Connect with us

Published

on

An Italian woman being bound in chains while appearing in a Hungarian court has sparked outrage in her home nation.

Ilaria Salis, an anti-fascist activist, was arrested in Budapest last year on suspicion of being involved in attacks against participants in Hungary’s Day of Honour commemorations.

Each year on 11 February scores of neo-Nazis honour the failed escape attempt by Nazi forces and Hungarian soldiers out of Budapest during the Red Army’s siege of the city in 1945.

It also drums up support of vehement anti-fascist demonstrators.

Salis was seen in court being led by a guard with a chain in hand.

She was also handcuffed and her legs shackled limiting her movement, in what has been described as “humiliating conditions” by the Italian government.

Ilaria Salis appeared chained and shackled at a Budapest court hearing
Pic:AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Ilaria Salis appeared chained and shackled at a Budapest court hearing
Pic:AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke to her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban about Salis’s detention, a local news site reported.

The two leaders are on good terms, though this is a delicate situation for the far-right-led government of Ms Meloni.

The Italian foreign ministry called on the Hungarian deputy ambassador to protest after Salis appeared in court earlier in the week.

The ministry cited European and international law calling for the need to respect the dignity of prisoners “including the way in which defendants are transferred to court and the guarantees of a fair trial”.

A mural painting depicting Italian antifascist activist Ilaria Salis in the act of breaking her chains near the Hungarian Embassy in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Italy has ramped up its protests over the treatment of Salis being held in a Hungarian jail after images of her appearing chained and shackled at a Budapest court hearing this week sparked outrage here. (Valentina Stefanelli/LaPresse via AP)
Image:
A mural near the Hungarian embassy in Rome of Ilaria Salis breaking her chains. Pic: AP

Read more:
Avalanche kills two hikers in the Italian Alps
Italy’s migrant deal is far less radical than UK’s Rwanda plan

It also requested Salis be placed under house arrest instead of being held in prison before her trial – the conditions of which made the front page in Italian newspapers following reports she was bound by the neck in a cell with mice and cockroaches.

The ministry demanded Salis’s lawyers have access to a video of the alleged incidents so a defence could be established.

Senate president Ignazio La Russa, who is a member of Ms Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, said Italian law “prohibits inmates from being exhibited with handcuffs and in conditions of humiliation, whereas this isn’t the case in Hungary”.

If Salis is convicted, prosecutors have requested 11 years in prison for her.

Hungarian prisons are reportedly short of the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights, with regards to detention conditions and overcrowding.

Continue Reading

World

Two dead and a million evacuated as Super Typhoon Fung-wong hits Philippines

Published

on

By

Two dead and a million evacuated as Super Typhoon Fung-wong hits Philippines

Two people have died and more than one million people evacuated after a storm bearing down on the Philippines intensified into a super typhoon and made landfall on Sunday.

Fung-wong started battering eastern and central parts of the country, causing power outages, and forcing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to declare a state of emergency.

One person drowned in Catanduanes and firefighters recovered the body of a woman trapped under the debris of a collapsed home in Catbalogan City, officials said.

A satellite image shows Storm Fung-wong, which has intensified into a super typhoon. Pic: CSU/CIRA & JMA/JAXA/Handout via Reuters
Image:
A satellite image shows Storm Fung-wong, which has intensified into a super typhoon. Pic: CSU/CIRA & JMA/JAXA/Handout via Reuters

A man walks in the rain with an umbrella as Typhoon Fung-wong approaches, in Cauayan, Isabela, Philippines. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A man walks in the rain with an umbrella as Typhoon Fung-wong approaches, in Cauayan, Isabela, Philippines. Pic: Reuters

Evacuations under way in Quezon province. Pic: Philippine Coast Guard via AP
Image:
Evacuations under way in Quezon province. Pic: Philippine Coast Guard via AP

An evacuation centre in Manila. Pic: Reuters
Image:
An evacuation centre in Manila. Pic: Reuters

Packing sustained winds of 115mph and gusts of up to 140mph, Super Typhoon Fung-wong made landfall in Aurora province in central Luzon.

Those living in high-risk villages in northeastern provinces were told to evacuate, including in Bicol, a coastal region vulnerable to Pacific cyclones and mudflows from Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes.

Defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr warned Fung-wong could affect a vast expanse of the country, including the capital Manila, and Cebu, the central province hit hardest by the deadly Typhoon Kalmaegi just days ago.

More than 200 people were killed in the earlier typhoon, and around 100 are still missing.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Filipinos stranded on roofs amid Typhoon floods

Mr Teodoro Jr urged residents to heed evacuation orders, warning refusing to comply was dangerous and unlawful.

“We ask people to pre-emptively evacuate so that we don’t end up having to conduct rescues at the last minute, which could put the lives of police, soldiers, firefighters and coast guard personnel at risk,” he said in a public address.

More than 30 million people could be exposed to hazards posed by Fung-wong, the Office of Civil Defence said.

