Hungarian fourth-grade students around the age of ten have achieved their best ever results in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), an international test of reading and literacy involving 50 countries, an official of the Hungarian Education Office reported on Tuesday.
According to MTI, Hungary scored 554 points in 2016, a 15-point improvement on the 2011 results, Ildikó Balázsi told. Hungary was ranked joint 9th on the international list along with ten other countries with similar results, she noted.
Commenting on the results, László Palkovics, state secretary for education noted that public schools have been under direct state supervision since 2012. This, according to him, provided a safer, more stable and predictable environment. The government‘s career model for teachers is also paying dividends, he added.
Hvg.hu also reports on the good news about Hungarian education. Hungary is among the 18 countries in which fourth-graders’ literacy improved in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), in 2016. Hungarian pupils on average had 543 points in 2001, 539 points in 2011, in 2016 they had 554 points.
It is three points better than the so-far best result in 2006 (this is not a significant difference) and is 15 points more than the last one, in 2011.
The pupils with the best literacy rates live in Russia (581 points), Singapore (576 points), Hong Kong (569 points), Ireland (567 points), Finland (566 points), Poland (565 points), and Northern Ireland (565 points). Hungary is ranked 9-16th, while five years ago it was only on 13-22th place.
In the study, pupils have solved tasks related to experiences and information acquisition. The Hungarian pupils had much better results in the former task, but their results were somewhat better in the information acquisition task than before, too. Traditionally, girls perform better in reading comprehension. This was still the case, but in Hungary the differences are smaller than in other countries in general.
According to PIRLS’s data, teachers are content (49%) or very content (48%) with their job, only 3% said they were not. Hungarian teachers usually spend more time in the profession than teachers in other countries.
43% of fourth-graders feel tired every day or almost every day. 48% feel tired sometimes and 9% do not feel tired at all. (The international average is 32, 50, 18 per cent.) Even more worrying is the fact that 19% of Hungarian pupils are hungry when arriving at school (almost) every day. The international average is even worse: 26%. 44% of the Hungarian pupils are sometimes hungry (international average: 41%).
According to the international average, most of the students (62%) attend a school that is said to be safe and disciplined by the teachers. The situation in Hungary is worse: only 51% go to safe schools,
42% attend a school with smaller discipline and safety issues (international average: 35%).
According to teachers, in Hungary and internationally 3% of the pupils go schools that are not safe, but headmasters’ responses show that 6% of Hungarian children attend schools that are unsafe, the international average is 8%. Based on the experience of teachers, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan have the safest and most disciplined education atmosphere. Northern Ireland and England are the safest in the European context.
Several charts are published each year collecting the cities with the most livable conditions from different aspects. The best cities always include Melbourne, Vienna and Vancouver. But there is little known about the cities you should not live in and where it is hard to even survive. Portfolio.hu examined the factors which can make cities rise on such lists or fall, or help them keep their ranks.
The most typical aspects that are examined concerning a city’s livability are stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education, infrastructure, security and traffic. Budapest usually ranks in the top half, but it mostly lags behind the cities of Western Europe. However, it is still in a far better situation than the bottom entries.
One of such charts contains 140 cities and it shows Damascus as the bottom entry, mostly “thanks” to the civil war.
The Syrian war, which has been going on since May 2011, caused the destruction of a large part of the country’s infrastructure and civilians are assaulted on a daily basis. Lagos, which is the second most populous city in Africa after Cairo, is one of the least safe city on the continent. The aftermaths of the Arabian Spring can still be felt in Northern Africa, causing the capitals of Algeria and Libya ranking low on the list. The fourth worst city is the capital of Bangladesh, where frequent terrorist attacks, lack of infrastructure and high congestion make everyday life a hell. After the capitals of Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia and Cameroon a European city, Kiev is the tenth worst city. The Ukrainian capital showed the most rapid relapse due to the conflict with Russia.
There is also an extended chart of 232 cities which includes additional cities like the capitals of Congo, Chad, Sudan, Yemen or Iraq as the least livable places.
The cities mentioned above are not likely to improve their situation any time soon. However, there are places which might have the chance to get better ranks. Budapest is among these cities: the Hungarian capital ranks 36th on the chart of 140 and 78th on the chart of 232. This means that the basic public security and infrastructure is available, so some minor improvements could help it catch up with the top entries.
Environmental protection and some developments based on western examples can make Budapest rank much higher on the lists.
Security improved greatly since the installation of the surveillance cameras, but the city still has its crime areas. The public transport of Budapest is also among the bests, but cyclist traffic still requires some improvements. Education and healthcare are also above the average but they still need much development compared to the Western European capitals. These many minor changes would make people more satisfied with their lives and surroundings and they could be more tolerant toward each other.
Sleeping in Airports portal made a list based on visitors’ opinion ranking Europe’s best and worst airports. Hungarian Liszt Ferenc International Airport finished among the better ones, in the midfield, turizmusonline.hu reports.
Travellers valued airports based on comfort, food options, security, cleanliness, navigation and ease of transit, and customer service.
In Europe, Helsinki Vantaa airport was chosen as the best one, which – according to customers – is clean and offers a bit of luxury to the travellers. It is followed by, in order,
Munich International Airport, Germany
Tallinn International Airport, Estonia
Zurich Kloten International Airport, Switzerland
Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport, Netherlands,
Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport just slipped out of top ten, it was ranked 14th. The airport of Warsaw reached 16th place, Prague is the 25th.
