AFP UK

London (AFP) – Ambulance drivers and paramedics in the UK have staged their second walkout in two months as they call for better pay and conditions. Those on the picket lines today in London say they have suffered “real-terms pay cuts” as inflation soars into double-digits. In the midst of widespread industrial action, which has seen NHS nurses, passport officials, postal workers and rail staff walk out in recent months, the UK government has proposed controversial new legislation that would force unions to provide a “minimum service”.

Brasília (AFP) – The clean-up of Brazil’s Supreme Court building is under way after supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro occupied it for around four hours on Sunday. Police are working in the secured building, surrounded by smashed glass, ransacked offices and vandalised artwork. Gilmar Mendes, a Supreme Court judge, describes the event as a “monstrous brutality”.

Moscow (AFP) – The fierce battle for the Ukrainian city of Soledar is ongoing, says a spokesperson for the Russian Defence Ministry, countering an earlier claim by the private military group Wagner that its fighters had taken control of the eastern city.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – “Everything that is happening today in the direction of Bakhmut or Soledar is the bloodiest scene in this war,” says Mykhaylo Podolyak, adviser to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in an exclusive interview with AFP.

Paris (AFP) – The stabbing at the Gare du Nord station left six people injured, including a police officer, says French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Coming up from the basement and returning to the mat, young Ukrainian gymnasts keep training despite the constant threat of Russian missiles. With dreams of becoming an Olympic champion, nine-year-old Eva Evstratenko is one of those whose ambitions are being constrained by the war, with the UN warning that seven million children at risk without sustained access to electricity, heating and water.

Chuzhou (China) (AFP) – Since China reversed its zero-Covid policy last month, a whirlwind of cases has crammed hospitals with elderly patients and sparked a free-for-all over limited supplies of medicine in Anhui province.

Dhaka (AFP) – Thousands of supporters from multiple opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have taken to the streets of the capital Dhaka to protest against the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and demand new elections. IMAGES

Envigado (Colombia) (AFP) – Giant illuminated balloons in a variety of wacky shapes — animals, monsters and even Lionel Messi’s Argentina shirt — glow in the dark as crowds gaze from below at a festival in Colombia’s southern city of Envigado.

Los Angeles (AFP) – Aerial images show two cars inside a giant sinkhole that opened up on Tuesday during the relentless storms ravaging California. According to local media, the passengers were rescued and hospitalized with minor injuries. Torrential downpours in the US state have caused flash flooding, closed key highways, toppled trees, and swept away drivers and passengers.

Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Russian strikes hit eastern Ukraine’s city of Kharkiv late Tuesday, the regional governor said, just hours after a surprise visit by the German foreign minister with her Ukrainian counterpart.

Melbourne (AFP) – Mass is held at Melbourne’s cathedral after Cardinal George Pell died in Rome aged 81, Pell was convicted and later cleared of sexual abuse in Australia. Pell died of complications related to a hip surgery he had undergone in a Rome hospital on Tuesday, according to the Vatican’s official news website. IMAGES