• The recent natural disaster in the Pacific Ocean has brought a response in relief aid from a number of countries, including Hungary.  A brief article from today's New York Times.

• An op-ed from Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) who writes in defense of a free and independent press in today's Washington Post.  The piece is entitled "Reporting At Risk."

• From the Washington Times, a five part series of articles focusing on the United States. Part 1 is entitled "America enjoys view from top" and was published yesterday.

• An Embassy Row column from today's Washington Times featuring Amb. András Simonyi.

• An op-ed from yesterday's Washington Post on Serbia and Kosovo, entitled "Where to Start with Europe" urging attention to the problem of Kosovo.  There is also a reference to the Serbian minorities.  With the incidents of violence against Hungarians in Vojvodina, the call for focus on the region by is particularly timely.  One of the authors of the article is Morton Abramowitz, former president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

• An op-ed from the December 17 edition of the Washington Post by columnist Charles Krauthammer entitled "Leave Christmas Alone".

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

• Monday's article entitled "Tolerance tested in Holland" is on The Netherlands;

• Tuesday's issue was on Italy with the title "The Italian dilemma";

• and today's article "Love-hate affair" is on Switzerland.

• The first is an article from today's New York Times: "Hungary Slowly Begins to Open Its Closet of Communist
  Skeletons" by Nicholas Wood.

• Another article from today's New York Times by Steven Erlanger: "A Modest Proposal: Israel Joining NATO."

• An op-ed from The New York Times entitled "Facing Down the Killers" on the still unfolding Darfur tragedy.  The author Nicholas D. Kristof takes on the inaction of president Bush.

• An op-ed from Mark Shields in the Washington Post entitled "Our 'Best Equipped' Army? Baloney!". The shortage of armor and other equipment to protect the U.S. infantry is an issue of great concern.

• An editorial from the English-language "Buenos Aires Herald" on world climate.  An international conference on climate change is taking place in Argentina with disagreement between the EU and the U.S. on environmental priorities.

• An extract from today's Radio Free Europe Newsline focusing on the positioning of the Hungarian party in  Romania, after the recent elections.

• From today's Washington Times, the celebration of Christmas is the subject of controversy in an elementary school of Mustang, Oklahoma.

• An article from today's New York Times reporting that Traian Basescu, president-elect of Romania, has opened coalition government talks with two small parties including the Democratic Union of Hungarians.

• An op-ed on Ukraine from today's Washington Post by Richard Holbrooke entitled "From 'Tent City' to NATO".  The writer was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

• An opinion piece from the Radio Free Europe Newsline on the Romanian elections. There is reference to the split vote of the Hungarian party and the conditional support of the Hungarians to the winner of the runoff.

• A front page article from today's Washington Post on a Chinese TV manufacturing enterprise that set up shop in Hungary to target the EU market.

Three articles published today:

• A report by Washington Post columnist David Broder on a recent conference of academics, politicians and journalists on the polarization of the two main American political parties.

• The Washington Times has a piece on Rocco Buttilglione's lecture at the American Enterprise Institute telling the audience that "in Europe it is fashionable to be anti-Christian."

• And from the New York Times, a report on the Jesuits entitled "Jesuits Show Strength, Even as Their Numbers Shrink."

• An opinion piece from The Washington Times of today entitled "The secular inquisition" featuring László Kovács of Hungary and Rocco Buttiglione of Italy.

• An article from Reuters, MSNBC by David Chance and András Gergely of December 1, entitled "Hungary nationality stirs bloody political debate".

• An op-ed by Tony Judt in last Sunday's New York Times entitled "The Eastern Front, 2004".

• A brief write-up from the "Embassy Row" column of the Washington Times focusing on the Romanian elections held last Sunday.  The piece features Ambassador Sorin Ducaru commenting that the Hungarian minority polled only 6 percent of the vote "but could hold the key to a future parliamentary election."

• An op-ed from today's Washington Times on Ukraine by Janusz Bugajski of CSIS (Center for Strategic an International Studies) in Washington, D.C.