According to voters, the worst airport is Heraklion International Airport in Greece, but the list includes Paris Beauvais–Tillé, London Luton Airport, both airports in Berlin, and Rome Ciampino International Airport as well.
According to the overall ranking in the world, the best airport is Singapore Changi International Airport, which is followed by Seoul Incheon International Airport and Tokyo Haneda International Airport.
Helsinki-Vantaa is number four in the overall ranking.
The overall list can be found here, while the European one here.
A new list was concluded by British organization Quacquarelli Symonds (QS): this time they were focusing on the universities of emerging European countries and the Central Asian states. Eight Hungarian institutions made it to the list, University of Szeged being the highest ranking among them, according to Eduline.hu. The real champions of the list are the universities of Russia.
University of Szeged ranked 27th, Budapest University of Technology and Economy 28th, Eötvös Lóránd University 30th on the most recent top list of QS , which was published on Tuesday.
University of Debrecen became the 35th, Corvinus University of Budapest the 45th, University of Pécs the 63th, but the list also included University of Miskolc as 110th, and University of West Hungary between 201-250th places. This latter institute was divided this year, so the two halves became parts of University of Sopron and Eötvös Lóránd University.
This is not the first time that Quacquarelli Symonds creates such a list: they have been comparing the universities of emerging European and Central Asian countries since 2014. This distinction is made because these regions cannot compete with the leading American and British universities – still, Semmelweis university recently ranked among the top 500 in the world on another list.
Just like last year, Lomosov Moscow State University dominates this year’s list too.
They are followed by another Russian institution, Novosibirsk State University, while the third place goes to Tartu University in Estonia, which is the oldest Estonian institution of higher education.
The top 10 also includes St Petersburg State University in Russia, Charles University and University of Technology in the Czech Republic, Warsaw University in Poland, Bogaziçi Üniversitesi and Middle East Technical University in Turkey, as well as Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Kazakhstan.
The universities were evaluated from eight aspects, including academical reputation, labor market reputation, faculty/student rate, the rate of students and instructors coming from abroad, the online presence of each institution and the number of PhD instructors.
Speedtest Global Index is a monthly ranking of global mobile and fixed broadband speeds. Ookla’s mission is to make the internet faster by providing data and insights on real-world internet speeds. As part of that mission, Ookla is making Speedtest data available to you in a new, interactive format.
Based on the billions of consumer-initiated tests taken all over the world using Speedtest, this resource displays the latest information on which countries have the fastest mobile and fixed broadband and which have the slowest.
How you can use Speedtest Global Index
The home page gives you a quick overview of how countries rank, how that rank has changed in the last month, and the download speed that rank is based on.
Top 5 countries
Click on an individual country to see 12 months’ worth of data including historic download and upload speeds over mobile and fixed broadband.
Use these country pages to spot spikes and dips in internet performance on a country level. Uncover trends and detect potential storylines.
Mouseover a dot on the trendline to see the average speed and worldwide ranking for that particular month, giving you the depth of data you need to tell richer stories.
Your source for data on global internet speeds
We hope you’ll come to see Speedtest Global Index as a go-to resource for global internet performance data. Take this data and use it to tell stories that help make the internet faster in your home country and around the world. Feel free to cite Speedtest Global Index as a source and link to it as needed.
The organizers will update Speedtest Global Index with data based on the previous month at the beginning of every month so you’ll have fresh statistics and an early eye on new developments.
Taking a cab is the cheapest in Cairo, at least among the 80 cities examined by Carspring. The “award” for the most expensive taxi rides goes to Zurich in Switzerland, according to Origo.hu.
The creators of the survey gathered the data from the official websites of the cities. Tariffs depend on the time of the day, the duration of the travel, the number of passengers in certain cities: they counted an average in these cases. Sometimes tariffs were of a wide variety due to the varying taxi services and the types of the cabs.
The basis of the comparison was the price for three kilometers within the city. They calculated with 60 seconds of waiting, to make it simple.
Cairo turned out to be the cheapest out of the 80 examined cities: such a journey costs only 49 euro cents in the capital of Egypt. The price per kilometer rate is only nine cents there.
The cheapest cities (price of three kilometers in a taxi)
Cairo, Egypt – 0.49
2. Mumbai, India – 1.24
3. Jakarta, Indonesia – 1.31
4. Bucharest, Romania – 1.31
5. Mexico City, Mexico – 1.36
6. Tunis, Tunesia – 1.44
7. Bangkok, Thailand – 1.46
8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 1.68
9. Sofia, Bulgaria – 1.72
10. Hanoi, Vietnam – 1.86
The other record is held by Zurich. Three kilometers of travelling by taxi costs 22.43 euros in the Swiss city. It is 45 times the price of travelling in Cairo. This is also twice as high as the average in Western Europe. The cost per kilometer is 4.61 euros there.
The most expensive cities (price of three kilometers in a taxi)
Budapest ranks 27th on the list of the cheapest cities. The tariffs are given from 1st September 2013, so the cost per kilometer is 0.92 euro, the basic price is 1.47, and the cost per minute is 0.23. The cost of a 3-kilometer long travel in Budapest is cheaper than in Prague, but more expensive than in Warsaw.
