Hungarian Evolutionary Biologist Szathmáry Elected Member of UNESCO IBSP Board

Eörs Szathmáry, a Hungarian evolutionary biologist, has been elected to the board of UNESCO’s International Basic Sciences Programme (IBSP), Budapest ELTE University’s ELKH Centre for Ecological Research said on Wednesday.

The IBSP board is the only body with a mandate to submit proposals to UNESCO leaders on matters related to basic research.

IBSP’s board is composed of 30 science scholars representing fields of basic research from countries around the world. Szathmary was nominated by Miklós Réthelyi, the head of the Hungarian National Commission for UNESCO.

In a statement, Szathmáry said supporting basic research was his top priority, and he called his election to the board “a clear recognition of Hungary’s scientific community”, noting that a small number of countries are represented in the body.

Szathmáry’s mandate is for three years and can be extended once.

Reconstruction of Buda Castle Riding Stables Finished – PHOTOS!

The renovation of the Royal Riding Hall, the Csikós gardens, and the Stöckl stairs in Buda Castle have been finished before the expected deadline. This means that part of the gardens may join the Budapest Wine Festival as another location and visitors will be able to take a look at all of the reconstructed places.

The gardens will open to the public for the first time on Saturday and Sunday as part of Cultural Heritage Days.

Head of the prime minister’s office, Gulyás Gergely, said that a glorious work of art of the past has been restored.

Gergely Fodor, commissioner for Government Investments in the Buda Castle District, recalled that the original Royal Riding Hall, designed by Alajos Hauszmann and built by the best craftsmen of the time, was the ornament of the Buda Castle Palace for almost half a century from 1902. He recalled that even though the building could have been saved, the communist regime decided to demolish it.

He added that the authentic reconstruction faithfully followed the turn-of-the-century plans, but inside the Riding Palace the most modern technical solutions were installed so that the building can open as the most modern and elegant event center in Budapest.

Gergely Fodor pointed out that they also ensured barrier-free access: two high-capacity lifts will take visitors from Palota út to the Csikós gardens, and one of the country’s most beautiful historic staircases, the Stöckl Staircase, which will connect it to the Hunyadi Courtyard, has also been rebuilt.

“Our aim is to give the Palace Quarter in Buda Castle back to the people, to bring the district back into the urban fabric of Budapest,” he said.

The immediate surroundings of the Riding Hall have also been restored, and all elements of the entire area will be renewed by spring 2022, with the completion of the Karakas Pasha Tower, Fodor said.

With the continued reconstruction of the Várkert Bazaar, the Carmelite Monastery, the Main Guard, the southern connecting wing of the palace, St. Stephen’s Hall, the Lovarda and the surrounding areas, the work is far from over. Work has already begun on the reconstruction of the Archduke Joseph Palace and the former Red Cross headquarters, and next week the reconstruction of the building of the General Headquarters of the Honvéd will begin, followed in November by the excavation of the Palace’s A building prior to renovation, said Gergely Fodor.

mRNA Pioneer Karikó Mentioned Among Favorites in Two Nobel Prize Categories

Katalin Karikó, whose work was pivotal in creating the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, has been mentioned for some time now as a possible Nobel Prize winner. However, she may have a chance to win not only in one category but two: chemistry and medicine (or physiology and medicine, to be more precise).

While Karikó is a molecular biologist and biochemist, her work’s goal with the mRNA technology has always been to use the findings in medicine in order to cure people. For this reason, a future win would make sense in both categories.

Biochemist Katalin Karikó is responsible for creating the groundbreaking technology that became the basis of all available mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. Through her achievement, she provided a major contribution in saving the lives of millions and slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
The signs are very good in the medical category. Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Rosenstiel Prize in February and the Horwitz Prize in August. Both prizes are seen in the scientific world as the precursor to the Nobel Prize, especially in medicine. Out of the 93 Rosenstiel winners, 36 have gone on to win Nobel Prizes, and the Horwitz Prize has been followed by a predominantly medical Nobel Prize, with a small proportion of Nobel Prizes in chemistry. Karikó and Weissman recently also won the Breakthrough Prize that many are calling the ‘Oscars of science,’ and among the former winners, we can find the name of Stephen Hawking.