• From Sunday's New York Times an article on the role of young Ukranians in the political crisis.

• And from the same source and date: a comment on president's Bush's second term entitled "Governing Against Type" by Edward Littwak, a fellow at CSIS.

• The Washington papers have published a number of articles, editorials and opinion pieces on the Ukraine elections and its aftermath.  Here is an op-ed by Anne Applebaum from today's Washington Post entitled "The New Iron Curtain."

• Two articles from The Washington Post.  One article is on the changes in the U.S. Congress and is entitled: "Congress is Losing Leaders and Unifiers."

• An article on a television program in Romania that deals with European integration: "In Romania, Show Turns E.U. Into A Laughing Matter."

• A Washington Post editorial on Darfur, the great international moral failure of our time, entitled "Mr. Bush's Better World."  The paper is critical of the Bush administration for mishandling the unfolding tragedy in Sudan.

• An article from last Tuesday's Hungarian daily "Népszabadság" featuring the work of the New York-based Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (HHRF), a member organization of the Hungarian American Coalition, in the area of property restitution of the Hungarian community of Romania.  The Foundation, the only U.S.-based organization with a credible and consistent track record in this area, has recently created a Confiscated Church Property data base and a Restitution Working Group to better deal with this important issue.  Regrettably, the article is only available in Hungarian.

• An op-ed from Washington Post columnist David S. Broder entitled "Germinator" Schwarzenegger's California Blooming.

• And, from today's Washington Times a follow-up on the legal action against the Boy Scouts by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):  "Rumsfeld urged to 'defend' Scouts movement."

• A report from The New York Times of today on the vote of the Hungarian parliament to withdraw the Hungarian contingent from Iraq by the end of this year.

• The Ambassador of Hungary to the United States on the same subject in the columnEmbassy Row of the Washington Times of today.

• An article in the Washington Times about the legal action, on grounds of separation of church and state, against the Boy Scouts by the ACLU related to the sponsorship by the US military of the youth organization.

• I am sending a Letter to the Editor of the Washington Times entitled "Observing the Ukraine elections" and signed by former lawmakers from the U.S. (Democrats and Republicans) and by three former members of the European parliament, from the UK, Spain and The Netherlands.

• Also, an op-ed by David Broder in the Washington Post commenting on some reactions to the result of the American elections.

• From The New York Times Robert D. Kaplan, author of "Balkan Ghosts" comments on the democratic experience in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the prospects in Iraq.  Theopinion piece is entitled "Barren Ground for Democracy".

• An article from today's New York Times entitled "Pentagon Envisioning a Costly Internet for War" by Time Weiner.

• An article on the American elections published yesterday in Slovakia's Hungarian-language daily "Szabad Ujsag". The title of the piece is "Four More Years for Bush" and was written by Mrs. Edith Lauer, Chairman Emerita of the Hungarian American Coalition.  Regrettably, the article is only available in Hungarian.

• An editorial from today's Washington Times entitled "Hungary's troop withdrawal".

• Also, an op-ed from today's New York Times by Lyn Nofziger entitled "Bush's Trouble Ahead".

• A book review from The Washington Times entitled "What the 'neoconomists' want".  The title of the book is "Neoconomy: George Bush's Revolutionary Gamble with America's Future" by David Altman, Public Affairs, $29.95, 304 p.  The review is by Philip Gold, author of the book "Take Back the Right".

• A brief column from the Embassy Row section of today's Washington Times, where there is mention of a statement by Ambassador Simonyi on the Hungarian contingent in Iraq.

• An article from The New York Times on the U.S. elections.

• An op-ed entitled "Our Old Fox" by David Ignatius from last Friday's edition of the Washington Post on the recent passing of Paul H. Nitze.

• Also, two opinion pieces on the upcoming U.S. elections published in today's Washington Post: "President Kerry and Europe" by Timothy Garton Ash and columnist David Broder's "A Less than Ideal Choice."

