This year’s presidential election in the United States was a prominent topic at MCC Feszt 2024. A whole panel of speakers, namely Miklós Szánthó, James Carafano, Mark Milosch, and István Stumpf, discussed how they see the contest between Republican Donald J. Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris is shaping up.

The festival, scheduled for 23–25 August, will commence with a promenade concert titled ‘Steps’. The canopy walkway will be transformed into the Eötvös Path, featuring nine short compositions by the late Hungarian composer Péter Eötvös, who passed away on 24 March.

Hungarian military force development is currently taking place in several dimensions: rearmament, real estate and infrastructure development, and transformation of the HDF’s organizational culture. On the second day of this year’s MCC Feszt, Hungarian Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky gave a comprehensive overview of the current state of the Hungarian armed forces, future plans, and why he considers Hungary a military nation.

Vasif Huseynov, Titus Techera, Amitav Acharya, and Şuay Nilhan Açıkalın gathered for a panel discussion on the last day of MCC Feszt 2024 in Esztergom, Hungary to discuss how major world powers approach international relations in these turbulent times.

One of the most anticipated events of the Paris Olympics concluded in the expected victory of the masculine looking boxer Imane Khelif. Her opponent, Hungarian Luca Hámori stood her ground and fought until the last moment of the bout.

The first Tusványos speech that became famous across the Western world was delivered a decade ago in 2014. In the international, and especially Western media, the speech became (in)famous for using the phrase ‘illiberal democracy’ for the first time. Talking about competitiveness in a globalizing world Orbán said: ‘We are trying to find the form of community organisation, the new Hungarian state, which is capable of making our community competitive in the great global race for decades to come.’

‘The liberal progressive vision that emerged in the late twentieth century bought into the notion of technological neutrality. In this context, it served a broader liberal purpose to neutralize politics as well. This reached its apogee in the EU and the preference for a law-governed, depoliticized, technocratic mode of governance.’

‘The problem we’re having today is I think we’re becoming a culture that’s increasingly obsessive about the factual, technical detail, and we’re losing that sense of the whole into which it fits. And the whole isn’t about facts. It’s about interpretation of facts. That isn’t a fault, but a feature, of being human,’ says Calum T M Nicholson, Director of MCC’s Climate Institute.

The Frankish–Moravian struggles that shattered the tranquillity of Pannonia, even before the arrival of the Hungarians, caused irreparable damage to the settlement structure and ecclesiastical institutions of the region, which were thus left in a state of collapse when the Hungarian conquest came. As a result, it took a good century for the new missions, with the birth of the Christian Kingdom of Hungary, to bring the region back into the Church once and for all.

In comparison, Barcelona announced in June that short-term rentals would be banned from 2028, while New York has been restricting Airbnbs since September 2023, with the effects of the regulations already observable in the city.

The Khelif controversy has raised broader questions about fairness in sports and the potential impact of gender identity policies on competition. As Hungarian Hámori prepares to face Khelif, the debate over the inclusion of transgender and intersex athletes in sports continues to be a contentious and evolving issue.

This summer the major music and dance events attracted thousands of visitors in Hungary, significantly boosting the local economies. The biggest beneficiaries of these multi-day events were the accommodation providers in the area of Lake Velence, in Debrecen, in the Balaton Uplands at Kapolcs, and at the Lake Balaton town of Zamárdi.

Sebastian Kurz, the former chancellor of Austria; Balázs Orbán, the political director of the Prime Minister of Hungary; and Ján Figeľ, former European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth from Slovakia talked about what the results of the 2024 European Parliamentary election mean for the future of Europe at the opening panel discussion of MCC Feszt 2024 in Esztergom, Hungary.

The purpose of World Breastfeeding Week is to increase awareness of the positive health outcomes associated with breastfeeding and the need to support mothers in breastfeeding for as long as they choose.

The ‘Mákvirág’ cake is a light almond flour and poppy seed sponge, complemented by a soft white chocolate cream, crispy black sesame brittle, and enhanced with poppy liqueur and blackcurrant.

The men’s sabre fencers secured the Hungarian delegation’s third medal in Paris on Wednesday. Last Saturday, Eszter Muhari won a bronze in épée, while Kristóf Milák won Hungary’s first silver medal in the 200-metre butterfly yesterday.

At the press conference held on-site, State Secretary for Architecture at the Ministry of Construction and Transport Regő Lánszki stated that in the past 35 years, no educational institution investment of this magnitude occurred in Hungary, making this project one of the largest and most significant state investments in Budapest.

Thanks to the Mexican award, the Hungarian animation Shoes and Hooves has become eligible for submission in the Best Short Film category at the Oscars.

The adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s The Royal Game, starring Gergely Váradi and Károly Hajduk, was a great success at the 29th edition of the American festival showcasing independent short and feature films.

During the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics drag performers appeared to form a composition similar to the painting The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. The organizers have since claimed the resemblance was an oversight, and not intentional mockery. Meanwhile, just a few days later, Brazilian surfer Joao Chianca was threatened with disqualification if he did not remove an image of Jesus from his board.

The number of foreign guests increased by 19 per cent, and the number of guest nights by 9.4 per cent compared to the same month of the previous year. Tourist accommodations welcomed 825,000 foreign guests, who spent 2.0 million guest nights in the country.

The documentary presents the most successful ever Hungarian national water polo team that won three consecutive Olympic golds and whose most iconic figure, team captain and then coach Tibor Benedek, passed away at a tragically young age.

Banning phones is not the ideal step, but it is necessary. Ideally, children would receive their own devices later, learn when and how to use them, how to verify information found online, and spend their free time during their most formative years on activities that build and develop them, contributing positively to their personal growth and making them better people, Enikő Szakos, Educational Researcher at the MCC Learning Research Institute underscores.

Although the insect farming for feed purposes, which is still unique in Hungary, produces an annual amount of only 6,000 tonnes and therefore cannot yet replace soy, it is already so popular that buyers have pre-ordered the factory’s entire output for five years, the CEO said.

The fact that our measures have a good reputation internationally, and the Hungarian model serves as a model for several countries, is a reason for confidence. Many people are interested in Hungarian solutions, both inside and outside Europe, and even in the Far East.

‘The Israeli case is evidence that cultural aspects, rather than “family policies”, are the crucial element in producing above-replacement birth rates among an educated and affluent population. It is therefore crucial, for those countries which regard such outcome as desirable, to invest efforts in fostering the cultural aspects of a familial outlook in their societies.’

When it got to the point where Zsuzsa and her family had to deliver sweets to a hundred places one Christmas, they felt they had reached a crossroads: ‘We knew we couldn’t go on like this. Either we cut it back and get on with our common lives or we take a sharp turn towards chocolate.’

This year, ten flower floats will be on display in the parade, led by the Holy Crown float. Additionally, the parade will be preceded by an entire week of carnival events, with free concerts for the public every evening on Kossuth Square.

‘His holocaust-survivor grandfather highlighted that he should kiss his weapon as now, unlike during the Holocaust, the Jewish people have the privilege from God to defend themselves. This is why, as Dr Ansbacher explained, when Hamas invaded Israel, they didn’t find helpless Jewish people, but thousands of strong soldiers, police officers, Special Forces, and also regular people who were able to defend themselves.’

During the mission, the Hungarian research astronaut will spend 14 days aboard the International Space Station, conducting scientific experiments that will not only benefit the domestic space sector but also position Hungary competitively on the international stage in one of the 21st century’s most rapidly developing industries.