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German President to visit Austria this week New German President Christian Wulff will come to Vienna this Wednesday, the office of Austrian President Heinz Fischer has announced.
British teacher dies on first day of school ski trip A British teacher has died on the first day of a week-long school ski trip after falling off a four meter high stone wall after a trip to a pub and landing on his head.
Kampusch: FBI Dossier to Reveal Police Cover Up A secret FBI report into police cover-ups over the kidnapping of cellar prison victim Natascha Kampusch is due to be made public this month (April).
Cellar Girl: Kampusch Dad Launches Book Naming Second Kidnapper The father of girl in the cellar Natascha Kampusch - locked in an underground dungeon and raped for for eight-and-a-half years - has written a book accusing her kidnapper’s best friend of being his accomplice.
Turks Declare Star Wars on Lego Turks living in Austria are calling for a boycott of Lego products after accusing it of encouraging racial hatred and prejudice.
Austrian ski area Warth-Schröcken is the snowiest in Europe. With a seasonal average snowfall of 10.6m, Warth-Schröcken has been named the snowiest ski area in Europe by new UK website www.weathertoski.co.uk.
Rubbish dump home families win latest round There is an end in sight for the legal battle over three houses build on an old dump ground in Rietz (Tirol).
Lake Lüner to get a facelift One of Austria's most beautiful lakes is set to lose most of its water – at least temporarily so that repair and renovation work can take place on the wall of a dam.
Obituary: The Vienna-born heroine who gave equal rights to Japanese women A Viennese-born woman who single handedly rewrote the constitution of Japan to give women equal rights has died aged 89, the New York Times reports.
Child allowance extension rarely taken up admits minister Experts have criticised the offer of extending the Kinderbetreuungsgeld - the payment made to new parents – for two months in cases of hardship because the process is too complicated.
CCTV images of suspected serial rapist Austrian police have issued these CCTV images of a man they suspect might be responsible for a series of rapes on the Vienna U6 underground line.
Salzburg deputy resigns after 3bn rogue trader loss Salzburg's deputy governor and the man in charge of the province's finances has announced he plans to resign next month after an alleged rogue trader gambled away billions on risky financial market ventures.

29. 06. 12. - 16:49

Justice dumb as speechless woman fined for slander

A woman officially registered as dumb by medics has made legal history by being found guilty of slander after her former in-laws claimed she'd insulted them in public in a Vienna street.

Gerlinde Bica- Taschner - who cannot talk and communicates with sign language - is planning to appeal the 20,000 Euro trial costs awarded against her by judges.

Her former in-laws claimed they'd been able to identify swear words from grunts and sounds she'd made during a confrontation over a child custody battle with her former husband.

But her lawyer Helmut Graupner said: "Today justice is dead. How can a woman who cannot speak be accused of slander?"

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