Monday morning news: October 31, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

S. Korea crowd surge » Worried relatives raced to hospitals in Seoul, South Korea in search of their loved ones Sunday after more than 150 people were killed in a crowd crush at a Halloween party.

AUDIO: [Sound from Seoul]

Cameras flashed as mourners laid flowers at the scene of the tragedy.

AUDIO: [Sound from Seoul]

The victims were mostly young adults who got trapped after a huge crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district.

Some described it as horrifying chaos as people fell on each other “like dominoes.”

Tourist Janelle Story was there and escaped unharmed.

STORY: There was a panic coming towards us, some shouts of fear, but also confusion.

She said the Itaewon district is famous for dense crowds …

STORY: But this was next-level; shoulder to shoulder, just shimmying along [with] no control about where you’re going to move at times based on where the crowd pushes you.

An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country’s biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began.

India bridge collapse » Meantime in western India …

AUDIO: [Siren]

At least 60 people died after a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed into a river last night, sending hundreds plunging into the water.

Videos on social media showed people clinging onto the metal cables of the partly submerged bridge as rescuers raced to reach them.

Authorities said the colonial-era structure had closed for renovation and reopened just last week.

Hindu festival season drew hundreds of people to the bridge, and officials say it couldn’t handle the weight of the large crowd.

NY gubernatorial race » Election Day is one week from tomorrow, and candidates are making their final push.

HOCHUL: I came here to make a difference in your lives! I’m here to fight for you!

Democratic governor of New York, Kathy Hochul. She holds a 7-point lead in the polls over Republican rival Lee Zeldin, who said he believes …

ZELDIN: That all of our students should have access to a quality of education that they’re not getting in too many places across this state.

Other governors’ races to watch include one in Wisconsin, where the race between incumbent Democrat Tony Evers and Republican Tim Michaels is a virtual dead heat.

In Oregon, Republican Christine Drazan holds a one-and-a-half-point lead. And in Nevada and Minnesota, two-and-a-half points separate the top candidates in the polls.

Klobuchar to help keep officials and families safe » Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is among the lawmakers who say Congress must weigh new protections for members and their families. That follows an attack last week on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, she pointed to a bill passed this year to provide security for the families of Supreme Court justices.

KLOBUCHAR: After the threat on Judge Kavanaugh, the actual perpetrator going into his neighborhood, we actually did pass legislation that I strongly supported.

She said lawmakers should consider similar protection for the families of top Congressional leaders.

But she said all lawmakers need some form of increased protection. In 2017, a man opened fire at the annual congressional baseball game, shooting Republican House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and four others.

Supreme Court today poised to hear affirmative action » The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today about whether race should be considered in college admissions. The court will look at affirmative action cases involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

U.C. Berkeley law professor John Woo noted that college admissions are the only instance in which the Supreme Court has allowed race as a consideration.

WOO: It doesn’t allow its use in national security, in policing, in hiring, giving out money, giving out contracts. Why should schools be able to consider us by our skin color, rather than, as Martin Luther King said, on the content of our characters?

The colleges say they need to take an applicants’ race into account to ensure diversity on their campuses.

Brazil election » Election authorities in Brazil announced last night that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the leftist Worker’s Party has ousted incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro.

Da Silva previously served as the country’s president from 2003-2010.

It is a stunning return to power for the 77-year-old, who went to prison in 2018 in a corruption scandal.

He’ll be sworn in on Jan. 1st.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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