• The death of Paul H. Nitze in Washington was the subject of articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Washington Times of today.  I am sending an articlefrom the Post entitled "Architect of Cold War Had Role in Ending It" by the paper staff writers Don Oberdorfer and Patricia Sullivan.

• An article on president Bush from last Sunday's New York Times magazine.  The title of the article is "Without a Doubt" by Ron Suskind.  Rep. Tom Lantos, Democrat of California is featured in the article.

• An article from The New York Times on the beatification of the last emperor of Austria-Hungary.

• From the Washington Times of today an article on the Noble prize winners in chemistry. One of the israeli scientists, Mr. Avram Hershko, was originally from Hungary, according to the report.

• Also from today's Washington Times an article on the gravesite of Genghis Khan.

• An op-ed from the Washington Post, entitled "Ukraine At the Crossroads" on the approaching elections in Ukraine.

• A book review from The Washington Times of 9-19 on a book about Joe Namath entitled "Quarterback of cool."

• An article from last Thursday's New York Times on the Vojvodina Hungarians.

• An article from the Washington Times edition of September 12, Lawrence Kudlow comments on an essay by Norman Podhoretz entitled "World War IV and How to Win It."

• With the same subject of radical Islam, an article on a video documentary "The Siege of Western Civilization".

• A book review: "Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy" by David Stevenson, Basic Books, $35, 564 p. illus.  The reviewer is Alan Gropman.

• An article from the Hungarian news agency MTI of August 9.  Although the news item is dated, it merits distribution because it is timely and relevant for the Hungarians in minority status.

• A recent interview with the Hungarian-language daily "Magyar Szó" (the Hungarian-language daily of Voivodina, northern Serbia), of Zsolt Szekeres, president of the Hungarian American Coaltion, and Tamás Papp, manager of the Budapest office of the New York-based Hungarian Human Rights Foundation.  The interview was made during a fact-finding trip Messrs. Szekeres and Papp made to the Serbian province because of the violent incidents against ethnic Hungarians.

• A dated article from the Hungarian daily "Magyar Nemzet" of August 4 on Robert Gabor: a long-time resident of Washington, was advisor to the Coalition.  In this article by Istvan Stefka, the subject is a book of memoirs by Robert Gabor on his political activities in Hungary, particularly in the forties and later on, and as an emigre in the United States.  Regrettably, the "Magyar Szo" interview and the "Magyar Nemzet" article are not available in English at this writing.  Should we obtain a translation, it will be distributed as well.

• Two opinion pieces on the continuing international inaction in the unfolding tragedy of Darfur: Fred Hiatt in yesterday's Washington Post "Witness to Genocide" and in today's Washington Times John Prendergast's article is entitled "Sudan's killing fields."

• Editor Arnaud de Borchgrave writes on Tariq Ramadan, a proponent of Islamic identity in Europe.  His visa for a scheduled teaching position at Notre Dame University, Indiana, on "Islam, conflict resolution and peace building" was rescinded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

• From The Washington Post of today, the obituary of Ilona Marton, mother of Kati Marton, who died last Saturday in Silver Spring, Marlyland, a suburb of Washington.

• An op-ed from The Washington Post entitled "Presidential Blooper" by Robert D. Novak on a misstatement by president Bush during an NBC interview, where he said that the war against terrorism cannot be won.

• An article on Gov. George Pataki and Rudolph W. Giuliani as contenders for national office in 2008, from The NY Times issue of Saturday, September 4.

• And from today's Washington Post an article on one of the strongest lobbies in town: the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).  The pro-Israel lobby is involved in an investigation of Pentagon leaks.

• An op-ed from The Washington Post of Saturday, August 28, entitled "Our Second Civil War" by Richard Holbrooke, who was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  The opinion piece is on the legacy of the Vietnam War (1964-75).

• A book review from the last Sunday's edition of The Washington Times: "Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended" by Jack F. Matlock, Jr., Random House, $27.95, 363. illus.  The reviewer is Arnold Beichman and the title of the review is: "By refusing to accept second place Reagan ended (and won) Cold War."

