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Spanish authorities report at least 51 dead from devastating flash floods  

BARCELONA, Spain — At least 51 people have died in Spain’s eastern region of Valencia after flash floods swept away cars, turned village streets into rivers and disrupted rail lines and highways in the worst natural disaster to hit the European nation in recent memory. 

Emergency services in the eastern region of Valencia confirmed the death toll on Wednesday. 

Rainstorms on Tuesday caused flooding in a wide swath of southern and eastern Spain. Floods of mud-colored water tumbled vehicles down streets at frightening speeds. Pieces of wood swirled with household articles. Police and rescue services used helicopters to lift people from their homes and cars. 

Authorities reported several missing people late Tuesday, but the following morning brought the shocking announcement of dozens found dead. 

Over 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency response units were deployed to the devastated areas. 

“Yesterday was the worst day of my life,” Ricardo Gabaldón, the mayor of Utiel, a town in Valencia, told national broadcaster RTVE. He said several people were still missing in his town. 

“We were trapped like rats. Cars and trash containers were flowing down the streets. The water was rising to three meters,” he said. 

Spain has experienced similar autumn storms in recent years, but nothing compared to the devastation over the last two days. 

The death toll could easily rise with other regions yet to report victims and search efforts continuing in areas with difficult access. In the village of Letur in the neighboring Castilla La Mancha region, Mayor Sergio Marín Sánchez said six people were missing. 

A high-speed train with nearly 300 people on board derailed near Malaga, although rail authorities said no one was hurt. High-speed train service between Valencia city and Madrid was interrupted, as were several commuter lines. 

Valencian regional President Carlos Mazón urged people to stay at home so as not to complicate rescue efforts, with travel by road already difficult due to fallen trees and wrecked vehicles. 

“The neighborhood is destroyed, all the cars are on top of each other, it’s literally smashed up,” Christian Viena, a bar owner in the Valencian village of Barrio de la Torre, said by phone. “Everything is a total wreck. Everything is ready to be thrown away. The mud is almost 30 centimeters deep.” 

Spain’s central government set up a crisis committee to help coordinate rescue efforts. 

The rain had subsided in Valencia by late Wednesday morning. But more storms were forecast through Thursday, according to Spain’s national weather service. 

Spain is still recovering from a severe drought earlier this year. Scientists say increased episodes of extreme weather are likely linked to climate change. 
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In Georgia, some voters balanced EU hopes with the fear of war with Russia

TBILISI, Georgia — For some Georgians who supported the ruling Georgian Dream party in Saturday’s disputed parliamentary election, the aspiration to go West toward the European Union had to be balanced by the brutal reality of the need to keep the peace with Russia.

The opposition and foreign observers had cast the election as a watershed moment that would decide if Georgia moves closer to Europe or leans back towards Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

The ruling party, which is seen as loyal to its billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, says it wants to one day join the EU but that it must also avoid confrontation with President Vladimir Putin’s Russia that could leave the South Caucasus republic devastated like Ukraine.

“We’ve had peace these 12 years in Georgia,” said Sergo, a resident of the capital Tbilisi who has voted for Georgian Dream in every election since the party rose to power in 2012.

Georgian Dream clinched 54% of the vote on Saturday, the electoral commission said, while opposition parties and the president claimed the election had been stolen and the West called for investigations into reports of voting irregularities.

Observer groups, including the 57-nation Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said alleged violations, including ballot-stuffing, bribery, voter intimidation and violence, could have affected the election’s outcome.

The EU and the United States said there was not a level playing field but stopped short of saying the result was stolen by Georgian Dream. Russia accused the West of meddling.

Beyond the rhetoric, though, the result poses a challenge to Tbilisi’s ambitions to join the European Union, which polls show the overwhelming majority of Georgians support.

Brussels has effectively frozen Georgia’s EU accession application over concerns of democratic backsliding under Georgian Dream and what it casts is its pro-Russian rhetoric.

Georgian Dream backers say that while they want to join Europe, they don’t want to sacrifice Georgia’s traditional values of family and church.

EU aspirations?

For them, Georgian Dream’s party slogan, “Only with peace, dignity, and prosperity to Europe,” appeals.

