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narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> i'm carl nesbitt n washington and this is "bbc world news america." fast-moving fires are threatening communities around the globe. we look at the regions under threat from canada to the canary islands. u.s. authorities investigate threats against georgia grand jury members after their personal information is shared online. west african leaders say they

are willing to use all means available including military action to restore the elected government in niger. welcome to "bbc world news america." at this hour, crews in various parts of the world are dealing with fast-moving wildfires, threatening entire communities. firefighters in spain are racing to contain a large fire on the popular island of tender reef -- tenerife before temperatures increase over the weekend. in hawaii, officials are looking for those lost in the rubble. we begin in canada's remote northwest territories where residents are being evacuated by road and by air as a wave of wildfires approaches their capital and largest city, yellowknife.

officials have ordered the 20,000 residents to leave as soon as possible. more than 200 wildfires have already burned a widespread area of the northwest territories with 1067 active wildfires burning across the country. that is as of wednesday. they have scorched already more than 8000 square miles of land so far. the bbc spoke to the mayor of yellowknife. >> there will be government reception centers set up. cots and food available for folks in need. residents may also choose to stay with friends and family who may be in the area. but it is the big question i got, when can we come back? at these -- this stage, i don't know. we will continue to monitor. when it's safer residents to return, we will welcome folks back with open arms and look forward to making that big announcement.

it's very disruptive. carl: for more on the situation, i spoke earlier with olie williams, a journalist from yellowknife who has already evacuated out of harm's way. thank you so much for joining us, especially under these circumstances. i understand you've been able to flee these fires. just bring us up-to-date in terms of what took place, what happened, and how you are coping. where are you now? >> i am now in a small village called fort simpson, about 630 kilometers west of yellowknife. probably sounds like a huge distance but it really isn't. this territory is twice the size of france and has 40,000 people in it. vast scales we are talking about. this is essentially three communities left of yellowknife. this is the mckenzie river behind me. yellowknife under a full evacuation order. we came out here a day before

appeared to be frank, the writing has been on the wall for days that wildfire would pose a grave threat. carl: what were you seeing that led you to think i better get out of here even a day before the official evacuation order takes place? >> i have a website covering the northwest territories. i will shout over the plane in the background here. we interviewed a gentleman named john who spent 17 years studying wildfires at for -- fort mcmurray. john valeant described how authorities in fort mcmurray in 2016 underestimated the strength of 21st century wildfire. he said he saw a lot of echoes in yellowknife. i have to be frank, it is one of those things as a journalist, i got five minutes into the interview and thought to myself, what am i still doing here? carl: walk us through the situation. yellowknife is not the only area being evacuated.

several other communities have had to flee. give us a picture of what's taking place in the northwest territories. >> there's a huge lake called great slave lake. yellowknife is at the top of it. on the other side, you have fort smith and hay river. they have about 7000 people. saturday and sunday last weekend, they were told to evacuate. thousands of people fleeing down the highway to alberta. we have no timeline for when people might be able to get back. there has not even been any communication, no internet, no landline and no cell phone. we just heard in the last couple hours that the community that's only 36 people, they have been told they have to flee as well. fort simpson will be an evacuation center for them. we have seven or eight different

communities under evacuation orders. more than the territory -- more than half the territory is out of their home. carl: what is fueling the blazes? > that's a good question, climate change. it is the boreal forest in canada. . it is very combustible. firefighters are not an artificial phenomenon. . they could because by humans but the vast majority are caused by things like lightning. it catches fire, that's what it does. but with the climate changing, the landscape back here is drier than ever has been in the past. the relative humidity goes down. you create conditions where even if there's a little rain, that does not buy you much time. cooler temperatures don't help much. it is the sheer amount of dryness. it has been an unusually hot summer as well. that's why the fires are as devastating as they are.

carl:carl: we heard there's more than 1000 fires currently burning in canada. what is the sense you get in terms of authorities and firefighters? are they able to come to -- control and protect people in communities? >> the answer to that is known, otherwise we wouldn't have 20,000 people trying to drive down one highway. clearly, fire flick this cannot always be controlled. what can be controlled is the human response to that and when you take the decision to leave and how. over the last few years, there are more and more voices suggesting the traditional ways of combating fires, or more accurately, the traditional way of communities responding to fires, might need to change and we need to adjust our understanding of how we move people around and how we get them out and defend communities to the new reality that fires are behaving more extremely than ever before. covering more distance, burning more intensely, and threatening

communities that was not previously expected. carl: is there anything specifically than that people want the government to do or change in order to prevent or better manage wildfires in the future? >> i think there's a whole bunch of things that is probably a list too large to get into. the average human being does not have a whole lot of understanding of this. i don't think you can point at the 20,000 people in yellowknife and say we wanted wildfire management techniques to change. i think it's more that there could have been a recognition earlier in proceedings that this fire and other fires nearby could pose more of a threat. that conversation has happened before. it is too soon to get into that kind of analysis right now while we are still in the event. carl: ali williams, the cofounder and news ever du jour -- news editor of cabin radio in the northwest territories. thank you for joining us.

