the focus on friday is on swing states in the midwest — ones that candidate could win. kamala harris and donald trump are both visiting wisconsin. in 2020, joe biden took the state by a narrow margin. and once again, the polls are tight. first, let's hearfrom donald trump speaking in milwaukee a short time ago. i would like to begin with a very simple question, very simple, are you better off now than you were four years ago? no! i than you were four years ago? no! ., ., no! i will end inflation, i will no! iwill end inflation, i will step— no! iwill end inflation, i will stop at _ no! iwill end inflation, i will stop at the - no! iwill end inflation, i will stop at the criminall will stop at the criminal invasion of our country either make the biggest problem we have right now. and i will bring back the american dream. and before that, he spent the afternoon in michigan, wrapping up a rally in the city of warren. earlier he met businesses nearby in dearborn, a city

with an arab american majority. the trump camp is looking to appeal to voters unhappy with the biden administration's handling of the war in gaza. it's an area where when you walk around the street, due hear a lot of anger about the democrats' handling of the middle east. it is very clear a lot of people are deciding to not vote at all, vote for a third party pundit or vote for donald trump. he was there visiting an arab american restaurant. —— third party candidate. he has not spelt out exactly what he means by peace in the middle east are how he achieves that, but he has been achieves that, but he has been a firm supporter of president netanyahu —— prime minister netanyahu, and there is a lot of anger against the democrats, a lot of people planning to vote against them in some form. with the election is tight, the polls this tight, any amount of

votes could be enough to sway the vote here in michigan. vice president kamala harris is also rallying in milwaukee county this evening. here's some of what she had to say. all right, we have work today, milwaukee. four days left. four days left in the most consequential election of our lifetime. and that we still have work to do. but here's the thing about all of us, we like hard work. earlier the vice president appeared at a rally in the state — in appleton. our correspondent carl nasman was at the harris rally in appleton and sent us this report. the vice president wrapping up her remarks at this rally in wisconsin, part of a three—stop tour of the state today. really one way to look at this is kamala harris trying to secure the votes of some groups that have started to migrate away from democrats in recent years —

earlier speaking to union members in a rural part of the state, really trying to get as many votes as she can in what is looking like a very tight race. of course, seeking to draw some contrast between herself and donald trump, talking today at this rally not only about abortion rights and what she said would be a trump sales tax on everyday goods, but also focusing on the affordable care act, widely known as obamacare, she says republicans and donald trump are looking to repeal that, at least incredibly weaken it. she brought on a mother on stage whose child had cancer and was able to get treatment under the obamacare act. the real messages is going to be really important. she said it will be the path

to the presidency. and a funny moment earlier on, tammy baldwin, a democrat locked in a race with a republican challenger said it is notjust the presidency, it is coming down to the control of the senate, so no pressure. the people in this room, packed earlier, feel the pressure, but are ready to rise to the pressure, lots of democrats being energised, motivated, getting out to the polls. many of the thousands of people in this room said they have already cast their votes ahead of election day on november 5th. the us supreme court has cleared the way for the battleground state of pennsylvania to count thousands of votes that republicans wanted set aside. pennsylvania's highest court had earlier ruled that voters who returned defective mail—in ballots could either request a new ballot or vote in person on election day. republicans then appealed to the us supreme court to retract that decision, arguing it went against the state's election code. the supreme court rejected the appeal. let's turn to the war in the middle east. a few hours ago the pentagon

announced the us is sending additional fighter jets, missile defence systems and navy warships to the region in the next few months. the us says it's aimed at deterring iran and its proxies from striking us or israeli targets in the region. we'll have more on the latest developments in the war but first i discussed the pentagon's announcement with ambassador gina abercrombie—wistanley, president of the middle east policy council. we have laid out some of the situation on the ground there, and i want to talk about the fact there has been this announcement from the pentagon that more military aid, more weapons are being sent in the next few weeks. this comes as the us has demanded that israel take steps to address the humanitarian situation on the ground. otherwise threatening the supply of us weapons. so i wonder what you make of the timing. does that not undermine the deadline? i timing. does that not undermine

the deadline?— the deadline? i think the us has to continue _ the deadline? i think the us has to continue to _ the deadline? i think the us has to continue to be - has to continue to be consistent in our support for israel's right to defend itself and to protect israel from any iranian response. right now, there are a series of negative impacts going on. the deputy commander of the revolutionary guards in iran stated publicly that iran will respond at some time of their choosing, of course, and the tit—for—tat or smash in this case between israel and hezbollah continues, so high numbers of deaths on the lebanese side and, of course, death continuing on the israeli side. even with the terrible impact of israeli strikes against hezbollah, the communication devices, hezbollah is still fighting back, even if not with ballistic missiles or overwhelming force. in the north, they have not been able