PM’s Security Chief: Big Rise in Number of Border Arrests of Illegal Migrants
MTI-Hungary Today 2021.09.15

This year has seen a big rise in the number of border violators caught by the authorities, with an increasing number of Afghan citizens among them and intensifying activity on the part of human smugglers, György Bakondi, the prime minister’s domestic security chief, told a press conference at the Röszke border station, in southern Hungary, on Wednesday.

By mid-September this year 73,617 arrests were made as against 21,992 in the same period last year, he said, adding that 719 human smugglers have been prosecuted this year, up from 274 last year.

Zoltán Kovács, state secretary for international communications and relations, noted that six years ago hundreds of migrants attempted to break through the border while hurling rocks at police.

Because attempts were being made in the European Union to continue managing migration instead of stopping it, he added, external pressure on borders was now as great as it had been then.

Bakondi said politicians all over Europe were saying the events of 2015 must not be repeated.

Coronavirus: 4 Fatalities, 458 New Cases Registered in Hungary
Hungary Today 2021.09.16.

Four Covid patients died in the past 24 hours, while 458 new coronavirus infections were registered in Hungary, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.

Since the first outbreak, 816,680 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 30,118. Fully 779,433 people have made a recovery.

The number of active infections has risen to 7,129, while hospitals are treating 343 Covid patients, 40 of whom need respiratory assistance.

So far 5,850,887 people have received the first jab, while 5,558,919 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 565,000 Hungarians have already received booster jabs.

There are 3,931 people in official quarantine, while 6,753,395 tests have been officially carried out.

On May 21, the Hungarian government announced that most of Hungary’s remaining restrictions would be lifted upon reaching five million vaccinations. Further restrictions, such as the mask mandate, have been lifted as well after 5.5 million vaccinations were reached.

Pope Francis Praises Hungarians’ “Ecumenical Spirit, Family Protection, Ecological Awareness”
MTI-Hungary Today 2021.09.16.

Pope Francis praised the “ecumenical spirit, family protection, and ecological awareness” of Hungarians in an informal discussion with journalists on Wednesday evening.

The pontiff said aboard the flight from Slovakia to Vatican City that “complaints” about his one-day visit to Budapest, where he celebrated the closing mass of the 52nd Eucharistic Congress on Sunday, were based on a “misunderstanding”. The visit to Slovakia had been organised earlier, which limited his time in Hungary, he said.

The pope noted he had met President János Áder for the third time on Sunday. “I promised the president to look into another visit to Hungary next year or some other year,” he said.

Orbán Warns Against ‘Gyurcsány Era’s Return’ at Fidesz-KDNP Group Meeting
MTI-Hungary Today 2021.09.16.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned against “the return of the Gyurcsány era” at a meeting of the Fidesz and KDNP (Christian Democrats) parliamentary group.

According to the online edition of the daily Magyar Nemzet, the prime minister and leader of ruling Fidesz opened the group meeting in Esztergom, in northern Hungary, on Wednesday evening, by telling lawmakers about the tasks lying ahead in the coming months in preparation for next spring’s general election.

Orbán is already in campaign mode and is expecting the same from his fellow politicians, Magyar Nemzet said.

“The opponent we need to defeat again is the same old one; the one we managed to defeat once already, in 2010. This time, it is not a new left that is preparing to govern here, but the Gyurcsány era wants to return,” Orbán said, referring to the head of the Democratic Coalition, Ferenc Gyurcsány, who headed a Socialist government between 2004 and 2009.

“Whoever has doubts should only look at Budapest, with [Budapest Mayor Gergely] Karácsony in the limelight, and Gyurcsány’s people in the cash box in the background,” he said.

“Don’t forget they had stripped the people of a month’s wages and pensions, they … nearly tripled utility fees, scrapped home purchase subsidies and … raised taxes,” Orbán warned.