridden, i'm hearing stories of people of a husband running into help his bedridden wife and cannot get there in time and could not get her out and just had to run. and she burns. hearing stories of a young lady who literally ran out of her home and had tojump over the literally ran out of her home and had to jump over the seawall into the water and spent seven hours in the water and spent seven hours in the water and spent seven hours in the water waiting to be rescued and felt she was getting hypothermia to the point she would approach anything on fire to help us keep her warm. so these are stories coming out of lahaina and we anticipate that these numbers are going to rise and when you look at the photos, images, onjust how many homes and when you look at the photos, images, on just how many homes were taken and you know how quickly the fire moved through, it is looking really grim. so we are all fairly sad. , , ., , really grim. so we are all fairly sad. , , . , ., , really grim. so we are all fairly sad. �* , . , . , ~ really grim. so we are all fairly sad. , . , . , . . sad. just a terrible tragedy. we are lookin: at sad. just a terrible tragedy. we are looking at pictures _ sad. just a terrible tragedy. we are looking at pictures now— sad. just a terrible tragedy. we are looking at pictures now as - sad. just a terrible tragedy. we are looking at pictures now as you - sad. just a terrible tragedy. we are looking at pictures now as you are l looking at pictures now as you are speaking of the destruction. what two people on maui need right now? we want to say thank you for all of the love that we are feeling around the love that we are feeling around the world and from all of our fellow residents. we could use monetary donations to the rights organisations. so the community for ashen —— maui food bank, maui rapid response is currentlyjoining people who want to help so whether that is services, money, donations of people who need the help. they are currently working on a website maui rapid response. work which should have all of that information. right now there is a google doc which you can fill out and say, i want to, i got a d information for an on and scrub, and with the help of the school supplies and children. so she can type that in and they will connect the dots.— connect the dots. important information _ connect the dots. important information and _ connect the dots. important information and thank- connect the dots. important information and thank you l connect the dots. important i information and thank you for joining us and we wish you and your family and everyone in the community safety and is very, very difficult time. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the uk's biggest mortgage lender, halifax bank, is cutting interest rates on some of its mortgage deals from tomorrow. halifax says it's reducing rates by up to 0.71 percentage points. halifax will cut rates across a range of products, with smaller reductions on two—year fixed deals and some aimed at first—time buyers. the home secretary, suella braverman has said that those responsible for the disorder witnessed in london's oxford street area should be "hunted down and locked up". nine people were arrested following the incident. it came after social media videos encouraged people to turn up and cause disruption in one of london's busiest shopping areas. holiday bookings injuly for travel in august have more than quadrupled, according to the advantage travel partnership, which represents about 20% of travel agents. heavy rain in parts of the uk has led to this rise in last—minute bookings with holiday—makers hoping to catch some summer sunshine abroad instead. now to afghanistan — as the country nears the second anniversary of the withdrawal of a us—led coalition — and the taliban takeover which followed. according to human rights watch, restrictions on afghan women and girls have only become more extreme since then. they're prohibited from entering amusement parks, gyms, and from working in non—governmental organisations. and they must adhere to a strict dress code. last month, the taliban ordered hair and beauty salons in afghanistan to close. and crucially, girls and women can't access secondary and higher education. now, the former british prime minister and current un special envoy for global education — gordon brown — is calling on the international criminal court to prosecute those behind the rules — for crimes against humanity. we spoke to mr brown earlier today. mr brown, thank you so much forjoining us today. you have called the situation facing women and girls, "probably the most heinous and vicious and most comprehensive abuse of human rights taking place around the world today." what have women and girls in afghanistan told you in your role about their lives? they are living a terrible life, because they have been denied education, they have been denied the opportunity to work in public places, most recently, they have been denied the ability to even visit cemeteries of loved ones, they are prevented from getting jobs, at university they are prevented from studying, and more recently, girls in medical classes have been prevented from taking exams, so they cannot qualify. and of course, the tightening up of dress restrictions and every other restriction from the change to the ministry of women affairs to the ministry of the prevention against vice, this shows how deep and intense this violation of human rights is. and that is why, i think because it is gender discrimination, what someone at the united nations has also called gender apartheid, we need to the international criminal court to investigate. it is a crime against humanity and once evidence is brought to bear then we will not only put pressure on the taliban regime and the religious clerics who are behind this, but hopefully get a change of policy as quickly as possible. you have said that you are going to publish a legal opinion in the next few days, but why are you confident that gender discrimination would be considered a crime against humanity? i think all of the experts who have now looked at it, and some of the opinions that are already existing, said that when you are looking at crimes against individual rights, then gender discrimination