International

Splintered Ukrainian city braces for new battle with Russia

Published

4 years ago

July 3, 2022

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine (AP) — A group of young off-duty Ukrainian soldiers gathered at a military distribution center to enjoy a rare respite from the fighting that has again engulfed their fractured home in eastern Ukraine.

As they shared jokes and a pizza, artillery explosions could be heard a few kilometers away — a reminder of the looming battle that threatens to unfold here in the city of Slovyansk, which was occupied by Russian proxy fighters in 2014.

“Everyone knows that there will be a huge battle in Slovyansk,” said one of the soldiers, who could not be named for security reasons.

Now, eight years after their city was last occupied, the war has returned. Slovyansk could become the next major target in Russia’s campaign to take the Donbas region, Ukraine’s predominantly Russian-speaking industrial heartland, if Moscow captures Lysychansk — the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Luhansk province, 70 kilometers (43 miles) to the east.

Another soldier, a 23-year-old accountant who joined up when the invasion began, said Ukrainian forces simply do not have the weapons to fight off the superior arsenal of the approaching Russian army.

“We know what’s coming” he said with a sad smile.

These soldiers were still teenagers when pro-Russian separatists captured and held the town for three months. The brief occupation in 2014 terrorized Slovyansk, where dozens of officials and journalists were taken hostage, and several killings took place.

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Fierce fighting and shelling broke out when the Ukrainian army laid siege to the city to recapture it.

“Actually, the war never left Slovyansk. It didn’t leave people’s heads” said Tetiana Khimion, a 43-year-old dance choreographer who converted a fishing store into a hub for local military units.

“On the one hand, it is easier for us because we know what it’s like. On the other hand, it is more difficult for us since we’ve been living like this for eight years in a suspended condition.”

Slovyansk is a city of splintered loyalties. With a large retired population, it is not uncommon to hear older residents express sympathy towards Russia or nostalgia for their Soviet past. There is also distrust of the Ukrainian army and government.

After a recent shelling of his apartment block, one resident named Sergei said he believed that the strike was launched by Ukraine.

“I’m not pro-Russian, I’m not pro-Ukrainian. I am somewhere in between” he said. “Both Russians and Ukrainians kill civilians — everyone should understand that.”

On Thursday, a group of elderly residents couldn’t hide their frustration after a bomb blast slashed open their roofs and shattered their windows.

Ukraine “says they are protecting us, but what kind of protection is this?” asked one man, who did not provide his name.

“They kneel to that Biden — may he die!” exclaimed his neighbor, Tatyana, referring to U.S. President Joe Biden.

After 2014, Khimion said, it became easier to know “who is who” in Slovyansk. “Now you can easily see: These people are for Ukraine, and these people are for Russia.”

She said not enough was done after 2014 to punish people who collaborated with Russian proxies to prevent a repeat of the situation.

“That is why we cannot negotiate, we need to win. Otherwise it will be a never-ending process. It will keep repeating” she said.

The mayor of Slovyansk, Vadim Lyakh, reflects the city’s new trajectory. Taking his cues from Ukraine’s wartime leader, President Volodymyr Zelensky, the mayor has decorated his office with Ukrainian flags, anti-Russian symbols, portraits of national poets — even a biography of Winston Churchill.

But before 2014, he was part of a political party that sought closer ties with Russia. Lyakh said that while pro-Moscow sentiment in the city has faded in past years — in part because of the horrors witnessed in 2014 — there are still “people who are waiting for the return of the Russian troops.”

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As the front line creeps ever closer, attacks on the city intensify. Three-quarters of Slovyansk’s pre-war population has fled, but the mayor said there are still too many people here, including many children. He encourages them to evacuate. He spends his days coordinating humanitarian aid and strengthening the city’s defenses.

More and more, he is among the first responders at the scene of bombardments. The Associated Press followed Lyakh and recently witnessed what authorities described as a cluster bomb attack on a residential area. One person was killed and several others wounded.

The mayor says that shelling now occurs at least four or five times a day, and the use of cluster munitions has increased in the last week. Although he remains optimistic that Ukrainian forces can keep the enemy at bay, he is also clear-sighted about his options.

“Nobody wants to be captured. When there is an imminent danger of the enemy troops entering the city, I will have to go” he said.

Lyakh said he cannot allow himself to relax, even for a few minutes.

“It is emotionally difficult. You see how people are dying and being harmed. But nevertheless, I understand that this is my job and that nobody but myself and the people around me can do” it.

One morning last week, Lyakh paid a visit to an apartment block that had been shelled overnight. Most of the windows in the building were blown out, doors were broken wide open and a power line severed.

