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KYIV, Ukraine — Russia's blockade of grain exports makes it "impossible" for fully loaded ships to leave port, Ukraine charged on Sunday after Moscow claimed drone attacks on its Crimea fleet had exploited the grain corridor safe zone.

Kyiv's maritime grain exports were halted after Russia pulled out of a landmark agreement that allowed the vital shipments.

The July deal to unlock grain exports signed between Russia and Ukraine and brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, is critical to easing the global food crisis caused by the conflict.

"[A] bulk carrier loaded with 40 tonnes of grain was supposed to leave the Ukraine port today," Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov tweeted.

"These foodstuffs were intended for Ethiopians, that are on the verge of famine. But due to the blockage of the 'grain corridor' by Russia the export is impossible," the Ukrainian minister said.

The agreement had already allowed more than nine million tonnes of Ukrainian grain to be exported and was due to be renewed on November 19.

Russia's defence ministry alleged Sunday the attack drones had "Canadian-made navigation modules", saying it had recovered debris from some of the weapons in the sea.

Specialists had "conducted an examination of Canadian-made navigation modules installed on the marine unmanned vehicles", the ministry said.

On Saturday Russia announced its suspension after accusing Kyiv of a "massive" drone attack on the Black Sea fleet, which Ukraine labelled a "false pretext".

US President Joe Biden called the move "purely outrageous" while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Moscow was "weaponising food".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Sunday expressed "deep concern" about the situation, his spokesman said, and delayed his departure for an Arab League Summit in Algiers by a day "to focus on the issue".

The EU on Sunday urged Russia to "revert its decision".

The centre coordinating the logistics of the deal said in a statement that no traffic was planned for Sunday.

“A joint agreement has not been reached at the JCC for the movement of inbound and outbound vessels on 30 October,” it said. “There are more than 10 vessels both outbound and inbound waiting to enter the corridor.”

Turkey’s defence ministry later Sunday said ships would not leave Ukraine “during this period” but Turkey would continue checks of ships in Istanbul carrying Ukrainian grain “today and tomorrow”.

It also said Russia had formally notified Turkey of its suspension but “Russian personnel remained at the coordination centre” in Istanbul.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Twitter that Russia was blocking “2 million tonnes of grain on 176 vessels already at sea” that he said was “enough to feed seven million people”.

He accused Moscow of having planned to “resume its hunger games” in advance and said the Black Sea explosions were “220 kilometres away from the grain corridor”.

‘Peddling false claims’ 

Kyiv and the UN earlier urged that the agreement remain in force.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia’s move “an absolutely transparent intention of Russia to return the threat of large-scale famine to Africa and Asia”.

Sevastopol in Moscow-annexed Crimea has been targeted several times in recent months and serves as the Black Sea fleet’s headquarters and a logistical hub for operations in Ukraine.

Russia’s army claimed to have “destroyed” nine aerial drones and seven maritime ones in an attack on the port early Saturday.

It alleged British “specialists” based in the southern Ukrainian city of Ochakiv had helped prepare and train Kyiv to carry out the strike.

In a further singling out of the UK — which Moscow sees as one of the most unfriendly Western countries — Russia said the same British unit was involved in explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month.

Britain strongly rebutted both claims, saying “the Russian ministry of defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale”.

Moscow’s military said ships targeted at their Crimean base were involved in the grain deal.

‘Massive’ attack 

Russia had recently criticised the deal, saying its own grain exports have suffered due to Western sanctions.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, said Saturday’s drone attack was the “most massive” the peninsula had seen.

Attacks on Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, have increased recently as Kyiv presses a counteroffensive in the south to retake territory held by Moscow.

In early October, Moscow’s key bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland was damaged by a blast that President Vladimir Putin blamed on Ukraine.

Kyiv said Sunday its troops in the south are “holding their positions and hit the enemy in order to create conditions for further offensive actions”.

Moscow-installed authorities in Kherson, just north of Crimea, have vowed to turn the city into a fortress, preparing for an inevitable assault.

AHMEDABAD, India — At least 60 people were killed on Sunday in India after a more than 100-year-old suspension bridge collapsed, sending scores of people tumbling into the river below, a senior official said.