or gender persecution, as it is called, is something that has got to be taken into account when you are looking at crimes against humanity. girls are basically being prevented from leaving anything approaching a normal life. there are many girls and women who have stood up against this and some have been tortured, some have been arrested, some are now in prison. in fact, the leader of the biggest ngo that is supporting women in education is now in a prison and has been for some months. so i don't think there is any doubt that we have got something approaching a crime that the international criminal court should investigate, they did of course take action by seeking a mandate against putin for removing children from ukraine to russia, so there is a precedent fund dealing with crimes against young people. you have said that you would also consider sanctions, for example, against individuals in the taliban government responsible for these policies. even if there were to be prosecution and sanctions against these individuals, this is a regime, of course, that has fully implemented this policy. so how do we know that they would change the gender discrimination facing afghan women and girls? well, i think the reason that we want sanctions against individuals in the ministry of education and the ministry ofjustice and so on is to ram home the point that we hold them directly responsible for the abuse of and violation of girls�* rights. but the biggest change that could happen is notjust the pressure that comes from traditional action, ——judical, that the delegations that should go to afghanistan, particularly from the muslim majority countries, where they can show the religious clerics and the politicians that there is nothing in islam that dictates that girls should be denied education, indeed in all of the other islamic countries, girls are being educated and it is important that, from muslim to muslim, it is understood that the interpretation made by the clerics about what is justifiable in terms of banning education is something that is totally against the religious values that islam represents. so i think that the change that we are going to see, if we are going to see it, is a combination of pressure from judicial action and pressure from the muslim majority countries, when i do think that their intervention.. mr brown, who would take part in such a delegation and have regional governments expressed a willingness to carry out such a mission? the governments of the middle east, obviously qatar and uae and saudi have been much involved in discussions and have made clear their objection to the policy carried out by the afghan government. there have been some delegations — there was a meeting in qatar only a few days ago. america sent a delegation to afghanistan. britain has sent a delegation and there is some dialogue taking place. but we've got to get it through to people that right round the world there is nothing worse happening to girls now than what is happening to girls in afghanistan and this fundamental abuse of human rights if we allow it to continue and there's been far too little international opposition to this. we haven't done enough to make it clear this is unacceptable. but if it's allowed to happen in afghanistan, then you're creating the precedent in 2023 for this to happen in other countries where the rights of girls are at risk. so it's very important notjust for afghanistan girls, but for girls and women around the world that we take this action now. and as i say, i've been surprised how little international attention has been given to the plight of afghan girls when we know they're facing such difficulties. one more question on the possibility of a delegation, mr brown. if there were to be such a delegation and it were to be successful in its mission and convincing taliban leaders to allow women and girls to be educated, they would presumably be more funding for the education of women and girls. how can you be certain that this funding is provided for that purpose? well, there has been funding made available until some time ago for the various organisations that are giving education to girls in afghanistan. as you know, there are underground schools at the moment and there is funding given to that. there's a lot of internet learning taking place and there's a lot of funding in international development aid going to that, there's girls leaving the country in pakistan. and they deserve support for their education, too, despite the fact that pakistan has itself a need of resources because of the floods that has happened to them. so there are various ways that we can show that girls can get education, even if the taliban government is trying to prevent that. but what i think is happening in afghanistan is there is a split between the different factions in the government and the religious community, because i know that many want to restore the right to education, but these religious edicts are preventing them doing so. and i hope that by these delegations going to afghanistan or meeting the taliban and the religious leaders and showing that we can get education through anyway. that they'll cease this attempt, if you like, to close down the world and prevent the one group of girls who are being totally denied education at secondary level and many at university level give them again the right to go to school. remember that they had the right for 20 years and they know what it's like to have the chance of education and to think freely. and while the regime can repress people for some time, it's not going to repress girls forever. you mentioned the underground schools operating despite the grave danger that the teachers and the students indeed face. how prevalent is this right now in afghanistan? there are some provinces of afghanistan, as i understand it, where the edicts of the religious leaders are not being so forcibly imposed as in other parts. but there is funding available through a number of different organisations for people who are running schools at home or running schools in outside the traditional schooling precincts. and that's something that means that girls are able to continue their learning, particularly those who started their learning and who at the time they moved