Hungary has lost another one of its most talented Magyar sons this year with the passing away of the late Tony Curtis (age 85) on Sept 29, 2010. Bernard Swartz, alias Tony Curtis (also known as James Curtis and Anthony Curtis in the begining of his career, launched in 1949) was born to Jewish Hungarian [...]
The European Commission has allegedly taken decisive action against one of its biggest members for the expulsion and deportation of allegedly at least 1,000 Eastern European gypsies (generally also referred to as Roma). The EC in Brussels has reportedly launched infringement hearings against France for allegedly violating EU laws (including the anti-discrimination act and the [...]
The Hungarian Language Museum, located in the tiny village of Szephalom (NE Hungary) has recently opened a permanent exhibition to showcase what it calls the “Secrets of secrets – The past, present and future of the Hungarian language.” Organizers of the exhibit said that their aim was to utilize the achievements of the 21st Century [...]
Perhaps the financially troubled Hungarian Radio (MR) is not really in dire financial need after all. During the Socialist administration era and the Socialist political election campaigns MR was reportedly not bashful when it came to airing politics. However the leadership has allegedly fully denied airing any political messages of the Hungarian nationalist party JOBBIK, [...]
Hungarians are reportedly celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of their favorite cartoons. The Flinstones animated sitcom series had allegedly brought Hungarian dubbing to its peak, when expert linguists, poets and comedians swept the audience off their feet by dubbing the Bedrock scenes in excellent lip-sync – in verse (almost like Dr. Seuss). All Magyar [...]
The Republic of South Africa was represented by President Jacob Zuma, during the SA-EU Summit in Brussels on Sept 28, 2010. The summit reportedly met for the first time under the auspices of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty. South Africa and the EU signed an agreement called the Primary Education Sector Policy Support Program, allegedly the [...]
Ethiopian marathon-man Herkolo Ashenafi won the ’25th Spar International Budapest Marathon and Running Festival’ in the men’s category with a time of 2:23:13 on Sept 26, 2010. The reportedly 42.2 kilometre annual marathon this year took place in rainy weather, in Budapest. Ashenafi was flanked by Hungarians Tamas Toth (2:24:36) and Zsolt Zsoder (2:24:55). To [...]
Hungary is preparing for the seven lean years as the Central Government allegedly plans to lay off more of its workforce to save some HUF 800-bil during its term in office. The Economic Minister in charge of the budget, is reportedly saving some HUF 100-bil during 2011. Currently Hungary’s administration reportedly spends nearly HUF 3-bil/yr [...]
The world’s biggest retailer is reportedly says it is not convinced about the latest threat from trade unions during its acquisition attempt in the Republic of South Africa. Wal-Mart Stores Inc is said to have offered some ZAR 30-bil (about USD 4.5-bil) for South Africa’s wholesaler group Massmart Holdings Ltd, which is registered on the [...]
Hungary will most likely enter the Guinness Book of Records for making the most moonshine (better known as Palinka in Hungary) after the Smallholdings and private homes have been given the green light to distill their own non-commercial amount of home palinka tax-free, as of Sept 27, 2010. Sources at the Hungarian excise and tax [...]
A 41-year-old Romanian national has allegedly been caught red-handed with a reportedly stolen luxury for with a warrant was issued in Switzerland, earlier this year. The seizure was said to have taken place on the Romanian-Hungarian border post of Nagylak. The man was arrested and is now reportedly being questioned by the Romanian and Hungarian [...]
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry has agreed with its Slovakian counterpart to inform each other on all disputed issues via a special hot line, to avoid future diplomatic and political controversies they have learned of only in the press, a source at the ministry in Hungary told Budapest Report Monday. He added that the two ministries [...]
At least 11 people have been arrested on charges of illegal rhino hunting in South Africa, police in Pretoria confirmed to Budapest Report. They added that most of the alleged rhino-poaching syndicate members have been released on bail and will have to appear in court in April 2011. Ironically rhino poaching has become the number [...]
German car makers are breaking new records. However these will not be speed or endurance records, but rather an all new investment record in Central and eastern Europe. The Ingolstadt-based automaker Audi AG (a member of the Volkswagen Group), plans to investment at least EUR 1-bil at its production and assembly unit in Gyor, North-western [...]
