to hawaii on monday to meet the survivors and emergency workers in maui. the white house says biden is expected to visit the areas of wildfire damage and discuss the next steps in the recovery operations with officials. officials have now reopened the road to the worst—hit part of the island, giving most survivors their first opportunity to assess damage and retrieve their belongings. however, people are still barred from entering the town of lahaina, which was destroyed in the blaze. our correpsondentjohn sudworth has been on maui since last week, and has more. there's been some criticism, of course, over the speed of the national government response to this disaster. so it will be welcome news here on maui that the president and the first lady are coming here. i'm in the community, we are some distance away from the devastated town, but nonetheless, you can see from these destroyed homes and businesses the power of the weather event that the fire crews were tackling that night. the same smouldering wildfire is fanned by the offshore hurricane, bringing destruction to this area as well. the real onerous task, of course, as well as the emotionally challenging work is going on down in the town, as the forensic experts continue to come to the wreckage there in the bid to discover the remains of more victims and to identify them. it is this work in the immediate recovery rector as well as what's happening down there that the president and the first lady will be able to see for themselves. you heard john talking about the frustration on the ground there, well some people are taking matters into their own hands — coming together to organise vital relief efforts on the ground. take a look. there is a lack of response from large organisations and we're just looking to get supplies as quickly as possible to where they need to go. locals were having such a hard time even getting in. there were roadblocks set up outside of lahaina. there were much—needed goods that we were basically deprived of the people had to break the rules for us to get to this point right now. these are the types of things that our community does best — we stick together. it is devastating. you can't fathom _ it is devastating. you can't fathom that on the other side of this— fathom that on the other side of this world, to this day, there _ of this world, to this day, there are _ of this world, to this day, there are corpses, it is literally— there are corpses, it is literally right there. we currently wrap our heads around what _ currently wrap our heads around what is — currently wrap our heads around what is going on.— what is going on. first day that i went _ what is going on. first day that i went into _ what is going on. first day that i went into lahaina, l what is going on. first day that i went into lahaina, i | what is going on. first day - that i went into lahaina, i was a wreck — that i went into lahaina, i was a wreck i_ that i went into lahaina, i was a wreck. i considered - that i went into lahaina, i was a wreck. i considered myself. that i went into lahaina, i wasj a wreck. i considered myself a strong — a wreck. i considered myself a strong leader— a wreck. i considered myself a strong leader but _ a wreck. i considered myself a strong leader but it _ a wreck. i considered myself a strong leader but it broke - a wreck. i considered myself a strong leader but it broke me. it stilt— strong leader but it broke me. it still breaks me. _ strong leader but it broke me. it still breaks me. tlette- strong leader but it broke me. it still breaks me.— it still breaks me. we are leaving- _ it still breaks me. we are leaving. you _ it still breaks me. we are leaving. you know, - it still breaks me. we are l leaving. you know, besides it still breaks me. we are - leaving. you know, besides - leaving. you know, besides — evenif leaving. you know, besides — even if we were doing this just to protect the home. i even if we were doing this 'ust to protect the home.�* to protect the home. i have seen signs _ to protect the home. i have seen signs un— to protect the home. i have seen signs up saying - to protect the home. i have seen signs up saying that l seen signs up saying that looters will be shot.- looters will be shot. talk about national— looters will be shot. talk l about national emergency. looters will be shot. tait. about national emergency. you can't mess around right now. everyone is on edge, honestly. in another community effort, the town of lahaina is working to save its iconic banyan trees — one of which stood over 60 feet tall and is over 150 years old. the fires burned the famous trees — but they're still standing. firefighters are working to save the iconic landmarks despite fears that the damage might be irreversible. meanwhile, wildfires in canada's remote northwest territories are inching closer to the region's capital city, yellowknife. the whole of the area is under a state of emergency, as fires continue to burn out of control. communities in the path of the fire are being evacuated, and hundreds of people have been airlifted to safety by the military. yellowknife, is now blanketed in smoke. its mayor says that, if a fullscale evacuation is needed, the population of twenty thousand may need to be evacuated by