the firestorm came through the banyan tree and took everything with it. ijust ran out to the beach, and i ran south, and just helped everybody i could along the way. virgin galactic successfully blasts off towards space — with a former olympic athlete and a mother and daughter on board. these are the live pictures of that journey. we will bring you the latest is that craft repairs to separate from the rocket. the chief constable of northern ireland's police service says he's "deeply sorry" over two major data breaches which revealed personal details of more than 10,000 officers. we'll bring you the latest live. and major transfer news — bayern munich agree a deal "in principle" with tottenham for striker harry kane. we'll have reaction.

hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. welcome to verified live — three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. we start in hawaii, and terrifying and apocalyptic scenes as wildfires sweep across the islands. at least 36 people are known to have died — others are still unaccounted for. large parts of the tourist town of lahaina on the island of maui have been burned to the ground. this is what it looked like overnight, when flames spread rapidly, forcing some people to jump into the sea to escape. multiple areas have been burnt to the ground, and the western side of the island is almost cut off. officials say the hospital system is overwhelmed, with many people suffering burns and smoke inhalation. our correspondent, richard galpin, has this report. is anybody still out here? it's time to go! these are the desperate calls for people still in the historic city of lahaina on the island

of maui, as the flames on the marina gets closer and closer. many neighbourhoods were burned to the ground as the western side of the island was nearly cut off with only one highway open, and thousands trying to evacuate as officials told of widespread devastation in the town, its harbour and surrounding areas. some people fled into the ocean to escape the smoke and flames. i was the last one off the dock, and the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it. and ijust ran out to the beach and i ran south, and ijust helped everybody i could along the way. you've got to know when you can. the cause of all this — strong winds from a hurricane in the area, which whipped up fires already burning after a spell of particularly hot and dry weather, which some experts say is linked to climate change.

the satellite image on the left of the town of lahaina was taken last month. the one on the right, yesterday. the extent of the damage is clear. as well as the deaths, dozens of people have been injured since the fires began burning on tuesday, and hospitals on the island are treating patients for burns and smoke inhalation. the primary focus is to save lives and to prevent human suffering, and mitigate great property loss. so that's exactly what the counties are doing and have been doing. there's still wind and still fire going on, lives being saved, so please follow your local officials, listen to their message and make sure you're safe, make sure you have a plan. the white house has issued a message of condolence from presidentjoe biden, praising the work of firefighters

and ordered all available federal assets on the island to help with the response. for many people on maui, though, any response may well be too little, too late. richard galpin, bbc news. in the last half an hour, virgin galactic�*s first flight has taken off in mexico. the flight is expected to touch down in about an hour from expected to touch down in about an hourfrom now. john expected to touch down in about an hour from now. john goodwin expected to touch down in about an hourfrom now. john goodwin is a former limbic athlete with parkinson's, he is on board. the other two passengers are the first mother and daughter, is one of the first people from the caribbean, to

head into space. we can bring you pictures from inside that craft. you can see them next to the windows, looking out. that is the view from inside the craft, as we expect the separation from the craft that has actually taken them, and the rocket park that takes them to the edge of space. i will put the sound up in case we can hear anything on board. there was a philanthropic fundraising sweepstakes. their mission was to send... irate fundraising sweepstakes. their mission was to send. . .- fundraising sweepstakes. their mission was to send... we will keep those pictures _ mission was to send... we will keep those pictures up — mission was to send... we will keep those pictures up on _ mission was to send... we will keep those pictures up on the _ mission was to send... we will keep those pictures up on the screen, - mission was to send... we will keepj those pictures up on the screen, but as we do, let's talk to a former nasa research scientist and a professor in space physics at the university of leicester. when you see pictures like this, what do you think? how exciting is this venture? it is really exciting on lots of levels. obviously for the people

that are on board, it is the chance of a lifetime for them. but for the broader community beginning to see these flights take up more regularly, it is the beginning of a new era, i think, in the exploration of near earth space. it is quite significant. it of near earth space. it is quite significant-— significant. it is not like those other space — significant. it is not like those other space journeys - significant. it is not like those other space journeys we - significant. it is not like those other space journeys we have | significant. it is not like those - other space journeys we have seen going into space, the international space station and further afield, this is suborbital, isn't it? just explain to viewers who were watching the difference. this explain to viewers who were watching the difference-— the difference. this is suborbital, es. if the difference. this is suborbital, yes- if you _ the difference. this is suborbital, yes- if you are — the difference. this is suborbital, yes. if you are heading _ the difference. this is suborbital, yes. if you are heading to - the difference. this is suborbital, yes. if you are heading to the - yes. if you are heading to the international space station, that is 400 kilometres above the earth's surface. you will head to the orbit and alongside it. this is different to that. we are launching the carrier plane with the rockets underneath. that rocket will then disconnect from the plane, it will fly vertically and will do a big

