welcome to newsday. i'm katie silver broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. begin with the latest in spain where at least 158 people are confirmed to have died after the worst flash flooding to hit the worst flash flooding to hit the country in decades. king felipe held one minute's silence of the victims today. nearly all of whom are from the region of valencia. our correspondent andrew harding has sent this report from valencia. the flood came and rearranged valencia. boats on the streets. streets turned into scrapheap. homes inside out. bridges brushed aside.

all of this by a flood as fast as a mudslide, packing the punch of a tsunami. for many here, the warnings came much too late. the water came very, very fast and we got so much water coming down, coming out, and we were safely home, watching from the balconies and seeing the cars moving, moving. i said, "we can't do anything". but it wasn't raining. it was all the water coming from inland. that's it. almost inevitably, the true death toll has only now begun to reveal itself. alongside happier stories of the vulnerable hauled to safety. from this height, you can see the scale of what hit eastern spain and what nearby regions are still bracing themselves for.

the small town of pieporta stood in the floods path. miguel�*s pharmacy swamped. no family here left untouched. everybody has someone who lost someone. i feel worse than yesterday. i couldn't sleep. at the end, it's like a nightmare. a big nightmare. a nightmare for which this prosperous region seemed woefully unprepared. as the rescue work ramps up here, so do the questions. could the authorities have warned people earlier and more urgently to move to safer ground? and at a deeper level, how do we prepare better for what the scientists all agree is the more menacing climate heading our way?

meanwhile, supplies of food and water in some areas here are scarce. the internet is limited. we're not going to be able to even start repairing. i can't even my work. no—one in this area can contact each other because we have no internet. tonight in towns and suburbs like this, people say they feel abandoned. the darkness masking the damage to a major european city in deep shock. andrew harding, bbc news, valencia. turning to the middle east because the us secretary of state antony blinken says negotiators have made," good progress" in progress in lebanon. to top advisers on the middle east are heading back to the us after spending thursday in tel aviv to work with israeli officials on a ceasefire deal with hezbollah. meanwhile in the last hour, these pictures of coming from reuters news agency, showing an explosion of the beirut skyline. witnesses say the strike at the capitol�*s suburbs. we know that tens of

thousands of people on both sides of the israel lebanon border have left their homes to escape cross—border fire between hezbollah and israeli forces. during talks with the senior american delegates, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said any agreement must ensure that israel can counter threats to its security from lebanon. it is to secure a ceasefire agreement between asmar and her mouth and also continuing, cia director bill burns is on the egyptian capital cairo with mediators, exploring options to enter the fighting and bring hostages home. i middle east editor sebastian usher sent us this report from jerusalem. even as there is a big new diplomatic push to get a ceasefire between israel and hezbollah in lebanon, the fighting between the two sides is continuing unabated. in israel, seven people were killed today by hezbollah rockets. that is one of the largest death tolls there has been

since hezbollah began to fire into israel after the october 7 attacks in support of hamas. israel has continued with its air strikes on baalbek and tyre and we heard that six health workers were killed, so there is no let up. but two us envoys came to israel and they spoke to prime minister netanyahu. there has been much talk and speculation over a possible 60 day ceasefire. there have even been reports showing a draft proposal. this has been dismissed, to an extent, by israel and mr netanyahu himself has said he's not interested in documents and papers, what's he's interested in is ensuring that the security of israel in the north can be assured — that is what he is focused on. he said that during the meeting with the two us envoys and he said it when later he met members of the military. that is his message at the moment. so, there is hope building that there may be the beginning

of an end to this new conflict between hezbollah and israel in lebanon, but i think we still have to wait to see any concrete movement forward on it. more on this later in the programme we will speak to a former state department middle east policy expert and will bring that to you as and we get it. the us, south korea, and japan have condemned north korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. north korea's military fired the missile, which you can see here, on thursday. it flew for 86 minutes — the longest flight of a such a missile on record — before landing in waters off japan's western coast. antony blinken condemned the lawn following talks with his south korean counterpart. we condemn it in the strongest terms. the latest launch of many, another provocative actions that have been taken. flagrant violations all of