air, as the one highway into the city could be rendered impassable by the flames. we turn now to the war in ukraine, and a special bbc investigation into allegations of abuse of ukrainian prisoners of war, at the hands of their russian captors. a dozen former detainees have come forward to say saying they'd been beaten and subjected to electric shocks — after returning from a detention centre in the city of taganrog, in south—western russia. the un says russia hasn't allowed its monitors to visit such facilities. our correspondent hugo bachega has been speaking to those who survived the ordeal. translation: sheer hell. the scariest part was when they called you up for interrogation. translation: how can you describe _ a place where you are stripped of everything human? these ukrainians were captured by the enemy... translation: they can do anything they want with you physically. ..and taken to this russian prison in taganrog, a place they now associate with torture. in may last year, the city of mariupol was under siege. artem, a sniper with the azov regiment, wanted to keep on fighting. but ukraine ordered the troops in the azovstal steelworks to surrender. translation: when i heard about captivity for the first . time, i had the worst images in my head about what could happen. artem was held in taganrog for seven months. he says he was frequently beaten and given electric shocks. he often witnessed other captives suffering too. translation: after the beatings one day, i was brought _ to a room. i saw a young man holding his hands up, his fingers were bleeding. "did they insert needles under yourfingernails," i asked. he said yes. for weeks, i tracked down ukrainians who had been taken to taganrog and came back. people like irena, who is now a conscript officer in the military. she was a combat medic when she surrendered. she says not even the women were spared the brutality of the guards. translation: they dragged us by our hair. _ they beat us in the kidneys, in the ribs, with hammers and batons. how do you describe taganrog? only devils live and work there. this is denis, a military surgeon. he tells me people were beaten as soon as they arrived. in rooms, hallways and even in the shower. he was left with three broken ribs and could barely breathe. translation: they threw me | on the floor, ordered me to not lift my head up and gave me electric shocks until they discharged the entire taser battery on me. you are convulsing. if lift your head off the floor, they start beating you, and the circle never ends. up to 10,000 ukrainian prisoners of war are believed to remain in russian captivity, including hundreds of the azovstal defenders. many are being held in prisons across the country — a violation of the rules of war. here, campaigns like this one are fighting for their freedom and for russia to protect their rights. ukraine says nine in every ten prisoners who return allege they have been tortured. the biggest challenge for me now is how to protect our people on the russian side. i don't know how and nobody knows how we can do it. the russian defence ministry has not replied to our request for comment. but prisoner swaps like this one... ..give hope to families still waiting to see their loved ones again. how do you recover from all this? translation: i am currently undergoing treatment - and my priority is to take care of my health so i can put on my uniform, pick up my weapons and defend my country. the battles in this war continue, not only on the front lines but also in the lives of ukrainians trying to overcome so much cruelty. hugo bachega, bbc news, kyiv. earlier, i spoke with john allen, a retired us marine corps four—star general and former commander of the nato international security assistance force, about the situation in ukraine. generaljohn allen, thank you forjoining us. the bbc is reporting today that a dozen former ukrainian captives say they were subjected to torture while in custody at detention facilities in south—western russia, apparent violations of international humanitarian law. how should foreign governments respond? first, no—one is surprised at this. virtually every dimension of the russian invasion of ukraine has been accompanied by some violation of international military law. attacks on infrastructure, attacks on civilians and here again we see the systematic, frankly, in the systematic, frankly, the systematic torture of ukrainian prisoners. and the way to do this on the way to respond at an international level is to condemn it universally and unanimously and also, as necessary, to continue to levy sanctions against individuals within the russian military and, of course, against the russian government. but this has got to be condemned in the loudest voices that we can bring to bear on this issue. the systematic torture of prisoners of war, the systematic torture of individuals who are out of combat, if you will, cannot be tolerated and we must protest with the loudest possible voice. looking at the way things are at the moment, russian forces have retreated from the donetsk region, and it is the first village recaptured by ukraine since last month. ukraine fights for so much land whether it is in that region or mariupol. are they concentrating their forces