Leading Social Democrats (SPÖ) have spoken out in favour of a referendum about conscription in what is regarded as a sensational U-turn on the issue.SPÖ Vienna Mayor Michael Häupl suggested yesterday (Mon) people should decide on whether young Austrians should still have to serve in the army. Around 25,000 men aged 18 or 19 receive […]
Austrian lift systems producer Doppelmayr has received the biggest assignment in its 118-year history.The Wolfurt-based company said today (Mon) its US American subsidiary DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car (DCC) was part of a consortium contracted to build a cable liner in the Californian city of Oakland.Doppelmayr said work would be completed in 2014, adding that the […]
Peoples Party (ÖVP) Interior Minister Maria Fekter said she “feels confirmed” by the public debate about Thilo Sarrazins new book.The former Deutsche Bundesbank executive board members bestseller “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (Germany Abolishes Itself) caused outcry with its theories about a possible connection between immigrants intelligence, crime rates and their will to integrate.Fekter has been […]
Fire-fighters called out about a water damage at a flat in Vienna discovered a massive cannabis plantation.Police said today (Mon) that firemen had found more than 180 marijuana crops in a 22-year-olds flat in Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus district yesterday.The fire-fighters were alerted by tenants of the apartment beneath the mans flat after water started dropping from the […]
Oil industry equipment maker Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment AG (SBO) has taken over an Arabian rival, it has been announced.The global market leader, which is headquartered in Ternitz, said today (Mon) it had acquired a 100 per cent interest in Dubai-based Drilling Systems International Ltd. (DSI). A takeover price was not disclosed by the Lower Austrian […]
More than six in 10 Austrians want a dissolution of the Austrian industry-holding stock corporation (ÖIAG), according to a poll.Researchers IFES said today (Mon) 61 per cent supported a possible shutdown of the body, while 30 per cent backed its continued existence.The future of ÖIAG and responsibilities has been publicly debated by the Social Democrats […]
The Viennese Social Democrats (SPÖ) bid to retain their absolute majority in Sundays provincial election has received a boost as the city has been found the most popular congress destination in the world.The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) announced today (Mon) Vienna topped the ranking for which participators of conferences all over the […]
The political pressure on Federal Railways (ÖBB) is rising following the firms announcement to axe a direct connection between the second- and third-biggest cities in the country.ÖBB said last week it would stop running a direct high-speed Intercity connection between the Upper Austrian city of Linz and Graz in the province of Styria after reorganisation […]
More than 10 million Euros of taxpayers money is being used to finance Viennas new 24-hour U-Bahn weekend service, it has been announced.Public transport agency Wiener Linien said today (Mon) the service which went into operation four weeks ago cost an overall 10.7 million Euros a year. It explained the new around the […]
A teenager had both his legs chopped off in a farming accident yesterday (Sun).Patrick S., 15, was on the back of a tractor driven by his 50-year-old dad Gerhard in a field near Göpfritz in Lower Austrias Zwettl district when he lost his balance and fell into the operating milling machine being pulled by the […]