53 according to the latest statement released in the last hour from the maui county government. joe biden has already issued a major disaster declaration and the governor has said it is the deadliest natural disaster for generations. thousands have been forced to leave their homes and hospitals have been treating patients for burns and smoke inhalation. nomia iqbal has this report. much of the hawaiian island of maui is now scorched earth. a pilot can hardly believe what he's seeing. oh, my gosh! look at the harbour! this looks like baghdad or something. the historic town of lahaina barely exists anymore. since the fire began on tuesday, it has ripped through, fuelled by hurricane—force winds, leaving burnt—out cars on once busy streets and instead of historic buildings, there are smoking piles of rubble. everybody still out here, it's time to go! for anyone still in the town, the message is clear — get out. if anybody�*s still here, the fire is on front street and it is time to go! this satellite image from last month and yesterday lays bare the destruction. it's something you'd see in a war zone. i was the last one off the dock when the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it. and ijust ran out to the beach and i ran south and ijust helped everybody i could along the way. still got dead bodies in the water, floating, and on the sea wall. they've been sitting there since last night. we've been pulling people out since last night, trying to save people's lives, and i feel like we're not getting the help we need. at 3am, we got. a call, "get out" — that was our- neighbour calling — and the sky was red. so, i grabbed my three children — and i have also the child - of a friend staying with us — grabbed all four kids, - threw them in the car, drove past fire trucks, | police officers were doing| door—to—door evacuations and it was really scary. the president says help is on the way. we have just approved a major disaster declaration for hawaii, which will get aid into the hands of the people desperately needing help now. anyone who's lost a loved one, whose home has been damaged or destroyed is going to get help immediately. the us military has now mobilised as it tries desperately to suppress the fires over the island. a state nicknamed �*the paradise of the pacific�* is now paradise lost. nomia iqbal, bbc news. megan moseley is a journalist who's covering the story for pacific media group. she told me how her friends and now we are coping. 0h, oh, yeah, everyone is completely devastated. it's a matter of, like, being with theirfamilies and being their families and being surrounded theirfamilies and being surrounded by people that love them and support them at this moment there are still some friends that i have not heard from. yet. so...— friends that i have not heard from. yet. so... well, i hope ou from. yet. so... well, i hope you will— from. yet. so... well, i hope you will hear— from. yet. so... well, i hope you will hear from _ from. yet. so... well, i hope you will hear from them - from. yet. so... well, i hope| you will hear from them soon. from. yet. so... well, i hope i you will hear from them soon. i also understand that you used to live in some of the areas which have been affected by the fires. have you witnessed anything like this before? ida. anything like this before? no, actuall . anything like this before? no, actually- i _ anything like this before? no, actually. i used _ anything like this before? no, actually. i used to _ anything like this before? no, actually. i used to live - anything like this before? iifr, actually. i used to live there, i used to live in lahaina in the big island in kona and net actually sitting my parents in ohio —— i'm actually. so when the news came out, and i am still reporting on big island issues, which they also experienced a fire and heard what happened in lahaina where i used to live, i immediately, like, started reaching out and contacting people and it's definitely something that's never happened. like, this has never happened. like, this has never happened. like, this has never happened before. to this, this scale, i guess you would... so, it's a huge devastation.— would... so, it's a huge devastation. , , , devastation. yes, so it must be really difficult _ devastation. yes, so it must be really difficult for _ devastation. yes, so it must be really difficult for you _ devastation. yes, so it must be really difficult for you to - devastation. yes, so it must be really difficult for you to see . really difficult for you to see all the pictures from there. also, what does this mean for the community in maui? film. also, what does this mean for the community in maui? oh, what does this mean _ the community in maui? oh, what does this mean for _ the community in maui? oh, what does this mean for the _ does this mean for the community in maui? they are definitely having to grieve together. lean on each other for support. and then, hopefully get support from, you know, those of us who aren't there to help we can, whether it is like donations or volunteering. i know some people who are doing search and rescue at this moment. those are always, like, we can help support that community. we heard in that _ support that community. we heard in that report a local resident saying that they are not getting the help that