Hvg.hu writes that the general mistrust towards Hungarian media is getting worse and worse, as it turnes according to the Digital News Media Report 2017, which was presented last week on the GEN Summit, a conference about media innovation.
According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the Hungarian government increased its direct control over the media in 2016 with changes in ownership, distribution of state advertising and campaigns against external and internal critical voices.
“The public service media news is strongly pro-government, with critical voices barely present and factual errors frequent, while the online sphere is still vibrant and plural, with a wide range of political and news portals/blogs operating.”
One of the consequences of the process that has been going on in the Hungarian media industry is that the country has fallen into the group of lagmen concerning media trust. According to the survey, the overall trust in news media is only 31% in Hungary, while it is 62% in the case of Finland, which is in the lead. However, 53% of news consumers trust the sources they choose to get information from, which is the indicator of the polarised situation.
Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2017
Only 11% of Hungarians think that the Hungarian media is free from political influence. This rate has decreased by 3% in the last year. Regarding this aspect, Hungary is the 35th (last but one) on the list.
Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2017
Most people get information from the internet. Television as a news source is stagnating, the print is dying, while social media is flourishing.
Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2017
Concerning devices, the computer is still strong with 71%, the use of smartphones has increased by 6% and the use of tablets has also increased by a few percent. The top social media and messaging platforms include Facebook, YouTube and Facebook Messenger.
Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2017
Based on the international data, it’s interesting that 24% of users think that social media helps in distinguishing facts from fiction, while 40% of people think the same about mainstream online media.
Holy Spirit Catholic Church of Paks seems to be one of the most frightening buildings in the world, at least according to Reddit users. The building designed by Imre Makovecz got more than a thousand upvotes on Reddit’s list of “evil buildings”, reported dailydot.com. The list of the world’s most evil buildings contains the Maunsell Sea Forts, the North Korean Ryugyong hotel and an Italian fire station among others.
Reddit users have created a totally subjective order of the most evil buildings on Earth. The list was created by the number of upvotes each building has got so far, and was published by The Daily Dot. Hungary is also represented on this unusual ranking by one of Makovecz’s wonderful and original buildings, the Holy Spirit Catholic Church of Paks. Let’s see some of the items of this freaky list.
Maunsell Sea Forts – 2,367 upvotes
Maunsell Sea Forts, United Kingdom
These buildings got the most (2,367) upvotes on Reddit, thus became the most miserable place on Earth. The Forts are towers build during World War II in order to defend the United Kingdom, they are located in the Thames and Mersey estuaries. Frightening or not, they seemed to be useful as the UK won.
Ryugyong Hotel – 1,744 upvotes
Ryugyong Hotel, North Korea
The hotel itself looks creepy enough, but it has some other interesting qualities too: its construction started in 1987 and it is still unfinished. The hotel takes place in Pyongyang, North Korea. It is a 330 metres tall skyscraper shaped of a pyramid watching the city carefully day and night. Feeling comfortable, right?
Headquarters of the Italian Fascist Party – 1,686 upvotes
Headquarters of the Italian Fascist Party, Rome Photo: rarehistroicalphotos.com
Only a glance at Mussolini’s headquarters can recall the horror of World War II, and it seemed creepy enough for Reddit users to get on the list. The building is Palazzo Braschi in Rome, which served as the headquarters of the Fascist Party Federation. It was dissolved on July 27, 1943.
Former AT&T Building, New York City – 1,602 upvotes
Former AT&T Building, New York City
This building is located right in the middle of Manhattan, New York City and the creepy thing is that not a single window can be found anywhere on it. Isn’t it strange in the City with so many skyscrapers full of glass and windows?
Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, France – 1,566 upvotes
Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, France
It is also called the Black Cathedral, since it is made exclusively of black lava stone. Its blackness and the fact that its spires are 108 metres tall make it easy to notice from any part of the town.
Fire Station in Margreid – 1,411 upvotes
Fire Station in Margreid, Italy Photo: marvelbuilding.com
Another building of Italy made it to the list, however, it is rather exciting than really frightening. This fire station is built right into a cave in the South Tryolean town of Margreid. Although it looks like a villain’s hiding place, it is the workplace of real-life heroes: the firefighters.
Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Paks – 1,089 upvotes
Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Paks
With a little more than 1,000 upvotes, Makovecz’s church also made it to the list of the world’s most evil buildings. It is funny because it is actually a holy place. According to szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, the church was consecrated on June 3, 1990. Although it looks monumental and frightening from the outside, there is nothing scary inside.
Holy Spirit Catholic Church from the frontHoly Spirit Catholic Church from the back
A white altar made of stone can be found inside, behind which the rising Christ can be seen accompanied by angels with spreaded wings. They are all rising upwards in the light coming from the ceiling. Two angels keep guarding over the entrance – the Angel of Light and the Angel of Darkness.
Inside of Holy Spirit Catholic ChurchTop of Holy Spirit Catholic Church
Chairman of RTL became the most influential media personality again
Gabriella Vidus is the most influential Hungarian media personality.
According to Index.hu, RTL Hungary’s chairman Vidus Gabriella has been chosen as the most influential person in the Hungarian media industry for the third time in a row in Marketing&Média’s top list, which was concluded the tenth time this year. The owner of TV2 Group Andy Vajna kept his second place, while a new person arrived in the third place. Lőrinc Mészáros, who is the fifth richest person in Hungary and the mayor of Felcsút, debuted at the third place as the owner of Mediaworks Hungary and Echo TV.