multiple un security council resolutions. all countries should be demanding that the dprk cease these destabilising actions. antony blinken and to a couple of stories before we let you 90, of stories before we let you go, russian court has find google a biggerfine go, russian court has find google a bigger fine than you could ever imagine — more than the world's total economic output. restricting russian state media on youtube. the fine was for two undecillion roubles or 20 decillion dollars. in dollar terms, roubles or 20 decillion dollars. in dollarterms, it's about two followed by 36 zeros. a spokesman for the kremlin admitted he cannot even pronounce the figure right. he said it is filled with symbolism. the fine is the latest moving ongoing feuds between the us tech giant and frusher. google has not responded. —— russia. the la dodgers�*s baseball team won the world series, making a thrilling comeback against the new york yankees. the dodgers

were down 5—0 before clawing back to win the game 7—6 and clinching the series. the dodgers team willjoin a parade on friday to celebrate the eighth world series title. and former us president donald trump is suing cbs for 10 billion us dollars for an interview the network did with the vice president kamala harris in early october. he alleges ms harris�*s interview with cbs was doctored. the lawsuit was filed in a court in the northern district of texas, just days before the us election day. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories around the world. the chancellor rachel reeves says that she hopes the new labour government's announcement of massive tax increases will be a one—off. the tax rises of about £40 billion were announced to parliament by ms reeves in her first budget. the nhs, transport and education will all see a boost in spending.

an inquiry into the salisbury poisonings has heard that the first doctor to care for the poisoned daughter of a russian spy thought that he would never see her move again. yulia skripal arrived at the hospital in march 2018 in a deeply unconscious state alongside herfather sergei skripal after they were poisoned with the nerve agent novichok. more than 400 alleged victims or witnesses have come forward to lawyers over allegations of sexual misconduct against former harrods owner mohamed al fayed. 0ne lawyer representing the justice for harrods survivors group described it as "the worst case of corporate "abuse of women the world has ever seen". al fayed died last year, aged 94. so, it is five days until election day here in the us and today, both candidates are focusing on the southwest.

donald trump is visiting new mexico, as well as arizona and nevada, which are crucial swing states. kamala harris is also visiting arizona and nevada, and both candidates want to talk about immigration. bear in mind new mexico and arizona are on the border with mexico. here's some of what we've heard. both candidates are looking to win over latino voters. it's hard to have an american dream when radical crazy killers and just horrible, horrible murderers, you know, you had coming through your border, do you know how many you had? 13,099, that's border patrol — who endorses me, by the way, very strongly. and you know what they said about her? she's the worst person they've ever seen having anything to do with the border. and so phoenix, with five days left in — and so phoenix, with five days left in this_ and so phoenix, with five days left in this campaign, my

opponent is also making his closing _ opponent is also making his closing argument america. and you've — closing argument america. and you've probably seen a bit of it. you've probably seen a bit of it it — you've probably seen a bit of it it is — you've probably seen a bit of it it is an_ you've probably seen a bit of it. it is an argument that is full— it. it is an argument that is full of— it. it is an argument that is full of hate and division. he insults_ full of hate and division. he insults latinos, scapegoats immigrants and it's notjust what — immigrants and it's notjust what he _ immigrants and it's notjust what he says, it is what he will — what he says, it is what he will d0~ _ what he says, it is what he will d0~ if _ what he says, it is what he will do. if elected, you can be sure _ will do. if elected, you can be sure he — will do. if elected, you can be sure he will bring back family separation policies. only on a much — separation policies. only on a much greater scale than last time — much greater scale than last time. and it is time then to turn — time. and it is time then to turn the _ time. and it is time then to turn the page on donald trump. over 60 million people have already voted according to the university of florida election lab. now, what that may mean for the result, we can't know yet, but we do know is what the polls are saying. here are the seven states that are crucial to the outcome of the election.

