Friday Briefing: Deadly flooding hits Spain

Plus, Shawn Mendes returns to the spotlight.

View in browser|nytimes.com November 1, 2024 By Natasha Frost Good morning. We're covering devastating floods in Spain and the role of women in the U.S. election. Plus: Russia advances in Ukraine. Severe rain and flooding caused devastation in Paiporta, Spain. Biel Alino/EPA, via Shutterstock More than 150 people killed in floods in Spain Some of the worst floods in decades in eastern Spain trapped thousands of people in vehicles and homes, killed at least 158 people and left others missing. See photos and videos. Some areas in eastern and southern Spain received anywhere from a month's to a year's worth of rain in a single day or even in eight hours. Rain fell yesterday morning as cities and towns surveyed the damage. Some districts of Valencia and Catalonia, on Spain's eastern coast, remained on high alert, with more rain expected today. The authorities have deployed security forces to guard against looting. The national police said they had arrested 39 people in one operation and had recovered "a multitude of stolen items." On the ground: In and around Valencia, the regional capital, water gushed into ground-floor apartments, trapping some people. It flooded shopping centers, dog shelters and even a nursing home. Some victims died in places where it did not rain, swept away by water that came roaring through. Climate: A new report showed that the 10 deadliest extreme weather events in the past two decades were made worse by burning fossil fuels. White women make up about 30 percent of the U.S. electorate. Bing Guan for The New York Times The role of women in the U.S. election Donald Trump has won white women, the country's largest voting bloc, for two elections running. White female Democrats are trying to stop a repeat by encouraging women of all races to vote for the female candidate — but it may be an uphill fight. As the country holds its first presidential election since the fall of Roe v. Wade, the two candidates are neck-and-neck among white female voters, according to New York Times/Siena College polling, with Vice President Kamala Harris inching ahead. Like other groups, white women list the economy and inflation as their top concern: Twenty-nine percent said so, according to Times/Siena polling conducted this month. Close behind was abortion rights, with 24 percent identifying it as their No. 1 issue, followed by 14 percent who chose immigration. Gender issues: Harris attacked Trump for claiming at a rally that he would protect American women "whether the women like it or not," which she described as offensive. A Trump spokeswoman fired back: "Why does Kamala Harris take issue with President Trump wanting to protect women, men, and children from migrant crime and foreign adversaries?" Abortion rights: Republicans have spent months trying to redefine themselves on abortion, increasingly saying that the issue should be left to the states. More on the U.S. election The election is four days away. More than 3.5 million Americans have moved since the last presidential election. A Times analysis shows how this has made the U.S. more polarized. Inflation is back to normal; prices rose by just 2.1 percent over the past year. We examine why voters still feel so blah. LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers star and a longtime Democrat, endorsed Harris. Partisan polls and anonymous betting markets have many Republicans predicting a Trump landslide. If he loses, they could fuel claims of a rigged election. Foreign leaders wonder: Will America still be leading in the world after next Tuesday? And if so, in what direction? A Ukrainian tank sharing the road last month in Kurakhove, Ukraine. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Russia is making swift advances in Ukraine Over the past month, Russia has made its largest territorial gains in Ukraine since the summer of 2022. This progress in the eastern Donbas region will help the Russian Army secure its flanks before launching an assault on the city of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub for Ukraine, analysts say. See maps showing Russia's advance. Half of Russia's territorial gains in Ukraine so far this year were made in the past three months. Russia's rapid advance is a striking change from the situation last year, when the front lines remained mostly static. But that stalemate laid the groundwork for Russia's current progress, gradually weakening Kyiv's forces. North Korea: The U.S. is turning to China, which dislikes Pyongyang's growing partnership with Moscow, to try to stop North Korean troops from fighting in Ukraine. MORE TOP NEWS Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Cease-fire talks: Top Biden administration negotiators met with officials in Egypt and Israel yesterday for a last diplomatic drive before the election. War in Gaza: Israeli forces struck one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, destroying medical supplies from the World Health Organization. Iran: Two top officials said there would be retaliation for Israel's recent attacks, according to Iranian media. Taiwan: One person was killed and more than 500 others were injured by heavy wind and rain from Typhoon Kong-rey. Mexico: Eight of the 11 Supreme Court justices said they would step down instead of participate in mandated elections next year. Business: After four decades as the market leader in China, Volkswagen lost its way there. Those troubles are now affecting the whole company. Missile launch: North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into waters west of Japan, the country's first such test in almost a year. Germany: The government said that it was closing three Iranian consulates in response to Iran's execution of a German-Iranian dual citizen. Antiquities: Prosecutors in New York have accused a dealer with ties to Princeton University of trafficking thousands of illicit artifacts valued at tens of millions of dollars. Britain: A discovery at a manor house of creepy etched symbols and writing has experts examining their possible meaning. SPORTS NEWS Baseball: Japan has loved the sport for decades, but Shohei Ohtani's World Series appearance with the Dodgers electrified the country's interest. Soccer: Manchester United has agreed to a deal to hire Ruben Amorim as new head coach. Tennis: The WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, face new challenges after early chaos. Formula 1: Inside Franco Colapinto's rapid rise. MORNING READ Jeenah Moon for The New York Times Nishad Singh, 29, is a talented software engineer who graduated with the highest honors and rose to be one of the top executives of the crypto exchange FTX. He is also a criminal. Parents of disgraced FTX executives have been forced to confront these alarming dualities. Before the crypto exchange failed, these parents lived versions of the upper-middle-class dream, raising children who coasted from selective schools into high-paying jobs. Now these parents are left struggling to understand how such a fate could have befallen families like theirs. Lives lived: Isabelle de Borchgrave, a Belgian artist and designer who made ravishing life-size paper reproductions of period garments, has died at 78. CONVERSATION STARTERS Gray areas: At 50, a writer decided to stop dyeing her hair. Going silver, she found out, comes with its own growing pains. Mental health: Libraries have become public stages for social problems. The people who work there are burning out. When the unsinkable sank: A Times investigation found that an unusually tall mast is what made a billionaire's superyacht capsize off the coast of Sicily. The new guard: The Royal Danish Ballet hopes to turn the page on recent troubles with a new artistic director. ARTS AND IDEAS Mark Sommerfeld for The New York Times Shawn Mendes returns to the spotlight Two years ago, Shawn Mendes, the multiplatinum Canadian pop star, abruptly canceled a multimillion-dollar, two-year international tour. He had hit what he called a mental health "breaking point." It was a startling admission, especially for a male artist with a hugely devoted young fan base: If their attention wavered, his career could be over. Mendes has slowly made his way back to songwriting. His struggles are laid bare on his fifth album, "Shawn," due Nov. 15. "Healing takes time," he said. "More than you want." Read our profile. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Cook: This pumpkin-packed crumb cake is everything that is wonderful about fall baking. Jog: Running a marathon can take the mind on its own strange journey. Travel: Spend 36 hours in Lyon, France. Watch: "Magpie" is a slow yet gripping adultery thriller. Shop: Trench coats are a functional fashion statement. Here's how to choose one. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. Have a great weekend. — Natasha Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Europe Edition from The New York Times. 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