Seszták faces party pressure as investigators seize billions in cash
A corruption investigation involving Seszták Miklós dominated domestic politics, with party figures urging him to give up his parliamentary seat after investigators seized more than 6 billion forints. The government also proposed bringing the research network closer to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. International coverage included a possible Trump–Putin–Xi meeting, while Hungary’s national football team beat Georgia 2–0.
- Seszták Miklós could have his party membership suspended — Latorcai Csaba initiated the suspension of Seszták’s KDNP membership and a disciplinary procedure, while party and Fidesz leaders urged him to give up his seat; he is suspected of accepting 12.6 billion forints in bribes in a case linked to Volánbusz, and investigators found more than 6 billion forints in cash.
Original (Hungarian): Felfüggeszthetik Seszták Miklós párttagságát - Fidesz still lists Seszták Miklós as a political prisoner as the KDNP seeks his seat back — KDNP parliamentary group leader Rétvári Bence urged Seszták to give up his seat and clear his name, while Fidesz’s website continued to describe him as a political prisoner despite his detention and suspicion of accepting bribes in the Volánbusz case.
Original (Hungarian): A Fidesz még mindig politikai fogolyként tartja számon Seszták Miklóst, miközben a KDNP már visszakérné a mandátumát - Seszták Miklós’s lawyer says the money found was not his client’s — Seszták’s lawyer said the more than 6 billion forints found by investigators did not belong to his client, who is one of several suspects in the case and is accused of accepting 12.6 billion forints in bribes.
Original (Hungarian): Seszták Miklós ügyvédje szerint nem a védence pénzét találták meg - Navracsics says the NVVH must prove it found the buried billions and link them to Seszták — Navracsics Tibor said the NVVH must credibly establish that it found the buried money and that it is connected to Seszták, adding that the Fidesz should reconsider its political community if the claims are proved, while the prime minister should leave if they are not.
Original (Hungarian): Navracsics szerint az NVVH-nak be kell bizonyítania, hogy valóban találta és Sesztákhoz kötődnek az elásott milliárdok - Bóka János urges Seszták Miklós to give up his seat — Bóka János called on Seszták to relinquish his KDNP parliamentary seat after seeing photographs and recordings related to the case, while saying authorities must establish what happened and Seszták is entitled to a fair trial.
Original (Hungarian): Bóka János a mandátuma visszaadására szólította fel Seszták Miklóst - Rétvári asks Seszták to give up his KDNP seat — KDNP parliamentary group leader Rétvári Bence asked Seszták to give up his seat and clear his name, saying the case should be separated from the political community and rejecting Magyar Péter’s claim that the entire right wing is a criminal organization.
Original (Hungarian): Rétvári arra kéri Sesztákot, hogy adja vissza a KDNP-s mandátumát - How Fidesz responded to the billions buried in connection with Seszták Miklós — Fidesz said it distanced itself from anyone who breaks the law and hoped the NVVH’s published images had no connection to Seszták, while the party did not repeat its earlier description of him as a political prisoner.
Original (Hungarian): Így reagált a Fidesz a Seszták Miklós elásott milliárdjaira - International media report millions found buried in woods during investigation involving a former Orbán minister — International outlets reported that the NVVH found nearly $20 million in cash buried in woods during an investigation involving a former minister, placing the case in the context of anti-corruption efforts by the new government and proceedings begun under the Orbán government.
Original (Hungarian): Bejárták a világsajtót az Orbán volt minisztere elleni nyomozás során erdőben elásva talált milliárdok - NVVH: The seized money was deposited in an official account in accordance with the law — The NVVH said more than 6 billion forints in cash seized in the case linked to Seszták was deposited in an official account at the Hungarian State Treasury, while declining to provide further details and noting that Seszták’s lawyer disputes that the money belonged to him.
Original (Hungarian): NVVH: A befizetett összeg hatósági letéti számlára került a jogszabályoknak megfelelően - Bayer Zsolt says “no one is stupid enough to bury this much stolen money in the woods in the 21st century” — Bayer Zsolt said either Seszták’s testimony led investigators to the buried billions or authorities staged their discovery, and argued that Seszták and his alleged accomplices or the authorities should face prison depending on which account is true.
Original (Hungarian): Bayer Zsolt szerint „nincs olyan hülye, aki ennyi lopott pénzt a huszonegyedik században erdőkben ás el” - Chain Bridge, Üllői Road, ambulance services: what other politicians would have spent Seszták’s 6.5 billion on — Politicians and organizations compared the seized sum of about 6.5 billion forints with public spending, with Kunhalmi Ágnes proposing road and rental-housing renovations, Vona Gábor ambulance-service investment, and Karácsony Gergely the Chain Bridge renovation.
