Hello, you are wae context. Lost a love one who has been had a home that is damaged or destroyed will get help immediately. Schools were destroyed, busisses, homes, a church was destroyed. It is going to take years. 23 people have lost since last night 23 peoples lives and i feel like we are not getting the help we need. Good evening, thank you for joining us. Is strader a tragedy unfolding in the pacific at least people have died in wildfires in hawaii. Also on the show, can the taliban be tried for crimes against humanity for their treatment of women and girls. Former Prime Minister and current gordon brown tellss he believes they can. And a deadly outbreak of the feline coronavirus. Thousands of ca have died. Now veterinarians are dispensing human anticovid bills to stop the spread pills to stop the spread. And diverse mother and daughter headed into space. 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 batter battle wildfires in hawaii. At least 36 people have been killed. On the island of maui had it has largely been burned to the ground. President biden has declared a major disaster releasing federal funding for the people in the county of maui. Lets look at web President Biden had to say in the last few minutes. I want to Say Something about the 36 lives claimed in the wildfires in maui. We have declaration of the state of emergency for hawaii which will get aid into the help into the hands of those who need help. To anyone who has lost a loved one or whose home has been destroyed or damaged, they will get help immiately. And i say that we express support to our emergency workers working aroundtheclock the clock risking their lives. I just got off the phone before i got here with a long conversation with governor joe screen this morning. Making sure the state has everything it needs from the federal government to recover. The fema will be in miami to maui tomorrow. And i directed her to streamline any process and request for help. Survivors should have assistance without delay. Fema is serving Disaster Assistance personnel on the island and they will help them get access to assistance. Anybody 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 for assistance. And all federal assets are available on the island including the u. S. Coast guard, the third fleet, and the army. And theres Emergency Response crews along with the Hawaiian National guard. We are working as quickly as possible to it out the fires, evacuate residents and tourists. In the meantime, our prayers are with the people of hawaii, but not just the prayers, every asset we have will be available as we see fixing their homes and businesses destroyed. Some of them lost loved ones and it is not over yet. President biden speaking a short while ago. We been taking a close look at the scale of the fires and the disrupt destruction. Reporter a paradise lost. The Hawaiian Island of maui more dantes inferno. Oh my gosh, look at t harbor. Reporter a pilot use to ferrying tourists over a magical landscape. Oh my god. Reporter watching beaches turn black. This looks like baghdad or something. Reporter the highspeed in the historic city of maui, shops and livelihoods burned. Explosions as petrol stations and anything combustible ignites in the ferocious eat. Heat. This is not even the worst of it. We will have dead bodies floating in the water and on the seawall. It has been there since last night we been pulling people out since last night. Trying to save peoples lives. I feel like we are not getting the help we need. We woke up this morning and got on the phones to pictures of our house just slammed. Nothing left. Reporter and here is another picture. This, a satellite image of latina taken last month. And this image taken just yesterday. A holiday snap fr hell. We understand the Hawaiian Home Lands were destroyed, schools were destroyed, many of the businesses, it is going to take years. Reporter years to fix a broken land. With the specter of Climate Change and and ever present danger. Host lets bring in our washington correspondent who has been looking into President Bidens efforts to help hawaii. It is good to see you. Tell us more about what the president s declaration means. Reporter President Biden declared a major emergency. This unlocks federal funds in aid to the recovery effort. It puts money into the hands of those who really need it. He said they will prioritize those who lost loved ones, those who have lost their homes. This really was and has been a catastrophic situation on maui. Ose fires were fast, they were destructive, they were deadly. Eyewitnesses some of the testimony quite distressing. Talk of just having minutes to leave their homes. Once had the fire storm was so fast that he doused himself with water and 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 seaboard nearby. The harbor, the number of 36 reported dead is expected to rise. You know, the efforts to contain the fires are still ongoing. President biden has said all sent all federal assets in the area will help you because there are a number of military bases in hawaii. There is a naval base and what of the fleets in the area. The army, national guard, coast guard as well now assisting with local authorities. At one time they said 100 firefighters are on the ground to try to contain the blazes. There are difficulties with communication, some of the Cell Phone Networks haveeen down. Theres talks of people sleeping in their cars. Thousands have been evacuated to shelters. Thousands more are being evacuated off the island. Tourists are being assisted to get home. Others who were planning to go to the area which is a big Tourist Destination