Men exposed as Xmas shopaholics in poll

Categories
Business

Men will spend around 100 Euros more on Christmas presents than women, a new survey has revealed.GfK Austria found that male Austrians planned to invest 455 on Christmas gifts for their loved ones, while women were expected to spend an average 356 Euros this year.The agency, which interviewed 500 Austrians aged 15 and older, also […]

OeNB ups economic outlook

Categories
Business

The Austrian National Bank (OeNB) said today (Fri) it expected the Austrian economy to grow by 2.1 per cent year on year.OeNB announced only in June that the country’s economy could improve by 1.8 per cent in 2011 compared to this year.The bank’s latest estimation is also more optimistic than recent predictions by Austria’s leading […]

Austrian and Italian police team up at Xmas market

Categories
General News

Austrian police are cooperating with their Italian colleagues in a new pilot project.Carabinieri Lorenzo Galli and Paolo de Biasi will join Austrian police officers on patrol at the Christmas markets of Innsbruck, Tyrol, during the next few weeks.The Italian policemen said today (Fri) they will try to reduce communication troubles when their fellow countrymen become […]

High-profile support for indicted OMV chief

Categories
Business

A group of leading businessman has publicly backed OMV boss Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer who faces legal action for alleged insider trading.The entrepreneur, who has headed the oil and gas company since 2002, will be in court in January after the state prosecution decided to press insider dealing charges.Ruttenstorfer acquired OMV stakes worth 632,000 Euros in March […]

Eurozone troubles pose bigger risk than EE, says Treichl

Categories
Finance

Erste Bank boss Andreas Treichl has revealed he is more concerned about developments in the Eurozone than about developments in Eastern Europe (EE).The banker said today (Fri): “The biggest risk for us, the financial service providers, is the insecurity about the debt rates in the Eurozone and how they can be covered in the coming […]

Montreal’s Vienna Ball in honour of Gustav Mahler

Categories
Culture

The 52nd Austrian Ball took place in Montreal this week honouring the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler.The Austrian Ball of Montreal for just over half a century has celebrated the splendor of the Viennese ball tradition during a magical evening with wonderful waltzes, elegant atmosphere, and charming debutantes, while […]

Steel joist theft reported

Categories
General News

Plucky thieves made off with steel girders weighing almost 30 tons, it has been revealed.Officials in Eggelsberg, Upper Austria, said today (Thurs) that 14 stainless steel joists each weighing two tons disappeared from a local company’s indoor storage site during the night.The thieves are suspected of lifting the objects up with a special crane truck […]

Free tickets for passengers of train stuck in tunnel for two hours

Categories
General News

Passengers trapped in a crowded underground train for two hours in Vienna will receive nothing but tickets worth less than 30 Euros as compensation by the city’s public transport agency.Answer Lang, a spokesman for Wiener Linien announced today (Thurs) that the company had decided to offer the eight-day rider tickets costing 28.80 Euros to the […]

One in five want extended shopping hours

Categories
Business

Almost 20 per cent of Austrians want shops to adopt longer business hours, it has been reported.A survey conducted by Viennese agency Karmasin for magazine Regal shows that 19 per cent of Austrians want a change of federal trade laws so stores are allowed to open longer than the current maximum 72 hours per week.Especially […]

Nazi labour camp attack teens sentenced

Categories
General News

Three teenagers have been given suspended jail sentences for firing plastic bullets at a group of Nazi slave labour camp survivors.The male friends, aged between 14 and 16 when the incident occurred at the former stone quarry in Ebensee in Upper Austria, in May 2009.The defendants admitted having approached the group of elderly Frenchmen and […]