to return to their homes, these muscles are indeed reaching central israel. and of course, the debt continues in the gaza strip. and at the negotiators have, for now, gone home. —— that continues in the gaza strip. the dangerfor us interests and personnel in the region remains high, and that is the main reason for increasing the number of assets that are going to the region, to protect us personnel and assets, as well as to support israel. i assets, as well as to support israel. , ., israel. i understand. so in our israel. i understand. so in your view. _ israel. i understand. so in your view, when - israel. i understand. so in your view, when it - israel. i understand. so in your view, when it comes| israel. i understand. so in. your view, when it comes to this deadline, november 13, that the us has said, do you believe that perhaps it is not as much of a priority now, given we have seen so much conflict escalates, including direct attacks by israel or iran? because that is what it seems like you're saying. well, ri . ht seems like you're saying. well, riaht now seems like you're saying. well, right now the — seems like you're saying. well, right now the distraction - seems like you're saying. well, right now the distraction is - right now the distraction is the us election. we know it,

there is no lack of clarity on this point. many things are going to either be ignored until the clarity of what is likely to happen after the election on tuesday. now, the reality is there are going to be changes regardless of who wins the election. you have heard former president trump say this has got to be wrapped up, and you have heard vice president harris say that there needs to be a ceasefire. so either way, there is going to be increased us pressure to get a change in this conflict that is going on and keeps us personnel and interests in danger as well. but the election is what is on everybody�*s mind right now. israel's and bass are to the un has said it has been going above and beyond its humanitarian obligations and has blamed hamas for not been able to get aid in. but there

us ambassador to israel said it has to be matched by the action. what leverage do you believe that the us has after israel, and what leverage will they have after the election, when they can actually focus on this? ., �* , ., this? two thing's. the leverage is there, this? two thing's. the leverage is there. it _ this? two thing's. the leverage is there, it is _ this? two thing's. the leverage is there, it is just _ this? two thing's. the leverage is there, it isjust a _ this? two thing's. the leverage is there, it isjust a matter - is there, it is just a matter of the willingness to use it. so the leverage is out there. it is available to president biden as well. although the election is going to give a longer term indication about what us policy may be, we have to keep in mind that there is only one president at the time, and president biden as president untiljanuary. so he will be for you if he is indeed inclined to be stiffer with the israelis and certainly the willingness of his administration to send that letter to allow it to be publicised is sending a very clear signal. this is about us

law. this isn't about international humanitarian law, that lawyers and international diplomats might have to decide has been broken, has it not? the international criminal court or court ofjustice, this is us domestic law. and having put that letter out there, they don't let us down, it is clear to americans that us law is being broken. and knowing her firmly president biden has had next to israel, as has america, the fact that letter was put out there makes clear the united states understands it is not an issue of hamas blocking aid. this is an israeli decision as part of strategy in gaza, and the united states is making clear you're breaking our laws.

let's look at some of the situation is on the ground there. meanwhile, israeli strikes killed at least 64 people across the central and southern gaza strip in the past 2a hours — that's according to the hamas—run health ministry. and israel's military says it killed a senior hamas official in a strike on a car in the southern city of khan younis. in lebanon, israeli strikes killed at least 52 people in the country's east. lebanese officials said israel did not issue evacuation warnings before the attacks. and cross—border fire from lebanon continued overnight, with projectiles crossing into israeli territory — most of them intercepted, according to the israeli army. the prospects of a ceasefire between israel and hezbollah, as well as israel and hamas, seem to be fading. on friday, hamas rejected a short—term ceasefire proposal in gaza, which had been introduced by the egyptian president on sunday. our reporter emir nader has more from beirut. it was only on wednesday that the lebanese prime minister talked about his cautious optimism that a ceasefire deal could be reached in the coming hours or days, perhaps even

before the us election. today, his tone has completely changed. he's accused israel of being stubborn and not seriously engaging in the ceasefire talks. he's also accused israel of seeking only to escalate, pointing to the renewed round of air strikes here in the capital, beirut, and in the east of the country. united states diplomats have been in tel aviv this week to meet with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and other senior israeli political leaders to discuss the basis of this cease fire proposal. we're not yet aware of what the outcome of those talks are, as the fighting continues here in lebanon. let's look closer at the humanitarian situation on the ground. the heads of several un agencies have described conditions in gaza as "apocalyptic". health teams there say they're now moving forward with the third and final phase of the un's polio vaccination campaign, which was recently put on pause.