wisely to maximise their chances of making progress? well, i am reluctant to offer a specific opinion, specifically, as to the specifics of their operation. what is important is ukrainians in this counteroffensive are up against a very difficult and complex series of obstacles by the russians. thousands of square kilometres of mined territory, complex obstacles, tank ditches, wire, dragon's teeth, and what they are looking for as they disperse their forces on various axes in their attacks against the russians, they are looking for a breakthrough point, and i leave that to the ukrainian leadership to determine how to dispose of their forces to seek and, ultimately, to exploit the breakthrough points. but i think what we can see is that the broad and general strategic direction of the ukrainian counteroffensive is pointed towards the south—east and, very likely, intended to try and get to the sea of azov eventually and to turn to the south—west and try to cut off the land bridge into crimea. that seems to be the strategic direction that they are pursuing, but we will have to see as time unfolds. on that point about strategic direction and firepower do you think ukraine is receiving enough support from the us governments and other governments? well, the ukrainians would say that there is no end to the support that they need, and in truth, of course, the united states and other countries have given an enormous amount — tens of billions of support to the ukrainians. but it is notjust a matter of the quantity of support that ukrainians are looking for, but it is also the kind of support. and as we have seen, other countries, the uk in particular, and i really applaud the uk's effort, here, has given the ukrainians long—range capability in the french have now given a long—range missile for precision strikes and precision engagement and we hear the united states is very close to making a decision on our version of a long—range artillery rocket. that gives ukrainians the capacity, and we want be this case, that there is no single square centimetre of ukrainian territory either in the ukraine itself or on the crimean peninsula that is safe for russians to occupy. we want to make sure that russian rear areas, the command posts and logistics depots, the troop concentrations, command and control links in the movement of logistics to the front, that all of that is at risk at any given time. and giving the ukrainians the kinds of weapons to threaten all those military capabilities of the russians makes it far more difficult for the russians to wage the kind of activity and wage the kind of operations that they would like to in ukrainian territory use crimea as a safe haven, and ajumping off—point for further military operations. so are we giving them the right things? we have given them plenty at this point and there are still more to give and it is notjust a matter of quantity, it is a matter of quality and capability as well, as we consider every request. general, if i could ask you about another topic, about afghanistan, the international forces there — yesterday was the second anniversary of president biden's withdrawal of us troops from their we saw the taliban and cracking down on freedom particularly on women. have all the gains made there been lost now? you could make that case. when i talk to the families of members of the us military who perished in that war, and the one point i try to make to them is that for the 20 years that the united states and her allies were present on the ground in afghanistan the people of afghanistan and in particular the women of afghanistan had a future. they had potential to be a key part of afghanistan and to join the world community. when we departed in 21 and the taliban re—entered the presidential palace in kabul it was an enormous setback for the afghan people and the taliban have systematically stripped away the rights of women in afghan society. there are young afghan women born after the invasion after the us and our allies were attacked on september 11 2001, young women born in the aftermath of that who have known nothing but freedom and opportunity and education and the potential that they would be key players in afghan society and international society. that has been a huge setback, seeing those afghan gains systematically stripped away by the taliban. we will leave it there for today. thank you forjoining us. a pleasure to be with you today, it always is. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. hundreds of extra police have been deployed in pakistan's punjab province after a crowd of muslims burnt down several churches and ransacked dozens of christian homes. the violence was sparked by accusations that two christian men desecrated the quran. germany's government has put forward draft legislation to legalise cannabis for recreational use. if approved it would allow adults to possess up to 25 grams of the drug, and grow their own plants. that would make it one of the most liberal cannabis laws in europe. the bill still needs approvalfrom parliament. the us state department is sending its new ambassador to niger to help diplomatic efforts there, following a recent coup. kathleen fitzgibbon is a career diplomat with extensive experience in africa. the