it was once the murder capital of the world. cries. for decades, rival gangs ruled the streets of el salvador through violence, extortion and fear. until now. for a year, the country's young, media—savvy president has declared war on the gangs... ..imposing emergency security measures and giving police sweeping powers of arrest. thousands are now behind bars. and the country is transforming before people's eyes. but there's a dark underside hidden from view.

human rights groups are dismayed, as are relatives, at the thousands that have been arbitrarily arrested. peace may have come to el salvador, but at what price? teacher audelia has lived

here since the late 1990s — la campanera in the capital's notorious soyapango district. more than 20 years ago, rival gangs the ms—13 and the 18th street gang took control of neighbourhoods across the country. they became, in effect,

no—go areas for outsiders and the police. thousands were murdered or caught in the crossfire. and in those years of the growth of the gangs, can you explain to us what it was like living here? but in the last 12 months, audelia has witnessed the change on these streets that she never thought possible.

for the past year, el salvador has been living under an emergency measure called the state of exception. police and military have been mobilised in vast numbers and some constitutional rights suspended. defeating the gangs was one of the main election promises of nayib bukele, a former marketing executive turned president.

so, what's the policy meant on the streets? in the suburbs of san salvador, another security patrol is about to set off. every day for a year, dozens of police, soldiers and elite troops have been sent into the back streets of the capital, carrying lists. they search anyone with a possible profile or tattoos of a gang member. it's alleged that some officers have been given daily quotas for arrests. others are sent to specific houses, often using anonymous tip—offs. dog barks. this neighbour explains the person they're looking for has already been arrested.

but this ruthless new security policy hasn't brought peace to everyone in el salvador. in this small rural community, i've come to meet marcela. she tells me about the moment the police swept into their village last year. her sonjose duval was working in the fields.

jose was arrested under a charge being widely used by the police during this crackdown. unlawful association has been criticised by human rights organisations for its broad interpretation. it justifies arrest on the grounds of being even indirectly connected with a gang. did he have any gang affiliation that they accuse him of?

this is like a petition, signed by members of the community tojose duval�*s good character, to his lack of involvement in any gang activity, signed by all of the neighbours in the village. there must be 100 or so of them, and she says she has more inside.

do you have any information at all about how he's doing inside? have you been able to see him at all?

marcela's greatest fear is that jose may end up here — a new mega prison built to house gang members. president bukele ensured these carefully choreographed images made headlines across the globe. more than 65,000 people have been arrested in just 12 months, making el salvador�*s prison population proportionally the highest in the world. do you think that you will have the strength to get through these next months? marcela is not alone. it's the one—year anniversary of the state of exception. in the capital, hundreds of families

are taking to the streets. chanting. they say that their loved ones have been detained arbitrarily in flagrant abuse of their human rights and of the constitution. they say they haven't heard from them, have no information about them, and simply don't know when or if they will ever be let out again — and there are people here who've lost loved ones in prison, too.

outside the national assembly building, the protesters call for the release of their detained relatives. yelling. they can only imagine the poor conditions inside the prisons. but one woman has agreed to talk about her experience. dolores — a union leader and single mum — was at home

when she received an unexpected knock at the door. do you think your arrest was related to your union activities? dolores was not told the grounds of her arrest — one of the rights suspended under the state of exception. it wasn't until days later that she realised she was being charged

with unlawful association. soon after, she was sent to prison. can you tell me what that experience was like?

while dolores was in prison, her teenage daughter had to care for her five siblings. union members protested tirelessly against her sentence. after seven months, she was released. the government says that the international committee of the red cross makes regular visits to assess prison conditions.

critics say targeting union leaders like dolores shows the president is using the emergency measure to undermine potential opposition. i put this to his vice—president, felix ulloa, in an exclusive interview. you have made it sound very innocent, very light, but the truth is, it grants some extremely draconian powers to the police, that they can arrest you merely on an anonymous phone call, merely for having tattoos, merely for suspecting that you have an association with illicit gang activity. what you said is not true. i mean, the police, didn't go, or didn't went to the communities to capture people because they have tattoo, or because there is an anonymous phone call, no. it's not like that. this is a lie that has been spread overfor the political position in el salvador.