The same building was bombed in 2014, when the shell left a gaping hole on the sixth floor, and many residents suffered broken bones.

Andrey, a 37-year-old factory worker who has lived in the building for 20 years, recalls the bombing and occupation. He said separatist forces “did and took what they liked.”

People in his circle have different opinions about Russia.

“Those who have suffered understand what this ‘Russia world’ means: It means broken houses, stolen cars and violence” he explains. “There are those who miss the Soviet Union, who think we are all one people, and they do not accept what they see with their own eyes.”

In the eight years since the separatists retreated, he said, life has markedly improved in Slovyansk.

The statue of Vladimir Lenin that once stood in the central square has been removed. Water and power supplies were renovated. New parks, squares and medical facilities were built.

“Civilization was returned to us” Andrey said.

At the military distribution hub, the young soldiers talk wistfully about their lives before the invasion.

“I had a great car, a good job. I was able to travel abroad three times a year,” said the former accountant, who plans to stay in Slovyansk with the others to defend the city. “How can we let someone just come and take our lives away from us?”

Khimion’s husband is on the front lines, and she put her teenage daughter on a train to Switzerland as soon as the invasion began.

“I have been deprived of everything — a home, husband, child — what should I do now?” she asks. “We are doing everything we can to stop (the offensive), to keep it to a minimum … But to be afraid is to abandon this place.”

At the entrance to the city, a monument bearing Slovyansk’s name is riddled with bullet holes from 2014. It has been painted over several times. It now bears the national colors of Ukraine, and a local artist has painted red flowers around each perforation.

Residents of Slovyansk wonder — some with hope, many in fear — if the sign will soon be painted yet again, in the red, white and blue of the Russia flag.

International

Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW, Politico From White House Over ‘Fake News’

Published

6 hours ago

September 19, 2026

Trends Admin

United States President Donald Trump

Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW, Politico From White House Over ‘Fake News’

WASHINGTON — United States President Donald Trump has announced restrictions barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing the three media organisations of repeatedly publishing what he described as “fake news” about his administration.

Trump announced the decision on Friday, September 18, 2026, in a post on his Truth Social platform, declaring that the restrictions were effective immediately.

The president accused the organisations of reporting what he called “fiction and lies” about him, his administration and the United States, while warning that other media outlets could also face similar restrictions.

The announcement has opened another confrontation between the Trump administration and the American media, with press-freedom advocates and journalists raising questions about the constitutional limits of presidential control over access to the White House.

The dispute also escalated on Saturday after journalists working for MS NOW were denied entry to the White House grounds, providing the clearest indication that the administration had begun enforcing at least part of Trump’s announced restrictions.

Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after making the announcement, defended the decision and said the three organisations had engaged in what he regarded as deliberately negative coverage of his administration.

“They’re fake news,” Trump said when asked about the decision, adding that other media organisations could also be affected if they continued with what he described as unfair reporting.

Trump did not identify a single report that prompted the action. Instead, he pointed to what he characterised as the organisations’ overall coverage of his presidency.

He also criticised other major American news organisations, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, suggesting that additional outlets could face restrictions.

However, no ban on either newspaper was immediately announced.

The White House action initially created uncertainty because journalists from the three targeted organisations remained on the White House grounds after Trump’s announcement on Friday.

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CNN journalists were still working from the network’s White House workspace, while CNN also had personnel involved in the television pool covering Vice President JD Vance.

The situation changed on Saturday when MS NOW journalists were denied access to the White House grounds.

The development raised fresh questions about whether the administration intended to apply the restrictions to physical access, press credentials, White House workspaces, presidential events and media pools, or all forms of coverage from the presidential complex.

It was not immediately clear whether CNN journalists had also been denied entry on Saturday, while Politico journalists are generally not based at the White House during weekends.

Trump was spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.

The president’s action has drawn a strong response from the affected organisations.

CNN rejected the move and said it stood behind its White House reporting team. The network maintained that journalists should be able to report from the White House without government interference and indicated that it would challenge any formal restriction that violated its constitutional protections.

Politico also rejected the president’s allegations and said it would continue covering the Trump administration and future administrations.

The organisation said it would defend its First Amendment rights against attempts to restrict its access to government officials and presidential activities.

MS NOW also condemned the restriction after its journalists were denied entry, saying it would pursue available measures to protect its constitutional rights and the public’s access to information about government activities.

The White House Correspondents’ Association also criticised the administration’s decision.

The association argued that freedom of the press should not depend on whether a president agrees with the coverage produced by a particular news organisation or approves of questions asked by its journalists.