move is seen as a sign of washington's continued engagement with the unfolding crisis. fitzgibbon is expected to arrive later this week. you're live with bbc news. the lead prosecutor in the us state of georgia's election interference case is asking a judge to set the start date for the trial of donald trump and his 18 co—defendants for march 4 of next year. the former president was indicted for the fourth time on monday on 13 charges relating to his alleged attempts to overturn the result of the the 2020 election in the state. mr trump has until the 25th of this month to turn himself in to authorities in georgia. the proposed march fourth trial date falls just one day before voters in 15 states cast their ballots for the republican nomination for president, also known as super tuesday. the start date of the trial is ultimately up to the judge. with the global spotlight focused on these arraignment proceedings, local atlanta residents have been weighing in on whether mr trump should indeed go to jail. have a listen. i don't want to see anybody go down, especially the leader of the free world. i down, especially the leader of the free world.— the free world. i think it is well deserved. _ the free world. i think it is well deserved. he - the free world. i think it is well deserved. he has- the free world. i think it is. well deserved. he has done the free world. i think it is i well deserved. he has done a lot well deserved. he has done a tot of— well deserved. he has done a lot of stuff in the background, underhanded stuff and it is time — underhanded stuff and it is time for— underhanded stuff and it is time for him to pay for whatever he did.- time for him to pay for whatever he did. , , ., , , whatever he did. they probably don't like it _ whatever he did. they probably don't like it but _ whatever he did. they probably don't like it but he _ whatever he did. they probably don't like it but he had - whatever he did. they probably don't like it but he had did - don't like it but he had did do something _ don't like it but he had did do something wrong. _ don't like it but he had did do something wrong. don't - don't like it but he had did do something wrong. don't pin. don't like it but he had did do| something wrong. don't pin it on him — something wrong. don't pin it on him because _ something wrong. don't pin it on him because you _ something wrong. don't pin it on him because you don't - something wrong. don't pin it on him because you don't like it, on him because you don't like it. send — on him because you don't like it. send him _ on him because you don't like it, send him to _ on him because you don't like it, send him to jail. _ meanwhile, trump supporters are posting the names and addresses of members of the grand jury who signed off on his indictment on social media, with some accusing the fulton county da fani willis of misconduct. turning now to new york city, which is banning the popular video sharing app tiktok on government—owned devices. officials cite security concerns. new york state has already enacted a similar ban. the move follows ones in cities and states across the us, where officials worry about the influence of the chinese government on the app and its more than 150 million american users. chinese tech giant byte—dance, which owns the app, says it takes the privacy and security of tiktok users seriously. the family of travis king, the us soldier confirmed to be in north korea, has told bbc news that they have not heard from him. in an earlier statement north korea said the american solider wanted to seek refuge in its territory because of the poor treatment and racism he said he had experienced in the us army. a us defense department spokesperson said they weren't able to verify king's comments, but his family's spokesperson said his uncle had received a text in which the soldier had indicated he was experiencing racism. earlier, private king's family spokesman spoke to the bbc about the 23—year—old's detainment. i don't know exactly what to make of that statement. parts of it didn't make a lot of sense. i would hesitate, i would caution folks against taking this at face value. north koreans have a long history of trying to exploit racial issues in the united states and we, not having heard from travis, we don't know. we have not heard from him and no reports on his condition. something about that statement suggested that perhaps, to me at least, he's been not treated terribly but we don't know and yes, his mother is terribly concerned and she wants her son back. i don't know what he knew what he thought at the time because i never actually got to speak to him but certainly i would imagine that all us troops operating in the republic of korea, south korea, are briefed on the dangers of their neighbour to the north. we're learning more about other americans detained as well — two in russia. our partners at cbs news have learned that us secretary of state antony blinken spoke by phone with paul whelan today. whelan, who has been detained for more than four years, is being held in a russian prison camp. this is the second time they have spoken. a us federal appeals court ruling will allow the abortion pill mifepristone to stay on shelves, but restrict access to the