State of emergency over mine protest

A 60-day state of emergency has been declared in northern Peru after violent protests against a $4.8bn project to extend a gold mine, which residents fear will contaminate their water supply.

The emergency restricts civil liberties, such as the right to assembly, and allows arrests without warrants in four provinces of Cajamarca state that have been paralysed for 11 days by protests against the Conga gold and copper mining project.

The state's governor, Gregorio Santos, who has led the protests, called President Ollanta Humala's announcement of the emergency an unnecessary provocation. AP