and this is the latest polling. you can see the overall trend has shifted slightly in trump's favour and let's be as clear as we can be on this — the polls in all seven are within the margin of error. less tha n less than 1% of american voters decide who wins the election and it may sound odd but look at 2020. in georgia, arizona and wisconsin biden got only several thousand more votes than trump which is not unusual, these are what we call swing states where a candidate can win by a relatively small number of votes. and there were quite a few of them that could be won by republicans or democrats. our pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, north carolina, georgia, arizona and nevada. unlike most other states which tend to vote for the same party at every election, this matters because relatively few voters in these states could make the difference between winning or losing the entire state. and that could decide the presidential election which means the candidates are concentrated in relatively small number of voters in crucial swing states that could go either way. carl nasman has been

speaking voters in one of the battleground states, wisconsin. right now, the state of wisconsin is about as tight as it can get. this is a statistical tie between kamala harris and donald trump. so both parties, republicans and democrats, are out trying to secure their votes. we are with the republican party. they're out here knocking on doors on the outskirts milwaukee. they're trying to get really any advantage they can ahead of election day. there's a lot of working—class people — we're talking like, teachers, construction workers and stuff like that, so it's kind of like everyday people that, they are my favourite to doorknock with because the issues in dc aeffect them directly. here in the centre of milwaukee — a very blue area —

on this one street gives you one the idea of how these parties are going after votes. on just the corner over there, there is a donald trump office. a few steps away on this corner, a kamala harris office. this state was decided by selection by about 20,000 votes. it is likely we could do something similar this year. to people in wisconsin. tom continues to falsely claim the last election was stolen and now they are claiming there is evidence of malpractice in this election. this bbc verify report is from merlyn hamas. videos have been circulating online claiming to show problems of voting in pennsylvania, a key swing state for both kamala harris and donald trump in the us election. here are places people are focused on. in pennsylvania allegheny county, right—wingers online claimed this group of people who were illegal voters outside a temporary election office, but that's not what election officials told us. they say they were a group of legitimate voters who had come to apply for mail—in ballots. remember, only us citizens can register to vote. bbc verify understands the group of films were us citizens,

some of whom were of nepalese and bhutanese heritage, but we have not verified this ourselves. and bucks county in eastern pennsylvania, several videos claim to show access to voter sites being restricted. in this video seen by millions, a woman accuses officials of election fraud for turning people away who are queuing for mail—in ballots before the office closed. election fraud. in pennsylvania, registered voters can pick up and submit a mail—in ballot early or can cast their vote in person on election day. a bucks county spokesperson told bbc verify that mail—in ballot queues can be cut off if there are too many people to process before the office closes. the deadline for registering for mail—in ballots was october 29th, when most of these claims came to a crescendo, but a judge has extended the deadline for bucks

to november the 1st after trump took action in the county. and they're also widespread claims about registration fraud which trump has highlighted. in lancaster county in the south, officials say they are investigating around 2500 suspected fraudulent voter registration applications. the county for context has over three to 65,000 registered voters. as election day gets closer and more claim service —— surface about the integrity of the election, officials are keen to emphasise that the selection can —— this election can still be trusted. following this information has been a huge issue impacting us politics in previous elections. our team has looked into the impact of russian disinformation, specifically a network that's been impersonating dozens of media organisations including the bbc which has been sharing fake news, reports about the us election. here's bbc verify�*s olga robinson. this slick video looks like it was produced by bbc news. it even quotes bellingcat, an investigative group, as a source. but it is fake and has nothing to do with either the bbc or bellingcat.