Andrew G. Vajna, photo: MTI
Árpád Habony fell back to 11th place after being third last year. Leader of New Wave Media István Száraz, who purchased Origo, got the 33rd place, while the new owner of Figyelő Mária Schmidt became 46th.
The list with 50 members was compiled by a jury of experts. As in the years before, RTL Klub’s dominance was significant, four personalities represent the commercial channel altoghether. Atmedia’s influence is also great: this is the company that commerces the advertising time of TV2 and MTVA’s channels.
Lőrinc Mészáros, photo: MTI
About half of the list consists of top managers, another 30 percent are leading experts, and 14 percent are owners. Marketing&Média also notes that the influence of people who create content has decreased this year, and it is marked by the fact that only leader of Index Gergely Dudás made it to the Top 50, though editor in chief of Bors (Ferenc Pallagi) and 444 (Péter Uj) were also among the most influential personalities last year.
It was also revealed concerning the 10 year jubilee that Gabriella Vidus, József Bayer, Péter Kolosi, Zsolt Somlói, Béla Németh and Levente Málnay B. have been the most influential during the past 10 years, as they ranked on all the lists so far.
In the first quarter of 2017, Hungarians have gone on more vacations than last year, szallas.hu reports. The majority of people went on 1-2-night trips, and the 4 and 5 star hotels were the most popular. Among the cities, Budapest, Eger and Szeged attract the most visitors.
Although, in the first three months of the year there was only one long weekend, more people went on domestic vacations than in previous years. Domestic tourism increased by 8pc, but the low number of nights indicate the absence of non-working days, says József Szigetvári, director of szállás.hu. More than 80pc of the stays were only one or two nights long.
Unlike in previous years, when 3-star hotels were the most popular, this year people chose the higher quality, 4 and 5 star hotels mostly. Expenses increased by 17pc, but people still prefer packages under 50 thousand forints (160 euros). Packages between 50 and 100 thousand forints (160-320 euros) were still popular, but those above 100 thousand were rarely sought after.
Budapest continues to be the most popular domestic destination, followed by Eger. Szeged made it into the top 3, and Zalakaros also made it into the top 10 for the first time.
Top 10 domestic destinations in the first quarter of 2017
We have 88 days left until the start of the 17th FINA World Championships and these days world rankings are changing minute by minute. Still, we intend to provide a momentary status report about where the top competitors are at the moment.
April is very busy for swimmers, since some of the powerhouses organise their national championships this month, such as Australia, Russia, Japan, Italy, China or even Hungary (19-22 April in Debrecen).
The best swimmers of the world fight for making the world championships team and improving the number 1 times continuously.
As for men, the year of 2017 brought a world record already in January, when in 200 m breaststroke 20-year-old Japanese Ippei Watanabe broke the previous record with a time of 2:06.67 in Tokyo.
Since then there has not been any world records, only national ones. Last time on Friday Russian Vladimir Morozov swam a Russian record in 50 m freestyle with 21.44. Australian Cameron McEvoy also excelled in the Australian Championships, he owns the best time in the ‘top event’, 100 m freestyle.
Sun Yang shone in the Chinese, Chad Le Clos in the SouthAfrican and Evgeny Rylov in the Russian championships. Also, Adam Peaty swam excellent times in 100 and 200 m breaststroke in March in a competition held in Indianapolis.
There is a Hungarian world ranking leader, too, namely Dávid Verrasztó, who holds the number 1 time of 2017 in 400 individual medley with a time of 4:10.01. However, two Japanese swimmers went close to him on Day 1 of the Japanese championships.
1. Evneny Rylov (Russian) 24.52 Moscow, 8 April. (Russian Championships)
2. Junya Koga (Japanese) 24.53 Sydney, 3 March (New South Wales Open)
3. Marek Ulrich (German) 24.90 Eindhoven, 6 April (Swim Cup)
100 m backstroke:
1. Jiayu Xu (Chinese) 51.86 Qingdae, 8 April (Chinese Champs)
2. Evgeny Rylov (Russian) 53.13 Moscow, 8 April. (Russian Championships)
3. Matt Grevers (US) 53.31 Austin, 15 January (Arena Pro Swim Series)
1. Adam Peaty (British) 58.86 Indianapolis, 4 March. (Arena Pro Swim Series)
2. Zibei Yan (Chinese) 58.92 Qingdae, 8 April (Chinese Champs)
3. Yasuhiro Koseki (Japanese) 59.26 Aichi, 13 April (Japanese Champs)
200 m breaststroke:
1. Ippei Watanabe (Japanese) 2:06.67 Tokyo, 27 January (Kitajima Cup)
2. Erik Persson (Swedish) 2:07.85 Stockholm, 8 April (Swim Open)
3. Anton Chupkov (Russian) 2:08.03 Moscow, 8 April (Russian Championships)
50 m butterfly:
1. Oleg Kostin (Russian) 23.27 Moscow, 8 April (Russian Championships)
2. Benjamin Proud (British) 23.29 Marseilles, 3 April (Golden Tour)
3. Zhuhao Li (Chinese) 23.36 Qingdae, 8 April (Chinese Champs)
100 m butterfly:
1. Chad Le Clos (South African) 51.29 Durban, 7 April (SA National Aquatic Championships)
2. Zhuhao Li (Chinese) 51.34 Indianapolis, 2 March. (Arena Pro Swim Series)
3. David Morgan (Australian) 51.81 Brisbane, 9 April (Australian Championships)
200 m butterfly:
1. Chad Le Clos (South African) 1:55.00 Durban, 5 April. (SA National Aquatic Championships)
2. Zhuhao Li (Chinese) 1:55.09 Qingdae, 8 April (Chinese Champs)
3. Kenderesi Tamás (Hungarian) 1:55.20 Nizza, 4 February (Golden Tour)
200 m medley:
1. David Morgan (Australian) 1:55.70 Brisbane, 9 April. (Australian Championships)
2. Irvine Grant (Australian) 1:56.05 Brisbane, 9 April (Australian Championships)
3. Shun Wang (Chinese) 1:56.16 Qingdae, 8 April (Chinese Champs)
400 m medley:
1. Verrasztó Dávid (Hungarian) 4:10.01 Marseilles, 3 March (Golden Tour)
2. Daiya Seto (Japanese) 4:10.22 Indianapolis, 3 March (Arena Pro Swim Series)
3. Kosuke Hagino (Japanese) 4:10.45 Aichi, 13 April (Japenese Champs)
Photo: MTi
Women’s swimming world ranking
Let us see the curiosities while examining the women’s rankings! In the contrary of men there was no big bang at the beginning of the year, moreover there has not been any world record until now. (We do hope that the best swimmers save their best for July.)
