The University of Vienna finished the last academic year with an unexpected deficit of 15 million Euros. Rector Heinz Engl said it had budgeted for a loss of 8 million but that the Constitutional Court’s decision to suspend student fees had blown the budget to pieces. The university had a positive balance in 2010 and […]
Lego managers have rejected a Muslim group’s claims that they backed down and agreed to withdraw their Star wars model of Jabba the Hutt’s palace after they were flooded with complaints from Star Wars fans. Last week Turkish community leaders in the Austrian capital Vienna sent out a press release saying they had forced Lego […]
A demonstration will take place at the Austrian Embassy, 18 Belgrave Square in London, on 13 March 2013 at 6 p.m., to promote awareness of the tragic plight of British citizen Beth Schlesinger (nee Alexander) and her three year old twin sons Samuel and Benjamin in Vienna. During the course of the demonstration a petition […]
Austrian prosecutors have dropped sexual harassment charges against a man who pinched the bottom of a woman he saw on the street after saying that sexual harassment can only involve a woman’s breasts or private parts. The incident happened at the start of October when the 43-year-old woman who works in a bank in the […]
By Rachael Williams A total of 35 jobs will be slashed when Kraft Foods Austria, soon to be known as Mondolez, transfers its premises from the Austrian capital of Vienna to a new plant in Germany in 2013. Trade unions have criticised the move as the first consequence of the intra-group split that happened in […]
One in five Austrians consider Viennese Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn as a reactionary clergyman. Public opinion research group Karmasin found that 20 per cent of people think that Schönborn, the highest representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria and head of the Conference of Bishops, has a conservative attitude. The poll – for which […]
Another top-tier representative of the Austrian Church has warned the Preachers’ Initiative from consequences. St. Pölten Diocese Bishop Klaus Küng wrote in a letter to members of his diocese that he would feel “sorry” if actions had to be carried out against fellow Catholics. He expressed hopes for “not being forced to do so”. Küng […]
Outgoing People’s Party (ÖVP) parliament member (MP) Ferdinand Maier has suggested to let Austrians decide about the future of the various Austrian railway tunnel projects. The Social Democrats (SPÖ) of Chancellor Werner Faymann and Vice Chancellor Michael Spindelegger’s ÖVP decided to spend more than three billion Euros on the Semmering tunnel. Only last week, the […]
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 […]
Carinthian Freedom Party (FPK) boss Uwe Scheuch emphasised that he had no plans to plead guilty to unjust enrichment after a verdict against him was annulled. The Provincial High Court of Styria (OLG) in Graz announced last week it wanted the Court of Klagenfurt to re-examine the case again. OLG experts had to look into […]