La Oroya (Peru) (AFP) – The Peruvian mining city of La Oroya, one of the most polluted places in the world, is seeking to reopen a heavy metal smelter that poisoned residents for almost a century. Locals are divided between those hoping for jobs and those warning about pollution in the city.
Cianjur (Indonesia) (AFP) – Survivors of Indonesia’s deadly earthquake cook outdoors and use a communal shower surrounded by destroyed homes after the disaster killed at least 271 people and displaced more than 61,000.
Edinburgh (AFP) – Scottish independence supporters in Edinburgh feel “angry and disappointed” after the UK Supreme Court ruled that a second independence referendum could not be held without the consent of the British government.
Al Wakrah (Qatar) (AFP) – England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford says the decision for captain Harry Kane not to wear the “OneLove” rainbow armband was “taken out” of the squad’s hands. FIFA reportedly said players who wore the “OneLove” rainbow armband to support equality would face being booked.
Vilnyansk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Workers dig through the rubble searching for survivors after a Russian missile hit a maternity ward in the city of Vilniansk, just east of Zaporizhzhia. Authorities say that a newborn baby was killed in the strike on the southern Ukrainian region which Moscow claims to have annexed.
Ankara (AFP) – Turkey is more determined than ever to secure its border with Syria and prevent attacks by Kurdish forces, says President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who claims his country’s “operations with planes, cannons and drones are only the beginning” with a ground operation planned “when convenient”.
Norte de Santander (Colombia) (AFP) – On a highway in northeast Colombia, near the border with Venezuela, in a region where local police say both ELN guerrillas and FARC dissidents operate, Roberto Pinto recounts how armed men stopped his truck and burnt it down along with four others.
Kolwezi (DR Congo) (AFP) – Once prosperous and pretty, one Kolwezi neighbourhood, in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is now almost completely destroyed, separated from a sprawling open-cast pit by a concrete barrier. The Chinese-owned cobalt mine next door wants to expand, and many residents have taken buy-outs.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian emergency services rescue a man from rubble after a rocket struck a maternity ward in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian emergency services say Russian rockets smashed into a building overnight in Vilniansk, killing a newborn baby.
Moscow (AFP) – Backstage at a bar in Moscow, a troupe of drag queens surrounded by make-up palettes and sparkling costumes join hands before taking to the stage for what could be one of their last legal shows. Russian lawmakers are on the verge of widening a package of notorious legislation from 2013 that broadly targets LGBTQ communities.
