welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: over 150 people are killed in a crush in the south korean capital, seoul. dozens more are injured. it was very clear that there were just so many people here, probably the most i've ever seen in itaewon, and the crowds were just gathering more and more. the president declares a national period of mourning, as city officials launch an urgent investigation into the cause of chaotic scenes ahead of the incident this is the current picture at the site of the tragedy, in the itaewon district of the city. 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 the programme. south korea's president yoon suk—yeol has declared a period of national mourning following a crush in the capital, seoul, that is now known to have killed 151 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. 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 and 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, desperately trying to tell people to leave the area as soon as possible. sirens wail 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 currently just it is currentlyjust after midday. in itaewon. and jean sent this update from the scene. we do not know exactly what caused the crush here, but we are starting to get a better picture of how things unfolded. if you see the alleyway just behind me, which is were it happened, it is very narrow, and we know that thousands of people were packed into that space. it's also got quite a steep hill up and there are reports that people at the top of the hill fell, slipped, and because there was such little room to move, they then pushed people down the alleyway. we know that the area was far too overcrowded. this is such a popular area, itaewon, in seoul, it is when people love to go out on the weekend. it is where people love to go out on the weekend. it's popular with the locals and it's popular with foreigners and tourists, and halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year here. i was speaking to people in the run—up to last night who were telling me how they were planning

to avoid this area on saturday because they knew how busy it was going to be, so these crowds were expected. now, all this will i am sure come out in the post—mortem but at the moment, what people are dealing with here, is still trying to identify those who have died because the death toll is absolutely enormous and it keeps climbing up and there are also hundreds of people who are reported to be injured so that death toll is expected to get even higher, with people questioning when you look at the amount of people who've been injured, how high is that death toll going to get? we have had people be moved, the bodies that were on the street here, they have been moved into a gymnasium where people have been asked to go and try and identify them and this is going to be a hugejob because of the number of victims. because so many people have died, we have not learned an awful lot about those who have died yet. we just know that because of the area, because it was a saturday night, most of them are young. nicola smith is the asia correspondent for the telegraph.

shejoins us now from seoul. thank you for making the time for us. what is happening where you are? i for us. what is happening where ou are? . . , ., ., you are? i am currently at a community _ you are? i am currently at a community centre - you are? i am currently at a community centre in - you are? i am currently at a | community centre in tanard, you are? i am currently at a i community centre in tanard, a ten minute walk from where the tragedy occurred last night and there is an emergency centre for people who have relatives or friends who were missing and they are coming and registering their names here. they are trying to find out if they are injured or if very sadly they died in the tragedy and adjust find out and trying to identify victims and there are some very distressing sensor, people collapsing on the floor in tears, very distressing for everyone. tears, very distressing for everyone-— tears, very distressing for eve one. . , ., everyone. pictures from last niuht everyone. pictures from last night very — everyone. pictures from last night very distressing. - everyone. pictures from last night very distressing. what| night very distressing. what have peeple _ night very distressing. what have people been _ night very distressing. what have people been saying - night very distressing. what have people been saying to | night very distressing. wiat have people been saying to you? last night i was at the scene, i got there at about midnight,

i got there at about midnight, i was out with some friends nearby. we saw lots and lots of a business passing by and became clear there was a major incident in itaewon and when i got there they were still bodies on the street, they were covered over at that point and it really hit home when you see actual bodies, just young people who were out trying to have a fun night out for halloween, but when i spoke to witnesses they said they had been frightened for their own safety, caught in a huge crowd, they could not move, they could not breathe and they had to just go with the crowd and people i spoke towards so relieved they managed to escape but tragically so many people did not. , ., ., did not. president yoon suk-yeol has _ did not. president yoon suk-yeol has been - did not. president yoon - suk-yeol has been speaking the suk—yeol has been speaking the last few hours and announced a period of mourning. what else is he said? he period of mourning. what else is he said?— is he said? he said that they have to look _ is he said? he said that they have to look at _ is he said? he said that they have to look at ways - is he said? he said that they have to look at ways of - have to look at ways of preventing this from happening. 0bviously, they are having to

look at my it happen and whether it could be prevented and that is going to be a huge political issue over the next few days, few weeks, and obviously it is something the public want to know, they want to know answers, they want to know why so many crowds were allowed into this area, where they could have been stopped, where they could have been control or whether police could have been out in more force. nobody really knows at this stage, it is too early but that is certainly something the authorities will be looking at the next few days.— authorities will be looking at the next few days. seoul is a vibrant, high-tech _ the next few days. seoul is a vibrant, high-tech city - the next few days. seoul is a vibrant, high-tech city and l vibrant, high—tech city and many people will be surprised something like this could have happened in a city like seoul? there is a lot of surprises and a lot of shot, naturally. i don't think anybody saw this coming but itaewon is a very vibrant neighbourhood, there vibra nt neighbourhood, there are vibrant neighbourhood, there are a lot of small narrow streets, a lot of bars and it