Original (Hungarian): Lánchíd, Üllői út, mentőszolgálat – mire költötték volna más politikusok Seszták 6,5 milliárdját - Donald Tusk on the Seszták case: “Dear Viktor! I’ve always admired your creativity, but now you’ve amazed me” — Donald Tusk posted a sarcastic response to reports cited in the article about the detention of Viktor Orbán’s brother in a human-smuggling case and $20 million found buried in woods in connection with a former minister.
Original (Hungarian): Donald Tusk a Seszták-ügy kapcsán: Kedves Viktor! Mindig is csodáltam a kreativitásodat, de most lenyűgöztél - Research network could return to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, with HUN-REN also set to change its name — A government bill would rename the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network as the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Research Network and establish closer cooperation with the Academy, while HUN-REN’s president said the proposal would create a more stable and independent model rather than restore the pre-2019 system.
Original (Hungarian): Újra az MTA-hoz kerülhet a kutatóhálózat, a HUN-REN neve is megváltozik - How does a deeply religious community come to terms with its priest abusing children? — The article examines how victims and the Catholic community in Piliscsaba are trying to process abuse by priest Balázs Szűcs, while questions remain about the responsibility of church and state institutions and support for victims.
Original (Hungarian): Hogyan dolgozza fel egy mélyen vallásos közösség, hogy a papjuk zaklatta a gyerekeiket? - Zelensky says US officials raised possible NATO membership for Ukraine in exchange for Donbas — Zelensky said US negotiators had for the first time raised the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for withdrawing from Donbas, but no concrete offer had been made and he rejected giving up territory.
Original (Hungarian): Zelenszkij szerint az amerikaiak felvetették, hogy Ukrajna a Donbaszért cserébe NATO-tag lehetne - Kremlin confirms Putin, Xi Jinping and Trump are to meet next week — The Kremlin said Putin, Xi Jinping and Trump would hold a three-way meeting in Shenzhen on November 19 during the APEC summit, with nuclear disarmament and the Iran conflict expected to be discussed but not the war in Ukraine.
Original (Hungarian): A Kreml megerősítette, hogy jövő héten összeül Putyin, Hszi Csin-Ping és Trump - Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping could meet next week — The White House said Trump, Putin and Xi could meet in Shenzhen next Thursday during the APEC gathering, with Trump expected to discuss nuclear disarmament and the Iran conflict with Putin, while the war in Ukraine is not expected to be raised.
Original (Hungarian): Jövő héten összeülhet Donald Trump, Vlagyimir Putyin és Hszi Csin-ping - Hungary overwhelmed Georgia with a strong finish — Hungary beat Georgia 2–0 away in the Nations League’s B division to move to the top of its group, earning its first-ever win in Georgia; Willi Orbán will miss the November 17 match against Northern Ireland through suspension.
Original (Hungarian): Magyarország nagy hajrával tarolta le a grúzokat - Vidnyánszky issued a double-edged apology for changing the SZFE, then made clear he regrets nothing — In an open letter titled “Apology,” Vidnyánszky Attila ironically apologized for transforming SZFE before listing the results of its change of model and rejecting criticism, while former students and staff again called for university autonomy and accountability.
Original (Hungarian): Duplafenekű levélben kért bocsánatot Vidnyánszky az SZFE megváltoztatásáért, hogy aztán kiderüljön: semmit sem bán, sőt - CEU is open to expanding in Budapest but would not move back entirely from Vienna — CEU is open to expanding its Budapest programs but does not plan to move back entirely from Vienna, and Carsten Q. Schneider said development would require government cooperation and preserving educational quality, though formal talks have not begun.
Original (Hungarian): A CEU nyitott a budapesti visszatérésre, de nem költözne vissza teljesen Bécsből - “The order came from above that nothing could come of this case”: what is the committee investigating as Varga Judit returns? — A committee investigating abuses in the enforcement system is examining the Völner–Schadl case, alleged prosecutorial interference and claims in a recording released by Magyar Péter, after previously hearing former chief prosecutor Pál Fürcht.
Original (Hungarian): Fentről jött, hogy ebből az ügyből nem lehet semmi – mit vizsgál a bizottság, ahol visszatért Varga Judit? - Index issues a correction 444 days later — Index corrected an article about alleged Tisza Party plans to raise income tax 444 days after publication, acknowledging that it had made false claims based on a fake document, and also corrected two other articles about the party’s tax plans that evening.
Original (Hungarian): 444 nappal később igazított helyre az Index - Lázár János’s in-house architecture studio and the MMA president’s company to build the first school project of the Tisza government in Gyömrő — The government allocated 10.65 billion forints to rebuild Gyömrő’s Fekete István Primary School, with the project proceeding under previously prepared plans without a new tender and involving an architecture studio linked to Lázár János and a company owned by the MMA president, according to the article.