Official results, which the opposition says are fraudulent, showed the party securing huge margins of up to 90% in rural areas, even as it underperformed in Tbilisi and other cities.

Ghia Abashidze, a political analyst close to Georgian Dream, attributed the party’s showing to its emphasis on keeping the peace and preserving traditional values.

The Georgian parliament passed a law this year curbing LGBT rights and Pride events have been attacked by violent mobs in years past. The topic remains sensitive in conservative Georgia, which is devoutly Orthodox Christian.

Abashidze said that Georgian Dream was still committed to EU integration, but found more to like in some of the bloc’s Eastern European members such as Hungary, whose premier Viktor Orban flew to Tbilisi on Monday and hailed the election as free.

He said Orban’s Hungary, which has also been accused of democratic backsliding, shared the Georgian ruling party’s core values of “family, traditions, statehood, sovereignty, peace.”

In Isani, a working-class Tbilisi neighborhood and one of the few in the capital where Georgian Dream received more votes than the four main opposition parties combined, Sergo, who did not want to give his last name, echoed the sentiment.

“We want to go to the European Union with our customs, our traditions, our mentality,” the 56-year-old said, passing freshly-baked bread to customers from his shop window. He said he believed LGBT people should receive medical treatment and go to church to become “normal people.”

Russia or EU?

By contrast, opposition supporters say the ruling party’s positions on foreign policy and social issues are incompatible with Europe’s, and keeping the peace with Russia depends on Georgia aligning with the West.

At a thousands-strong protest against the election results on Monday, Salome Gasviani said the opposition was fighting to preserve Georgia’s freedom and independence.

“We’re here to say out loud that Georgia is a very European country and our future is in the EU, in the West,” she said.

Russia, which ruled Georgia for about 200 years, won a brief war against the country in 2008, and memories of Russian tanks rolling towards Tbilisi are still fresh for many.

During the campaign, Georgian Dream played on fears of war, with posters showing devastated Ukrainian cities beside picturesque Georgian ones to illustrate the threat.

“The main thing is that we don’t have a war,” 69-year-old Otar Shaverdashvili, another Isani resident, said before the vote. “I remember the last war very well. No one wants another one.”

Kornely Kakachia, head of Georgian Institute of Politics think tank, said the opposition had struggled to allay fears that a change of government could risk Georgia being sucked into the Ukraine war.

“If someone asks you to choose between war and the European Union and you have this kind of choice, then of course people will choose the status quo,” he said.
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No nuclear risk from fire at submarine yard in northwest England, police say

A significant fire remains ongoing at BAE Systems’ shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, northwest England, that builds Britain’s new generation of nuclear submarines, but there was no nuclear risk from the incident, police said on Wednesday.

UK’s Cumbria police said in a statement that two people had been taken to a hospital after suffering from suspected smoke inhalation and that there were no other casualties.

The police said that everyone else had been evacuated from the Devonshire Dock Hall facility and accounted for.

BAE’s site in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, manufactures Royal Navy’s Astute and Dreadnought submarines, according to BAE’s website.

The incident was reported at 12:44 am local time, police said.

BAE did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Police have advised residents nearby to remain indoors.
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North Korea’s troop deployment to Ukraine could test Beijing-Pyongyang ties

WASHINGTON — As Ukraine braces to face North Korean troops who are believed to be in the Russian border region of Kursk, analysts say China should be concerned about stronger pressure and responses from NATO, which sees Beijing as an enabler of Pyongyang and a supporter of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency said on Tuesday it has obtained information that North Korean troops are moving to the front lines of the war in Russia near Ukraine.  

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that North Korean military units have been deployed to Russia’s western border region of Kursk. He made the remark after a South Korean delegation briefed NATO, Australia, Japan and New Zealand on North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

Rutte continued that North Korea’s troop dispatch, in addition to shipments of ammunition and ballistic missiles, represents “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war” that threatens both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security.

In return for North Korean troops and weapons, Moscow is providing Pyongyang with “military technology and other support to circumvent international sanctions,” Rutte added.

The U.S. estimates that North Korea sent about 10,000 soldiers to train in eastern Russia.   

North Korea said on Friday that “if there is such a thing” as North Korea troops in Russia, “it will be an act conforming with the regulation of international law.” 