turning now to the hawaiian island of maui in the search for victims continues. at least 111 people confirmed dead after last week's fires devastated part of the islands. crews are still scouring the burn areas. the hawaiian governor josh green says the number of missing people is still believed to be more than 1000. multiple fires still active including in lahaina which has most of the damage. officials say that fire is now 89% contained. residents and state officials are already concerned about outside investors potentially buying up land in lahaina. >>. doesn't mean we don't want people to come and invest in hawaii and travel to hawaii away from the impact zone. what it means is people are now traumatized. please don't approach them with an offer to buy land. don't approach the families to tell them they will be better off if they make a deal.

we are not going to allow it. carl: while the exact cause of the wildfires is being investigated, mounting evidence shows downed power lines could have played a role. the bbc spoke with several people who say they saw strong winds bring down equipment. reporter: maui's fight continues. this pilot hovering above a swimming pool. now being used two flames further down the hill. these homes, some distance from the destroyed coastal town of lahaina, are in the center of the island, where last week before the fires, the cameras at this bird sanctuary captured a bright flash. staff believe it is a tree falling on a power line. shortly afterwards, flames could be seen in the forest. ross hart saw something similar

before his home burned down. >> we could hear trees falling in the distance. one big one fell here on the bridge and knocked over the powerlines. reporter: and then you could see it burning? >> i saw it begin to burn and they would not let me stay to watch it because the embers were starting to come over my truck. reporter: questions are now being asked of whether lives might have been saved. should maui's power grid has been turned off? could moore have been done to sound the alarm? for many of those who escaped from lahaina, alongside the trauma, there's a deep sense of anger. >> i hate it. i want these people to explain to me why we didn't get an alarm when what they have the most sophisticated system in the world. what in the world are they waiting for?

reporter: the authorities have launched an investigation, although the priority for now is responding to the disaster. the wildfire risk, despite the devastation in lahaina, is far from over. helicopters making multiple trips, carrying water to fight the wildfires still smoldering all across the area. but some of those who lost homes here point to something they say should already have and focusing the minds of the authorities. >> like if it isn't obvious not just from what happened here but all over the world, what could be more obvious that we are having disaster after disaster all as a result of climate change? reporter: with more bodies yet to be recovered, this is already america's most lethal wildfire in more than a century. few doubt that lessons need to be learned.

john sudworth, bbc news, maui. carl: spanish authorities have evacuated more than 4000 people from the holiday island of 10 reef -- tenerife because of an out-of-control wildfire, burning since tuesday. it is spreading through a forest in the north art of the island. nearly two hundred 50 firefighters are working to extinguish the blaze. recent dry conditions and high temperatures put the canary islands at high risk. officials call this the most complex fire in about 40 years. back here in the u.s., law enforcement officials in georgia are investigating threats against the grand jury that voted to indict former u.s. president donald trump on charges related to election interference. the fulton county sheriff's office released a statement saying they are aware the names of addresses -- names and addresses of grand jury members were shared online.

joining us now is wera davis from bbc. how concerned are officials about the safety of the members of the grand jury? >> i think very concerned. . earlier this week, there were reports that supporters of donald trump were circulating members of the grand jury members. they were voting to bring charges of racketeering and election meddling against the former president and 18 co-defendants. now we've had a statement from the sheriff's office saying we are aware of the personal information of members of the grand jury being saved on -- shared on various platforms. it goes on to say we take this matter seriously, and we are prepared to respond quickly to any threat. but of course, witness intimidation and jury intimidation are serious offenses in the u.s. legal system. earlier this week, donald trump himself accused the georgia

prosecutor of leading a change against him of pursuing a politically motivated witchhunt, seen by some as inflammatory language. in another development, a texas woman has been charged to making threats to kill a judge overseeing another conspiracy case against mr. trump. that came one day after the former president posted a statement on social media saying, if you go after me, i'm coming after you. these are very serious elements. carl: thank you so much for yur reporting. west african military chiefs say they are prepared to use force to restore democracy in niger following last month's military coup that overthrew the government. the economic community of west african states is meeting in ghana to coordinate possible military intervention. the community says there are still options to pull back but all options are on the table if

they do not reinstate the president. but the nearby military in mali and burkina faso said they would side with the coup leaders. the u.s. ambassador to niger is set to arrive there for diplomatic efforts. they say the ambassadors rival does not -- arrival does not mean they accept the military junta. >> defense chiefs in the region have a meeting here at the ghana army headquarters to firm up their strategy for a possible military invasion of the country. the member countries are expected to contribute. they will also welcome outside help. this is after the military coup