“Sixty people have died. More than 80 have been rescued,” Brijesh Merja, a minister in the western state of Gujarat where the disaster happened, told AFP.

Other unconfirmed media reports put the death toll at around 90.

Authorities said nearly 500 people including women and children were on and around the bridge when cables supporting it snapped, bringing the structure down into the river.

The bridge, which had only recently re-opened after repairs, is located in Morbi around 200 kilometres west of Gujarat’s main city, Ahmedabad.

Local media quoted officials as saying that those on the bridge were performing rituals for a major religious festival when it gave way into the Machchhu River.

Local media showing videos — which could not be independently verified — of people desperately clinging to the remains of the structure and trying to swim to safety in the dark.

The 233-metre British-era suspension bridge was only reopened to the public on Wednesday, after seven months of repairs.

Broadcaster NDTV reported that the bridge reopened despite not having a safety certificate, and that video footage from Saturday showed it swaying.

Authorities launched a rescue operation following the collapse, with boats and divers deployed to search for missing people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was touring his home state of Gujarat, announced compensation for those killed and injured in the accident.

Modi “sought urgent mobilisation of teams for rescue [operations]”, his office tweeted.

“He has asked that the situation be closely and continuously monitored, and [for authorities to] extend all possible help to those affected.”

The Gujarat government on its official website describes the bridge as “an engineering marvel built at the turn of the century”.

Accidents from old and poorly maintained infrastructure including bridges are common in India.

In 2016 the collapse of a flyover onto a busy street in the eastern city of Kolkata killed at least 26 people. Rescue workers pulled out nearly 100 people injured from under huge concrete slabs and metal.

In 2011 at least 32 people are killed when a bridge packed with festival crowds collapsed in northeast India, about 30 kilometres from the hill town of Darjeeling.

Less than a week later around 30 people were killed when a footbridge over a river in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh collapsed.

In 2006 at least 34 people were killed when a 150-year-old bridge collapsed on a passenger train in the railway station in the eastern state of Bihar.

SEOUL — More than 150 people have been killed in a stampede at a Halloween event in Seoul, officials said on Sunday, with South Korea’s president vowing a thorough investigation into one of the country’s worst-ever disasters.

The crowd surge and crush took place in the capital’s popular central Itaewon district, where estimates suggest as many as 100,000 people — mostly in their teens and 20s — went to celebrate Halloween Saturday night, clogging the area’s narrow alleyways and winding streets.

President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a period of national mourning on Sunday, telling the country in a televised address that “a tragedy and disaster occurred that should not have happened”.

He said the government “will thoroughly investigate the cause of the incident and make fundamental improvements to ensure the same accident does not occur again”.

Witnesses described being trapped in a narrow, sloping alleyway and scrambling to get out of the suffocating crowd as people piled on top of one another.

“There were so many people just being pushed around and I got caught in the crowd and I couldn’t get out at first,” 30-year-old Jeon Ga-eul told AFP.

The interior ministry said 153 people had died, including 20 foreigners, in the stampede, which occurred around 10pm local time (13:00 GMT).

Most of the victims were young women in their 20s, it said, adding that 133 people were injured.

An official from the defence ministry said three military personnel were among the dead.

Authorities also said they had received more than 2,600 reports of people missing.

‘Unprecedentedly large’ 

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who rushed back to South Korea from a work trip in Europe, said his office would set up a memorial altar so the public could pay their respects to the victims, starting Monday morning.

“Most of the casualties are young people like our sons and daughters, which makes it even more sad,” Oh said while visiting the site of the disaster.

Officials said on Sunday they had no clear idea of what caused the crush, while witnesses described scenes of chaos after a vast crowd panicked in the narrow alleyway.

Local shopkeepers told AFP the number of people at the annual celebration was “unprecedentedly large” this year — the first public event to be held without COVID-19 restrictions since the pandemic began.

As questions began to emerge over a lack of security at the event, interior minister Lee Sang-min told a briefing that the police force had been preoccupied on the other side of town.

“A considerable number had been deployed at Gwanghwamun where a large crowd was expected for a protest,” he said.

Police had also not expected such a large crowd at the Halloween event, he added.

Paramedics at the scene, quickly overwhelmed by the number of victims, were asking passers-by to administer first aid.

In an interview with local broadcaster YTN, Lee Beom-suk, a doctor at the event, described the chaos.