they need but also, as scientists have been warning that this kind of extreme weather event could happen again, is there anything that you want the authorities to do to prevent it from happening, as well as helping them right now? at from happening, as well as helping them right now? at this moment, helping them right now? at this moment. we — helping them right now? at this moment, we need _ helping them right now? at this moment, we need to _ helping them right now? at this moment, we need to just - helping them right now? at this moment, we need to just help i moment, we need tojust help these people anyway possible that we can. i don't know enough about, like, the city accounting and planning efforts to prevent situations like this from happening in the future to speak on that but it's something i'm sure we will be exploring here on a local level. but definitely need some assistance as soon as possible. megan mosley speaking to me earlier, and we also have a live page on our website that is updating all the latest information as we get it —— moseley. as we said the death toll now 53 and we've heard from the governor of hawaii, saying this is the worst natural disaster in generations and he expects the death toll to rise, so do check out our live page and keep an eye on my colleagues as well. sir richard branson�*s space company, virgin galactic, has completed its first space tourism flight. the passengers included an 80—year—old british former olympian and a mother and a daughter who made history as the first caribbean people to embark on the journey. the flight lasted just over one hour. sophie long reports from the spaceport in new mexico. —— now to a coup in niger. west african nations have put a smalljoint military force on alert. leaders of the ecowas regional bloc countries met, trying to find a way to push niger back to democracy. the bloc�*s current chairman, nigerian president bola tinubu, said the organisation was prioritising diplomacy. earlier, there had been threats of military action if niger's ousted president mohamed bazoum was not reinstated, but the coup leaders didn't back down. instead, they have named a 21—member cabinet to consolidate power. our reporter chris ewokor is monitoring the situation from neighbouring nigeria. one of the major decisions reached by the ecowas leaders today is that, despite that all options are on the table and open, including the option of military force as a last resort, they have now ordered the activation of the ecowas standby force. when this is going to start, we don't know. one of the other things that the ecowas leaders have done is to reiterate their condemnation of the coup in niger, as well as the continued detention of president mohamed bazoum. they also condemned the condition in which they say the president and his family have been kept, and they are insisting that all the measures that have been put in place earlier, including the earlier resolution as well as border closure and restriction of movement, will remain in force while they explore every means to arrive at a very peaceful and agreeable resolution. around the world and across the uk, barbenheimer means have been trending online after two hollywood films barbie and oppenheimer were released on the same day. injapan, the memes, some of mitch —— which made light of bombing, force the backlash. —— of atomic bombing are generating a backlash, especially after the barbie movie's official account replied positively to them. distibutor warner brothers had to apologise. this morning, barbie makes its debut injapan but activists have launched a petition calling for the #barbenheimer hashtag to be banned. earlier, i spoke to one of them. injapan, there are many people who are really upset. i haven't talked to the survivors about this because it's too shocking for them, i think, and there are many younger people who saw on the twitter what happened, and the memes, and we were really shocked and we learned that there is still a big gap of the perception of the atomic bombing betweenjapanese people and american people. yes, i was trying to actually to read some of those survivors and, for them, it is a very difficult concept to understand, isn't it? memes, twitter — there is obviously a generational gap. but in terms of younger people speaking up, why did you decide to start this petition? because for a long time, similar incidents have happened and none of these petitions started. ok, so this time, it was really big news injapan, so we realise what happened, and once we realised what happened, we thought, "we have to raise our voices" because it's not only about atomic bombing in i9lr5. we are surrounded by nuclear arsenals around the world, more than 12,000 of them, and downplaying what happened on the ground of hiroshima and nagasaki can make things happen again, so we want to raise our voice, to get awareness to really what happened on the ground on that day. it's a really good time to learn again, or learn for the first time for many people in the world, what really happened under the mushroom cloud. oppenheimer still doesn't have a release date. barbie gets released today. do you think this scandal may have affected people's appetite to watch these movies? i don't know, actually. there are various opinions of people who commented on our petition site. some people really want to see the movie because this is onlyjust information for us now, or some people just say, "we don't want to see "the movie," but i think it's people's choice but i don't know if this petition had the impact but this news, these memes, have really impacted onjapanese people, i'm sure. this is bbc news. bbc news, brinuain this is bbc news. bbc news, bringing you _ this is bbc news. bbc news, bringing you different - this is bbc news. bbc news, bringing you different stories| bringing you different stories from across the uk.