last month and the block is determined to restore president mohamed bazoum. more recently in govea. niger is one of the poorest country in the world and also battling a deadly islamist insurgency. it's a staging point for western territories and there are concerns that any further instability in the fragile situation can make things worse in the region. bbc news. carl: for the first time since 2017, the united nations security council held its first open meeting on human rights abuses in north korea. the 15 member council gathered in a time where the u.s. holds the presidency of the un security council. north korea's vice foreign minister described the open meeting as despicable. . the u.s. ambassador linda thomas-greenfield, the current chair of the council, spoke out

against the treatment of north korea's own citizens. >> the dprk government commits act of cruelty and repression in its own territory. while also perpetrating similar acts in other countries targeting both citizens of the dprk and others. use include executions, assassinations, objections, including from japan and the republic of korea. intimidation's, and forced repatriation. carl: the pakistan province of punjab, at least 100 have been arrested after crowds burned churches and vandalized homes. the violence was sparked by claims that christian men had torn pages from the koran. public gatherings have been restricted for seven days in the area.the the media that both christians accused have been arrested. so far police have documented 17

. the violence occurred in eastern pakistan. the bbc urdu correspondent is at the site of one of the purchase -- torched churches. >> this is said to be one of the historic buildings, the oldest in the city. some people say it is more than 100 years old. this was a historic church here. this is what has remained a bit after the violent protests yesterday, when a mob attacked this place. they scaled the walls of the building. they removed the cross which was up there on the building. then you can see the conditions right now, none of the rooms in this building are safe.

the building is almost gutted and the infrastructure is very weak right now. there are some rooms where the fire is still burning. this is just one of the churches torched by the angry mob. it is very hot. the walls are very hot. the entire structure of the building. you can see there is still fire inside. those who had returned to their homes were surprised and shocked, they were in cheers -- in tears and they said nothing remained of their belongings and their homes after the violent protests of yesterday. they asked the government to provide them security and make them feel secure so they can come back to their homes. carl: more than 60 people are feared dead after a boat carrying migrants was found off cape verde.

i will reporter breaks down what happened in the disaster. reporter: let's look at the root itself. we know according to the foreign ministry in senegal, about 100 people left on board this boat. last week on thursday from a fishing village. they were then spotted for the first time monday about 320 kilometers off the island that's part of cape verde a. even though that's where they ended up, experts say it's almost certain they were on the migration route toward the canary islands. at' because the spanish territory is seen as a route toward the eu. yet, the un's international organization for migration warns this is one of the most dangerous journeys any migrant can make. numbers are hard to come by but they recorded between 2020 and 2023, 67 thousand people arrived in the canary islands. ring the same period, the iom recorded 2500 people losing

their lives. deaths are even harder to record because it is such a secretive journey that the true figure could be much higher. that makes the next figure even more concerning. according to the iom, in 2022 alone, 559 people died. that includes 22 children. why would anyone take a risk like that? the iom points to things like poverty. migrants are hoping to send money remittances back to their family and loved ones. the once they left behind. they are also pointing to things like security. much of the west africa is dealing with coups and islamist insurgencies. they are searching for a better life. carl: our west african correspondent spoke to the brother of a young victim who spoke about how poor economic opportunity drove his brother to make a treacherous journey. reporter: i spoke to a young

man, he was just 23 years old. his brother said he decided to leave the country because he had a young family, two children and a wife and struggling to provide for them. he said for fishermen in senegal, there are very few opportunities to make money. he told me as a matter of fact, a few weeks before his brother decided to attempt the crossing, they already tried once before to go there, but they both boarded the boat headed toward spain. just a few days later, this young man decided to attempt to cross again and this time, he lost his life. despite that, his brother was adamant that if he had the opportunity to travel to europe, he would do it again despite having lost his brother in the crossing. carl: a look now at some other stories making headlines. the u.s. issued new sanctions thursday against russian officials for their alleged

involvement in the 2020 poisoning of alexei navalny. navalny is a fierce opponent of russian president vladimir putin and is currently in prison. the state department issued visa bans for the men and their families, prohibiting them from entering the u.s. u.s. women's national soccer team head coach vlatko andonovski announced he's resigning on thursday. the news comes after the team's disappointing performance in the 2023 women's world cup. he was named head coach and 2019 after spending seven years as a head coach in the u.s. national women's soccer league. twyla kilgore was named interim head coach. mohammad bin salman has been invited to visit the u.k. in the fall, likely to elicit sharp criticism. it will be the first trip either crown prince to the u.k. since the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi in 2018.

before we go, these are the captivating new images emerging from this year's parasite meteor shower -- perseid meteor shower that lit up the globe. the shooting stars seemed to come straight from the constellation of perseus. you can catch this magical display year around the late summer months of july and august. i'm carl nasman. that's all we have time for, for now. thank you so narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. william: good evening. i'm william brangham. geoff bennett and amna nawaz are away. on the “newshour” tonight, president biden works to sell cl