“So many victims’ faces were pale. I could not catch their pulse or breathing and many of them had a bloody nose. When I tried CPR, I also drew blood out of their mouths.”

Photos captured by AFP showed scores of bodies on the pavement covered by bed sheets, and emergency workers loading more bodies on stretchers into ambulances.

‘Oh my God’ 

Twitter user @janelles_story shared a video that she said showed Itaewon shortly before the stampede in which hundreds of young people, many in elaborate Halloween costumes, are seen in a narrow street lined with bars and cafes.

The crowd appears in good spirits at first, but then a commotion begins and people start being pushed into one another. Screams and gasps are heard and a female voice cries out in English “Shit, shit!” followed by “Oh my God, oh my God!”

The interior ministry said the 20 foreigners killed included people from the United States, Uzbekistan, Austria, Norway, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Iran and Sri Lanka.

The United States embassy in Seoul confirmed that two US nationals had died. Russia said three of its citizens were killed.

China also confirmed that four of its nationals had died, with President Xi Jinping sending “deep condolences” to Seoul.

President Joe Biden said the United States “stands with” South Korea after the tragedy, while Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he was “hugely shocked and deeply saddened”.

MOSCOW — The Russian army accused Ukraine on Saturday of a "massive" drone attack on its Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, while Britain bluntly rejected Moscow's claims its specialists were involved.

Sevastopol in Moscow-annexed Crimea, which has been targeted several times in recent months, serves as the headquarters for the fleet and a logistical hub for operations in Ukraine.

The Russian army claimed to have "destroyed" nine aerial drones and seven maritime ones, in an attack in the port early Saturday.

Moscow's forces alleged British "specialists", whom they said were based in the southern Ukrainian city of Ochakiv, had helped prepare and train Kyiv to carry out the strike.

In a further singling out of the UK — which Moscow sees as one of the most unfriendly Western countries — Moscow said the same British unit was involved in explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month.

Britain strongly rebutted both claims, saying "The Russian ministry of defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale."

The British defence ministry said that this "invented story says more about arguments going on inside the Russian government than it does about the West".

Moscow's military said ships targeted at their Crimean base were involved in a UN-brokered deal to allow the export of Ukrainian grain.

Russia had recently criticised the deal, saying its own grain exports have suffered due to Western sanctions.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, said Saturday's drone attack was the "most massive" the peninsula had seen.

The city's services were on "alert", but he claimed no "civilian infrastructure" had been damaged.

He called on residents of the city not to post videos of the incident on social media.

"It should be clear to everyone that such information is much needed for Ukrainian Nazis in order to understand how the defence of our city is built," he said.

City authorities said that the harbour was "temporarily" closed to boats and ferries and urged people "not to panic".

Attacks on Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, have increased in recent weeks, as Kyiv presses a counter-offensive in the south to retake territory held by Moscow for months.

Moscow-installed authorities in Kherson, just north of Crimea, have vowed to turn the city into a fortress, preparing for an inevitable assault.

On Thursday, Razvozhayev said a thermal power station had been attacked in Balaklava, in the Sevastopol area.

He claimed there was only minor damage and no casualties.

In early October, Moscow's bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland — personally inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin in 2018 — was damaged by a blast that Putin blamed on Ukraine.

The Russian fleet stationed in the port had also been attacked by a drone in August.

Russia's allegations Saturday came as the Ukrainian army reported fighting in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions in the east, including near Bakhmut — the only area where Moscow's forces have advanced in recent weeks.

Pro-Russian separatists fighting alongside Moscow also announced a new prisoner exchange with Kyiv, saying 50 will return home from each side.

On the southern front, AFP journalists witnessed artillery battles in the village of Kobzartsi, the last settlement on the Ukrainian side before the line of contact with the Russians.

"It can go wrong here. But we know that they suffer much more on their side than on ours," said Oleksiy, a Ukrainian soldier in his 20s.

Both sides were gearing up for the battle for the city of Kherson, the regional capital that fell to Moscow's forces in the first days of their offensive.

BEIJING — Dressed in matching navy windbreakers and flanking President Xi Jinping, China’s freshly appointed top leadership this week made their first group outing to the Communist Party’s “holy land”.

