US President Joe Biden on Monday toured wildfire-damaged parts of Maui to show solidarity with affected Hawaiians after the "unimaginable tragedy".
The visit comes about two weeks after the fires tore through the historic town of Lahaina.
“Whatever you need, you’re going to get,” Mr Biden said while in Lahaina, with a vow to help residents rebuild.
“To the people of Hawaii, we’re with you for as long as it takes. I promise you.”
He and his wife Jill Biden saw first-hand the effects of one of the worst disasters to strike the US during his administration.
Federal estimates thus far have put the damage at more than $5.5 billion.
Mr Biden spoke near a burnt 150-year-old banyan tree, pointing to it as a symbol of the town’s resilience and spirit.
“Today, it’s burnt. But it’s still standing," he said. "The tree survived for a reason. I believe it’s a very powerful symbol of what we can and will do to get through this crisis.
"For as long as it takes we’re going to be with you. The whole country will be with you.”
He added he would make sure “your voices are heard” and that local traditions would be respected.
Mr Biden met first responders and local leaders, joined by Governor Josh Green, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell, the state’s US senators, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, and other politicians.
He announced more federal assistance funding and appointed Bob Fenton, a Fema official, as a response co-ordinator.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said 850 people remained unaccounted for after the fires swept across the island.
“There is positive news in this number, because when this process began the missing person list contains over 2,000 names,” he said.
Of the confirmed 114 deaths, 27 have been identified.
“As we continue the recovery process the number identified will rise and the number of missing may decrease," Mr Bissen said.
"But there will be daily fluctuations in the numbers as family members are added and removed from the list."
The County of Maui said 85 per cent of the disaster area had been searched.
Operations to find bodies in the remaining areas could take weeks, Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CBS.
Survivors have criticised the response from state and federal agencies, and authorities on the island because sirens were not sounded as the fires spread.
They have also said that federal assistance has been inadequate.
Fema administrator Deanne Criswell defended the efforts, saying more than 1,000 responders were at the scene in Hawaii.
Mr Biden issued a major disaster declaration on August 10, two days after the fires began.
The White House also said he had been in contact with officials while on holiday in Nevada.
Mr Biden previously said he would visit Maui if it did not interfere with recovery efforts.
News agencies contributed to this report
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Canada
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How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Copa del Rey
Barcelona v Real Madrid
Semi-final, first leg
Wednesday (midnight UAE)
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
