this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: at least 149 people have been killed in a crush in the south korean capital, seoul, during halloween celebrations. city officials launch an urgent investigation into the cause of chaotic scenes ahead of the incident. in other news, russia pulls out of a un—brokered deal that allows vital grain exports from ukraine. and a new zulu king is crowned in south africa, in the first such ceremony since apartheid. hello and welcome to bbc news. south korea's president, yoon suk—yeol, has declared

a period of national mourning following a crush in the capital, seoul, that killed at least 150 people and injured dozens more. huge crowds of teenagers and young people had jammed into the narrow streets of the itaewon district to celebrate halloween. the area is known for its busy nightlife. a fire service spokesman said most of those who died were in their teens or early 20s. earlier, on social media, people had spoken of the streets being so busy that they felt unsafe. our correspondent in seoul, jean mackenzie, has this report and a warning you may find some of the images distressing. young people out to party, having fun, until things suddenly change. oh, my god! by the end of the night, bodies lined the street, some in costume. others were carried into ambulances lifeless and barefoot.

the chilling sign of people who have tried to run but not been able to. the crush started in a small alleyway — it was so packed, people were stuck, elbow to elbow, they had barely an inch to move when the crowd surged forward. translation: the incident happened as large numbers of people fell down during the halloween festival, which caused serious injuries. this area of seoul is one of the most popular places for a night out for locals and tourists. it's the place to celebrate halloween — it's estimated 100,000 had come tonight. there were so many people to the point we were being crushed on the pavement, to the point where we had to spill onto the road where there were cars. no—one really understood what was going on. but there were already several police cars at the scene in front of itaewon station, and police standing on top of their police cars,

as soon as possible. hundreds of ambulances and fire engines lined the streets. desperate people alongside emergency workers, trying to perform cpr. and there will likely be more, as the injured are treated in hospital. something has gone horrifically wrong here in seoul tonight. working out what is an important next step. but tonight, this city is numb, still trying to track down its lost. jean mackenzie, bbc news, seoul. it is now just it is nowjust after ten o'clock on sunday morning. and jean has just sent this update from the scene as a new day begins. we do not know exactly what caused the crust but we are

starting to get a better picture of what happened. it is a very narrow here and thousands of people were packed into that space. it also has a wide asleep heel up they were reports people slept and pushed people down the alleyway. we know the area was far too overcrowded. this is such a popular area, overcrowded. this is such a populararea, seoul, it is overcrowded. this is such a popular area, seoul, it is when people love to go on the weekend, popularwith people love to go on the weekend, popular with the locals and tourists and halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year here. i was speaking to people last night saying they were planning to avoid this area because they knew how busy it was going to be so these crowds were expected. i am sure all this will come out in the post mortem but what people are dealing with here is trying to

identify those who have died because the death toll is absolutely enormous and it keeps coming up and there are also hundreds of people reported to be injured so that death toll is expected to get even higher, when people questioning when you look at the amount of people injured, how high that death toll will get. we have had people move, the bodies on the street have been moved into a gymnasium where people have been asked to go and try to identify them and this is going to be a hugejob because of the number of terms, because of the number of terms, because of the number of terms, because of so many people have died, we have not learned a lot about those who have died. —— the number of victims. most of them we know our young. earlier i spoke to anthony kuhn, the seoul correspondent for npr and i asked him about the mood in seoul as a new day begins. incredibly, i was in itaewon and as the sun was coming up, you had media staked out in front of this alleyway

where people were crushed to death. you had an emergency medical centre stood up. incredibly, in the side streets, there were still revellers in their costumes eating and drinking and carousing. so it was quite incredible. another thing to mention is that seoul has come roaring back to life after the pandemic, and just in the past month, there have been two very large and well—managed international festivals. first, there was a fireworks festival where you had people lining the river in the city to watch fireworks. then you had the itaewon local village festival, which is a celebration of the multicultural nature of the neighbourhood. it's a bit like the notting hill carnival. all of these were very well—managed with emergency crew standing

by in case of emergencies. this was clearly not the case here. but the scene of the accident is still very much alive, with emergency responders and police and bystanders. anthony, what more are we learning about what happened last night? it's very hard to know exactly what triggered it. there is a lot of speculation on social media but it helps to understand the area where it happened, itaewon. as mentioned, it is a very multicultural neighbourhood, you've got a mosque surrounded by halal food restaurants, you've got restaurants from every part of the world, you have international schools. it's also a very hilly district and where the accident took place was not on the main street. a lot of the bars are off the main street, up the hill,