The French Government has reportedly expelled and deported several so-called Roma Gypsies back to Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria in what observers called the biggest deportation since the Holocaust. The move has sparked a fierce row between French President Nicolas Sarkozy (who by the way is of Hungarian origin) and European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barosso. Barosso [...]
Initiated by the Hungarian partner the first international-Chinese law firm of the world, named Yingke Várnai was established. As the first step of the European expansion the Deed of Foundation of the Budapest office was signed by Dr. Rupert Várnai and Mr. Mei Xiangrong in Kodály Hall at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Rupert [...]
The outgoing chief mayor of Budapest, Gabor Demszky will most probably be remembered as the longest serving mayor in the history of Budapest. But he will certainly be remembered as the longest serving mayor who did kaka about cleaning up the doggie-do in the capital. Every year hundreds and thousands of tonnes of dog droppings [...]
South African Communist Party (SACP) General Secretary Blade Nzimande claims that the planned new Media Appeals Tribunal is not aimed at curbing media freedom. He told a meeting of the Cape Town Press Club that the African National Congress (ANC) would not tell journalists how and what to write. “All we want is a fair, [...]
Former South African President Thabo Bheki, has said that African leaders who hang on to power are often the cause of wars on the continent. He said that although the continent has the means to rid itself of such tyrants, the African Union lacks the money to implement these actions. Bheki did not directly point [...]
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) expected thousands of people to take to the streets worldwide next week in support of the first ever Rhino Day. September is Rhino Month and the public are asked to use the WWF’s website to donate cash and combat poaching. Funds raised will be used to buy equipment for rangers [...]
Phil Collins has released a brand new CD “Going Back”, concentrating his music on Motown and the 1960s soul classics. The cover of the album has a picture of Collins playing the drums when he was 15-years-old. All proceeds from the album sales in South Africa will be going to the charity, Topsy Foundation. “I [...]
The Majority of Britons are not so pleased with the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. After his airplane dubbed “Prayer Force 1” landed in Scotland, the pontiff received a relatively cold reception from the population who are allegedly frustrated by the role of the Catholic church and the ongoing scandals of child sexual abuse. The [...]
The Hungarian Parliament on Wednesday passed a law permitting local public institutions to purchase produce from local farms without an often protracted and severely bureaucratic ‘public procurement process’. Hungarian Agricultural Minister Sandor Fazekas (left) and Government Spokesperson Anna Nagy announced the change in the small town of Many, near Budapest. Small farmers will no longer [...]
After Florida and France, South Africa is expecting to open the world’s third Disney theme park in its North-eastern province of Mpumalanga, officials of the National Tourism Agency said. The planned Disney World investment is expected to cost a whopping ZAR 25 billion. Experts claim that South Africa was on the top of Disney’s wish [...]
One of the biggest causes of human deaths in Southern Africa is cause by attacks from hippopotamus, experts said. But this time the hippo was at the other end of the stick, when it was allegedly killed by an oncoming train near Beira in Mozambique. Witnesses claim that the line had not been used for [...]
The corrupt police service of South Africa’s most crime infested Gauteng Province (also dubbed Gangster’s Paradise) has received a new police commissioner, who vows to be more stringent with even the smallest crimes. Police Commissioner Mzwandile Petros said at an anti-crime summit (packed with delegates from community policing forums, NGOs and members of public) that [...]
The United Nations atomic watchdog claims that Iran has once again rejected the request for inspection by international nuclear experts, under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Islamic state denied accusations. The UN reportedly claims it is concerned that Iran is fast working on developing its own nuclear arsenal. However officials [...]
The Hungarian administration has vowed to further boost bilateral relations with Croatia on all levels to help both countries exploit each other’s potentials to the maximum. The Hungarian Government has also promised to give maximum support for Croatia in its bid to join the European Union. The majority of Hungarians are reportedly spending their hard [...]
Former Wham pop group singer George Michael is reportedly doing four weeks in jail after crashing his car into a shop window in England. Reports said that the singer was allegedly under the influence of Canabis, when he dozed off at the wheel of his car and smashed the vehicle into a small photo shop [...]
Ecuadorians in Budapest are as rare as the Hungarians on the Galapagos Islands. Nevertheless Hungarian police have said that they are investigating a homicide in which an alleged Ecuadorian male (48) was stabbed in central Budapest over the weekend and hospitalized. However based on medical reports the patient has since died from his injuries during [...]
