Hundreds protested outside the Hungarian consulate in Yerevan on Saturday after Budapest sent a soldier who murdered an Armenian back to his native Azerbaijan, where he was immediately pardoned.

Several hundred angry demonstrators burned the Hungarian flag and threw eggs, tomatoes and coins, accusing Budapest of doing a deal with Baku in order to profit from Azerbaijan's energy riches.

Placebo, LMFAO, The Killers and over 150 groups from Hungary, Europe and further afield will grace the stages at Budapest's 20th Sziget Festival on August 6-13, one of Europe's most popular music events.

For the first time, a live stream of the week-long fest -- now one of Hungary's biggest tourist events -- will be available on YouTube, according to its organizers.

Models strutted down a catwalk in front of Budapest's parliament recently, as part of a fashion show inspired by Hungarian folk motifs, the latest effort to highlight nationalism in art and culture.

The show not only offered new takes on old Hungarian themes but was also held on National Unity Day, a holiday introduced by Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 2010 to promote a united Hungary.

Hungary said two of its nationals were kidnapped in Syria on Saturday by unknown gunmen, adding that Budapest may dispatch agents to the region to collect further information.

"The Foreign Ministry and TEK (Hungary's Anti-Terrorism Center) confirmed that two men working in Syria were kidnapped on Saturday at dawn by unknown gunmen," said Peter Szijjarto, a spokesman for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a statement to MTI, the Hungarian state news agency.

A soaring Swiss franc is a threat to Eastern European economies as households struggle to repay the now much costlier loans they took out in the currency in better times, analysts warn.

Eastern Europeans rushed to take out loans in Swiss francs and other foreign currencies in 2004-2005 as interest rates were much lower than what they would have had to pay on domestic borrowings -- now that has all changed.

After years, sometimes decades of neglect, Budapest's historic thermal baths are in different stages of renovation to restore crumbling and rotting infrastructure to their heyday state.

The city's 50-odd baths are a major tourist magnet for Budapest, also known as the "world spa capital" -- ranging from 500-year-old Turkish pools with intricate mosaic patterns and high domes supported by massive pillars left by the former Ottoman occupiers to more modern Art Nouveau spa complexes.

Sziget, one of Europe's largest music festivals, kicks off officially Wednesday with close to 200 acts from around the world expected over the next five days in Budapest.

Reunited British indie rock band Pulp will take the main stage in the evening, alongside compatriots Motörhead, French group Ben L'oncle Soul and local heroes Quimby.

The knowledge that I'd be cut off from Internet and cellphone service in just a few hours started to relax me long before I reached the secluded, serene site of a two-day yoga retreat in upstate New York.

For 43 magical hours, chirping birds replaced car horns and sirens. Two-hour yoga classes, hammock-lounging and hot-tubbing replaced sitting at my desk in Manhattan.