in these tiny little alleys, and clearly, they were too packed and clearly something triggered a stampede, with people trying to get through these tiny passageways. but the exact cause of it, what got people running, is not clear. it was certainly too crowded and i was on the streets in several parts of seoul and notjust itaewon but other areas too were jammed with people celebrating halloween. the mayor of seoul, 0h se—hoon who was on a visit to europe has decided to return home in the wake of the disaster. several world leaders have expressed their condolences. president biden said the us "grieved with the people of south korea". the new uk prime minister, rishi sunak,

said his thoughts were with "all south koreans." french president, emmanuel macron, tweeted to say that he is "thinking of the people of seoul" — adding "france is at your side". canada's president trudeau has also tweeted his support, saying 'on behalf of canadians, i'm sending my deepest condolences to the people of south korea today. i'm thinking of everyone affected by this tragedy, and wishing a fast and full recovery to those who were injured. let's get some of the day's other news: security forces in iraq say at least nine people have been killed by an explosion in a fuel truck in the capital, baghdad. at least thirteen others have been injured. officials say the blast, in a car park near a football field in eastern baghdad, was an accident. witnesses reported smelling gas and seeing windows of nearby buildings being blown out. rescue workers in the philippines are distributing aid to almost half a million people who have been affected by a severe tropical storm which has brought flash floods and landslides, killing at least forty five people. tropical storm nalgae brought torrential rain with most of the casualties on the southern island of mindanao. thousands of people have taken to the streets of the colombian capital, bogota, to protest at planned tax reforms. they're being proposed by president gustavo petro to raise taxes on the country's

oil and mining industries. 0pposition groups say they'll slow down the economy and could lead to an exodus of people leaving the country. russia says it's suspending its participation in an agreement, brokered by the un, that allows grain exports from ukraine. moscow claims it's taken the decision after a drone attack on russian ships in occupied crimea. aruna iyengar has this report. sevastopol russia says the drone attack on saturday were targeted against russian vessels employed for the security of ships carrying grain the two countries desperate for food. sevastopol is strategically important to russia. it serves as the headquarters for the black sea fleet, logistical hub for operations in ukraine. ukraine has been swift to respond, saying russia is using the attack as a pretext to withdraw

from the grain agreement. translation:— from the grain agreement. translation: ., , , ., from the grain agreement. translation: ., ,, ., , translation: how can russia be amon: translation: how can russia be among others _ translation: how can russia be among others in _ translation: how can russia be among others in the _ translation: how can russia be among others in the 620 - translation: how can russia be among others in the 620 for - among others in the 620 for deliberately among others in the g20 for deliberately works to create famine on several continents. the un envoy treated a statement saying russia intended to suspend participation in the grain deal and alerted the attack took place with support from the uk, something the uk ministry of defence has denied. russia has been accused of weaponising food and are directly impacting nations in need. the un grain deal, struck injuly it was a diplomatic who, it allows ukraine to reopen ukrainian black sea ports for grain exports. already, it has allowed nearly 9 million towns of ukrainian grain to be exported and was due to be renewed in november. ukraine is the world's renewed in november. ukraine is the worlds for largest exporter of wheat, many countries from lebanon onto

ethiopian are suffering from the effects of high grain price. if russia doesn't stop the grain flow, it would be a blow to this people and to resolving the ukraine crisis. the deal had been viewed as the first step on the way to a possible ceasefire. the un has called for the preservation of the grain corridor and countries should refrain from any action that would imperil it. aruna iyengar, bbc news. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more from the city of dnipro. you will have to forgive the sirens in the background, like so many cities across ukraine, dnipro is dark tonight as russia continues to target the country's infrastructure. but nevertheless, russia has said it is suspending its participation in the landmark grain deal in this war. it is a diplomatic blow. because the grain deal was the only diplomatic breakthrough we've had. it allowed ukraine to export

nine million tonnes of its agricultural produce sincejuly. it has helped the damaged economy, but it's also helped tens of millions of people around the world that rely on ukrainian grain to be able to eat and prevent starvation. so it is a blow, but this is something russia has been hinting at for quite a long time. they have been accused of using the deal as leverage as it continues to be frustrated on the battlefield. but why do it today? its black sea naval fleet next to occupied crimea was hit today in a significant drone strike. it blames ukraine and this is why it says it has taken the action it has. this is why we are now in a sort of cycle. whenever crimea is targeted, somewhere russia tries to portray as a fortress,

it targets ukrainian infrastructure and cities like dnipro suffer the consequences. kyiv hasn't commented, it has been very careful not to do that. it's neither confirmed or denied being behind the attack. but you can be sure that president zelensky will have taken a lot of satisfaction from the scenes we saw in crimea today. he has questioned russia's membership of the g20, the group of countries with the most advanced economies, given that they are weaponising food in this way, but it will be seen as a blow because the deal was seen as a template for a future ceasefire. this is bbc news. the headlines: at least 150 people have been killed in a crush in the south korean capital seoul during halloween celebrations. the president has declared a national period of mourning. russia has pulled out of a un—brokered deal which enabled key grain exports from ukrainian ports.

