Black Wings snatch title

Categories
Sports

Black Wings Linz have won the EBEL Ice Hockey League. The Upper Austrian team beat KAC 3-1 in the fifth match of the best of seven series on Sunday. Black Wings managed to win the trophy back in 2003. This season’s triumph followed a humiliating exit in the quarter final of last year’s EBEL league.

OMV demands EU gas commitment

Categories
Business

The head of Austria’s leading oil and gas company has appealed to political leaders to take a stand for gas as a key future source of energy. Gerhard Roiss, who has headed OMV AG since 2011, told the Kurier newspaper that the European Union (EU) should make clear whether it supported the search for and […]

Another underage teenager freed in red light raid

Categories
General News

Police in Klagenfurt arrested a 15-year-old Romanian girl who was a victim of forced prostitution after a series of raids on the red light scene in the city. Police said that the teenager had been forced into prostitution and was severely traumatised by her ordeal. But they said that the girl had managed to get […]

Morocco posters all removed says FPÖ

Categories
General News

The Freedom party official responsible for an election poster campaign that urged love for all things good and Austrian rather than thieving Moroccans has apologised and had all the posters removed. The slogan “Heimatliebe statt Marokkaner-Diebe” on the Freedom Party placards for local elections in Innsbruck translates as “Love of your home country instead of […]

London tops Austrian holiday destinations

Categories
Travel

The Austrian travel agents Association has confirmed London is now one of the top destinations for Austrians looking to enjoy an Easter break. London shares the top spot with Spain, the Dominican Republic and the Maldives as the most popular Easter break. For the package holiday deals Egypt, Turkey and Spain topped the list. All […]

Ship must not sink, Wallner warns

Categories
Politics

The new governor of Vorarlberg has criticised the government for its “politics of announcements”. Markus Wallner of the People’s Party (ÖVP) – who succeeded Herbert Sausgruber as head of the western province in December 2011 – said yesterday (Thurs) the federal government coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and ÖVP must reset its course. He appealed […]

Labour minister must repair politics’ image

Categories
Politics

Rudolf Hundstorfer has said that “clarity, transparency and comprehensibility” were needed to improve the reputation of Austrian politics. The Social Democratic (SPÖ) labour minister was asked to organise the activities of a special group of government members. The panel, which consists of SPÖ whip Josef Cap and People’s Party (ÖVP) Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner among […]

Hofer sceptical about ÖVP’s future impact

Categories
Politics

A renowned political strategist has warned that the People’s Party (ÖVP) could be “pulverised” in the approaching election campaign. Thomas Hofer writes in a guest article for political magazine profil that the conservative party might find it difficult to position itself in the expected war of words between Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Werner Faymann and […]

Finance sector salary increase sealed

Categories
Finance

Financial sector staff will get more from next month, it has been announced. Negotiators agreed about an income increase of 3.47 per cent on average yesterday (Thurs). The decision came after clerks were given the all-clear by the Federal Trade Union (ÖGB) to down tools in an attempted pressure increase. They initially called for a […]

Opposition pounces on pressurised ÖVP

Categories
Politics

The opposition plans to organise a series of extraordinary parliamentary meetings to raise the pressure on the People’s Party (ÖVP). Members of parliament (MPs) representing the ÖVP in the anti-corruption commission dramatically reduced the number of witnesses to be questioned concerning the Federal Workers’ and Employees’ Association (ÖAAB) controversy. A magazine published by the organisation, […]