The projection of the route that will be taken by Super Typhoon Fung-wong by Japan's national weather agency. Pic: JMA
Image:
The projection of the route that will be taken by Super Typhoon Fung-wong by Japan’s national weather agency. Pic: JMA

In Isabela in northern Luzon, dozens of families were sheltering at a basketball court repurposed as an evacuation centre.

“We’re scared,” said Christopher Sanchez, 50, who fled his home with his family. “We’re here with our grandchildren and our kids. The whole family is in the evacuation area.”

Nearly 400 domestic and international flights have been cancelled, according to the civil aviation regulator.

Read more from Sky News:
Ghislaine Maxwell’s emails from jail leaked
The Amazonians who don’t care who Trump is

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Deadly tornado tears through southern Brazil

Deadly tornado in Brazil

Meanwhile, a powerful tornado ripped through the southern state of Parana in Brazil – killing at least six and injuring more than 750 people, state officials said on Saturday.

The tornado left a trail of destruction, downing trees, overturning vehicles and damaging buildings.

Roads were also blocked and power lines damaged, with authorities saying around 1,000 people were displaced,

“We will continue to assist the people of Parana and provide all the help needed,” President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on X.

Continue Reading

World

UK deploying specialist RAF team to defend Belgium from ‘rogue’ drones

Published

on

By

UK deploying specialist RAF team to defend Belgium from 'rogue' drones

The UK is deploying a specialist Royal Air Force team to help defend Belgium’s skies following a series of sightings of “rogue” drones, the defence secretary and his military chief have revealed.

The ground-based unit will be equipped with kit that can track and take down unmanned aerial systems.

It is not yet clear who is responsible for the drone incursions, which forced the country’s main airport near Brussels to close temporarily and have also impacted Belgian military bases.

However, there are suspicions that they could be linked to Russia.

Other NATO nations have also experienced similar problems, including Denmark and Germany.

Ukraine war latest: Lavrov ‘ready’ to meet US’s Rubio

Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, said his Belgian counterpart had called him to request British support.

Queen Camilla looks at counter-drone equipment during a visit to RAF Leeming, Northallerton, in September 2024. Pic: PA
Image:
Queen Camilla looks at counter-drone equipment during a visit to RAF Leeming, Northallerton, in September 2024. Pic: PA

“I had my Belgian opposite number – the chief of the defence staff – in touch with me this week, seeking our help to track and potentially defeat the drones,” he said.

“We agreed with the defence secretary on Friday that we would send our people and our equipment into Belgium to help them with the current problem they have got there.”

Read more from Sky News:
Ghislaine Maxwell’s emails from minimum-security jail leaked
Southport victims ‘failed at every possible turn’

Queen Camilla, who is an honorary air commodore, inspects counter-drone equipment. Pic: PA
Image:
Queen Camilla, who is an honorary air commodore, inspects counter-drone equipment. Pic: PA

John Healey, the defence secretary, said: “When our NATO allies call, we step up. Belgium requested urgent support to counter rogue drone activity at their military bases, so I’ve directed a small team of RAF specialists to deploy immediately.

“As hybrid threats grow, our strength lies in our alliances and our collective resolve to defend, deter and protect our critical infrastructure and airspace.”

The RAF team is trained and equipped to combat drones.

Continue Reading

World

Three dead and 15 injured in Tenerife tidal surge

Published

on

By

Three dead and 15 injured in Tenerife tidal surge

Three people have died after they were swept into the sea off the coast of Tenerife during treacherous weather, officials said on Sunday.

Strong waves pulled them into the Atlantic Ocean during a tidal surge on Saturday.

A man who had fallen into the water at Charco del Viento, a rocky beauty spot in the north of the island not far from Icod de los Vinos, was airlifted to hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival, Spanish media reported.

In a separate incident, a man was found floating off Cabezo beach in El Medano in the south of the island.

Lifeguards and paramedics were unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A woman suffered a heart attack and died when a wave swept several people into the sea at Puerto de la Cruz in northern Tenerife. Three people were seriously injured and taken to hospital for treatment.

The victim was a 79-year-old Dutch woman, according to El Dia.

The Spanish newspaper reported the deceased at Charco del Viento was a 43-year-old man from La Orotava, a town in northern Tenerife, while the identity of the man who died at Cabezo beach had not been released.

Around 15 people were injured in four different incidents along the coast of the island of Tenerife on Saturday, according to emergency services.

Read more from Sky News:
Super Typhoon Fung-wong hits Philippines
Ghislaine Maxwell’s emails from jail leaked
The Amazonians who don’t care who Trump is

Authorities had warned people of a tidal surge and strong winds, advising them not to walk along coastal paths and avoid putting themselves at risk by taking photos and videos of the rough seas.

The Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the west coast of Africa that includes Tenerife, are on alert for coastal hazards, officials said.

Continue Reading

Trending