• Another book review from the last Sunday's edition of The Washington Times: "Borges: A Life" by Edwin Williamson, Viking, $34.95, 574 p. illus.  The review is entitled: "How obscure Argentine writer became king of Latin letters."

• An article from "The Economist" on Ferenc Gyurcsány, the candidate poised to replace Peter Medgyessy as prime minister of Hungary.

• Also, an article from today's Hungarian daily, "Népszabadság", József Debreczeni writes on Mr. Gyurcsány.

• A brief and partial report from The Financial Times on the selection of the new Hungarian prime minister.

• A book review from yesterday's issue of The New York Times.  The book is "Running On Empty" How the Democratic and Republican Parties are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It, by Peter G. Peterson, Farrar, Straus @ Giroux, $24, 242 p.  The reviewer is Christopher Caldwell, senior editor of The Weekly Standard and columnist for The Financial Times.

• An article from The Washington Times of August 9 entitled: "Passports remain terrorits' weapons".  In an attempt to increase security the European Union has agreed to fast-track the inclusion of biometric data in passports by the end of 2006.

• A book review from last Sunday's Washington Times.  The book is "Miles Gone By", autobiography by William F. Buckley, Jr.  The reviewer is James E. Person, Jr.

• An article on the European Union entitled "EU expansion sows doubts about future" by Andrew Borowiec.  It was published last Sunday in The Washington Times as part of the "World Briefing: Europe" series.

• A book review from The Washington Times of July 27, "America Alone: The Neoconservatives and The Global Order" by Stephan Halper and Jonathan Clarke, Cambridge University Press, $28, 368 p. The review is entitled "Critiquing foreign policy" When neoconservatism goes awry. The review's author is Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and former special assistant to president Reagan.

• A book review from the Sunday edition of The Washington Times, "1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs-The Election that Changed the Country" by James Chace, Simon & Schuster, $25.95, 323 p. The review is by John C. Chalberg.

• Another book review from The Washington Times of July 25 "Those Who Forget the Past: the Question of Anti-Semitism", Ron Rosenbaum, Editor, Random House, $16.95, 649 p. The reviewer is Suzanne Fields.

• An op-ed entitled "Serbia's Fresh Start" written by Boris Tadic, the recently inaugurated president of Serbia and published in yesterday's edition of The Washington Post.

• The second op-ed entitled "Glimmer of hope in Balkans" is from today's Washington Times. The author is Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of Delaware, who is ranking democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate.

The New York-based Hungarian Human Rights Foundation has documented repeated instances of violence and intimidation against ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina, a region of northern Serbia that borders Hungary that was autonomous within Serbia until 1988. The Foundation raised these disturbing incidents against ethnic Hungarians with key congressional members of the U.S. Congress such as Rep. Tom Lantos.

In these circumstances, the call by the president of Serbia "to defeat… ethnic and religious extremism" and Sen. Biden's argument in favor of American engagement in the region "as a proponent of human rights and democracy" is particularly timely and welcome.

• A brief article published on July 5 in the Hungarian daily "Magyar Nemzet", in memory of Colonel Ferenc Koszorus, who in the summer of 1944 commanded an armored unit of the Hungarian Army to thwart a Nazi-inspired government coup. That action was instrumental in saving lives, including those of persecuted Jews in occupied Hungary. The son of Col. Koszorus, Frank Koszorus, Jr. participated in the Budapest commemoration.

• An article on a rising star of the French political landscape: Nicolas Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, who is sometimes nicknamed "Sarko" or "Super Sarko." A number of articles were recently published on the current finance minister and former interior minister of France by papers such as The New York Times and The Washington Times. The attached article is from the Friday edition of The Washington Post.

• An article on the passing of Constantine Menges, government official and foreign affairs specialist, intelligence officer for Latin America, who proposed the creation of an organization that is known today as the "National Endowment for Democracy." The title of the piece is "Constantine Menges: A tribute."

• An article on ethnic conflicts in Vojvodina by András Ludányi, Coalition Board member, from today's Hungarian weekly The Budapest Sun.