Growing signs of strain

Analysts say North Korea’s commitment of troops to help Russia would further strain its relations with China, which undoubtedly will dislike the development that would lead to the strengthening of NATO’s ties with South Korea. 

“China should be concerned about NATO paying more attention to North Korea, especially since many NATO member countries see Beijing as Pyongyang’s enabler,” Ramon Pacheco Pardo, who was part of European Union delegations to previous talks with North Korea, South Korea, China and Japan, told VOA on Friday.

North Korea’s troop dispatch will lead NATO to focus further on Pyongyang’s cyber activities and nuclear and missile programs and proliferation, and this can have “a knock-on effect on China,” continued Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King’s College London.

“China can’t afford to sever ties with North Korea, due to its own security interests. So, Beijing has to endure North Korea siding with Russia and being labeled as part of an axis of authoritarian revisionist states, even if it doesn’t like this label,” he added.  

Earlier in October, NATO held talks with its Asian partners to enhance the security link between Europe and the Indo-Pacific, expressing concern over countries such as China and North Korea that can become “security spoilers” in their “backyard.”  

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, told VOA on Friday that Beijing is uneasy about Moscow’s growing influence in the region through military cooperation with Pyongyang.

He said China tolerated North Korea’s sending munitions to Russia because it viewed that as having “a limited time frame,” but after North Korea’s troop deployment, Beijing is concerned about their long-term ties contributing to Moscow’s growth as a dominant power in East Asia, which threatens Beijing’s view of itself as playing that role.

Responding to VOA’s inquiry on the development of North Korea-Russia military cooperation, the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Tuesday sent a statement saying Beijing hopes “all parties will promote the de-escalation of the situation and strive for a political settlement.”

Keeping the status quo

Chinese President Xi Jinping, while attending the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 23, said there is a need to stop “adding fuel to the fire” in the Ukraine crisis without mentioning specific countries.  

Beijing, seeing North Korea as a buffer zone between its mainland and U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, has long been Pyongyang’s main ally as the biggest trading partner. To prevent it from becoming unstable, China has maintained the economic lifeline of the regime that is heavily sanctioned and closed off from the global economy.  

But trouble in their bilateral ties seemed to begin when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia last year and were exacerbated when Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defense treaty in Pyongyang this summer. 

The latest development in the deepening military relations between Pyongyang and Moscow could “complicate Beijing’s own plans to have it both ways in the Russia-Ukraine war,” according to Roy Kamphausen, a senior fellow for Chinese security at the National Bureau of Asian Research.

Kamphausen said on Friday that China wants to “support Russia enough” so Moscow “can win slowly” but “avoid too much blowback, especially economic sanctions on China itself.”

He added, “Escalation in the current conflict which comes from Asia itself might have the negative impact of putting more pressure on Beijing itself, just what it wants to avoid.”

The U.S. earlier this month sanctioned China-based companies for collaborating with Russia to produce drones for use against Ukraine.

Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, told VOA on Friday that “Beijing would see little benefit to establish a more formal trilateral alliance because being too closely linked to Russian and North Korean provocative behavior could trigger secondary sanctions against China.” 

China in 2023 was the largest trading partner for EU imports and third largest for EU exports.
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For expats in Ukraine, election back in US hits home

The outcome of the U.S. election and the possible changes in Washington’s foreign policy are of special significance to the 3 million American expatriates eligible to vote in next week’s U.S. presidential elections. In few places is that outcome more tangible than in Ukraine, where a few thousand Americans have, for various reasons, chosen to live after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion. Lesia Bakalets speaks to several expatriates in Ukraine and sends this report from Kyiv.
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Russian activists abroad keep the memory of Soviet purges victims alive

Every October, events are held worldwide to mark a Day of Remembrance for the victims of purges in the former Soviet Union. With growing restrictions on memorial ceremonies in Russia, opposition activists see events abroad as more crucial than ever. Natasha Mozgovaya has the story from Seattle.
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Heavy rains cause flash floods in Spain’s south, east

Madrid — Torrential rains caused by a cold front moving across southeastern Spain flooded roads and towns on Tuesday, prompting authorities in the worst-hit areas to advise citizens to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel. 

Spain’s state weather agency AEMET declared a red alert in the eastern Valencia region and the second-highest level of alert in parts of Andalusia in the south, where a train derailed due to the heavy rainfall, although no one was injured. 