The Hungarian green party LMP has pledged to dig at the roots of an ongoing corruption scandal in an attempt to acquire classified documents concerning the allegations in connection to what LMP considers to be an unlawful purchase (via offset agreement) of Swedish-built Gripen fighter planes. LMP said it will not tolerate Swedish excuses and [...]
Police in Kenya have reportedly arrested operators of a morgue and cemetery for their involvement in the illegal trade of male genitalia, allegedly sold for witchcraft purposes. The police said that they received an anonymous tip-off (please excuse the pun – editor) and after investigating the issue confiscated the offending items (reportedly snatched from the [...]
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has announced they have finally paid the full amount to all police officers who worked overtime during the June-July soccer spectacle. Reportedly some 44,000 officers were deployed to work overtime during the tournament, but were not paid by SAPS for these services until just recently. It was not mentioned [...]
Nokia Siemens Networks has picked Budapest for its global railway communications center, the company’s Hungarian MD Robert Esik said at a press conference on Monday. The move is claimed to create 100 jobs this year. Hungarian Economic Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy and Finnish Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi, on an official Hungarian visit this week, toured the [...]
Anonymous sources in a Monday report of left-leaning daily Nepszava claimed that the Hungarian Bank Alliance (BSz) plans to torpedo the controversial bank tax proposed by Economic Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy (pictured), insisting that the solution to sustaining budget deficit targets in 2011 lies elsewhere. BSz claimed the HUF 200 billion burden on the financial sector [...]
The Khoisan population of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) are demanding their own homeland with their own government and military, representatives told Budapest Report Wednesday. They added that the Khoisan people have already established their own defense force, despite the fact that RSA does not recognise their autonomy as yet. The indigenous San people [...]
Hungarian Agricultural Minister Sandor Fazekas (pictured) on Wednesday announced that the Government has filed an appeal at the European Commission, to extend the moratorium on the acquisition of crop land for foreign nationals in Hungary to April 30, 2014. Fazekas said the move is due to the weakening position of Hungarian farmers, who were left [...]
The Staff and students of a Budapest District 12 school had an surprise start of their school year after their edifice was named after Vatican diplomat Gennaro Verolino, who has reportedly helped save several thousands of Jewish Hungarians during the Holocaust of World War Two. Verolino was announced Righteous Among the Nations by the Jerusalem-based [...]
Hungary has issued an international arrest warrant for a Chinese citizen who has allegedly recently murdered a 21-year-old Norwegian student in Budapest in what police believe could have been a failed love affair. A court has issued the arrest warrant against 26-year-old Zhao Fei, who is suspected of the murder after police found CCTV footage [...]
Religious groups in Hungary welcomed the civilian initiative of the recent “ Anti-Gay Pride March” in Budapest where on Sept 4 Budapestians went onto the street to voice their support for what they dubbed as “ Heterosexual Pride” in answer to the earlier held Gay Pride procession (on July 10, 2010). Although more gay participants [...]
Hungary has been instrumental but not active in NATO’s Afghanistan mission so far, but to save face the government has voted to send a further 200 military staff to its already existing 400 personnel contingent in the Asian war-torn nation. Hungarians have been in this country since 2003, where they run a technical provincial reconstruction [...]
As part of the Hungarian Government’s determined sweep for accountability, Commissioner Ferenc Papcsak on Monday claimed that former Socialist Social Minister Erika Szucs was employed for doing no work whatsoever, after leaving her job at the Ministry. In the contract, Szucs had been falsely registered as a Government Commissioner (which she was not- according Papcsak), [...]
LISBON, Sep 4, 2010 A trial that dragged on for six years amidst public outrage ended Friday in Portugal with the unexpected sentencing of prominent personalities, found guilty in a child sex abuse scandal that shook the nation. The sex ring scandal involving the Casa Pía state-run children’s home in Lisbon broke in late 2002, [...]
The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSzP) on Thursday announced its new communication officers former TV presenter Kata Kormos (pictured left) and former MP Zsolt Torok. Kormos said she believes in the party’s revival and that she intends to explain the socialist stance on people’s everyday problems, on a personal level. “Hungarians are confused about what’s going [...]
For the first time in more than a decade, the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist leader of religious officials of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” branch of Tibetan Buddhism is scheduled to visit Hungary on Sept 18-19. Tickets for his lecture are already sold out, according to reports, as it has sparked international interest due to [...]