at the time, un agencies said the mass displacement of civilians and lack of humanitarian pauses made access too dangerous. but unicef now says, short pauses in fighting have been guaranteed in gaza city for a limited number of children to get vaccines. more than 111,000 children are reported to have been killed in the conflict according to the palestinian ministry of health. our special correspondent fergal keane brings us the story of one very young palestinian girl, and this report was made with the help of local journalists in gaza, because israel still does not allow the bbc and other international media to enter and report independently. they were ordered to leave. the men made to strip to be searched, some of them elderly, as the israeli army hunted for weapons and anyone linked to hamas. but look to the left. in the crowd, a small child,

facing away from the scene. who was she? what became of her? julia abu warda, three and a half years old. these photos were taken before the encounter at the israeli checkpoint, before the order to go. our colleague found julia in gaza city one week after the photograph was taken, but with the family's memories still vivid. translation: there were soldiers on the tanks - and soldiers on the ground. they approached the people and started firing above their heads. people were pushing against each other during the shooting. they were escaping the hell ofjabalia, a landscape in which human survival

is becoming impossible. translation: we saw destruction and bodies| scattered on the ground. they were pointing their guns at us and ordering us to stay seated. it was very bad. in gaza, it is not so much that children grow old before their time. it is that time stands still. they are trapped, each day like the one before, the trauma accumulating. julia's seven—year—old cousin was killed by an israeli drone strike in the street where he played. translation: it used to be - normal, she would run and play, but now whenever there is shelling she points and says, "plane. " she looks up and points out the drone flying over us. it is hard to calljulia lucky

in a place like this. but she is fortunate in the family that holds her close. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. let's turn to ongoing rescue operations in spain. authorities have extended a red alert for torrential rain on the country's southern coast after flash flooding killed more than 200 people in eastern areas of spain. it's the deadliest flood related disaster in europe since the 1970s. dozens of people remain missing, and some residents say there should have been earlier warnings. thousands of volunteers have joined the military and emergency services to help with the rescue and clean up operation. mark lowen is in valencia and sent this report. beneath the mangled scrapheap, the painful question — could it be hiding yet more dead? they picked their way through what turned from tunnel to death trap.

each day, new bodies found. with tragedy comes an army of solidarity, communities stunned by spain's worst natural disaster in its modern history. how do you even begin to clean up when the calamity keeps deepening? for volunteers, it's overwhelming. people i know here have gone through a terrible agony to... sorry. they passed away. i'm angry because it's outrageous that our local government didn't do anything about it, knowing... they well knew that this was coming. when the floods came, they shattered what lay in their path — cars, homes, lives. a year's worth of rainfall in eight hours. juan perez inspects what's

left of his house — just one of those that the water tore through. translation: all my life, my memories. i my parents lived there and now, overnight... he sobs it's all gone in five minutes. the fear now is that many of the missing will be found underground as rescuers flush out the water. the horrors slowly retrieved — those trapped in car parks and garages as the flooding rose around them. in aldaia, outside valencia, firefighters are stretched to their limit, locals pitching in in a desperate attempt to clear what they can. this was just one of the rivers that burst its banks, with the torrents of water and mud engulfing everything in its wake. and this is a scene that is repeated right across this region. what's also repeated is the growing sense of abandonment, the feeling

that we are hearing from many people here, that in the absence of the authorities, they are having to depend on one another. we found a shop owned by amparo andres. she has had it for a0 years. it was lost in an instant. "the water rose and came up to my neck," she says. "i had the feeling my life was ending. at least i'm alive, but i have lost everything — my business, my home — and the government isn't doing anything. only the young people around are helping us". amidst the sadness, anger is rising here, too, at local authorities that only sounded the alarm when the flooding had already started — messages sent to phones of people who had no chance to escape. tonight, the volunteers headed home to prepare for tomorrow's grim ritual — clearing, discovering, mourning. mark lowen, bbc news, valencia. pablo pardo is washington bureau chief at the spanish newspaper el mundo.

he's been speaking to people affected by the floods. i asked him whether they felt they had enough time to prepare no. by and large, based on what i have talked to people, these were very informal conversations in many cases, with friends or friends of friends who live there, they say that the alert system, which is usually very efficient, this time wasn't. this time it worked much slower than usual and in many cases the storm started before they got the alerts. again, this is something that is really unusual and this is raising a lot of questions about political responsibilities, particularly with the regional government. we particularly with the regional government.— particularly with the regional covernment. ~ . ., government. we have heard some re orts, government. we have heard some reports. and _ government. we have heard some reports, and residents— government. we have heard some reports, and residents have - reports, and residents have been talking about not having enough resources to respond to

this. even talking about not having things like shovels. what kind of support as the government or official is actually providing?- government or official is actually providing? that is a very interesting _ actually providing? that is a very interesting point. - actually providing? that is a| very interesting point. there has been a blame game between the regional government and in madrid and is something that is very important, i think it can perhaps be important once at the situation calms down a little bit, is the fact that the regional government when they reached power, one of the very first decisions they took was abolishing the emergency response unit in the region. that obviously there is at the root of many, many problems, particularly in times of raising the alarm is. apart from that, the central government, the government in madrid has been accused of being very slow in mobilising

resources. for instance, the army, the spanish army has not been called to action to help until yesterday or been called to