90 percent of top3 competitors swam their time this month, since many national championships were or are being held in April, which are world championships qualification races as well.
Swedish Sarah Sjostrom, who won 100 m butterfly with world record time in Rio, is present on the lists more times, she owns the best time this year in 50 and 100 m freestyle, 50 and 100 butterfly.
Speaking about freestyle we must mention Katie Ledecky, who swept in Kazan and in Rio, won from 200 m to 1500 m in the world championships and from 200 m to 800 m in the Olympics. Now she leads only in the ranking of 400 and 800 m, but Ledecky had her first race in an Olympic-size pool since Rio Games last week, and she must tune her up for the American Championships in June and certainly for the world championships in July.
This week many Chinese and Japanese swimmers forged ahead in the rankings, since their national championships were held then, Chinese excelled in backstroke, Japanese in butterfly and medley events.
Hungary is represented by Boglárka Kapás, who owns third best time this year in 1500 m freestyle. She wrote her time of 16:12.86 in Golden Tour Marseilles in March, but the Hungarian National Swmimming championships will take place on 19-22 April, so some excellent Hungarian results are expected by the end of next week.
In the world rankings besides the above-mentioned swimmers there are well-known names such as Mireia Belmonte Garcia, Yulia Efimova or Emily Seebohm, but rising teenage stars have emerged as well, such as Australian Ariarne Titmus or Italian Simona Quadarella, who both excelled in longer freestyle events in their own national championships. It will worth to watch them in the world championships either.
50 m freestyle
1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 23.83 Swim Open Stockholm 08.04.2017
2. Pernille Blume (DEN) 24.14 Danish Open Bronshoj 03.04.2017
3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) 24.34 Swim Cup The Hague 04.03.2017
100 m freestyle
1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 52.54 Swim Open Stockholm 08.04.2017
2. Cate Campbell (AUS) 52.78 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
3. Bronte Campbell (AUS) 52.85 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
200 m freestyle
1. Michelle Coleman (SWE) 1:55.64 Swim Open Stockholm 08.04.2017
2. Emma McKeon (AUS) 1:55.68 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
3. Frederica Pellegrini (ITA) 1:55.94 Italian Champs Riccione 06.04.2017
400 m freestyle
1. Katie Ledecky (USA) 4:01.01 Arena Pro Swim Series Mesa 13.04.2017
2. Li Bingjie (CHN) 4:02.52 Chinese Champs Quindae 08.04.2017
3. Ariarne Titmus (AUS) 4:04.82 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
800 m freestyle
1. Katie Ledecky (USA) 8:15.44 Arena Pro Swim Series Mesa 04.15.2017
2. Ariarne Titmus (AUS) 8:23.08 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
3. Simona Quadarella (ITA) 8:25.08 Italian Champs Riccione 06.04.2017
1500 m freestyle
1. Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP) 16:08.73 Spanish Championships Pontevedra 01.04.2017
2. Simona Quadarella (ITA)16:10.66 Italian Champs Riccione 06.04.2017
3. Kapás Boglárka (HUN) 16:12.86 Golden Tour Marseilles 03.03.2017
50 m backstroke
1. Fu Yuanhui (CHN) 27.36 Chinese Champs Quindae 04.08.2017
2. Xueer Wang (CHN) 27.55 Chinese Champs Quindae 04.08.2017
3. Xiang Liu (CHN) 27.56 Chinese Champs Quindae 04.08.2017
100 m backstroke
1. Kylie Masse (CAN) 58.21 Canadian Champs Victoria 06.04.2017
2. Emily Seebohm (AUS) 58.62 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
3. Yuanhui Fu (CHN) 58.72 Chinese Champs Quindae 08.04.2017
200 m backstroke
1. Emily Seebohm (AUS) 2:07.03 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
2. Daria K Ustinova (RUS) 2:07.23 Russian Championships Moscow 08.04.2017
2. Kylie Masse (CAN) 2:07.23 Canadian Champs Victoria 06.04.2017
50 m breaststroke
1. Yulia Efimova (RUS) 29.88 Russian Championships Moscow 08.04.2017
2. Jennie Johansson (SWE) 30.39 Swim Open Stockholm 08.04.2017
3. Satomi Suzuki (kínai) 30.66 Chinese Champs Quindae 08.04.2017
100 m breaststroke
1. Yulia Efimova (RUS) 1:05.90 Russian Championships Moscow 08.04.2017
2. Jennie Johansson (SWE) 1:06.30 Swim Open Stockholm 08.04.2017
3. Katie Meili (USA) 1:06.37 Arena Pro Swim Series Mesa 04.15.2017
200 m breaststroke