loop, basically, a bit like on a roller—coaster. you will go up and come back down again. that is a much shorter duration flight. as you said, they will be back in an hour or so, so it is not a long duration flight. you will get a few minutes of feeling as if you are weightless, and you can look out into the blackness of space before returning. it is a much smaller endeavour than orbiting the planet, just to do one of these lives and come back again. in terms of the g forces, that climb that takes you to the edge of space, what is that like?— what is that like? yeah, you will feel several _ what is that like? yeah, you will feel several g _ what is that like? yeah, you will feel several g on _ what is that like? yeah, you will feel several g on your— what is that like? yeah, you will feel several g on your body. - what is that like? yeah, you will feel several g on your body. i i what is that like? yeah, you will i feel several g on your body. i have been on a semi—later for these launches and experience this. there are g forces that you have to understand how to manage. so many of these people that have bought tickets will go on simulators to understand what will happen, just so they know what to expect. the g

forces are not unbearable. they are high compared to what we are used to on the earth, several g, it's an unusual feeling. on the earth, several g, it's an unusualfeeling. most people on the earth, several g, it's an unusual feeling. most people are able to compensate when they understand what is required. the plane, as it comes back again, doesn't experience high g forces because it glides back, so it is a fairly gentle return to earth. the cost of this _ fairly gentle return to earth. the cost of this is _ fairly gentle return to earth. the cost of this is eye—watering for those individuals. in the region of roughly about $450,000. in terms of space tourism, what is the science that we are getting from all of this? or is there no real science, it isjust a jaunt this? or is there no real science, it is just a jaunt for those people with those sorts of sums of money? it appears that way, doesn't it? it appears like very wealthy people having a holiday, but there is more to it than that. initially, yes, if you wanted to buy a ticket, it would cost you $450,000 plus. a lot of these people bought tickets along

time ago where they were significantly cheaper, but still a lot of money. but, with time, we do expect the price to fall. it is an amazing experience for an individual to have and virgin galactic are careful about where they prepare people for these trips, to maximise the impact of the voyage. they are really training people in how to share that experience with as many people as possible to make a difference back on earth. there is also another important component of this, which is that, at maximum capacity, they may have six seats occupies. the remaining seats can have payload racks, so we can do experimentation. it may not seem that this is not so important, but it is filling a gap for us. traditionally, we have been able to test things in a micro gravity environment, either in the international space station, or using drop towers, where we drop

things and have a huge moments of weightlessness for our objects, reducing these flights that fly in parabolas repeatedly. this fills a gap between those parabolic flights and the international space station, weigl have several minutes of microgravity in order to do your experiments. so there have been experiments. so there have been experiments run on these. i think we will see more of this moving forwards. there is a scientific purpose to all of this was the i know you'll stay with us for the next few minutes was up hopefully we will see the pictures of the separation and we will return to you. separation and we will return to ou. ~ . ., ., ._ separation and we will return to ou.~ ., ., separation and we will return to ou. ~ . ., ., separation and we will return to ou. ., ., ., you. we will come away for now as we continue to — you. we will come away for now as we continue to watch _ you. we will come away for now as we continue to watch those _ you. we will come away for now as we continue to watch those pictures - continue to watch those pictures from inside the craft. we will be back monitoring that separation, which we think will happen in the next couple of minutes, and if you want to keep up with that on that story, it is live on the web page on

the bbc website. you can keep up—to—date by heading there. northern ireland's chief constable, simon byrne, has said that dissident republicans claim to be in possession of details of thousands of officers and staff which were released online by mistake. he said that claim had not been verified. at a news conference in the past hour — alongside assistant chief constable chris todd — mr byrne said he was "deeply sorry" about the data breach — and that a key priority was now remaining alert to officers' safety and welfare. i and the senior team apologise unreservedly for what has happened. you can only imagine the sort of inconceivable horror as people started to realise that maybe a loved one is being put injeopardy by what what they are seeing.

