Hungarian police used water cannon and tear gas to repel around 1,000 skinheads and extremists in Budapest as anti-government protests marred celebrations of the country's 1848 revolution.
As night fell on Thursday, rightwing protesters hurling cobblestones and bottles confronted hundreds of police in riot gear after authorities announced the detention of Gyorgy Budahazy, a man suspected of being a key figure in riots last year and who had been in hiding for months.
About 500 to 800 protesters tried to break through police lines to reach Budhazy, who was being held at the nearby National Investigations Office.
PHOTO: AP
Police drove the protesters away from the national investigations office, where rioters initially gathered in the early evening, back into the capital's Heroes Square.
Rioters dismantled a wooden scaffolding, set up large makeshift roadblocks and lit bonfires in the street to prevent police from advancing. They also toppled several phonebooths.
Police were finally able to disperse the rioters, with the last clashes taking place near several large international hotels on the banks of the River Danube.
A police spokesman said dozens of people had been detained and at least four police officers were injured.
Earlier, thousands of conservative protesters demanding the resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany were present at events attended by the premier and other top officials.
Gyurcsany's presence -- outside parliament and at the National Museum -- was met by jeering and whistling.
Some protesters carried Arpad striped flags, a centuries-old Hungarian banner now associated with the Arrow Cross, a pro-Nazi party that briefly ran Hungary near the end of World War II.
At a separate memorial event held later at March 15 Square, security personnel used large black umbrellas to shield Gyurcsany, Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky and other authorities from coins, eggs and oranges thrown from the crowd.
"Nine out of 10 Hungarians are with us ... those who don't believe in the nightmare of two opposed Hungaries eternally at war," Demszky said, his voice often drowned out by the protesters' anti-government shouts and jeers.
Fidesz, the main center-right, opposition group, drew 200,000 supporters to its own late afternoon commemoration, according to state news agency MTI.
The crowd was much bigger than some expected considering government warnings about extremists plotting to disrupt Thursday's events with attacks against parliament and other targets.
"We feel absolutely safe here," said Pal Tetlak, 70, who attended the rally. "The problem is that the political situation is hopeless."
Fidesz leader Viktor Orban, a former prime minister, said a referendum later this year would give voters a chance to reject some of the government's policies.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
RSS