- bringing you different stories from across the uk. keeping it clean. from across the uk. keeping it clean- this _ from across the uk. keeping it clean. this is _ from across the uk. keeping it clean. this is the _ from across the uk. keeping it clean. this is the eco- - from across the uk. keeping it l clean. this is the eco- museum, clean. this is the eco— museum, a place to show off some of the community projects that have been going on in preparation for the estate had. the squares were knitted and crocheted by people in the area and decorated by local schools to celebrate place names, building excitement across the generations —— eisteddfod. it has been building for months. everybody, you look around you, you see all of the artwork and the science and the banners, it is a massive event. the the science and the banners, it is a massive event.— is a massive event. the welsh government — is a massive event. the welsh government says _ is a massive event. the welsh government says it _ is a massive event. the welsh government says it is - is a massive event. the welsh government says it is doing i is a massive event. the welsh | government says it is doing its bit to support the eisteddfod with a grant of £1 million and one of grants of £1.75 million towards making the festival more inclusive, with free admission for income families. the sun was shining for one of the eisteddfod's ceremonies this morning and the weather is due to keep on improving and many of us here hoping the wellies can stay in the car for a few days. you with bbc news. been three days since —— it's been three days since the police service of northern ireland mistakenly made public the identities of 10,000 employees and its chief constable has apologised for what he called an industrial—scale breach of data. many of the police officers try not to reveal their occupation even to family because of security concerns, so their union says they're shocked and fearful. the chief constable said they had not be able to verify a claim by dissident republicans that they had obtained the staff list. here's sarah girvin. the terrorism threat level in northern ireland is severe — that's the highest in the uk — and it's because of that threat that some police officers keep their jobs secret from people in their community, theirfriends, even their children. today, the force's most senior officer acknowledged claims that dissident republicans are in possession of information from the data breaches. this is a claim. we haven't yet been able to verify what the substance is behind that claim, or see any of the information that dissident republicans assert that they have. but as you would imagine, we're keeping this under review. i and the senior team apologise unreservedly for what has happened here. you can only imagine the sort of unconscionable horror as people start to realise that maybe a loved one is being put injeopardy but what they have seen. this morning's emergency meeting here at the policing board had been due to last for around two hours. the chief constable, simon byrne, had cut a holiday short to be here, but four hours later, he was still answering questions from politicians about the data breaches. recent attacks will be fresh in the minds of officers here. dissident republican terrorists shot and seriously injured this senior detective, john caldwell, just a few months ago. daily routines for police in northern ireland involve checking for explosives under their vehicles and varying the way they travel. some of them work in particularly sensitive areas for m15 and in covert operations. today, policing board members said officers were anxious and fearful. i can only imagine the stress that this is causing some families. i think right across the organisation, but particularly for officers from nationalist backgrounds who have been subject to a higher level of threat over the years. a separate data breach happened injuly when documents, a police radio and a laptop with officers' details were stolen from a car, but that wasn't made public until yesterday. we have means of wiping those devices remotely. you will also be aware that laptops are protected by passwords. the priority for the psni will be keeping its staff safe. after that, it will be working hard to rebuild trust in a police force where morale is at rock bottom. sarah girvin, bbc news, belfast. sir richard branson's space company, virgin galactic, has completed its first space tourism flight. the passengers included an 80—year—old british former olympian and a mother and a daughter who made history as the first caribbean people to embark on the journey. the flight lasted just over one hour. sophie long reports from the spaceport in new mexico. cheering making the final footsteps towards realising their