Xi’s choice to visit Yan’an — a site inextricably linked with Communist China’s founder Mao Zedong — was an important, deliberate indication of the themes of his next five years at the helm, analysts said.

Xi has centralised and personalised power more than any Chinese leader since Mao, culminating in his being anointed with a historic third term following last weekend’s Communist Party (CCP) Congress.

The new Politburo Standing Committee he shepherded around the popular “Red tourism” destination on Thursday consists solely of his loyal allies.

“The signal with the visit to Yan’an is one of celebrating a parallel [with Ma]) and brooking no opposition,” wrote Manoj Kewalramani from the Takshashila Institution in Bengaluru, India.

A 16-minute news segment about the visit on state broadcaster CCTV showed several portraits of Mao, and a report by the official Xinhua news agency mentioned the former leader’s name 14 times.

The itinerary included visits to Mao’s former residence, as well as a hall where a pivotal CCP meeting in 1945 confirmed him as chairman, apparently showcasing Xi’s deep interest in party history and its influence on his rhetoric and policies.

But it also harked back to an era when the CCP relied on mass “struggle” to win a bloody civil war, which observers believe has parallels with how Beijing views the current geopolitical climate.

“Among the signals Xi appears to be sending... is prepare for difficult times ahead, and prepare for struggle,” analyst Bill Bishop wrote in his Sinocism newsletter.

Xi took the 2012 standing committee to an exhibition about national rejuvenation in Beijing, and the 2017 one to the site of the first CCP Congress in Shanghai.

“The first travels after each Party Congress seems to be about ‘remember the original mission’,” tweeted the Australian National University’s Wen-Ti Sung.

According to state media, Xi on Thursday vowed that his new standing committee would “inherit and carry forward the fine revolutionary traditions formed by the party during the Yan’an period”.

Cradle of the revolution 

Yan’an is revered in Communist Party lore as the cradle of the movement.

Nestled in the remote, arid mountains of northwest China, it was where party members hunkered down after the Long March, a gruelling year-long expedition by foot across the country to escape encirclement by Nationalist troops during the Chinese Civil War.

Tens of thousands died en route, and by the time the survivors arrived in Yan’an, they were a severely weakened force.

Mao and his allies, including Xi’s father, lived alongside local peasants in caves as they planned military campaigns.

The CCP’s eventual victory over the Nationalists saw the Yan’an period codified as a shining example of the Party’s ability to overcome adversity.

Yan’an is also firmly linked to Mao and his consolidation of power.

More than 10,000 people, including intellectuals and artists, were killed during the Yan’an Rectification — a mass campaign of brainwashing and purges that established Mao as the undisputed leader.

But on Thursday, Xi said that “through the Yan’an Rectification Movement, the whole Party united under the banner of Mao Zedong and achieved unprecedented unity”, according to CCTV.

“A firm and correct political orientation is the essence of the Yan’an Spirit.”

One of the hallmarks of Xi’s tenure has been a focus on intra-party discipline, most obviously through a long-running anti-corruption campaign.

Historical legitimacy 

Xi tends to think of himself as an “heir of the revolution”, according to sinologist Alfred L. Chan.

In speeches, he has sought to draw a direct line between the past and present, using history as a source of legitimacy for both the party and himself.

On Thursday, for example, he referred to his personal connections to Yan’an.

During the height of the Cultural Revolution, 15-year-old Xi was sent to the village of Liangjiahe, where he also slept in caves and was shocked at the harshness of manual labour.

He often cites this period as a formative life experience that gave him grit and determination, as well as an insight into the lives of ordinary working-class Chinese.

And it is another way in which Xi attempts to mould his public persona and life story in the vein of Mao, analysts say.

“Xi wants to go back to the orthodoxy of communism in China like Mao,” said Alfred Wu, a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore.

MOSCOW — The Russian parliament on Thursday passed a law allowing ex-convicts to be mobilised into the army and other measures to prop up Moscow's troops in Ukraine.

Last month President Vladimir Putin announced the mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of reservists in the country to boost his Ukraine military campaign.

People who were released from prison but hold a criminal record for serious crimes can now be mobilised into the Russian armed forces.

The decree introducing mobilisation previously banned the recruitment of such ex-convicts.

