Budapest - Talks between Hungarian State Railways (MAV) and the country's largest railworkers' union failed to break a deadlock Wednesday morning, as a national rail strike entered its fourth day.

Once again, railway stations across the country were empty. Two of Budapest's three major stations had cancelled all morning departures. Passengers willing to take a chance on rail travel were warned to be prepared for significant delays or cancellations.

Budapest  - The Budapest Municipal Court on Tuesday evening ruled to disband the controversial Hungarian Guard, a uniformed extreme nationalist organization.

The ruling, which is still not legally binding because it has been appealed by the Hungarian Guard, came after a process that has dragged on for nearly a year.

The organization, founded in August 2007, has been accused of deliberately intimidating Roma communities with its marches against what it calls "gypsy crime."

Budapest  - The unions behind a strike that has caused a week of chaos at Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport said on Tuesday that they are close to an agreement with management.

Union leader Zoltan Kovacs, after a meeting on Tuesday with the management of airport operator Budapest Airport (BA), said that the employer had agreed to consider written compromise proposals from the unions.

Budapest - So far 201 Suzuki workers have opted to take voluntary redundancy, the Hungarian wing of the Japanese carmaker announced on Tuesday.

Suzuki last week offered two months' full pay and this year's annual bonus in full to any workers at its plant in northern Hungary who opted to take voluntarily redundancy by December 18.

The car maker announced on December 8 that 1,200 jobs, or over a fifth of the workforce, would be axed in the face of a drastic drop in orders.

Budapest - A local leader of the controversial Hungarian Guard, a uniformed extreme nationalist organisation, was severely beaten on Monday during a dawn break-in at his home in a small town just outside Budapest, the national press reported on Tuesday.

The radical right-wing politician, Attila Szabo, was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery for serious head wounds, according to reports in mainstream right-wing newspapers.

Szabo is the leader of his town's branch of the nationalist Jobbik Movement for a Better Hungary, which hopes to get a member into the European Parliament in the elections next year.

Budapest  - Passengers at Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport were faced with the prospect of more queues and delays as a strike entered its seventh day on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, striking rail workers began their third day of nationwide industrial action in a dispute that has already brought Hungary's railways to a near standstill.

Budapest Airport (BA), the firm that operates Hungary's only major international airport, announced on Wednesday morning that there would be no further cancellations on Tuesday.

The national airline Malev had already announced on Monday the cancellation of three of its Monday flights.