the husband of the speaker of the us house of representatives nancy pelosi is said to be improving after he was attacked at the couple's home in san francisco. paul pelosi was beaten with a hammer by an intruder, who demanded to see his wife. president biden described the attack as "despicable", and denounced a corrosive political climate for contributing to violence in american society. our west coast correspondent sophie long gave us this update from outside the pelosis' house. well, the fact that paul pelosi was subjected to such a brutal attack in the house behind me, when a man broke into the rear of the building and shouted, "where is nancy?" before striking him with a hammer, has really brought home the vulnerabilities in surrounding the security provision for members of congress and their families and the fact that it could happen to the husband of someone as wealthy and as powerful as nancy pelosi — she is, of course, second in line to the presidency and has her own security detail — has caused real alarm amongst other congress members and their families. now, just to give you a sense of the level of threat that they're facing, this attack happened on the same day as the department for

homeland security issued a warning that the united states was facing an increased threat from domestic violent extremists in the run—up to the midterm elections, which will take just ten days from now. and in the months after the violent insurrection on the capitol building on january the sixth of 2021, capitol police recorded more than 9000 — 9,500 threats against members of congress. and it's notjust members of congress — election workers, federal law enforcement officers and supreme court judges have all had threats issued against them. the man suspected of carrying out the attack on paul pelosi has been arrested. he is 42—year—old david depape. he is being investigated at the moment by the authorities here. that, of course, is ongoing. and one line of good news, of course, welcomed by both sides of the party divide is that paul pelosi, who is now 82 years old, is expected to make a full recovery, having undergone successful surgery yesterday.

president biden has been speaking about the attack again. here's what he said. you know, it's one thing to condemn the violence. but you can't condemn the violence unless you condemn those people continue to argue the election was not real, that it's been stolen, that all the — all the malarkey that's been put out there to undermine democracy. you can'tjust apologise and say "the violence". it affects people's mentality, it affects how people think — particularly people who are not may be as stable as other people, so the talk has to stop. opposition parties in britain are calling for an investigation into reports that the mobile phone of the former prime minister liz truss was hacked while she was foreign secretary. a sunday newspaper here in the uk says messages stolen included private conversations with other foreign ministers about the war in ukraine. it's thought the breach was

discovered several months ago. our political correspondent jonathan blake explained more about the situation. she was foreign secretary at the time and it was also when the conservative leadership contest was playing out that she went on to win. the details of what was accessed on her phone and fell into foreign hands, according to the paper, were kept out of the public domain — a decision they say that was taken by the prime minister and cabinet secretary, the most senior official in the civil service, simon case. unnamed sources told the paper that access to private messages was obtained to the former chancellor kwasi kwarteng, as well as possibly communications with foreign ministers from countries around the world about the war in ukraine. now, it isn't clear how the alleged hack happened or that the foreign secretary did anything wrong but opposition parties in the uk have seized on this. the shadow home secretary from the labour party, yvette cooper, has said "these are immensely important

"national security issues raised by an attack "like this by a hostile state, "that will have to be taken very seriously". the liberal democrats, a smaller opposition party, saying that "an urgent independent investigation "is needed to uncover the truth". now, there are questions about whether the decision to keep the information out of the public domain was to do with the conservative leadership contest. i think perhaps more likely, there was a consideration in government that to have any suggestion that the russians or anyone else had accessed the foreign secretary's phone would be embarrassing and not reflect well on the security services in the uk. the government tonight not commenting on any of the detail of these reports, simply saying in a statement they don't comment on individual security arrangements, but they say the government has robust measures in place against security threats, including advice on protecting personal data and mitigating cyber threats. in south africa, a new zulu king has been crowned at an historic event attended by tens of thousands of people. king misuzulu ka zwelithini received a certificate of recognition from

president cyril ramaphosa. it marked the first zulu coronation since south africa became a democracy in 1994. our correspondent nomsa maseko sent this report. chanting. zulu warriors saluting king misuzulu ka zwelithini after taking his oath. chanting continues. the accreditation certificate, handed over by president cyril ramaphosa, endorses the 48—year—old as the ninth leader of the zulu nation. king misuzulu acknowledged that he had come to the throne at a difficult time. i understand that history has chosen me at this time,

when the zulu and other nations are facing several challenges. among the challenges are poverty, unemployment, a trust deficit in government and traditional leadership structures, climate change disasters, economic meltdown, food insecurity, famine, disease that do not only ravage our people, but also our economies. president ramaphosa hailed the watershed event and emphasised the role that the king would play in binding together the zulu nation. the coronation took place despite rifts within the zulu royal family. some of its members believe he is not the rightful heir to the throne. those divisions have played out in public and in courtrooms. however, prince , the brother of the new king believes his late parents, queen

