ÖBB to axe direct Linz – Graz route

Categories
Business

Politicians in Upper Austria have turned their guns on Federal Railways (ÖBB) bosses after the firm announced plans to end its Linz – Graz Intercity service.The state-owned company said today (Fri) that it would stop offering a direct high-speed connection between the Upper Austrian city of Linz and Graz in the province of Styria after […]

Vienna meets Chicago in the global backyard

Categories
Culture

Vienna-based artist Petronilla Hohenwarter is travelling to Chicago this October to take part in the art project Artists Respond Globally (ARG).The project pairs artists in Chicago with international artists from South Africa, Malaysia, Brazil, Austria, Bulgaria, France and Germany, who then work together remotely. The project finishes with an exhibition in Chicago in October 2011.ARG […]

Hungarian run down after being kicked out by driver

Categories
General News

Police are investigating after a Hungarian woman was killed under mysterious circumstances on a main road near Vienna last night (Weds/Thurs).Officials announced today the 38-year-old rang the police at around 10pm after having being “thrown out” of a car by a man on the S2 northern motorway near the Lower Austrian town of Süßenbrunn.A traffic […]

Leather car seat maker Vogl is broke

Categories
Business

More than 150 workers fear losing their jobs as a car industry supplier goes bust.Mattighofen-based leather producer Vogl said today (Thurs) that it has been forced to declare itself bankrupt following a dramatic decrease in orders of its products from car manufacturers. It used to provide leather seats for German firms like BMW, Porsche and […]

Knox flick director ‘impartial’

Categories
Culture

Robert Dornhelm, the Austrian currently creating a TV drama based on the life of convicted killer Amanda Knox, has stressed his film will not give a verdict.American exchange student Knox was jailed for 26 years for the brutal murder of flatmate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007. Reportedly the Brit had refused to […]

Seriously ill teen dies just days after check-up

Categories
General News

A Styrian teenager died of pulmonary embolism four days after being seen by a specialist, it has emerged.Tanja K. from Mürzzuschlag went to see a physician after she started having breathing difficulties last May. The doctor ordered her to see a pulmonary specialist to clarify the cause of the problem.Daily newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported today […]

Award for hero bishop

Categories
Lifestyle

An Austrian priest will receive this year’s Right Livelihood Award for his courageous work with native Indians in the Brazilian rainforest, it was announced today (Thurs).Erwin Kräutler has been bishop of the Xingu prelature – the biggest diocese of the South American country – since 1981. The 71-year-old has been under permanent police protection since […]

One in four students may be alcoholics, doctors warn

Categories
General News

Around 25 per cent of university and college students could be alcoholics, according to a new study.Research by the Jungarbeiter-Bewegung, an youth organisation, shows that 90 per cent of college and university students drink alcohol. Doctors said today (Thurs) that detailed findings of the survey suggest that around one in four students are alcoholics.When asked […]

University bans veils

Categories
General News

Bosses at a Styrian university have decided to forbid wearing veils, it has emerged.Managers of the Medical University of Graz (MUG) decided today (Thurs) to prohibit wearing veils that disguise women’s faces in seminars and exams.MUG vice director Gilbert Reibnegger stressed however that students would still be allowed to wear veils in lectures. He stressed […]

Dorian Gray comeback at Burgtheater

Categories
Culture

Burgtheater bosses have decided to bring back a German-language theatre adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s famous novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” following the roaring success it enjoyed last season.Markus Meyer, who is currently starring in William Shakespeare’s “Othello” and “Richard II” at the prestigious Viennese theatre, played the title role of Dorian Gray and attracted […]