Officials in Austria are at odds over Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Heinz-Christian Straches decision to travel to Israel.The right-winger visited Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a territory Palestinians are also claiming. Speaking about the ongoing conflict about the area and the throwbacks the peace talks have suffered, Strache said in the West Bank area […]
Austrians spending power will increase year on year in 2011 despite higher taxes and less welfare spending, a new study suggests.RegioData announced today (Tues) that it expected Austrians purchasing power to rise by 2.6 per cent next year compared to this years rate. The research agency said this increase meant people will have 450 Euros […]
Political decision-makers in Lower Austria have presented plans to change a controversial ruling which allows small breeds like Chihuahuas and dachshunds to be declared as guard dogs.Peoples Party (ÖVP) official Karl Bader announced today (Mon): “Some people registered their lapdogs as watchdogs as the law is unclear. That is why we plan to change the […]
Erste Bank boss Andreas Treichl has revealed he is more concerned about developments in the Eurozone than about developments in Eastern Europe (EE).The banker said today (Fri): “The biggest risk for us, the financial service providers, is the insecurity about the debt rates in the Eurozone and how they can be covered in the coming […]
The Austrian National Bank (OeNB) said today (Fri) it expected the Austrian economy to grow by 2.1 per cent year on year.OeNB announced only in June that the countrys economy could improve by 1.8 per cent in 2011 compared to this year.The banks latest estimation is also more optimistic than recent predictions by Austrias leading […]
Men will spend around 100 Euros more on Christmas presents than women, a new survey has revealed.GfK Austria found that male Austrians planned to invest 455 on Christmas gifts for their loved ones, while women were expected to spend an average 356 Euros this year.The agency, which interviewed 500 Austrians aged 15 and older, also […]
Temperatures will edge up again next week, meteorologists said today (Thurs).Weather experts announced that temperatures may increase up to six degrees centigrade in some areas in western Austria on Monday. Regions currently blanketed in around 30 centimetres of snow may experience some rainfall at the beginning of next week, while conditions in the eastern flatlands […]
Three teenagers have been given suspended jail sentences for firing plastic bullets at a group of Nazi slave labour camp survivors.The male friends, aged between 14 and 16 when the incident occurred at the former stone quarry in Ebensee in Upper Austria, in May 2009.The defendants admitted having approached the group of elderly Frenchmen and […]
Plucky thieves made off with steel girders weighing almost 30 tons, it has been revealed.Officials in Eggelsberg, Upper Austria, said today (Thurs) that 14 stainless steel joists each weighing two tons disappeared from a local companys indoor storage site during the night.The thieves are suspected of lifting the objects up with a special crane truck […]
Federal President Heinz Fischer has claimed he is “deeply hurt” by the governments decision to slash its development aid spending from next year.However Fischer, who attended the 2011 budget speech by Peoples Party (ÖVP) Finance Minister Josef Pröll in the federal parliament in Vienna today (Tues), also stressed that he had understanding for the planned […]