it's one of hundreds of made—up of news produced and circulated by a russian network since january. a busy verifier together with fact checkers from a uk—based tech company that uses artificial intelligence to detect disinformation has identified over 300 fake videos impersonating over 50 international media organisations. the fakes have several common features — they pose as real well—known news outlets like the bbc. and use similar production styles, fonts, logos and graphics. in fact, the videos are so realistic, it can be hard to detect if they are real orfake, even for specialists. this operation has been active for over two years and initially, its fake videos — like this one blaming ukraine for a deadly strike at a railway station — aim to undermine western support for ukraine. all the videos we have seen so far have been promoting pre—kremlin narratives. often, these include false claims about the democrats and vice president harris. others appear to be seeking to sow division by arguing the november vote

will be rigged. or by depicting the us as a country on the brink of collapse. researchers from checkfirst, a finnish analytics company, who have investigated the network so they have found evidence confirming the videos come from russia. we can link the operation to russia thanks to some assets that we know were produced by russian companies, and the other source of evidence is a dataset we get access to that proves that one of the machines that was used to send the e—mails was located in russia. but it is unclear who exactly was running the operation. unusually, the accounts are actually seeking out journalists and asking them to fact check their own content. they have been sending me and my colleagues e—mails, private messages on x, and tagging us in posts, asking us to fact check theirfake reports. checkfirst has found the operation had sent an estimated total of 71,000 e—mails to 2115 addresses belonging to researchers, media and fact checkers between january and september this year. they believe the aim

is to overwhelm fact checkers an expert in this information says what controls also seek exposure which they count as a measure of success. if prominent media organisations, prominent intelligence agencies expose their work, then they can brag to their funders, to the russian government that they are seen as a serious threat that deserves exposure. this operation so far has failed to generate genuine large—scale engagement from social media users. its activity on x appears to be largely driven by inauthentic or suspect accounts. but that doesn't stop the people behind the operation. tech firm logically told us that: the co—ordinated activity shows hallmarks of inauthentic behaviour. it also appears that the network has been ramping up production in the run—up to the us election by posting videos

almost every day. let's turn to the middle east. here are some live pictures of the beirut skyline where we have seen explosions over the last two hours. people have told reuters they hit the southern suburbs of the capitol. the chief executive officer of engage and a former us middle east policy expert at the us department of state joins expert at the us department of statejoins me. firstly expert at the us department of state joins me. firstly let's talk about these additional explosions in beirut. how dire is the situation becoming opeople in lebanon. it’s is the situation becoming opeople in lebanon. it's quite dire, opeople in lebanon. it's quite dire. over— opeople in lebanon. it's quite dire. overi— opeople in lebanon. it's quite dire, over1 million _ opeople in lebanon. it's quite dire, over1 million people - dire, over1 million people have been displaced, many with no place to go. some have even been targeted once they reach other parts of the country. there is a massive humanitarian crisis unfolding and create some estimates, many villages in the south of the country up to a quarter of houses have been damaged or destroyed so it's pretty severe, as you know lebanon is reeling from an

economic crisis, from the explosion that happened a year ago at the port of beirut from ago at the port of beirut from a financial sector crisis and this is a terrible development for them. ~ this is a terrible development for them-— for them. when it comes to israel, for them. when it comes to israel. it's _ for them. when it comes to israel, it's been _ for them. when it comes to israel, it's been one - for them. when it comes to israel, it's been one of - for them. when it comes to israel, it's been one of the | israel, it's been one of the deadliest days and months for them with hezbollah strikes hitting a rural area. how dangerous is it now for israelis and does it suggest there is a defence systems don't seem to be working as effectively in fending off strikes? ., ., strikes? the iron dome and other systems _ strikes? the iron dome and other systems have - strikes? the iron dome and| other systems have certainly been able to defend against the majority of missiles but things do get through, as you've seen, and the strikes that you mentioned, many civilians did die because of it. look, israeli leaders, at least the military leaders, achieved most of their objectives they believe particularly with the decapitation of the hezbollah leadership and there is tension is now with the prime minister with them urging him yet again to agree to a ceasefire and

really, any other objectives cannot be pursued militarily anymore, so it doesn't only place the lebanese population at an extended place the lebanese population at an exten