News Wrap: Catastrophic flash floods kill at least 95 in Spain

In our news wrap Wednesday, catastrophic flash floods killed at least 95 people in Spain, Israel is expanding its military campaign beyond Lebanon’s south as it targets what it says are Hezbollah strongholds, North Korea’s top diplomat is in Russia for talks and authorities in Oregon say the suspect behind a series of ballot box fires is likely an experienced metalworker.
Geoff Bennett:
And we start the day’s other headlines in Spain, where at least 95 people have been killed in catastrophic flash floods.
Rainstorms that started yesterday quickly overwhelmed rivers and sent torrents of muddy water gushing through streets. Authorities carried out helicopter rescues for those who were trapped in flooded homes. The Valencia region was among the hardest hit and is now facing unprecedented damage. Some survivors say they have lost everything.
Javier Berenguer, Spain Resident (through interpreter):
I own the bakery on the corner, and with eight feet of water, I had to escape through a window when the water started coming up to my shoulders. It took everything, about 300 to 400 cars. I have to throw everything out of the bakery, freezers, ovens, everything.
Geoff Bennett:
Authorities are searching for an unknown number of people who are still missing. They say the death toll is expected to rise in what’s already the nation’s worst natural disaster in recent memory. Spain’s government has declared three days of mourning starting tomorrow.
In Lebanon, Israel is expanding its military campaign beyond the country’s south as it targets what it says are Hezbollah strongholds. Today, Israel issued evacuation orders for the eastern city of Baalbek, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as surrounding villages.
A few hours after that order, Lebanese TV caught this fireball over the city’s skyline. Israel says it struck Hezbollah fuel storage throughout the region.
Meantime, in his first speech as the militant group’s new leader, Naim Qassem vowed to carry on with Hezbollah’s war plan.
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah Secretary-General (through interpreter):
We will continue to confront the aggression. If the Israelis decide to stop the aggression, we say that we accept, but with the conditions that we see as suitable and sufficient. We will not beg for a cease-fire as we will continue fighting, no matter how long it takes.
Geoff Bennett:
Those remarks came as international mediators ramped up efforts to halt the fighting in Lebanon and in Gaza. Palestinian officials say new Israeli bombardments killed at least 30 people in the Gaza Strip, one day after Israel waged one of the deadliest single strikes of the conflict so far.
North Korea’s top diplomat is in Russia for talks today. Her visit comes as the deployment of North Korean troops to help Russia’s war effort in Ukraine raises concerns in the West about a possible expansion of the conflict. Today, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon.
He said that North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving to the Kursk region near Ukraine’s border. He called the deployment a dangerous and destabilizing escalation.
Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense: This is pretty serious. Again, we’re going to continue to watch it and continue to work with our allies and partners to discourage it. I call upon them to withdraw their troops out of Russia. It does have the potential of lengthening the conflict or broadening the conflict if that continues.
Geoff Bennett:
It’s all unfolding as Russia and Ukraine exchanged dozens of drone strikes overnight that killed at least four people.
In Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, nine people were injured, including a child, after strikes hit an apartment building and a kindergarten.
There have been more voting-related developments here at home. The U.S. Supreme Court is allowing Virginia to proceed with purging the voter registrations of about 1,600 people whom Republican officials suspect are not American citizens. All three of the court’s liberal justices dissented. The ruling comes after Virginia appealed a federal judge’s ruling that deemed the voter removals illegal.
It’s rare for noncitizens to try to vote in a U.S. election, but Donald Trump and his Republican allies have frequently raised fears about immigrants voting illegally in November.
Authorities in Portland, Oregon, say the suspect behind a series of ballot box fires is likely an experienced metalworker. That’s based on a design of the incendiary devices involved in the blazes. They describe the suspect as a white man between 30 and 40 years old who they say may plan more attacks. Authorities in the city of Vancouver, Washington, say 475 ballots were salvaged from a fire on Monday.
An unknown number of others were destroyed. They’re working to find voter information so they can contact people about getting new ballots.
The FBI is among the agencies investigating. No arrests have been made.
The U.S. economy grew at a healthy clip of 2.8 percent in the latest quarter when compared to this same time last year. That’s thanks largely to ongoing consumer spending, which rose by 3.7 percent. That’s despite still high interest rates. Today’s reading was actually down a bit from the 3 percent growth the country saw in the previous quarter. But it still signals ongoing strength in the U.S. economy as voters head into the final days before the U.S. election.
On Wall Street today, stocks slipped as investors focused on the latest corporate earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 90 points on the day. The Nasdaq gave back just over 100 points, or about half-a-percent. The S&P 500 also ended in negative territory.
And a common practice has become the law of the land in New York City. Jaywalking is now legal. The city council passed a bill last month allowing pedestrians to cross the street at will. It became law over the weekend after time ran out from Mayor Eric Adams to veto the measure. Jaywalking used to carry a fine of up to $250. And, by one count, more than 90 percent of those targeted last year were Black and Latino.
There are concerns that the new measure will lead to more pedestrian deaths, but, for many New Yorkers, it’s simply an acknowledgement of life in the busy city.