i've personally spoken to officers and staff across the organisation, as you possibly have done yourselves, and realised that there are a range of emotions from people being somewhat pragmatic about... "well, they already know who i am because i am a neighbourhood officer", through to people being anxious, frustrated and really angry. and we need to work carefully with the staff associations and trade unions to give that message of reassurance. and also, in due course, as things start to settle, to remind people that there is a valuable and valid career here and that we are taking steps to protect your personal information. our correspondent in belfast, charlotte gallagher, has the latest. as the public face of their psa night, the chief constable has been under an increasing amount of pressure and scrutiny over this data breach. after a meeting of the policing board, he said today that he was deeply sorry about what had

happened, describing the data breach as of an industrial scale. he was asked about claims that the list of 10,000 names of police officers and staff may have fallen into the hands of dissident republicans. and he said that the ps and i had found no evidence to verify those claims. that would have been particular worrying if it was correct, because dissident republicans are behind the attempted murder of a senior detective in northern ireland in february. simon berghan was also askedif february. simon berghan was also asked if any officers had been rehoused yet after their name appeared on this list, and he said no. but, however, we do know that hundreds have contacted their managers to say they now feel concerned about their safety. there was a separate data breach as well in july which involved was a separate data breach as well injuly which involved a police laptop, radio and a spreadsheet with the names of 200 officers being stolen from a car. simon berghan

said that the radio and laptop had been remotely wipe, so they would be no use to anyone, but the list of those 200 names is now in the public domain, orat least those 200 names is now in the public domain, or at least someone has a copy of it. he has been under a lot of pressure but he said he wasn't going to walk away from his job and leadership is about responsibility, essentially guiding the police force of northern ireland through this very difficult time. when you speak to officers in northern ireland, you understand why they are so concerned. there was the attempted murder of a detective in february and during the troubles, 300 officers were murdered. some people choose to tell a few people, if any, about the job they do. one woman hadn't even told her children what she does for a job in case they told someone else. police officers know the dangers and threats they face being a police officer in northern ireland, but what they wouldn't have expected is for their own employer

to reveal their identities online. live now to antrim and politicianjohn blair, northern ireland policing board member who represents the allicance party. the panel met this morning with police chiefs to quiz them on the data breach. welcome to the programme. in terms of the seriousness of this, just give us your assessment. the olicin: give us your assessment. the policing board _ give us your assessment. tue: policing board meeting give us your assessment. tte: policing board meeting today, give us your assessment. tt2 policing board meeting today, after the dramatic events of the last 48—hour is, had to be a fairly robust meeting with the senior management team of the ps and i come and we had to address very directly, i might say, the serious and self—inflicted organisational management failure issues that have played out over the past few days will stop the chief constable has apologised was up is that enough? we totally acknowledge the apology from the chief constable and other

members of these senior management team and a should say in fairness that, today, the senior management team came to the policing board with a fairly detailed brief and update on how they are helping those officers affected by offering the support and guidance and reassurance that they have every right to expect at this time. but these are serious matters and people have been understandably traumatised by the seriousness of this issue and the perceived threat, if not the actual threat, at the police have to take very seriously this over the next few months. we have the duty of holding the chief constable to account, and we must also keep a very watchful eye on this to ensure that proper processes are put in place for those staff members and police officers, who are the top priority now and into the future. every detail of this is disturbing,

isn't it? you hear that the dissident republicans came to be in possession of details of thousands of officers and staff. that is obviously hugely alarming to so many of them. obviously hugely alarming to so many ofthem. ~ , , obviously hugely alarming to so many ofthem. , , , , obviously hugely alarming to so many ofthem. , , , of them. absolutely. it is very bad news to hear _ of them. absolutely. it is very bad news to hear today, _ of them. absolutely. it is very bad news to hear today, but _ of them. absolutely. it is very bad news to hear today, but i - of them. absolutely. it is very bad news to hear today, but i think, i of them. absolutely. it is very bad | news to hear today, but i think, on the whole, it is not totally unexpected. it hasn't been verified. however, it is something that the police must take seriously indeed and it adds to the duty of looking after those officers already affected by data breaches in recent days, that now also have to deal with this additional information. irate with this additional information. we have to leave it there. thank you very much for those thoughts. we want to take you back to the edge of space, because those pictures that are coming in, and that image that you see is the rocket, because the separation just taking place you see is the rocket, because the separationjust taking place in you see is the rocket, because the separation just taking place in the last 30 seconds, the unity rocket

ship separating from the carrier plane. this is the picture inside, and those g forces that our guest was describing a little earlier really kicking in. you can see the rocket boosters. this is about 90 seconds, this climate, and they are going close to 4000 kilometres per hour, and they have separated from the carrier plane that had taken them over... a thumbs up from some of them on board. it took them up to about 15 or 16 kilometres above the earth, then they climb at such a rapid amount. there you see, as they release themselves from their seats the moments of weightlessness there in that unity rocket ship. they will have had lots of training and anticipation and build—up. this one of the absolute your crucial moments