are being asked to not had their. Local Authorities Say that the damage will take months to assess but they already say it could run into the billions. Host thank you for that update. Lets go to maui now and we can speak to a meteorologist and resident of the island. Thank you for joining us in what is a very difficult time with. We understand you and your family had to flee. Tell us about that. It was Tuesday Morning around 1 00 a. M. I woke up to the smell of smoke. Thats not uncommon on the island of maui, we have strong wind, there was a red flag warning posted. I am a meteorologist and i had actually just reported on it just the day before. We knew that there was low humidity, high winds, lots of dry brush and all it would take is a little spark to make a fire spread very quickly. In the past, we are dealing with one fire and for the most part those fires tend to happen in the uninhabited part of maui through the Central Valley because that is where the wind is the strongest. Unfortunately, with this passing to the south and highpressure to the north the Pressure Gradient brought as high win. We were expecting 60 Miles Per Hour gusts but we got 80 mile per hour gusts. That is what the issue was. We had power lines going down, when they go down, they spark. Obviously, there is no official cause of the fire because investigations have not yet than done, but from witnesses that is what we understand. The first fire started in lahaina it started to spread down the mountain. And toward my subdivision. My subdivision was actually the very first subdivision to get evacuated. We got a phone call at 3 00 a. M. , i was trying to sleep from 1 00 a. M. To 3 00 a. M. Just smelling the smoke and thinking it is probably far away. It wasnt. At 3 a. M. , we got a call get out. That was our neighbor calling and the sky was red. So i grabbed my three children and i have also the child of a friend staying with us, i grabbed all four kids, threw them in the car, drove past fire trucks. Police officers were doing doortodoor evacuations. It was really scary. Host i can imagine that must have been a harrowing experience. Tell us how things are at the moment. How are people coping . I think we are all in a state of shock. If you are not in a state of shock, you are in a state of mourning at this point. A lot of people have lost their homes and that was already hard enough, but now hearing the number continue to rise and knowing that now we start 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. There are people who are bedridden. I am hearing stories of a husband running in help is bedridden wife and couldnt get there in time. Couldnt get her out. Just had to run. He has burns. Im hearing stories of young lady who ran literally ran out of her home and had to jump over the seawall into the water and spent seven hours in the water waiting to be rescued. And she felt like she was getting hyperthermia to the point where she would approach anything that was on fire to help to keep her warm. These are the stories that are coming out of lahaina we anticipate the number will rise. And when you look at the photos and images of how many homes were taken and you know how quickly the fire moves through, it is looking really grim. We are all really sad. Host it is a terrible tragedy. We are looking at pictures right nows you speak of the destruction. What do people in maui need right now . Well, we want to stay in mahal. We appreciate the love we field feel from around the world and the nation. We could use monetary donations to the right organizations. So a Community Foundation is a reputable organization, maui united way, Maui Food Bank those would be my top three and maui Rapid Response is currently joining people who want to help. So whether that is services, money, donations with people who need the help. They are currently working on a website maui Rapid Response. Org. And it should have all of that information. Right now there is a google doc that you can go and fill out and say i want to i just got a dm from a friend on instagram, i want to help with School Supplies for children. They will take that in and connect the dot. Host that is important information. Thank you so much. We wish you and your family and everyone in the Community Safety in this very difficult time. Thank you. Host around the world and across the u. K. This is bbc news. Lets look now at some other stories making news. The uks biggest were just lender is cutting Interest Rates on some of its mortgage deals tomorrow. How they say they are producing rates to 9. 7 Percentage Points and able cut rates across a range of products. Some aimed at firsttime buyers. The home secretary said that the responses from the disorder witnessed on londons Oxford Street area should be hunted down and locked up. Nine people were arrested following the incident after social media videos encourage people to turn up and caused disruption in one of londons busiest shopping areas. And holiday bookings in july for travel in august have more than quadrupled according to the Advantage Travel Partnership which represents 20 of tral agents. Heavy rain in parts of the u. K. Has led to this rise in the bookings. With vacationers hoping to catch summer sunshine abroad instead. Youre watching bbc news. Now to afghanistan. As a country nears the second anniversary of the withdrawal of the u. S. Led coalition and the take ovethat followed. According to the Human Rights Watch restrictions on afghan women and girls have become more extreme since then. Last month they ordered hair and beauty salons to close. Chris truly girls and women cannot access secondary higher education. Now