the truth is that when the police go to capture a person in a community, it's because they have the profile. nevertheless, human rights organisations and many others, including the families of many of those who been arrested, say they have been arrested with absolutely no link to gain crime, that there are thousands of people in prison. it could be, when you handle an operation of this size, there will be some mistakes and some people could be arrested with no link with the gangs. and how do you feel about that? you are admitting on camera that there are thousands of people, potentially thousands of people innocent. and thousands of people have been released. we are aware, as you said, that some people, probably innocent people could be part, but as i said, the perfect is enemy of the good. we are doing something really good, appreciated by the population, over 90% of the population agree with the state of exception,

and they want to be extended. his policy has brought bukele unprecedented levels of support in el salvador. with a series of high—impact, headline—grabbing orders captured by his well—oiled media machine, mr bukele is now trying to wipe away any trace of the gangs from public view, even destroying gravestones with gang symbols on them. hundreds of former gang safe houses are also being reclaimed. with the help of low—interest loans, they are passed on to localfamilies, like audelia's.

if the president does stand for re—election, will you vote for him? 100 kilometres away, marcela is also taking me

to see a new house. hola. it's the one her sonjose was building for his wife, his daughter and the baby son he is yet to meet, born after he was sent to prison.

despite opponents saying it's unconstitutional, president bukele is expected to stand for re—election in 202a.

his security crackdown should make him unassailable at the polls. but are thousands of families like marcela's paying the price?

hello there. let's take a look at the weather for the week ahead. with the weather for the week ahead. with the low—pressure nearby it's been an unsettled picture again, blustery throughout the day on saturday with sunshine as recorded by a weather watcher but a good scattering of showers such as here in cambridgeshire. as we had through sunday it's a quiet day, still windy for the time of year but not as blustery. fewershowers for the time of year but not as blustery. fewer showers around. this is the satellite picture from early on on saturday. there is another deep area of low pressure approaching from the south—west on sunday with yet more heavy rain

moving into scotland and northern ireland. this is how we start sunday, largely dry. it is also mild, temperatures between 14 and 16 mild, temperatures between 1a and 16 degrees. a keen south—westerly wind but not as blustery as it was on saturday and a good scattering of showers but they will not be as heavy or thundery as they were on saturday. possibly thunder across the moray firth and further spells of rain into northern ireland and western scotland. top temperatures in east anglia 23 celsius. this is the position of the rain on sunday night into monday morning. that will move northwards and eastwards across much of wales, south—west england and into northern england. it could be scotland sees a largely dry day, scattering of showers towards the east, possibly mostly dry. lots of dry weather also for east anglia and the south—east of england although the south—east of england although

the risk of showers here. tuesday, that deep area of low pressure pushes towards scandinavia and high pressure starts to build in but various fronts waiting out in the atlantic, they will be stalled. tuesday then it is a mostly dry start but a murky start, lots of low cloud around, areas of sea mist and fog, possibly sharp showers across central and western areas of scotland but plenty of dry weather, two and is the cloud breaks up, sunshine emerging stop 22 or 23 celsius in south—east england. wednesday, high pressure is centred towards the north of the uk, that will push further eastwards, low—pressure out the atlantic again being stalled by the high pressure. there will be plenty of mist and fog around, low cloud, again the sunshine will break through and temperatures across central, southern england, could get as high as 25, 20 6 degrees

southern england, could get as high as 25,20 6 degrees on southern england, could get as high as 25, 20 6 degrees on wednesday and it is looking similar again on thursday. they could be showers around, low cloud to start the day, temperatures pegged back towards north sea facing coasts with sea mist around so just the high teens here. we start to see rain approach northern ireland by the end of the day, this is the position of the jet stream next week. some debate as to how far north it will be but it is drawing air from southern europe so it will feel warm across south—east england and possibly southern wales, staying unsettled and cooler further north towards the north of the jet stream but across cardiff temperatures in the high 20s then cooling down somewhat over the weekend. goodbye for now.

live from washington, this is bbc news. searching through the rubble. disaster management teams look for more victims of the deadly hawaii wildfires. iam

i am helena iam helena humphrey i am helena humphrey at an emergency shelter here on maui, where people are desperately searching for their loved ones. former president donald trump stokes support at the iowa state fair, meeting fans in the crucial primary voting state. and the french coastguard calls off its search for the night after six migrants drowned in the english channel. hello, welcome to the programme. more resources are being sent to the hawaiian island of maui, as the search for victims intensifies, in the wake of that devastating wildfire. the historic town of lahaina — the worst—hit part of the island — has been burnt almost entirely razed to the ground. the death toll stands at 80, making it the deadliest natural disaster in hawaii's history. but the number of missing is far higher. and the search for bodies has

onlyjust begun in earnest. fires do continue to burn there and helicopters