The controversy has also attracted the attention of major press-freedom organisations, which have warned that excluding news organisations because of dissatisfaction with their reporting could raise serious constitutional questions.

The First Amendment protects freedom of the press in the United States, although the government also has authority to regulate access to secure government facilities.

The central legal question is therefore likely to concern whether the White House can selectively exclude particular news organisations because the administration objects to their reporting or perceived editorial position.

The latest dispute follows an earlier confrontation between the Trump administration and the Associated Press over White House access.

In 2025, the White House restricted AP journalists from certain presidential events after the news organisation declined to adopt Trump’s preferred name, “Gulf of America”, for the body of water traditionally known as the Gulf of Mexico.

The AP challenged the restrictions in court, turning the dispute into a wider legal battle over presidential control of press access.

Trump has also had a previous major confrontation with CNN over White House access.

During his first presidency, the White House revoked CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials following a contentious exchange between Acosta and Trump at a November 2018 press conference.

CNN challenged the decision in court, and a federal judge temporarily ordered the restoration of Acosta’s access. The White House later restored his credentials permanently.

The latest dispute is therefore occurring against the background of several years of tension between Trump and major American news organisations.

Trump has repeatedly criticised media outlets whose reporting he considers unfair or inaccurate, while journalists and press-freedom groups have argued that government officials should not determine access to the presidency according to whether they approve of news coverage.

Another issue raised by Trump’s latest announcement is the absence of specific reports identified by the president as the basis for the restrictions.

Rather than pointing to one article or broadcast, Trump referred broadly to what he described as the organisations’ continued publication of negative and false reports.

The president also raised the issue of government spending on Politico subscriptions while defending his decision.

Politico has rejected suggestions that its government subscriptions amounted to improper financial support, arguing that such claims were misleading.

Trump’s warning that other media organisations could also be targeted has added another dimension to the dispute.

The president has suggested that additional outlets could be excluded from the White House if he believes they continue to engage in what he considers unfair reporting.

That possibility has heightened concerns among journalists about the future of White House press access and whether the administration could establish different levels of access for media organisations based on their editorial coverage.

The immediate focus, however, is on how the restrictions against CNN, MS NOW and Politico will be implemented.

Questions remain over whether the administration will issue formal rules covering press credentials, presidential events, White House workspaces and press pools.

The organisations affected have indicated that they intend to continue covering the Trump administration and defend their rights to do so.

The confrontation could consequently develop into another major legal battle over the relationship between the White House and the American press, with the outcome potentially affecting how journalists gain access to the presidency.

For now, the denial of entry to MS NOW journalists represents a significant development from Friday’s announcement, when the precise scope of the proposed ban remained unclear.

The unfolding dispute places White House press access, media freedom and First Amendment protections at the centre of another major confrontation between President Trump and the American news media.

Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW, Politico From White House Over ‘Fake News’

International

Asian Games Organisers Apologise After Blunder Broadcasts North Korean Anthem for South Korea

Published

23 hours ago

September 18, 2026

Hamdalat Bisiriyu

Asian Games Organisers Apologise After Blunder Broadcasts North Korean Anthem for South Korea

A mistaken stadium audio track following South Korea’s 5-0 hockey win over Bangladesh triggers protests amid wider logistical issues in Japan.

Organisers of the Asian Games in Japan issued a formal apology on Friday after mistakenly playing the North Korean national anthem for South Korea’s men’s hockey team.

The embarrassing mix-up occurred shortly after South Korea secured a commanding 5-0 victory over Bangladesh, leaving players standing perplexed on the pitch as the wrong national anthem echoed through the stadium speakers.

Following the initial blunder, venue operators played the national anthem of Bangladesh before finally broadcasting South Korea’s proper anthem, prompting a stadium announcer to issue an immediate apology over the public address system.

However, South Korea coach Min Tae-seok condemned the oversight as an inexcusable operational failure. Min stated that while tournament officials blamed an individual operator for selecting the wrong audio file, an international competition must never tolerate errors of such sensitive political magnitude.

Furthermore, the anthem blunder compounds wider operational difficulties facing Japanese host venues ahead of Saturday’s official opening ceremony. Several delegations have voiced strong frustration over logistical arrangements, with visiting teams reporting airport delays lasting up to six hours.

In addition, members of South Korea’s basketball squad published videos showing water pouring from broken pipes into their athlete village rooms, intensifying pressure on local organisers to resolve village infrastructure and technical coordination before mainstream competitions begin.