mantfombi dlamini zulu and king goodwill zwelithini would have been proud of this moment. the king and queen were people that wanted unity, so with what's happening right now, it's very pleasing to them because all they want is unity. while many have gathered to celebrate with the new king, all eyes will be on him as he begins his reign. he doesn't have political power but he does have influence on the 11 million—strong zulu ethnic group. he is also expected to help in tackling some of south africa's social problems, including drug abuse and gender—based violence. nomsa maseko, bbc news, durban. the brazilian football team flamengo have won south america's top club competition, the copa libertadores, beating another brazilian side athletico paranaense1—0.

it's the third time flamengo have won the title and their success means brazilian teams have won the last four cups. their cause was aided by the dismissal of an athletico defender in the first half. the defeat brings an end to the career of athletico's coach, luiz felipe scolari, who is retiring after a0 years as a manager, the highlight of which was world cup success with brazil in 2002. sticking with sport. it's just a few weeks since some of the world's fastest drivers raced around the streets of singapore as formula 1 returned to the city—state. well, this weekend, for the first time ever, it's the turn of the cyclists. star names including chris froome and jonas vingegaard will be among those competing in a tour de france event on sunday in the heart of singapore. earlier, i spoke to baptiste kern, from tour de france organisers amaury sport organisation, who explained what it's all about.

as you may know, tour de france is the annual event taking place every year in france, three weeks at the heart of the summer, and the idea of our tour de france criterium series in singapore and next week in saitama, japan is to bring the tour de france riders and the tour de france atmosphere to asia, to places that, actually, the tour de france cannot go, due to the geographical distance, and we've devised, actually, an action—packed format. instead of going from point a to point b, which the tour de france usually does, we are actually doing a city circuit loop, which is way more action—packed forfans who do not have many opportunities to watch the best riders of the world, so they will be doing 20 loops of a three kay loop within the city circuit, and we are doing a mix of, actually, the tour de france best riders coming, so you have 30 of the best of the peloton, like jonas vingegaard, chris froome, just like you said, vincenzo nibali or mark cavendish, the record

holder for stage wins in tour de france, and we are mixing them with asian riders because the whole purpose from malaysia, singapore, thailand, south korea blending with the tour de france riders to have an amazing celebration of cycling — that's the whole purpose. the swiss railway network has earned a world record by running the longest—ever passenger train, measuring nearly 2km end to end. the train, made up of 100 connected carriages, made its journey through the swiss alps, taking a spectacular, spiralling 25km route from preda to alvaneu. the event, which was watched by thousands of people on assembled big screens, was staged to mark the 175th anniversary of switzerland's railway system. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @richpreston. goodbye for now.

hello. if the sky is clear sufficiently in northern scotland, there's a pretty good chance of spotting the northern lights. having said that, it has been pretty overcast across many parts of northern britain in the last few hours. let's see where the greatest chance of spotting the aurora borealis is. where you see the red colours, that's the highest probability, but northern scotland is just on the edge, so it could well be on the horizon pretty low and if the sky is clear. low pressure is still dominating our weather. it is still pushing in that mild current of air from the south, rather dragging it in, so sunday is going to be another mild day with a few showers. some of them could be heavy, though, perhaps one or two cracks of thunder, and blustery ones, too. here is the forecast. through the early hours, we will have seen showers drifting into some western parts but clearing skies again in the north and in many eastern areas. the possibility of some showers in the south—east and east anglia as well.

and after a mild day, a mild morning on sunday — between ten and 1a, 15 degrees. so here is tomorrow's weather forecast. blustery showers out towards the west pushed in from the south—west, moving northwards, carried on that breeze. they could be heavy across northern parts of the uk. further south, i think predominantly sunny spells and actually, it may stay dry along the south coast all through sunday. and, again, a mild day but not quite as warm, so not the 23 degrees that we recorded on saturday in the south — more like 17 in london. and here is the forecast for the evening. you can see showers continuing there in northern scotland. how about monday? a weather front is approaching. ahead of it, you can see some clearer weather there. so, monday is halloween. we are going to see some sunshine to start with but i think through the course of the morning into the afternoon, this weather front will approach and start to bring some rain from western scotland to northern ireland, perhaps the irish sea, and later nudging into wales and the south—west, but again really mild — the high teens, i think — and it will stay mild, particularly across eastern areas,

some clear skies during the course of monday evening. now, let's have a look at the outlook for the next few days. it stays relatively mild until round about wednesday and then from about thursday—friday, we start to see those temperatures returning to the seasonal norm and it will be blustery at times, with frequent showers and spells of rain.