1. Yulia Efimova (RUS) 2:23.17 Russian Championships Moscow 08.04.2017
2. Taylor McKeown (AUS) 2:23.58 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
3. Chloe Tutton (GBR) 2:23.89 Arena Pro Swim Series Indianapolis 03.04.2017
50 m butterfly
1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 24.96 Swim Open Stockholm 08.04.2017
2. Rikako Ikee (JPN) 25.51 Japanese Champs Aichi 04.13.2017
3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) 25.84 Swim Cup Eindhoven 06.04.2017
100 m butterfly
1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 56.26 Swim Open Stockholm 08.04.2017
2. Rikako Ikee (JPN) 56.89 10th Tokyo Swminning Championships 28.01.2017
3. Emma McKeon (AUS) 57.27 Australian Championships Brisbane 09.04.2017
200 m butterfly
1. Suzuka Hasegawa (JPN) 2:02.96 Tokyo New Year Swimming Meet 14.01.2017
2. Franziska Hentke (GER) 2:06.84 Swim Open Stockholm 08.04.2017
3. Hiroko Makino (JPN) 2:06.92 10th Tokyo Swminning Championships 29.01.2017
200 m individual medley
1. Sydney Pickrem (CAN) 2:09.56 Canadian Champs Victoria 06.04.2017
2. Yui Ohhasi (JPN) 2:09.96 Japanese Champs Aichi 04.13.2017
3. Rikako Ikee (JPN) 2:09.98 Kitajima Cup Tokyo 27.01.2017
400 m individual medley
1. Yui Ohhasi (JPN) 4:31.42 Japanese Champs Aichi 04.13.2017
2. Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP) 4:35.01 Spanish Championships Pontevedra 01.04.2017
3. Sydney Pickrem (CAN) 4:35.43 Canadian Champs Victoria 06.04.2017
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Based on Szeretlekmagyaroszag.hu’s information, one of the world’s most popular tourist guides recommends Debrecen.
Flower Carneval, Debrecen
The Lonely Planet is a demanding, widely-known tourist guide. Hungary is proud of Debrecen occupying the fifth place of the guide’s list.
Debrecen takes the lead over popular tourist destinations including Italy, the Australian Bellarine Peninsula, the Michigan Upper Peninsula, and Belize. Nepal is standing at the first place.
Trams circulate in Debrecen even today. Lonely Planet’s top ten recommendations:
Nepal
Namibia
Porto, Portugal
Venice, Italy
Debrecen
Belize
Morocco
Italy
Bellarine Peninsula, Australia
Michigan Upper Peninsula, USA
The guide praises Debrecen’s rich history, the summer festivals, the contemporary art exhibitions, and Hortobágy with the “Hungarian cowboys”.
Brussels/Strasbourg (MTI) – Overcrowding in prisons remained a problem in several European countries including Hungary despite a drop in the number of inmates, a survey released by the Council of Europe (CoE) on Tuesday said.
The Annual Penal Statistics covering 45 countries reported prison overcrowding in 15 countries including Hungary in 2015.
At the time of the survey, Hungary had 17,773 detainees compared to a total prison capacity of 13,736, putting the occupancy rate at 129.4 percent, the third highest, the report said.
The report showed improvement in Hungary’s prison occupancy since 2014, when it topped the list with 142 percent.
In terms of prison space per inmate Hungary came off worst in the report with only 2.8 square metres. The country in these terms was followed by Macedonia with 2.9 sqms and Estonia with 3 sqms, the report showed.
In the terms of the number of detainees per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest figure, 439.2, was reported in Russia compared to the average of 115.7 across the CoE member states, and the lowest, 53, in the Netherlands. The number in Hungary was 180.8, down from 185 in 2014, the report said.
The survey conducted by the University of Lausanne for the CoE showed about 1.4 million people held in prisons across Europe in 2015, which is 6.8 percent lower than in 2014.
In pursuit of finding the top luxury accommodations around the world, Flight Network launched an unparalleled campaign that rose above any contest in the history of the Canada-based global travel agency. The landmark results were determined by a panel of the industry’s most esteemed travel experts and judges, all of whom sought to ensure that every hotel chosen exceeded the highest hospitality standards, while offering something innovative to the travel experience. So, on March 8, 2017, after highly vetting a list of nearly 1,000 luxury and boutique hotels, resorts, lodges, and inns, Flight Network officially unveiled their most definitive guide to date: the 100 Greatest Hotels in the World.