Asian Games Organisers Apologise After Blunder Broadcasts North Korean Anthem for South Korea

International

BREAKING: Bloodbath at Pakistan Mosque as Suicide Blast Kills 21, Injures 103

Published

1 day ago

September 18, 2026

Trends Admin

BREAKING: Bloodbath at Pakistan Mosque as Suicide Blast Kills 21, Injures 103

KOHAT, Pakistan — Friday prayers turned into a scene of horror in Pakistan on Friday as a powerful suicide attack ripped through a mosque inside a police compound in Kohat, leaving at least 21 people dead and 103 others injured.

The devastating attack, which struck the Old Police Lines in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, claimed the lives of 15 police personnel and six civilians, while 73 policemen and 30 civilians were injured, according to health officials.

The attack occurred at about 1:20pm local time, when worshippers had gathered for the weekly Friday prayers at the mosque located inside the heavily guarded Police Lines compound.

Eyewitness accounts and initial reports described scenes of panic as a massive explosion tore through the facility, sending debris flying and trapping victims beneath damaged sections of the mosque and surrounding buildings.

According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector-General of Police Zulfiqar Hamid, an explosives-laden vehicle was rammed into the gate of the old Police Lines before detonating, unleashing the devastating blast.

The explosion caused extensive damage to the police facility and mosque, with parts of the structure collapsing as worshippers and police officers were caught in the blast.

But the nightmare did not end with the explosion.

As rescue workers rushed to evacuate the wounded, gunfire erupted inside the compound after armed militants reportedly attempted to force their way deeper into the police facility.

A further suicide explosion was also reported near the Special Branch building during the ensuing confrontation between the attackers and security forces.

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Police said seven armed attackers had entered the compound following the initial assault, triggering a fierce firefight involving police and Counter-Terrorism Department personnel.

Security forces eventually killed the attackers, including a suicide bomber and a sniper, as they battled to regain control of the compound.

The scale of the casualties overwhelmed medical facilities in Kohat, forcing the District Headquarters Hospital to declare an emergency.

Ambulances raced to the scene as doctors and medical workers treated scores of victims suffering blast injuries, gunshot wounds and injuries caused by collapsing structures.

Health authorities put the number of injured at 103, with 73 police personnel and 30 civilians among those receiving treatment.

Some of the wounded were reportedly in critical condition, while rescue teams continued searching the damaged compound for possible survivors trapped under debris.

The heavy police casualties were attributed to the location and timing of the attack, with officers among those gathered inside the mosque for Friday prayers.

Among those reportedly killed were SP Traffic Akbar Shinwari and Dr Israel Orakzai, head of the children’s department at DHQ KDA Kohat, according to Pakistani media reports.

Security forces subsequently cordoned off the area and restricted movement around the Police Lines as investigators began examining the scene and searching for explosives or possible accomplices.

The Kohat-Hangu Road was also closed temporarily as security and rescue operations continued.

The attack triggered widespread outrage across Pakistan, with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemning the bombing and mourning the victims.

Sharif directed authorities to ensure that the injured received immediate and adequate medical treatment while security agencies were ordered to investigate the attack.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also condemned the assault and directed officials to mobilise available resources for the treatment of the wounded.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed solidarity with the families of those killed and injured, as condemnation poured in from within and outside Pakistan.

Countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Russia, Poland, Australia and Jordan also condemned the attack and expressed sympathy with the victims and their families.

The Kohat bombing comes against the backdrop of an escalating militant threat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of Pakistan’s most violence-prone regions.

The province, which shares a border with Afghanistan, has witnessed repeated attacks targeting police, soldiers and civilians.

The latest bloodshed also came shortly after a roadside bombing in neighbouring Hangu district reportedly killed six soldiers, further raising security concerns in the region.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused militants linked to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) of using hideouts in Afghanistan to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have consistently rejected allegations that they permit their territory to be used for attacks against Pakistan.

Responsibility for the Kohat attack remained disputed in the immediate aftermath.

While later reports attributed a claim to a faction associated with the TTP, other reports said the TTP denied involvement. Security authorities have therefore continued investigations to establish the identity of those behind the attack and determine whether others assisted the attackers.

The deadly incident has also drawn painful memories of the January 2023 Police Lines mosque bombing in Peshawar, in which more than 100 people, mostly police officers, were killed.

For residents of Kohat, Friday’s attack once again turned a place of worship into a battlefield, leaving families searching for loved ones and hospitals struggling to cope with the influx of casualties.

As security agencies combed through the wreckage and investigators worked to establish the circumstances surrounding the assault, the death toll and number of injured remained subject to further updates.

At least 21 people are confirmed dead and 103 injured in the latest official figures, with fears that the casualty figures could change as authorities complete rescue and medical operations.