The change does not apply to people convicted of sexual assault against a minor terrorist acts, traffic of radioactive material or crimes against the government, including treason and espionage.

The parliament, or Duma, also passed legislation reinforcing the status of people voluntarily supporting the Russia army during mobilisation, in times of war, counter-terrorist operations, or abroad.

“In terms of status, volunteers will be equal to our servicemen under contract,” said Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

“It is only fair: They protect our country,” he said, according to a statement on the Duma website.

The law will regulate “material and technical protection measures for volunteer groups and define social protections for them and their families,” according to the statement.

Both bills will need to be approved by the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, before Putin can sign them into law.

More than 200,000 people have joined the Russian armed forces since mobilisation was announced, the defence ministry said in early October.

But after some public outrage over students, older or sick people being mistakenly ordered to report for duty, Putin ordered that mistakes be “corrected”.

Putin ordered the establishment of a special coordination council headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to cover the needs of the armed forces during mobilisation.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for lunch on Wednesday, with both sides saying they made progress towards easing differences on energy and defence dogging the European Union’s vital double act.

The two leaders were “of one mind on the major directions” of policy, a German diplomatic source said after the meeting, while a source in the French presidency called it “very constructive”.

“Today was a very good and important conversation on European energy supply, rising prices and joint arms projects,” Scholz tweeted.

“Germany and France stand close together and are tackling challenges jointly”.

Macron and Scholz were at pains to put on a show of friendliness as Scholz climbed out of his black Mercedes on arrival, with both smiling and shaking hands.

The pair spoke for around an hour longer than planned, including a one-on-one session without advisers.

The German source said they discussed issues including “European energy policy, national energy policies, economic development, defence, space and foreign policy”.

Meanwhile, the French presidency said the talks were “in a spirit of very close cooperation for the medium- and long-term”.

But Macron and Scholz did not appear before journalists to announce any joint decisions or take questions.

Recent weeks had seen growing signs of discord between Berlin and Paris, under pressure from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its knock-on effects especially on energy markets.

Berlin’s move to spend up to 200 billion euros ($200 billion) subsidising soaring gas prices and refusal to consider an EU-wide energy price cap nettled Paris and other European capitals, who fear the effect on their energy costs.

On defence, France is rattled by German plans for a shared missile shield with other NATO nations using American equipment, while longer-term projects to jointly develop new fighter jets and tanks appear stalled.

A big-spending “new era” of German defence policy announced by Scholz following the Russian attack has not translated into major contracts within Europe, especially for French firms as Macron hoped.

‘Motor has to work’ 

Wednesday’s meeting came instead of a postponed joint Cabinet meeting between Paris and Berlin, which would have been Scholz’s first as chancellor.

So far, the German leader — in office for less than a year — has not developed the same warmth with Macron as his predecessor Angela Merkel, who “texted every day”, one French diplomatic source said ahead of the talks.

Strained ties between the EU’s two largest and most populous economies — in the past often the brokers of compromise among the bloc’s 27 members — have come at exactly the wrong time.

Russia’s invasion and the resulting disruption to the energy system have coincided with rising tensions between China and the West, as well as fears that more isolationist forces could return to power in Washington.

Berlin and Paris also differ on how to make the EU more agile faced with the new challenges, and how quickly to admit new members.

Macron warned that “both of us, together with the EU as a whole, are confronted with one of the biggest, furthest-reaching crises ever experienced by Europe”, with “a lot of work ahead”, the German diplomatic source said.

“Agreement between France and Germany is not sufficient, because everyone else has to agree, but it is necessary,” said Stephane Dion, Canadian ambassador to France and former envoy to Germany.

“They remain the motor of Europe. For Europe to work, that motor has to work,” he added.

Tight deadline 

France’s Europe minister Laurence Boone told the senate on Wednesday that the two countries should aim to resolve their differences “by the 60th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty” on January 22.

Signed by post-war leaders Charles De Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, the pact forms the foundations of French-German cooperation.

For now the two sides have agreed to set up “working groups... that will have the two governments working closely together towards the next steps in the coming days”, the Elysee said.

The groups cover topics including defence and security, energy and innovation, the German source said.

Macron and Scholz also agreed to talk “before and after” the German leader’s upcoming visit to China and the French president’s visit to the US, the German source said.