Spain sent more troops on Friday to search for survivors among abandoned cars, sodden buildings and layers of mud left by the deadliest natural disaster to hit the country in living memory.
At least 205 people were killed in flash floods that tore through Valencia overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday, leaving cars piled on top of each other, uprooting trees, taking down power lines and destroying homes in dozens of communities.
Rescuers using drones and sniffer dogs waded through water and searched debris on Friday in an increasingly desperate search for the "dozens" of people the authorities believe are still missing.
The government has sent 500 more troops to stricken areas to bolster the 1,200 already helping search, rescue and logistics operations. "There is still a pile of cars in the industrial estate, mountains and mountains of cars," Amparo Fort, Mayor of the town of Chiva, told public radio RNE. "Many must be empty, but we are sure others are occupied."
About 150,000 people in Valencia were without electricity on Wednesday, but power had been restored for about half by Thursday. Some people did not have running water and were relying on bottled water.
Many survivors walked long distances in thick mud to find food and water. Most of their cars were destroyed and the debris left by the storm made some roads impassable. Some pushed shopping trolleys along sodden streets, while others carried their children. Supplies were looted in some areas.
On Thursday, Angel Victor Torres, Spain's Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, vowed there would be an uncompromising response to "looting" and the "insults" directed at the security forces. He announced 39 arrests, in a sign civil order was breaking down in some places.
In the town of Aldaia, in the Valencia region, resident Fernando Lozano said thieves stole trousers from an abandoned supermarket as "people are a bit desperate". "Until this is normalised and the supermarket opens, it's going to be very bad here," he added.
As the shock from the floods dissipated, anger grew over how the authorities handled of the crisis. Officials have been accused of issuing warnings too late and failing to deliver adequate relief.
Dozens killed in flash floods in Spain - in pictures
The storm as a particularly intense example of a “dana”, a common phenomenon in the area at this time of year. Danas develop when cold autumn air moving south meets warm, moist air, typically flowing from the Mediterranean, creating high-altitude storm clouds.
These can dump large amounts of rain in a short space of time. More than 48cm of rain fell on high ground in Spain in eight hours, inundating downhill areas and causing flash floods in urban centres.
The flooding was probably due to the hot, dry weather in the region this year, which left soil hard-baked, reducing how much water could soak into the ground. A building boom in recent decades may also have reduced stormwater drainage, experts added.
Questions have been raised about why civil authorities waited so long to tell people to seek shelter, and why infrastructure including roads, bridges and train lines were unable to withstand the downpour. While weather services notified the public on Monday that a major storms was likely to hit Valencia, the main emergency alert was not issued until Tuesday evening, when the storm was already in full force.
“Ultimately, all you can do when you’re getting that amount of rain is alert people in good time, give warnings and make sure that people are aware of how they can keep themselves safe,” said Jess Neumann, associate professor of hydrology at the University of Reading. “It sounds like that was not done adequately.”
Politicians have already begun to cast blame over the disaster. On Thursday, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the opposition People’s Party, which governs Valencia, said regional authorities acted based on information it received from the national weather agency and the department that oversees rivers. Both rely on the central government.
Climate change has made extreme rain more common by increasing air temperatures, which allows storms to hold more water – a 7 per cent increase for every 1°C that temperatures rise.
Rapid analysis by the World Weather Attribution initiative found the recent extreme rainfall in Spain was about 12 per cent heavier than pre-industrial levels. One-day bursts of rain in the region are increasing as the planet warms, the group said.
Hayley Fowler, professor of climate change impacts at Newcastle University, warned about the limitations of adapting to such storms, which “appear to be becoming more frequent in Europe and are projected to increase further with additional warming".
“The question is not whether we need to adapt for more of these types of storms, but can we?” she said
Adapting to increased rainfall will be essential to lower the risk of future disasters. “Reducing the volume and speed of run-off can be done by replanting upland areas and improving soil health, as well as increasing the capacity of urban areas to absorb, hold or disperse water,” said Kevin Collins, a senior lecturer in environment and systems at the Open University in the UK.
He suggested strengthening dams and bridges, which have proven to be vulnerable, too. But cities can only do so much to mitigate against climate disasters, particularly those cities that are not designed to face the level of rainfall recorded this week in Spain.
“It wouldn’t matter whether it was Spain or anywhere else, if there was that much rainfall falling on impermeable ground, you are going to get flooding,” Mr Neumann said. “In the long term, this isn’t something that’s going to go away."
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%3Cp%3EYe%20%E2%80%94%20the%20rapper%20formerly%20known%20as%20Kanye%20West%20%E2%80%94%20has%20seen%20his%20net%20worth%20fall%20to%20%24400%20million%20in%20recent%20weeks.%20That%E2%80%99s%20a%20precipitous%20drop%20from%20Bloomberg%E2%80%99s%20estimates%20of%20%246.8%20billion%20at%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3Cbr%3EYe%E2%80%99s%20wealth%20plunged%20after%20business%20partners%2C%20including%20Adidas%2C%20severed%20ties%20with%20him%20on%20the%20back%20of%20anti-Semitic%20remarks%20earlier%20this%20year.%3Cbr%3EWest%E2%80%99s%20present%20net%20worth%20derives%20from%20cash%2C%20his%20music%2C%20real%20estate%20and%20a%20stake%20in%20former%20wife%20Kim%20Kardashian%E2%80%99s%20shapewear%20firm%2C%20Skims.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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The five pillars of Islam
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Stage 2 results
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 04:18:18
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:02
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:04
4 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates
5 Rick Zabel (GER) Israel Start-Up Nation
General Classification
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 07:47:19
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:12
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:16
4 Nikolai Cherkasov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:00:17
5 Alexey Lutsensko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 00:00:19
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
NBA FINALS SO FAR
(Toronto lead 3-2 in best-of-seven series)
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
Game 5 Raptors 105 Warriors 106
Game 6 Thursday, at Oakland
Game 7 Sunday, at Toronto (if needed)
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
UAE squad to face Ireland
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Griselda
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
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