FPÖ official sentenced over rifle threat

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General News

A rightist politician has been given a suspended prison sentence for threatening his son with a rifle.Valentin Silberstein, who heads the Freedom Party’s (FPÖ) branch in the Lower Austrian town of Traismauer, fired a shot with his Winchester rifle at a company estate in Grafenwörth in the presence of his 19-year-old son last month.The teenager, […]

Ticket tax to shrink Air Berlin fleet

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Business

FlyNiki partner Air Berlin has revealed plans to diminish its capacities.The company – Germany’s second-biggest airline after Lufthansa – said today (Thurs) it planned to reduce its fleet by seven planes in the near future as a reaction to upcoming taxes on tickets imposed by the German government.The coalition of the Christian Democratic Union of […]

Far-right surge fears as Gudenus set to head FPÖ Vienna

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Politics

An up-and-coming right-winger has been elected as executive chief of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in the city parliament of Vienna.Johann Gudenus received unanimous support by the party board in a summit in Mauerbach near Vienna today (Weds). Gudenus will lead the FP֒s delegation in the city parliament after the party’s 10 October election campaign front […]

Vienna gets first SPÖ-Greens coalition

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Politics

Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Heinz-Christian Strache has vowed “resistance” as the Viennese Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the Greens have agreed to cooperate in the city parliament.The right-winger said today (Fri): “We will fight this horrific experiment, of course.”Strache, whose party garnered almost 26 per cent in last month’s city ballot, also announced plans to hold […]

Keep family state secretary, says Spindelegger

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Politics

Federal Workers Association (ÖAAB) head Michael Spindelegger has said the post of family issues state secretary must not be abolished.Spindelegger, who is also the People’s Party (ÖVP) foreign minister, said today (Tues) that family subjects must have “a face” in the government coalition between his party and the Social Democrats (SPÖ).The ÖAAB boss explained he […]

Conservatives ignored immigration issues, says Thierse

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Politics

Wolfgang Thierse has claimed Germany’s conservative parties are in trouble after ignoring integration problems for too long.The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) official told Austrian newspaper Die Presse today (Mon): “The SPD doesn’t have a particular problem regarding immigration topics – in contrast to the conservative parties since they closed their eyes for too […]

Lufthansa upset by Austrian ticket tax

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Business

Lufthansa boss Wolfgang Mayrhuber has appealed to the Austrian government to remain a reliable partner – and pull out from setting up a tax on flight tickets.The Austrian businessman, who will retire as head of the German airline by the end of this year after having been in charge since 2003, said today (Fri) that […]

Verbund earnings tumble

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Business

Verbund AG, Austria’s leading electricity provider, suffered a significant decline in earnings in the first nine months of this year.The company, which was founded in 1947, announced today (Thurs) that earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) dropped by 22.1 per cent year on year to 625.6 million Euros in the first three quarters of 2010. […]

Austria’s competing power second-best in Eurozone

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Business

Austria has the second-best competitive edge in the Eurozone, a leading think tank has claimed.The Brussels-based Lisbon Council announced today (Mon) that Germany (8.5 points) had the greatest competitiveness among the 16 European union (EU) member states which have adopted the Euro as their sole currency.Austria garnered 8.3 points in the study to come second […]

Europe’s far-right factions to meet in Vienna

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Politics

Left-wingers are expected to take to the streets in Vienna today (Fri) to demonstrate against a summit of far-right parties from all over Europe which is taking place in the Austrian capital.Andreas Mölzer, who represents the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) in the European Parliament (EP), said representatives of the Sweden Democrats, Italy’s Lega Nord, the […]