Cigarette smuggler caught after accident

Categories
General News

A 26 year-old car driver fleeing from a police patrol on the south highway by Grafenstein on Wednesday was found to have a boot full of smuggled cigarettes. The driver lost control and skidded off a country road and landed in a ditch when poice checked the car they found he had a boot full […]

International organic wine fair comes to Vienna

Categories
Culture

An organic wine journey through Europe stops in Vienna to host a meeting of organic winemakers and their wines in May. The event, consisting of 35 winemakers from five countries, takes place in the Hotel Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom on the 11th and the 12th of May. The fair features a meeting between organic winemakers from […]

Katy Perry is the latest addition to Madame Tussauds in Vienna

Categories
Culture

Madame Tussaud’s in Vienna is one addition richer – starting today. Katy Perry’s wax twin was revealed by two fans who had won a styling contest on Thursday evening. A wax statue of the American pop singer Katy Perry is now on display at Madame Tussaud’s at the Vienna Prater. 20 artists in total were […]

Hotel cancellations after freedom party slogan

Categories
General News

The slogan “love for the fatherland instead of Moroccan thieves” has got the FPÖ’s leading candidate in the Innsbruck municipal elections into financial trouble. The Innsbruck hotel owner August Penz, who was also a prominent FPÖ candidate in the municipal elections in Innsbruck, suffered a financial set back after many of his hotel guests cancelled […]

All-clear for new railway tunnel

Categories
Business

Decision-makers have defended the construction of the Semmering tunnel. Social Democratic (SPÖ) Traffic Minister Doris Bures praised the agreement between the provinces of Lower Austria and Styria, Federal Railways (ÖBB) and the state as an “important signal for future generations”. ÖBB boss Christian Kern pointed out that a train journey from Vienna to Graz would […]

Muzzled MP quits

Categories
Politics

The crisis of the People’s Party (ÖVP) seems to worsen as inner conflicts are escalating. Ferdinand Maier announced he would resign as ÖVP parliament member (MP) in May. “I am already preparing my farewell speech,” Maier – who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the ÖVP’s various leaders of the past years […]

Greek crisis scares away Austrians

Categories
Business

Significantly fewer Austrians will travel to Greece this summer, preliminary booking records show. The Verkehrsbüro Group, Austria’s biggest tourism company, said yesterday (Weds) the number of Austrians planning holidays in the debt-stricken country in southern Europe had been 21.6 per cent higher at the same time last year. The travel office enterprise said Greece remained […]

Leitl denies ‘bullying businesses’ claim

Categories
Business

The president of the Austrian Economy Chamber (WKO) has rejected accusations that companies are bullying elderly employees. Conservative Pensioners’ Union chief Andreas Khol claimed that many of the people who retired before having reached the regular pension age might have been “bullied” by their employers. Khol said he agreed with Karl Blecha, who heads the […]

Grugger ends career

Categories
Sports

Hans Grugger quits professional skiing. The 30-year-old downhill specialist from Salzburg announced he decided to finish his career due to the manifold physical complications he still suffered from following serious accidents in World Cup competition. Grugger said he might become a ski instructor. News of his retirement comes just weeks after East Tyrolean Mario Scheiber, […]

AUA turnaround unlikely despite austerity accord

Categories
Business

Austrian Airlines (AUA) is not expected to make it into the black this year despite the recent agreement between bosses and works council chiefs. The struggling airline’s executive board agreed with works committee leaders to cut pilots’ wages by 25 per cent on average soon. The AUA pilots’ representatives managed to avoid an enforced change […]