• An op-ed from last Friday's edition of the Washington Post on Iraq by conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer entitled "Blixful Amnesia".

• Also on Iraq, another op-ed from today's Washington Times by Arnold Beichman entitled "The Gaul of Iraq."

• A book review from today's Washington Times: "Scouting for Boys: The Original 1908 Edition" by Robert Baden-Powell. Edited with a new introduction by Elleke Boehmer, Oxford University Press, $26, 382p. illus. The reviewer is Martin Rubin, a writer and critic from Pasadena, California.

• An article by Valeria Kormos who interviewed Edith Lauer, Chairman Emerita, in the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet.

• At about four months away from the presidential election, another article focusing on the key swing state of Ohio, published in today's New York Times.

• A book review from The Washington Times, "Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies" by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit, Penguin, $21.95, 176p.  The reviewer is Mackubin Thomas Owens, professor at the Naval War College of Newport, Rhode Island.

• Another book review from The Washington Times, "The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde" by Joseph Pearce, Harper Collins, $16.95, 301p. Reviewed by Stephan Goode.

• An op-ed entitled "Reagan's legacy" by Ion Iliescu, president of Romania, published on June 28 by The Washington Times.  The author claims that the Romanian authorities have taken "long-overdue steps to protect our ethnic minorities".

• A book review from The Washington Times edition of June 27 "My Life" by Bill Clinton, Knopf, $35, 957p. illus. The reviewer is Michael P. Riccards.

• Another book review from last Sunday's The Washington Times "Alger Hiss's Looking Glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy" by G. Edward White, Oxford U. Press, $30, 297p. The reviewer is John S. Monagan.

• A brief article from The New York Times edition of June 24 on Norman Podhoretz, one of the great representatives of the neoconservative movement, who received from president Bush the Medal of Freedom.  Mr. Podhoretz, a New Yorker of 74, was for over thirty years editor of the conservative monthly magazine entitled "Commentary."

• From the June 23 edition of the Washington Times, a commentary by Arnold Beichmann on Putin's Russia, where Yuri V. Andropov's anniversary was recently celebrated.  Andropov was Soviet ambassador to Hungary in 1956.

• An Embassy Row column from today's Washington Times, announcing the visit of the prime minister of Hungary, who will meet with president Bush.

• An article from yesterday's Washington Times about the election of Livia Jaroka to the European parliament, the only Gypsy legislator elected.

• An editorial from the Sunday Washington Post calling for action in preventing further genocide in the Dafur region of western Sudan.

• An article on the EU vote for seats in the European parliament as reported by the Washington Post on Monday.  Many incumbent parties lost to the opposition, as it was the case in Hungary.

• An op-ed from Tuesday's The Washington Times entitled "Europe's new fault line."

• An article on the platform of the Republican party of Texas adopted on June 4, affirming that the United States is a Christian nation, published in today's Washington Times.

• A book review from today's Washington Times.  "Infidels: A History of the Conflict Between Christendom and Islam" by Andrew Wheatcroft, Random House, $24.95, 419 p. illus.  The reviewer is Sol Schindler.

• A book review published today in The New York Times.  "Power, Terror, Peace, and War" America's Grand Strategy in a World at Risk by Walter Russell Mead, Alfred A. Knopf, $19.95, 226 p.  The review was written by David Frum, who was speechwriter to president Bush and co-author with Richard Perle of "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror."

• An article with excerpts of a pivotal televised speech by Reagan on behalf of presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964, from the Washington Times of June 6.

• An article from the Washington Times of June 7 that emphasizes the former president's religious outlook.

• Article from the Washington Post: reactions from abroad.  Includes a comment by Viktor Orbán, former prime minister of Hungary.

• Article from last Tuesday's Washington Post focusing on the presidential campaign, fundraising and the threat of joblessness in key swing counties of northeast Ohio.

• From yesterday's Washington Post: an op-ed by Anne Applebaum on the Polish experience at the close of World War II.