Whether tucked away in an ancient city, remote island, or a national park in the heartland of Africa, Flight Network’s team of travel industry experts traversed the world for hotels that stood out above the rest. For months, leading luxury travel specialists, writers, and executives, then meticulously examined accommodations based on everything from their original style to first-class services, ability to embody local culture, and provide access to remarkable environments. Most important of all was what caliber of experience hotels could offer to well-seasoned travellers on the hunt for something unforgettable. Such a process resulted in the list of the 100 Greatest Hotels in the World, which today features accommodations that have set themselves apart from thousands of contenders across all major types of lodging.
“At Flight Network, we pride ourselves on being a global travel agency, and our goal with this contest is to showcase the world’s greatest hotels in a variety of categories: Luxury Hotels, Boutique Hotels, Luxury Resorts, Lodges and Inns,” said Neil Bhapkar, Flight Network’s Chief Marketing Officer, who oversaw the record-breaking contest. “It’s important that our customers know about the most recent advancements in the hotel industry, as well as properties that have remained among the best in the world for decades. We sent our travel experts to each of the properties to get first-hand experiences that we are now sharing with our customers.”
One Flight Network travel expert also reflected back on the process: “Each property was carefully selected based upon our customers’ first-hand experiences, as well as our own extensive research on each property. Those listed as the Top 100 Hotels in the World offered a unique combination of luxury, personalized experiences, and accommodations that reflected the true environment and culture of the destination. These are hotels that will change the way you view travel, and think about the world at large.”
That said, perhaps wait a moment before booking those tickets, and instead, take a look at what’s at your disposal. From lavish skyscrapers and seaside resorts to the most charming inns and lodges, Flight Network proudly presents the 100 Greatest Hotels in the World.
Luxury Hotels
1.The Gritti Palace, Venice – A Luxury Collection Hotel
2.La Réserve Paris Hotel & Spa
3.The Alpina Gstaad
4.Villa Feltrinelli
5.Maison Souquet
6.The Peninsula Hong Kong
7.The Oberoi, Dubai
8.The Puli Hotel and Spa
9.Royal Mansour Marrakech
10.Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo
11.The Singular Patagonia
12.Viceroy Bali Luxury Villas, Restaurant & Spa
13.The Cape, a Thompson Hotel
14.The Knickerbocker
15.Lindos Blu Luxury Hotel & Suites
16.Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa
17.The Goring
18.Villa René Lalique
19.Four Seasons Hotel Mexico City
20.The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah, Ubud 21.Aria Hotel Budapest
22.Hotel Regina Paris
23.La Bastide de Gordes
24.Beau-Rivage Palace
25.Palace Hotel
26.d’Angleterre
27.Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C.
28.Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi
29.The Taj Mahal Palace
30.Relais & Châteaux Hotel Heritage
31.Golden Well Hotel
32.Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa
33.Primland
34.The Langham, Hong Kong
35. Raffles Dubai
36.The Upper House
37.Thompson Seattle
38.The Surrey
39.The Serras
40.Dar Rhizlane
41.Rosewood Abu Dhabi
42.The St. Regis Istanbul
43.The Inn & Club at Harbour Town
44.The Parisian Macao
Boutique Hotels
1.Les Bains Paris
2.Secret Bay
3.Cotton House Hotel
4.Hotel Fasano Rio de Janeiro
5.Barbuda Belle Luxury Beach Hotel
6.Aenaon Villas
7.Hotel Éclat Beijing
8.Farmhouse Inn
9.Tongabezi Lodge
10.Winvian Farm
11.La Casa Que Canta
12.Inkaterra La Casona
13.XVA Art Hotel
14.Drake Bay Getaway Resort
15.Quirk Hotel
16.The Little Nell
17.Casa Gangotena
18.Cheong Fatt Tze – The Blue Mansion
19.Riad Kniza
20.Gran Hotel Son Net
21.Hotel Gotham
Luxury Resorts
1.Alila Villas Uluwatu
2.Laucala Island, Fiji
3.Gili Lankanfushi, Maldives
4.Nihiwatu
5.Jade Mountain
6.Makanyi Private Game Lodge
7.Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai
8.Belle Mont Farm
9.El Nido Resorts’ Pangulasian Island
10.Ocean House
11.Kamalame Cay
12.Phum Baitang
13.Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa
14.Finca Cortesin Hotel Golf & Spa
15.Rixos Bab Al Bahr
16.Manoir Hovey
17.Wynn Las Vegas
18.Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara
19.Whiteface Lodge
20.The Nantucket Hotel & Resort
21.Chiva-Som International Health Resort
22.The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
23.Cavallo Point Lodge
24.Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Luxury Lodges
1.Angama Mara
2.Mashpi Lodge
3.andBeyond Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp
4.Mombo & Little Mombo
5.Woodbury Tented Camp
Inns
1.Fogo Island Inn
2. The Chanler at Cliff Walk
3.Wickaninnish Inn
4. Brewery Gulch Inn
5. The Inn at Little Washington
[learn_more caption=”About Flight Network”] Flight Network is one of Canada’s largest online travel websites delivering the lowest airfares, hotels, and vacations to millions of customers. The online travel agency helps customers find the best travel deals with 24/7 support, 150+ travel specialists, and industry-leading algorithms that find the best deals possible. Formed in 2005, Flight Network makes travel more convenient, reduces airfares, and saves customers money with its industry-first Price Drop Protection program.[/learn_more]
Photo: Aria Hotel – facebook.com/AriaHotelBudapest
Three Hungarian universities are listed among the 500 best universities in life sciences and medicine in the latest ranking by Quacquarelly Symonds (QS), nlcafe.hu writes.