for them as they have a few minutes of weightlessness at around 85 kilometres above the earth. zero gravity. look at that picture. that is what they are up there to see, the curvature of the earth as they look back from 85 kilometres up. they are all of them glued to the window, looking back down at earth, as this space tourism flight takes place. some wonderful stories of those on board, john goodwin, he is 80 and bought his tickets many years ago, around $250,000 he paid back in 2005. we know he has parkinson's, the second person with parkinson's to go to the edge of space. he had feared his diagnosis would mean he could not take part, but he was

really keen to underline that his condition doesn't define him. that is why he was so determined to actually go ahead with this. you can also see the hair of anastasia myers, the mother and daughter, a wonderful story as the mother was describing to the media how she was heading back to the uk, wasjust sorting out her daughter's visa when she entered a competition to join the space flight and, much later, she heard that she had won, together with her daughter. look at those pictures. a lot of questions about space tourism, the value, the cost, the environmental damage, but that is what they are paying to actually see as it arcs around. absolutely glorious pictures there of the earth, that they look back to. i

don't if you are seeing these pictures, susie, but it is absolutely magnificent as they look out of that rocket ship, back towards earth and see the curvature, the blue. whenever you listen to astronauts, their description of that actual site, it is always incredibly moving for them. yeah, the call incredibly moving for them. yeah, they call this _ incredibly moving for them. yeah, they call this the _ incredibly moving for them. yeah, they call this the overview - incredibly moving for them. yeah, they call this the overview effect, | they call this the overview effect, which is the idea that when you are up which is the idea that when you are up at significant altitude and you look back at the earth, there are no boundaries, there are no countries. you start to see the fragility of the planet underneath you because the planet underneath you because the atmosphere is so thin, just this thin layer, especially from the international space station, you look back and realise how fragile the earth is. then you look the other way. some will perhaps have a glance away from earth and see the vast blackness of space above them as well. again just reminding vast blackness of space above them as well. againjust reminding us vast blackness of space above them as well. again just reminding us of how important our fragile planet is

and really how unique it is. irate how important our fragile planet is and really how unique it is. we were seeinr the and really how unique it is. we were seeing the pictures _ and really how unique it is. we were seeing the pictures a _ and really how unique it is. we were seeing the pictures a few _ and really how unique it is. we were seeing the pictures a few seconds i seeing the pictures a few seconds ago of the weightlessness. they don't get that for long but you could see all of them on board really enjoyed that experience. i suppose in the training, they will have had it simulated, but this is the first time for them to experience it.— the first time for them to experience it. the first time for them to exerience it. ., ._ ., experience it. some of them may have been on these — experience it. some of them may have been on these parabolic _ experience it. some of them may have been on these parabolic flights - been on these parabolic flights where you get about 30 seconds of feeling weightless before the plane pulls up because it is falling towards the ground. you have a sequence of these, also called the vomit comet, by the way, because it is quite... they did have this experience but they do not have the view they have right now. a lot of us are used to seeing pictures and images of the earth from space, as well as taking in the microgravity, it is a special thing.— it is a special thing. what is the real value _ it is a special thing. what is the real value of _ it is a special thing. what is the real value of this? _ it is a special thing. what is the real value of this? i _ it is a special thing. what is the real value of this? i can - it is a special thing. what is the real value of this? i can see - it is a special thing. what is the real value of this? i can see the value for those individuals on board. they have paid a huge amount

to be on board. in terms of scientific value?— scientific value? there are scientific— scientific value? there are scientific experiments. - scientific value? there are i scientific experiments. there scientific value? there are - scientific experiments. there are some payloads on this flight. the last like they did have members of the italian air force on board, and they ran 19 experience in the period of microgravity, they did not get to have as much fun because they were doing experiments during this period of microgravity. there are experiments that will really benefit from having these few minutes of microgravity experienced, rather than a few seconds on a parabolic flight. it is much cheaper than sending something up on the international space station. there are two sides to this coin. of course, there are people who get to have this experience and hopefully make a difference and come back to earth and really sort of campaign for the protection of the environment and so on. but there is also a scientific side as well and hopefully that side will be more explored as these flights continue.