from primary to secondary school are just told that they cannot be at school any more. so that is something that is offering a number of chances. but of course, we're talking about 2 million, 3 million girls going to be denied education and more coming up from primary school every year. and these are millions of girls who are the future of afghanistan. and to destroy half your future by denying girls education is something that we want to prove to the taliban regime is completely counterproductive. i've said before that we should be prepared to fund the education of girls as long as it's not restricted in any way by the taliban. and that means that we should be prepared to provide resources, even although we do not officially recognise the afghan government or in britain's case, have an embassy there that is working at the moment. you just mentioned an estimated 3 million girls who are about to complete their primary education, who are facing no possibility for education going forward. what happens to these girls if they don't have any access to education? well, the problem is, we know is that forced early marriage and that is something that is to be avoided if we can, so that girls have a proper chance to develop their potential without being forced sometimes into marriages that they would never choose to have, and certainly too young to be married and really round the world, it's notjust in afghanistan. we've got to think that the problem of human slavery, girls forced into marriage, girls and boys forced into labour, labour in terrible and often intolerable conditions. these are these are aspects of human slavery that we've got to outlaw as soon as possible. but in afghanistan in particular, i would worry about young girls forced out of education and then forced into early marriage. and that means that the future is decided for them and it's not a good future at all. final question, mr brown, you said you're surprised by the lack of international attention on this issue. what is your message, then, to the international community as. what is your message, then, to the international community as to why it is so important to ensure that this education does go forward. because if we don't stand up for the rights of girls and women in afghanistan, where they are being systematically, comprehensively and deliberately violated by the government, not accident, it's not something that is a transitional measure. it's something that is now deeply rooted in the system that the taliban are imposing. but if we don't stand up for a girl's rights and women's rights in afghanistan, then the same thing can happen in other countries. thank you for watching we will be backin thank you for watching we will be back in a few moments. stay with us. hello. today's weather might have felt like something of a novelty because for many places, it's been the warmest day for quite some weeks, under blue skies and sunshine. that was how it looked in norfolk, but not everywhere has been as sunny as that. in fact, parts of northern ireland saw quite a lot of cloud as this weather front approached from the southwest. and through the next few hours, this frontal system is expected to bring some really quite heavy bursts of rain across northern ireland, some heavy thundery downpours drifting northwards and eastwards as the evening wears on. there could be enough rain to bring some localised flooding and some travel disruption, and that wet weather is set to spread across the isle of man, just clipping in to parts of north wales, north west england, but more especially that rain will spread northwards and eastwards across scotland as we head through the night. further south, not too much rain, a lot of dry weather, but some areas of cloud floating around on what will be quite a warm and muggy night. lows of 15—17 degrees in places. and so for tomorrow, we'll start off with cloud and rain in the north of scotland. in fact for orkney and shetland, some pretty wet weather continuing for a good part of the day. also this hang back of cloud across parts of south east england giving rise to some spots of rain. elsewhere, sunny spells and scattered showers, particularly out towards the west. northern ireland, i think seeing most showers of all. and temperatures in the west a little lower than there have been. still, though, up to 26 celsius in parts of eastern england. and then into the weekend, low pressure is set to be in charge of the scene, but that doesn't mean it's going to be raining everywhere all the time. in fact, there will be some dry gaps. the further south and east you are, it's likely to stay just about dry with very few showers. but further north and west, there will be some showers or longer spells of rain, some heavy, possibly thundery bursts of rain at times. quite breezy in the west, temperatures of 18—24 degrees in most places. and for sunday, our area of low pressure continues to swirl close by. that will bring further showers at times, particularly in the north and the west, further south and east, more in the way of dry weather. but it could be that we see some more persistent rain just approaching the far south—west of england later in the day. it's going to be quite an unsettled start to next week. but there are some signs that later in the week it may start to warm up again for some of us. that's all from me. bye for now. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. you're watching the context on bbc news. still to come — west african leaders end their emergency summit on the coup in niger — saying they're putting theirjoint military force on alert — to help with the crisis. we will bring you that story in a moment. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah mulkerrins. let's start with the potential transfer of harry kane now — a deal has been agreed in principle for bayern munich to sign the england captain from tottenham — for more than £85 million. but it's now kane's call to make. he has a year left on his contract with spurs, and is the club's all—time leading scorer, with 280 goals in over 400 appearances. 30 of those goals came last season, in a campaign where spurs finished 8th, missing out on european football. matt graveling has more from outside the tottenham hotspur stadium.