Semmelweis University ranked the highest on the list, at 262th place. Semmelweis University is the oldest medical school in Hungary, founded in 1769. The university is also the largest health care institution in Hungary (wikipedia.org). According to topuniversities.com, international students account for one third of the school’s student body, and 82% of them are attending postgraduate programmes. It is also the alma mater of the Nobel Prize-winning Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi, who is credited with discovering the vitamin C.
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The University of Debrecen was ranked among the 401-450 best universities in life sciences and medicine, and it was ranked much better, in the 151-200 range in the agriculture and forestry, as well as pharmacy and pharmacology categories. The University of Debrecen is an institute with long traditions, and also has a lot of well-established English language programmes for international students.
The third University on the list is the University of Szeged, which was ranked among the 401-450 best universities in life sciences and medicine, while it ranked better in agriculture and forester, in the 151-200 range, as well as linguistics, among the 201-250 best schools. The university is often listed as one of the best universities of Hungary and according to the 2016 QS ranking, the 15th best university in the Emerging Europe and Central Asia regional category.
The Quacquarelli Symonds international ranking is established based on four criteria: academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, as well as h-index citations, that is, the productivity and citation impact of a given university’s scholars.
Budapest, March 7 (MTI) – The European Union’s recent report on Hungary’s digital economy and society (DESI) “does not reflect the political, regulatory or development policy achievements of the past year”, the prime minister’s cabinet office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Concerning the report, which put Hungary 21st place among EU members, one place down from 2016, the office said in a statement that the document was compiled based on “obsolete” information from 2015 or even earlier.
Authors of the statement noted that the EU report praised Hungary for its level of connectivity, due to the widespread use of NGA and 4G. They referred to the government’s Digital Welfare program, which they said had been designed to put Hungary “in the forefront of European countries in the digital transformation race”.
The government program aims to prepare Hungary’s education system “for the digital world” as well as help improve the skills of both small and medium-size companies and their employees, the statement said, adding that the results of those measures are expected to show in the EU’S DESI reports in coming years.
On the basis of the recently published list of 2016 by Eurotransplant, the Department of Transplantation and Surgery of Semmelweis University kept its first ranking among the eight member countries of Eurotransplant as regards the number of the deceased donor renal transplantations.
“In the list there are altogether 77 European renal transplantation centres. Our institution is ranked third among the 49 European centres as regards the liver transplantations. During the last year altogether 260 organ transplantations were accomplished at the Department. Among these the number of renal transplantations was 174, out of which 155 were brain-dead donor transplantations. In 2016 altogether 19 living donor renal transplantations were carried out, when the organ was donated to the patient by a close relative or family member. Considering the renal transplantations, Semmelweis University is the supplier for the entire western and northern regions of the country, which means 5.2 million people.”, expressed Dr. Zoltán Máthé, director of the Department of Transplantation and Surgery.
In the case of liver transplantations Semmelweis University, similarly to the results of 2015, was ranked third among the 49 European centres last year as well. Such an operation is exclusively carried out at this institution in Hungary. During last year (2016) 81 people received a lifesaving operation and a new organ at the Department of Transplantation and Surgery. The number of liver transplantations has been doubled during the last two years, and almost the half of the operations are accomplished without external transfusion at the clinic, therefore the time of the operation and that of the recovery period is shorter.
The Department of Transplantation and Surgery is the largest institution in Hungary where renal, liver and pancreas transplantations are carried out in the framework of an international agreement with Eurotransplant, based on European professional guiding principles. According to the director of the Department, it is rejoicing that patients now spend less and less time on the waiting list. Dr Máthé also emphasised that a transplantation is a real teamwork and all the employees of the Department have contributed to the success of the transplantation programme.
Written by Tímea Kele Photo: Attila Kovács – Semmelweis University Translated by: Katalin Romhányi
Last week’s culmination of the Africa Cup of Nations hasn’t had much effect on the top section of the FIFA world rankings; Argentina continue to lead the lead while Hungary slip a place to 27th.
The results released on Thursday see Brazil in second place and Germany the highest-ranked European team in third. African continental champions Cameroon leap 29 positions up to 33rd.
Regarding Hungary’s 2018 World Cup qualifying group rivals, Portugal are ranked eighth, Switzerland 11th, Faroe Islands, 82nd, Latvia 113th and Andorra 203rd.
FIFA world rankings (last month’s positions in brackets):
1. (1.) Argentina 1635 points
2. (2.) Brazil 1529
3. (3.) Germany 1433
4. (4.) Chile 1386
5. (5.) Belgium 1371
6. (7.) France 1313
7. (6.) Colombia 1304
8. (8.) Portugal 1240
9. (9.) Uruguay 1195
10. (10.) Spain 1168
11. (11.) Switzerland 1140
12. (12.) Wales 1120
13. (13.) England 1113
14. (15.) Poland 1101
15. (16.) Italy 1087 …27. (26.) Hungary 830
…82. (82.) Faroe Islands 422
…113. (110.) Latvia 304
…203. (203.) Andorra 12