you talk about hoping that they will get involved in environmental work, and yet there is a balance here, isn't there? there must be significant environmental damage in terms of what it takes to get a rocket like this up to the edge of space. rocket like this up to the edge of sace. ., , , , �* ., space. for sure. this isn't without emissions — space. for sure. this isn't without emissions in _ space. for sure. this isn't without emissions in its _ space. for sure. this isn't without emissions in its own _ space. for sure. this isn't without emissions in its own right, - space. for sure. this isn't without emissions in its own right, you . space. for sure. this isn't without| emissions in its own right, you are correct or stop i don't think the emissions are as high as you might imagine, but perhaps virgin galactic might be able to give us some figures. but there is a balance, as there are in many things when we get on a plane from the uk to the us, we need to think about the balance between the value of our trip and the amount of emissions that we are a part of. so this is no exception. that is why the scientific exponents are important because we don't have alternatives for this kind of scientific experimentation, there is no other option that is carbon neutral, so at some point we have to accept that in order to do the

experiments we want to do, we will have to leave a carbon footprint behind. ., , have to leave a carbon footprint behind. . , ,_ have to leave a carbon footprint behind. . , _ ., have to leave a carbon footprint behind. . , ., ., behind. ultimately, say two or three ears on, behind. ultimately, say two or three years on. how _ behind. ultimately, say two or three years on, how often _ behind. ultimately, say two or three years on, how often will _ behind. ultimately, say two or three years on, how often will be - behind. ultimately, say two or three years on, how often will be see - years on, how often will be see flights like this? the years on, how often will be see flights like this?— flights like this? the first flight was last month, _ flights like this? the first flight was last month, the _ flights like this? the first flight was last month, the second - flights like this? the first flight was last month, the second is| flights like this? the first flight - was last month, the second is now. i expect we will see the frequency dramatically increasing. virgin galactic are building for spaceships that will have more flights more frequently. they will maybe go to ten b or perhaps more than that. there are 800 tickets they have sold, and some of those people have helper tickets for a long time, so they are keen to give people that opportunity to fly. t’ee they are keen to give people that opportunity to fly-— opportunity to fly. i've got to cut across you- _ opportunity to fly. i've got to cut across you. we _ opportunity to fly. i've got to cut across you. we will _ opportunity to fly. i've got to cut across you. we will leave - opportunity to fly. i've got to cut across you. we will leave it - opportunity to fly. i've got to cut| across you. we will leave it there with these fabulous pictures. hello. for many parts of the uk, it feels as if summer has made a

return. the warmest weather we have seen for some time. but it may not last that long because of the satellite picture, a weather front that will bring something of a change. ahead of that, a feat of southerly winds and some warmer spreading across the uk. feeling quite humid in places. while we will continue to see some spells of sunshine, there are large areas of cloud around and one or two showers breaking out, some across wales and parts of england, more cloud generally rolling into northern ireland with a strengthening breeze, but in the best of the sunshine, highs of 27 or 28 degrees. i mentioned that weather front to the west which will make its move through this evening and overnight, bringing outbreaks of potentially heavy and thundery rain across northern ireland, across scotland, into northern england. a fair amount of cloud on what will be a pretty warm and muggy night, 16 or 17 degrees the low for some of us. here

is a weather front moving eastwards malingering in the north of scotland was not a soggy day to come across parts of the northern ireland. then a mixture of sunny spells and showers, some of those on the heavy side. more generally cloudy weather across the south east corner. still warm in parts of eastern england, but turning fresh from the west. into the weekend, this area of low pressure quite close by. this will bring some showers or some longer spells of rain, particularly across the north and west of the uk. on saturday, we will see outbreaks of heavy rain at times across scotland, northern ireland, northern england and parts of wales. further south and parts of wales. further south and east, more in the way of sunshine and few ways showers. relative warmth, 24 degrees in norwich. coolerand relative warmth, 24 degrees in norwich. cooler and more breezy further north and west. into sunday, a day of sunny spells and showers. some of the showers possibly heavy or sundry, some of the showers possibly heavy orsundry, but some of the showers possibly heavy or sundry, but not as many to the south and east. highs of 18 to 22

degrees will stop into next week, we will continue to see some showers at times, but there are some signs that things might start to warm up again towards the end of the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines...

the firestorm came through the banyan trees and ijust helped everybody i could along the way. virgin galactic is currently orbiting the earth with a former olympic athlete and mother and daughter on board. these are the latest pictures from the take—off of that flight. it is coming towards the latter stages, we will bring you more on that on the programme. bayern munich agreed a deal in principle with tottenham for their specific harry kane.