Footage showed firefighters rescuing trapped drivers amid heavy rain in the Valencian town of Alzira and flooded streets with stuck cars. 

Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. Meteorologists believe the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe. 

AEMET expected Valencia to take the brunt of the storm, with forecasts of more than 90 mm of rain in less than one hour, or 180 mm in under 12 hours. 

Schools, courthouses and other essential services were suspended in Carlet and some other nearby towns in the Valencia region. 

Local emergency services requested the help of UME, a military unit specialized in rescue operations, in the area of Utiel-Requena, where farmers’ association ASAJA said the storm was causing significant damage to crops. 

The storm first struck Andalusia. In El Ejido, a Mediterranean city known for its sprawling greenhouses, a hailstorm broke hundreds of car windscreens, flooded the streets and damaged the mostly plastic greenhouse infrastructure. 

In Alora, also in Andalusia, the Guadalorce river overflowed and 14 people there had to be rescued by firefighters, authorities said. Alora topped AEMET’s ranking on Tuesday with 160 mm of rainfall.
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Workers launch strikes as Germany frets over industrial future

BERLIN — Thousands of German workers launched nationwide strikes to press for higher wages on Tuesday, compounding problems for companies worried about staying globally competitive as high costs, weak exports and foreign rivals chip away at their strengths. 

The strikes by unionized workers in the nearly 4-million strong electrical engineering and metal industries hit companies such as Porsche, BMW and Mercedes. 

Also this week, car giant Volkswagen could announce plans to shut three plants on home soil for the first time in its 87-year history, as well as mass layoffs and 10% wage cuts for workers who keep their jobs. 

A worsening business outlook in Europe’s largest economy has piled pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s rickety coalition government, which could be on the verge of collapse ahead of federal elections next year as policy cracks widen. 

Scholz hosted a meeting with business leaders on Tuesday, including Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume, to discuss strategies for bolstering Germany’s industrial sector. 

The three-hour closed-door meeting in Berlin was aimed at exploring policy measures to drive growth, protect industrial jobs, and reinforce Germany’s position as a global industrial hub, government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement. 

The talks mark the beginning of a broader initiative by the German government, with follow-up discussions planned for Nov. 15, Hebestreit added. 

In a sign of government dysfunction, his finance minister has also announced a separate summit on the same day. 

Germany has a long history of so-called “warning strikes” during wage negotiations, but they come at a time of employers’ deepening concerns about the future. A leading business group said a survey of companies pointed to Germany experiencing another year of economic contraction in 2024 and no prospect of growth next year. 

“We are not just dealing with a cyclical, but a stubborn structural crisis in Germany,” said Martin Wansleben, managing director of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry that conducted the survey. 

“We are greatly concerned about how much Germany is becoming an economic burden for Europe and can no longer fulfill its role as an economic workhorse,” he said. 

A separate survey by the VDA auto industry association suggested the transformation of the German car industry could lead to 186,000 job losses by 2035, of which roughly a quarter have already occurred. 

“Europe — especially Germany — is losing more and more international competitiveness,” said the VDA report, which also stated that German companies paid up to three times more for electricity than their U.S. or Chinese rivals, while facing higher taxes and increasing bureaucratic burdens. 

Workers want share 

The International Monetary Fund joined those calling for reforms in Germany, suggesting the government ditch a constitutionally enshrined borrowing cap known as the debt brake so it can boost investment.  

While the debt brake is supported by Finance Minister Christian Lindner, he is at odds with Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who has called for a multibillion-euro fund to stimulate growth. 

“The economic policy debate is where it belongs: right at the top of the agenda,” Lindner said on X. “We have no time to lose.” 

The meetings with Lindner and Scholz have prompted companies and industry associations to air their gripes. The chemicals lobby VCI lamented “poor framework conditions” and high energy costs faced by its members, and called on Scholz to make “groundbreaking decisions” to unleash competitiveness. 

Reinhold von Eben-Worlee, from the association of family-run companies, compared the plight of Germany’s Mittelstand firms to a marathon runner weighed down by a heavy rucksack of high taxes and social security contributions, and red tape. 