dreams. how are you feeling? feeling great! jon goodwin and mother—and—daughter duo keisha schahaff and ana mayers make their way to the spaceship unity. then at 8.30 local time, lift—off, on schedule and in perfect conditions. this is the momentjon goodwin has been waiting for a quarter of his life. he is now on his way to space on virgin galactic�*s first private passenger flight. three, two, one. release, release, release. and this is what it's all about, as the spaceship unity hit apogee more than 50 miles above the earth's surface... congratulations tojon, to keisha, to ana on becoming astronauts today. and a special congratulations to our unity pilot kelly for her first space flight. ..three minutes of weightlessness and views of our planet that only astronauts have ever experienced. you are so much more connected to everything than you would expect to be. like, you felt like a part of the team, a part of the ship, a part of the universe, a part of earth. it was incredible. we welcome our crew back as they come in for landing... as unity glided back down to the new mexico desert, there was jubilation and relief. i'm still up there, and it's just amazing that you can land so smoothly on the runway coming back from space. safely back on earth, jon told me his experience was better than he ever imagined it would be. looking at earth from space, the curvature of the earth, the brightness of space, the pure clarity was amazing. in 2014, you got diagnosed with parkinson's. three years ago, you went up kilimanjaro. today, you went to space. how are you going to top this? what's next forjon goodwin? the great thing of waiting 18 years was it wasn't a problem, i got something to look forward to which was very few other people had done. and that has now happened. i suppose i've got to go to the moon. a giant leap for those on board and a major milestone for space tourism, at least for those who can afford it. tickets currently cost more than £350,000. sophie long, bbc news, spaceport america, new mexico. the women's world cup quaterfinals get under way in just a few hours and one of the teams hoping to go all the way is japan, who play sweden. the former competition winners are one of several asian countries to make it further than their male counterparts ever did. in fact, every single women's football team in asia is ranked higher than the men. nick marsh spent some time watching singapore's next generation to find out why. cheering asia loves football. world cup, premier league — you name it, people here love it. but the football teams in this part of the world, the men's football teams in this part of the world, rather, are not so successful. and that's putting it mildly. the last time a country from south—east asia qualified for the world cup was indonesia nearly 100 years ago. in fact, the idea of the likes of vietnam or the philippines, even china, qualifying for the men's tournament, well, that's pretty far—fetched. and yet, here they are representing themselves admirably at this year's world cup in australia and new zealand. now, just take a look at this. every single women's team here is ranked higher than its male counterpart. sometimes the difference is stark. look at vietnam, for example. so why is this? well, the first reason has to do with the neglect of the women's game in general. so, for literally decades, europe and south america — powerhouses of the men's game — hardly invested in women's football at all, so the difference between money and resources that you see in the men's game hasn't had really time to develop. low investment across the board means that the distances between teams aren't as big. but there's also cultural clues as well. so in the men's game, it's middle eastern teams who take up a lot of the qualifying spots for the world cup, but they hardly bother with women's football, so that frees up more space for teams who were here. suddenly, success becomes achievable and the resources flow accordingly. football across the board is actually pretty inclusive in this part of the world. it's common to find young female fans at stadiums. injapan'sj—league, for example, 40% of those at men's games are women. i'm so happy, i'm so happy! and it's this enthusiasm that's got elite clubs and sponsors investing in training, education and talent—spotting in asia. for us to see that women's teams in asia are getting onto the main stage, to the world's biggest tournament, it's a credit to the countries, to the investment into football, and also to the passion and the drive for the countries who are involved. and it's just going to continue to grow. even more goals to aspire to, then. nick marsh, bbc news, singapore. researchers have discovered a previously unknown sudden cold snap that wiped out humans living in europe 1.1 million years ago. new evidence was published in the journal science, and it suggests that the continent was unpopulated for 200,000 years after that until humans adapted to cope with the colder conditions. our science correspondent, pallab ghosh, explains. british researchers scoured the shores of north norfolk for the fossilised remains of the very first humans to have lived in britain. it's long been held that they came to europe from africa and never left. but a secret found at the bottom of the sea suggests that they were all wiped out. this