is very popular. it is a guess this night that people were going out to celebrate, people said they were really looking forward to it because it was the first time since covid—i9 they could enjoy a halloween celebration and traditionally they have been halloween celebrations in itaewon so it is surprising for korea but at the same time, when you have so many crowds in one small place, then unfortunately it looks like it is a tragedy waiting to happen. like it is a tragedy waiting to ha en, . ., .,, like it is a tragedy waiting to ha en. . ., .,, ,, like it is a tragedy waiting to hauen. . ., ,, ., ~ happen. nicholas smith, thank ou so happen. nicholas smith, thank you so much — happen. nicholas smith, thank you so much for— happen. nicholas smith, thank you so much for making - happen. nicholas smith, thank you so much for making time l happen. nicholas smith, thank i you so much for making time for us. —— nicola. the cuban coastguard has confirmed that one of its vessels has crashed into a speedboat reportedly carrying cubans as they attempted to flee the island. in the collision, the speedboat capsized, resulting in 5 deaths, including one child. let's speak to our latin america correspondent will grant. what more do we know? according

to the cuban government, this speed boat had actually come from the united states and cubans were being trafficked, according to the government, as i stress, back to the united states, when the cuban coastguard attempted to intercept it. there was a collision, this in a place of the northern coast in a place called bahia honda and we understand that about two dozen people were rescued from the waters, but five people killed, one a minor, little girl, three women and one man. the cuban government has been very quick to criticise us policy towards the island, blaming it as at the island, blaming it as at the cause of this, saying it was ultimately another consequence of us policy towards cuba, that the us

embassy in cuba has offered its condolences to the victims families and they always point out the severe dangers of journeys of this type. mimi; journeys of this type. why would the _ journeys of this type. why would the cuban - journeys of this type. why would the cuban government blame us policy would one of its boats has collided with the speedboat?— speedboat? ultimately the suggestion _ speedboat? ultimately the suggestion is _ speedboat? ultimately the suggestion is that - speedboat? ultimately the suggestion is that because | speedboat? ultimately the i suggestion is that because of us policy, the decades long economic embargo on the island, squeezing the island, attempting to force regime change on the one hand, that is the stick towards cuba, the carrot of course is that there are preferential terms under which cubans can come into the united states and gained permanent residency, if they managed to make it. much more preferable than many other undocumented immigrants from latin america. and ultimately

for decades us policy towards cuba has been about that, encouraging people to flee, encouraging people to flee, encouraging people to flee, encouraging people to ultimately rise up against the government. naturally, washington says this is not on them, the people rifling through a combination of mismanagement of the economy, blackouts, huge, dreadful scarcity is in basic goods and recently a very severe clampdown on the human rights on the island.— on the island. thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news: security forces in iraq say at least nine people were killed when a fuel truck exploded 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 45 people. tropical storm nalgae brought torrential rain. most of the casualties were 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 people leaving the country. russia says it's suspending its participation in an agreement brokered by the un that allows grain to be exported 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 and the latest salvo between ukraine and russia. russia says the drone attacks on the crimean port, early on saturday, were targeted against russian vessels employed for the security of ships carrying grain the to countries

desperate for food. sevastopol is strategically important to russia. it serves as the headquarters for russia's black sea fleet, a 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: how can russia be among others in the 620 if it - deliberately works to create famine on several continents. this is nonsense. russia has no place in the 620. russia's un envoy tweeted a statement saying russia intended to suspend participation in the grain deal. he also alleged the attack took place with support from the uk — something the uk's ministry of defence has denied. washington in turn has accuse russia of weaponising food and in so doing, directly impacting nations in need. the un grain deal, struck injuly, was a diplomatic coup, it allows ukraine to reopen

ukrainian black sea ports for grain exports. already, it has allowed nearly 9 million tons of ukrainian grain to be exported and was due to be renewed in november. ukraine is the world's fifth largest exporter of wheat, many countries, from lebanon to ethiopia, are suffering from the effects of higher grain prices as a result of the war. if russia does stop the grain flow, it will be a blow to these people and to resolving the russia—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, saying all parties must refrain from any action which would imperil it. aruna iyengar, bbc news. the south korean president has declared a national period of mourning — after 151 people were killed in a crush in the capital, seoul —

during halloween celebrations. russia has pulled out of a un—brokered deal which enabled key grain exports from ukrainian ports. nancy pelosi says she is hearbroken and traumatised over the attack on her husband 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. mr pelosi is said to be improving. resident biden has spoken about the attack and here is what he had to say. —— president biden. 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. 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 theirfamilies, 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 place just ten days from now. and in the months after the violent insurrection on the capitol building on 6january of 2021, capitol police recorded more than 9,000 — 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.

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 taken, they say, 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 here in the uk, as you say, 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 mbonisi zulu, 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.

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 of the event is also to inspire, so we have teams 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. you can reach me you can reach me on you can reach me on twitter. thank you for your company and we will see you next time. would buy.

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.