Tuesday’s strikes were orchestrated by the powerful IG Metall union, which also staged a walkout during the night shift at Volkswagen’s plant in the city of Osnabrueck, where workers worry the site may be shutting down. 

Approximately 71,000 workers participated in Tuesday’s strike, impacting around 370 companies across Germany, according to a spokesperson for IG Metall. 
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Germany recalls ambassador to Iran over execution of German-Iranian national

Berlin — Germany has recalled its ambassador to Iran over the reported execution of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd and summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires to voice Berlin’s protest against the killing, the German foreign office said on Tuesday.

“We have sent our strongest protest against the actions of the Iranian regime & reserve the right to take further action,” the foreign ministry said in a post on X.

Germany’s ambassador in Tehran demarched to the Iranian foreign minister and protested in the strongest possible terms the murder of Jamshid Sharmahd, the post said, adding that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock subsequently recalled the ambassador to Berlin for consultations.

Iran executed Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd after he was convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks, Iranian state media said on Monday.

Sharmahd, who also holds U.S. residency, was sentenced to death in 2023 on charges of “corruption on earth,” a capital offence under Iran’s Islamic laws.

He was accused by Iran of heading a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly 2008 bombing and planning other attacks in the country.

His daughter Gazelle Sharmahd, also on X, demanded proof for his execution and called for the immediate return of her father.

 
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Putin launches drills of Russia’s nuclear forces simulating retaliatory strikes

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday launched a massive exercise of the country’s nuclear forces featuring missile launches in a simulation of a retaliatory strike, as he continued to flex the country’s nuclear muscle amid spiraling tensions with the West over Ukraine. 

Speaking in a video call with military leaders, Putin said that the drills will simulate top officials’ action in using nuclear weapons and include launches of nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. 

Defense Minister Andrei Belousov reported that the exercise is intended to practice “strategic offensive forces launching a massive nuclear strike in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy.” 

Putin, who has repeatedly brandished the nuclear sword as he seeks to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine, emphasized on Tuesday that Russia’s nuclear arsenal remains a “reliable guarantor of the country’s sovereignty and security.” 

“Taking into account growing geopolitical tensions and emerging new threats and risks, it’s important for us to have modern strategic forces that are always ready for combat,” he said, reaffirming that Russia sees nuclear weapons use as “the ultimate, extreme measure of ensuring its security.” 

Putin noted that Moscow will continue to modernize its nuclear forces, deploying new missiles that have a higher precision, quicker launch times and increased capabilities to overcome missile defenses. 

As part of Tuesday’s drills, the military test-fired a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk launch pad at the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Defense Ministry said. The Novomoskovsk and Knyaz Oleg nuclear submarines test-fired ICBMs from the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, while nuclear-capable Tu-95 strategic bombers carried out practice launches of long-range cruise missiles. 

The ministry said that all the missiles reached their designated targets. 

Last month, the Russian leader warned the U.S. and NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons for strikes deep inside Russia would put NATO at war with his country. 

He reinforced the message by announcing a new version of the nuclear doctrine that considers a conventional attack on Russia by a nonnuclear nation that is supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack on his country — a clear warning to the U.S. and other allies of Kyiv. 

Putin also declared that the revised document envisages possible nuclear weapons use in case of a massive air attack, holding the door open to a potential nuclear response to any aerial assault — an ambiguity intended to deter the West. 

Tuesday’s maneuvers follow a series of other drills of Russia’s nuclear forces. 

Earlier this year, the Russian military held a joint nuclear exercise with Moscow’s ally Belarus, which has hosted some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons.
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Adidas reaches out-of-court settlement with rapper Ye 

London — Adidas has reached an out-of-court settlement with rapper Ye to end all legal proceedings between them, the sportswear brand said on Tuesday, adding that no money changed hands in the agreement.

Adidas and Ye had been embroiled in multiple lawsuits for the past two years, since the German company ended a partnership with the rapper previously known as Kanye West over antisemitic comments he made.

“There isn’t any more open issues, and there is no… money going either way, and we both move on,” CEO Bjorn Gulden told reporters on a conference call, declining to give further details of the deal.

“There were tensions on many issues, and… when you put the claims on the right side and you put the claims on the left side, both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” Gulden added.

 
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