strip of mud from the ocean floor has changed the human story in europe. analysis in a lab in barcelona of the chemicals inside it shows that temperatures plummeted more than a million years ago. that would have meant, for the humans, not only that they would have trouble to find resources — for example, food — but also that the extreme conditions have led to the depopulation of this early humans from europe. researchers found that there was no evidence for humans in europe for 200,000 years after that. but then, early humans came back. these footprints, found under the sands of the north norfolk coast, are some of the first humans to have returned after this newly discovered ice age. let's imagine what it was like and how they survived. hesburgh was one of the first places those early humans came back to around 900,000 years ago, long before it was a beach. the big freeze was over, but it was still cold, much colder than it is today. so they had to learn how to cope by building better shelters and developing better hunting techniques for food and furs to stay warm. they may even have become hairier. this is important because it shows that our early ancestors were inventive and adaptable, which is why we are here today. i mean, this is amazing. researchers are still searching for what remains of these humans. these are the stone tools they learnt how to make. they're adapting the whole time to new environments, new climates, right the way through the ice ages and developing new technologies. the face is really quite delicately built. this is a reconstruction of a skull of one of those early humans — smaller brained, but gradually evolving into more advanced species, the researchers say in the journal science. and that species was certainly more evolved. things like a larger brain, a more modern—looking face, teeth that are more like ours. the new results are another piece of the jigsaw that helps to explain how humans evolved and learned how to tame nature to become the dominant species on the planet. pallab ghosh, bbc news, hesburgh. you have been watching newsday. good morning. we finally got there. on thursday, we had some much awaited summer sunshine and warmth. fairly widespread across the country, but temperatures peaked just over 28 degrees. however, there was quite a lot of cloud around, and in northern ireland by the end of the afternoon, some threatening—looking skies. and that's because this frontal system moving in and is bringing some rain as we speak. that is moving its way steadily north and east, some heavy bursts of rumble of thunder mixed in there as it pushes its way across scotland. the trailing tail of that frontal system, just a band of cloud, the odd spot or two of nuisance rain into the south—east. but it will be an incredibly mild, muggy night. so a very humid start to our friday morning. and there will be some sunshine. early morning cloud breaking off across south—east england, some sunny spells coming through. and with that south—westerly flow, we continue to drag in the risk of a few showers, chiefly out to the west. the northern isles will stay quite wet and disappointing in terms of the feel of the weather, with only a high expected of 15 degrees. but elsewhere, with the sunshine, and with fewer showers in eastern england, we may well see highs of 27 once again. now, as we move into the weekend, there is a risk of some showers through friday night into the early hours of saturday morning in the south—east. and then this area of low pressure is going to just tuck itself into the far north west of the country. so showers more frequent, most widespread the further north and west you are. some of those will push a little further inland, but sheltered eastern england, perhaps seeing the driest of the weather on saturday. and as a result, the warmest of the weather, 2a celsius is still 75 fahrenheit. almost a repeat performance as we go into sunday. again, that low not moving very far. so most frequent showers to the north—west. there will be some pushing their way across england and wales. and we need to keep an eye on some rain potentially moving into the south—west by the end of sunday. top temperatures generally 18—23 degrees. so that frontal system potentially running along the south. and then as we move into tuesday and wednesday, an area of high pressure is set to build. so we could see a little more in the way of showery weather to begin our new working week. but the warmth and dry weather may well return as we move to the end of the week and next weekend. not over just yet— not overjust yet— price pressures are easing in the world's biggest economy but the battle against inflation is still on. plus, a bright spot in china's economy with e—commerce giant alibaba delivering its strongest revenue growth in almost two years. hello, welcome to asia business report with me, mariko oi. beginning the united states where prices rose moderately last month, despite a sharp increase in interest rates to stamp out inflation. the figures suggest that america's central bank monetary policy is succeeding in containing soaring prices but thejob may not be done just yet. shall flory has more from new york. the us government reported that inflation increased 3.2% from a year earlier which was up from a 3% annual rise injune. —— michelle fleury. it's due to