Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

From Our Own Correspondent

News

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers.

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.

No Master Brand

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC Afghan Radio

From Our Own Correspondent: Counting the dead after Hawaii's wildfires

Magazines & Reviews

A member of the Hawaiian National Guard walks through a charred neighbourhood in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires

19/08/2023 GMT

Counting the dead after Hawaii's wildfires

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Counting the dead after Hawaii's wildfires

Tensions rise in Hawaii as tourists swim in waters where islanders died in the wildfires

The devastating cost of the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui; grim stories from the Sudanese fleeing Darfur; and how one Iranian protestor's life was changed forever

Pascale Harter introduces reports from Hawaii, Chad, Iran and India.

The Hawaiian island of Maui is still counting the cost of the worst wildfires in recent US history which ripped through parts of the island killing at least 110 people. Over a-thousand more are still missing, and recovery crews continue to comb through the wreckage. The fire was so fierce in the town of Lahaina that the authorities are having to use DNA to identify the victims. But as islanders struggle to come to terms with the scale of the devastation, John Sudworth discovered resentment is growing at the tourists who have chosen to continue their holidays on the island.

As the conflict in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary RSF enters its fifth month, refugees are still continuing to flee across the border from Darfur into eastern Chad.  In the camps on the border, Mercy Juma heard grim accounts of death, rape and trauma. But she also encountered examples of great generosity.

As Iran’s parliament prepares to pass a bill imposing new punishments on women who fail to wear a headscarf, Jiyar Gol met one Iranian mother who escaped to neighbouring Iraq after suffering possibly life-changing injuries during the recent protests that swept Iran. The protests followed the death in custody last September of a young Iranian woman who'd been detained for not wearing her hijab properly.

And what it’s like not to be called by your own name? In rural India many women are known only by their relationship to others – for example, so-and-so’s wife or daughter-in-law. But as more and more men in India are migrating in search of work, there's been a corresponding rise in the number of female-headed households. And as a result, as Divya Arya heard, a growing number of women are reclaiming their names.

Producer: Louise Hidalgo
Editor: Bridget Harney
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman

Accessibility links

Programme Index

From Our Own Correspondent

Counting the dead after Hawaii's wildfires

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service