the former british time Prime Minister and Global Education gordon brown is calling on International Criminal court to prosecute those behind the roles for crimes against humanity. We spoke to mr. Brown earlier today. You called the situation facing women and girls probably the most heinous, vicious, and abuse of womens rights taken around the world today. What have women and girls in afghanistan told you about their lives . They are living a terrible life because they have been denied education. Theyve been denied the opportunity to walk in public places. Mo most recently they been blocked from visiting cemeteries of love ones. They been prevented from getting jobs. More recently girls in medical classes have been prevented from taking exam so they cannot qualify. And the tightening up of these dressing restrictions and other restrictions to the ministry of ascension it shows how deep and intense this violation of human rights is. That is why because i think it is general discrimination. That is what they you known we need to International Criminal court to investigate. It is a crime against humanity. Religious clerics are behind us and they are hoping to get a change of policy as quickly as possible. Host you said they will publish a legal opinion in the next couple days but why your you confident th gender discrimination would be considered a crime against humanity . All the experts have lked at it and some of the opinions already existing they that when you are looking at crimes against individual rights and gender discrimination or gender persecution as it is so called, it is something that is thought to be taken into account when you look at crimes against humanity. Girls are basically being prevented from living anything approaching a normal life. There are many girls and women who stood up against this and some have been tortured, some have been arrested, some have been in prison. The leader of the biggest ngo supporting women in education is now in prison and has been for some months. I dont believe theres any doubt that we have something approaching a crime that the International Criminal court should and guess to gate investigate. They did take action by seeking a mandate against putin from removing children from ukraine to russia. There is a president for dealing with crimes against young people. Host you said y would also consider sanctions for example against individuals in the taliban government responsible for these policies. Even if they are were to be a prosecution and sanction against ese individuals, this is a regime of course that has been fully implementing this policy. How do we know that they would change the gender discrimination facing afghan women and girls . I think the reason that we want sanctions against individuals the ministry of education, ministry of justice and so on is to round the point that we hold them directly responsible for the abusive violation of girls rights. You know the biggest change that could happen is not just the pressure victims were judicial action, but the delegations that you go to go to afghanistan paicularly from the muslim majority countries where they can show the religious clerics and the politician that there is nothing in islam that dictates that girls should be denied education. And indeed all the other islamic country girls are being educated. It is important from muslim to muslim that it is understood that the interpretation made by clerics about what is justifiable in terms of banning education is something that is totally against the religious values that islam represents. The change that were going to see her for going to see it is the pressure from judicial action and the pressure from the muslim majority countries. I do think their intervention they made it clear they are against what the Afghan Government is doing. But eventually at a higher level with delegation to afghanistan talking to the clerics could make a difference. Host it would take part in such a delegation and how regional governments expressed the willingness to take carry out a mission . The government of the middle east qatar, and saudi and others have been much involved in the discussions. They made clear the policy carried by the Afghan Government. There have been some delegations reached in qatar where they send delegation to afghanistan. Britain has sent delegation. There is some dialogue taking place, but weve got to get it through to people that right around the world there is nothing worse happening to girls than what is happening to girls in afghanistan. If we allow this to continue, there will be far too Little International opposition to this, we have not done enough to make it clear this is unacceptable. And if we allow this and afghanistan, then you create the president in 2023 where this will hapn in other countries. It is important not just for afghanistan girls, but for girls and women around the world that you take this action now. And ive been surprised by how Little National attention has been given to the plight of afghan girls we know they are facing such difficulties. Host with the possibility of a delegation, mr. Brown. If there were to be a delegation and successful in this mission, 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 the funding is provided for that purpose . There has been funding made available some time ago. This was for the various organizations that were giving education to girls in afghanistan. As you know, there are underground schools. There was funding given to that. Theres a lot of internet learning taking place and a lot of funding in International Development with that. The girls leaving the cou