Friday Briefs: Monument to Dangerous Birds Proposed

• "It is not good news that the virus that killed dozens of people in Asia in 2003 was identified a few thousand kilometers from Hungary," Sándor Szigethy, director of the Csongrád County Animal Health Station said yesterday, reacting to news that the H5N1 avian flu virus was found in dead birds in Turkey. Eleven thousand birds are being examined in Hungary to check whether they carry the virus. [origo.hu, népszabadság]

• Liberal and conservative politicians are fighting over the construction of a nearly five-meter-tall turul bird statue in District XII. Liberals are worried because the turul symbol - which is Hungary's totem animal - is used by several fascist and sort-of-fascist organizations. The district's conservative leadership says the statue will be a memorial to the victims of WWII. [politikaforum.hu, rtlklub.hu]

• By 2006, Hungary will have received nearly €20 million from the European Union for the development of wine production. Only Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Germany receive more than this. Woo-hoo! Free money for wine! [origo.hu]

• The price of bread will rise considerably - by about 10% - in November, after an agreement was reached between traders and bakers. [origo.hu]

• Hungarian cops will soon be chasing gangsters in Škodas. The National Police (ORFK) is receiving 3,000 cars worth Ft 8.6 billion (€)34.4 million) in three years. This year, they will get 100 Ford Fiestas, 350 Chevrolet Lacettis and 550 Czech-built Škoda Octavias, the latter of which will be used as patrol cars. [vg.hu]

• Nimród Antal's critically-acclaimed film about the Budapest Metro "Kontroll" opens in Italian theaters on October 21st. [fn.hu]

• Eleven kilograms of junk mail arrives in the average Hungarian household every year, which means several thousand tons of waste is produced just from unwanted advertisement, according to a recent study done by the environment protection ministry (KVM). [magyar hírlap]