• An op-ed from yesterday's The Washington Times on the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

• Article related to the European Union from The New York Times of May 26: "God's Place in Charter is Dividing Europeans".

• An op-ed from today's Washington Times: "Europe's new oppressors" is a comment on fiscal and regulatory policies imposed by Brussels on newcomers to the European Union such as Hungary.

Two op-ed pieces and a book review from today's Washington Times:

• Columnist Georgie Anne Geyer writes on the current Polish mood in her opinion piece entitled "Poland's second thoughts".

• A comment on the Abu Gharib prison scandal is the subject of "The missing pictures" by Walid Phares, professor of Middle East Studies.

• Also, a book review on terror networks by analyst Joshua Sinai.  The title of the book is "Understanding Terror Networks" by Marc Sageman, University of Pennsylvania Press, $29.95, 220 p.

• The second article of the Bush campaign fundraising published in the Washington Post of Monday, May 17. The first part was published on Sunday May 16.  The title is: "Fundraiser Denies Link between Money, Access".

• Article from The Washington Times of May 18: "U.S. still human rights beacon" by Nicholas Kralev.

• In the same issue, a pronouncement by the Catholic Church on the inferior status of women under Islamic law: "Vatican notes status of Muslims' wives" by Julia Duin.

• Article from today's Washington Post on the fundraising efforts of the Bush campaign.  The article features former Ambassador to Hungary, Nancy Goodman Brinker, who in the graphic presentation of the article, appears in an undated photo in Budapest with visiting First Lady Laura Bush.  The article is part one of two articles.

• A commentary from today's Washington Post by sociologist Amitai Etzioni, professor at George Washington University, who argues for a national ID in the United States.

• An op-ed from today's Washington Post on Iraq entitled "What Must Come Next" by John McCain, Republican Senator from Arizona and Joe Lieberman, Democratic Senator from Connecticut.

• Article from yesterday's Washington Post, which is entitled "Europeans Battle Domestic Uproar" 'Iraq Prison Scandal Shakes Governments' and mentions a statement by the former prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban.

• A brief article published in the Washington Post on May 12 featuring Major General Antonio M. Taguba, who conducted an investigation of prison conditions and testified in a Senate hearing of the Armed Services Committee.

• A book review from last Saturday's Washington Times: "Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that made Abraham Lincoln President" by Harold Holzer, Simon & Schuster, 352 p, $25.  The reviewer is Peter Bridges.

• Article from last Sunday's Washington Post entitled "A Bigger EU, and Not So Anti-American" by Robin Shepard, adjunct fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies based in Bratislava.

• Also, from the Sunday's Washington Times two book reviews:  "Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw" by Norman Davies, Viking $32.95, 784 p. illus.  The reviewer is Richard M. Watt.

• Joseph C. Goulden writes on wartime Soviet intelligence "Treasonable Doubt", U. of Kansas, $34.95, 496 p. illus.

• Article on the prison scandal in Iraq, a commentary by Anne Applebaum entitled "Willing Torturers" published in the Washington Post on May 5.

• Columnist Charles Krauthammer's op-ed is entitled "Abu Gharib as Symbol" and was published on May 7, also in the Washington Post.

• Another scandal, the oil for food program in Iraq, involving UN officials and UN member governments is the subject of Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA) who is ranking democrat in the Committee of International Relations of the U.S.
  House of Representatives.  The op-ed written by Congressman Lantos is entitled "Investigate, Don't Incapacitate" was published today in the Washington Post.  In 2001, UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan issued a report suggesting widespread irregularities in the program.  Mrs. Nane Annan, wife of the UN Secretary General, is also the niece of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who rescued thousands in Nazi occupied Hungary, before his abduction by the Soviets in January 17, 1945.

• Book review from last Sunday's Washington Times. The title is "Oppenheimer: Portrait of an Enigma" by Jeremy Bernstein. The reviewer is Jeffrey Marsh.

• Article from yesterday's New York Times: "U.S. is Losing its Dominance in the Sciences".

• Article from yesterday's Washington Times: "Economics of the EU Enlargement".