medication. the order by the three judge panel got rid of a lower court's decision that would have completely taken the abortion drug off the market, but upheld parts of the ruling that ban telemedicine prescriptions and shipments of the pill by mail. the ruling will not take effect until the us supreme court reviews it. for now, mifepristone remains available due to an emergency order by the supreme court back in april. the british museum in london has sacked a member of staff after treasures were reported "missing, stolen or damaged". metropolitan police are now investigating what happened. our correspondent robin brandt has more from outside the famous institution. police are saying there have been no arrests but somewhere inside this building which has beenin inside this building which has been in the heart of london for 270 years, it is a globally renowned institution but somewhere inside there is, essentially, a crime scene tonight. we heard from the british museum about two hours ago, details of something they learned of earlier in the year. they have been investigating internally since. they've gone public now with the facts that there are items missing, stolen or damaged. a member of their staff has been dismissed. let's look at what we know about what is missing. these are small pieces that were kept inside a store room inside the building. they were not shown to members of the public including, apparently, gold jewellery, gems of semiprecious stones and glass. they date back to the 15th century bc and some of the items come all the way up to the 19th century a.d. which means some of these missing a items could be as holders 3500 years. we heard from george osborne, formerly a prominent conservative politician in this country now chair of the british museum and he said their priorities are to find their priorities are to find the missing jewels and make sure it does not happen again. we describe this is a sad day for all those who love the british museum. but what is clear tonight is not much is clear. they do not have an inventory of what has gone missing, they do not know where this stuff is, they don't know how long it has been going on for another cannot put a value on the items. some, as i said, potentially thousands of years old. i'll be back at the top of the hour with the latest headlines. stay with us here on bbc news. we have seen a change in the weather over the last couple of days, a change to something dry, right and warm and we will stick with warm and humid conditions over the next few days on friday it will turn windy with heavy thundery rain arriving. fin windy with heavy thundery rain arrivinu. , ._ arriving. on thursday we will have a quiet _ arriving. on thursday we will have a quiet day _ arriving. on thursday we will have a quiet day of— arriving. on thursday we will have a quiet day of weather, | have a quiet day of weather, areas of low cloud and mist first thing and then lengthy spells of sunshine with just a small chance of catching a shower. a bit more of a breeze and with that breeze coming from the east where you are exposed with it along north sea coast, temperatures may only reach 217 and 20 degrees. but with shelter from the breeze, parts of western scotland in the north coast of northern ireland up to 22 or 23 degrees, every 26 for the west coast of central, southern england. as we had through thursday night we had through thursday night we will again see areas of low developing. the wind will pick up developing. the wind will pick up across western parts and we will see a future for our showers and thunderstorms starting to break out. temperatures 12— 16 degrees and as we get into friday it will turn quite windy around western coasts is the frontal system starts to squeeze its way in. the white line squatting together showing we will have strong wind. gusts potentially 50-60 strong wind. gusts potentially 50—60 mph in exposed parts of north wales. one band of rain pushing north—eastward and then a dry gap and then general heavy rain getting into the south—west later in the day. depending on how quickly the rain arrives it could be very warm indeed and it will certainly be very humid. our friday night looks really wet was the frontal system drives its way northwards and eastwards and the heavy and thundery bursts of rain close to the centre of this area of low pressure on saturday, you will also see some showers particular cross northern ireland, maybe some for the western fringes of england and wales, further south is not as many showers, perhaps again julie dry and quite warm with temperatures around 25 degrees and 21 for glasgow, 22 in belfast. mostly dry and fairly warm on sunday, just a few showers around and then into the start of next week towards the start of next week towards the south of the uk, the temperature could climb a little further. voiceover: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. can you see me in here? yeah. oh, yeah. laughter. ruining anothercamera. laughter. my name is godfrey henry oliver palmer, and i was born injamaica in1940. big set. carmen esme — e—s—m—e — steele. i am mrs munroe. lacita alexander reid. 20th may 1931, in- manchester, jamaica. yeah. piano refrain plays. emotive strings play. plaintive woodwind plays.