Original (Hungarian): Lázár János házi építészstúdiójával és az MMA-elnök cégével épül meg a Tisza-kormány első iskolaépülete Gyömrőn - Graduate pastry servers: how unpaid work reproduces itself in the cultural sector — The article reports that unpaid internships are often a gateway into the contemporary cultural sector but provide limited professional experience, while unpaid artistic work and reliance on family support make staying in the field increasingly difficult; 86 percent of students in one study considered the internship system exclusionary.
Original (Hungarian): Diplomás pogácsaszervírozók: így termeli újra magát a kulturális szféra ingyenmunka rendszere - Scabies outbreak spreads in the psychiatric ward of Szent János Hospital — Scabies was confirmed in the ground-floor rehabilitation unit of Szent János Hospital’s psychiatric ward, and the hospital has introduced infection-control measures, traced possible contacts and begun screening patients and staff.
Original (Hungarian): Rühfertőzés terjed a Szent János kórház pszichiátriai osztályán - US lifts nationwide takeoff ban after hours-long suspension — The FAA lifted a nationwide takeoff ban lasting more than four hours after a communications failure affected air traffic control centers, with more than 6,600 flights canceled and 8,600 expected to be delayed.
Original (Hungarian): Feloldották az órákig tartó országos felszállási tiltalmat az Egyesült Államokban - Microsoft fully restores its services — Microsoft said Teams, Outlook, Copilot and other services were fully restored after a worldwide outage lasting more than 24 hours, which it attributed to infrastructure overload and an internal technical fault rather than a cyberattack or AI failure.
Original (Hungarian): Teljes mértékben helyreállította szolgáltatásait a Microsoft - Sightseeing boat capsizes in New Orleans after colliding with a tanker — About 130 people were rescued after a tanker struck the American Heritage sightseeing boat near New Orleans and it capsized, while 32 passengers were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and no missing people were reported.
Original (Hungarian): Felborult egy sétahajó New Orleansban, miután nekiment egy tartályhajó - The wind blew us away — Storm-force winds accompanying a cold front set national and Budapest daily wind records on Friday, reaching 118 kilometers per hour in Öskü and 99 on János Hill, while bringing down trees and disrupting transport.
Original (Hungarian): Lefújta a fejünket a szél - Who will be the last successful Hungarian Marxist’s successor? Early elections are being held in four towns — By-elections are taking place in four municipalities, with mayoral elections in Borsodbóta and Gyöngyösmellék and mayoral and council elections in Álmosd and Bagamér, following deaths, resignations or the dissolution of councils; all candidates are independent.
Original (Hungarian): Ki lesz az utolsó sikeres magyar marxista utódja? Négy településen is előrehozott választásokat tartanak - Water life has never been this sweet: how the Danube changed this year — The Danube remained at historic low water levels for four months this year, and the article describes how the low water altered the river’s familiar appearance and everyday life on the water.
Original (Hungarian): Sosem volt ilyen édes a vízi élet: így változott meg idén a Duna - Bitter Sound #294 [long]: Settled: Győr women’s handball, period poverty, Orbán Áron — The podcast discusses topics including Chinese politics and technology, Varga Judit’s possible political return, Orbán Áron and Csányi Sándor, period poverty, Győr women’s handball, the Chinese car industry, transport, animal welfare and Budapest.
Original (Hungarian): Borízű hang #294 [hosszú]: Elintézve: győri női kézilabda, menstruációs szegénység, Orbán Áron - Rejected by his mother at birth, Punch the monkey is now taking an interest in another baby monkey at the zoo — Punch, a Japanese macaque rejected by his mother at birth and known for clinging to a stuffed orangutan, has gradually joined the zoo’s macaque group and is now showing interest in a younger infant.
Original (Hungarian): Hiába utasította el születésekor őt az anyja: most Punch, a majom foglalkozik az egyik majomkölyökkel az állatkertben - Goalkeeper who collided with an opponent who later died from his injuries receives a 12-match ban — FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono was suspended for 12 matches after his collision with Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel resulted in fatal injuries, while Spanish police investigate suspected negligent homicide.
Original (Hungarian): 12 meccses eltiltást kapott a kapus, aki úgy letarolta az ellenfelét, hogy az belehalt a sérüléseibe - Áder János asks Forsthoffer Ágnes to support young people with her increased budget — Áder János asked Forsthoffer Ágnes to continue his scholarship program for talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with her increased support budget, after saying he would no longer be able to fund it next year.
Original (Hungarian): Áder János arra kérte Forsthoffer Ágnest, hogy a megemelt keretéből fiatalokat támogasson
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