German driver survives 40-metre plunge

Categories
General News

A German woman had a lucky escape when she survived a dramatic car accident yesterday (Weds).The 41-year-old sustained injuries to her vertebra after she came off a pass road and fell down a 40-metre ravine near Brandberg in Tyrol.The car, which landed on its roof, had to be salvaged with a rope after the driver […]

NHM reports visitors record

Categories
Culture

More than half a million people visited the Vienna Natural History Museum (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, NHM) last year, it has been announced.Officials at the museum, which is located in the city’s Innere Stadt district, said today (Fri) that 527,744 visitors were registered in 2010. They pointed out it was the first time in its history […]

Pharmacists set up 24-hour hotline

Categories
Lifestyle

The Austrian Pharmacists’ Chamber has set up an around-the-clock telephone hotline.The service, reachable under the number 1455 at local rate seven days a week, 24 hours a day, is an attempt to offer competent advice regarding drugs and medication.Social Democratic (SPÖ) Health Minister Alois Stöger praised the initiative. “It’s great that the service provides tips […]

Archbishop and carollers visit mosque

Categories
General News

Carol singers in Vienna were accompanied by Viennese Archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schönborn as they visited the city’s biggest mosque yesterday (Weds).The children, who collect money for impoverished countries in the traditional singing procession between New Year’s Day and Epiphany (6 January), and the highest representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, were shown round […]

Swine flu claims first victim this winter

Categories
General News

Austria has its first swine flu fatality of this year.A 24-year-old German holidaymaker who passed away from the H1N1 virus in Saalbach Hinterglemm, Salzburg, on New Year’s Day is the first person to perish from the disease on Austrian soil this winter.A spokesman for medical authorities in the province announced yesterday evening (Weds) an autopsy […]

One in 10 young Austrians poorly educated and jobless

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Business

More than 10 per cent of young Austrians are not in employment, education or training, it has emerged.The European Commission’s (EC) statistic body Eurostat announced yesterday (Weds) that 10.1 per cent of Austrians aged between 20 and 24 were out of work, education and traineeships in 2008. The authority, which did not provide more recent […]

Unemployment rate shrinks as Austria braces for EE workforce

Categories
Business

Austria’s unemployment rate has dropped, half a year before the country must fully open its labour market to workers from European Union (EU) states in Eastern Europe (EE).Statistik Austria announced today (Weds) 179,000 people were out of work in the fourth quarter of 2010, down by 21,000 or 10.6 per cent compared to the same […]

Trust poll shocks quarrelling government

Categories
Politics

The Austrian government has suffered heavily over the level of trust it enjoys, a new poll shows.Research firm Karmasin found that 67 per cent of Austrians have less trust now in the joint administration of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) than they had one year ago.The agency, which spoke to around […]

Nearly one in two in upbeat mood about 2011

Categories
Lifestyle

Almost 50 per cent of Austrians are optimistic regarding the new year, according to a survey.Pollster IMAS said today (Weds) 47 per cent of interviewed Austrians said they were looking forward to 2011. This share resembles figures of the agency’s poll at the same time last year, but does not match figures published in December […]

Home owners face fines for over-eager snow shovelling

Categories
General News

Residents of Vienna and Salzburg are facing fines if being caught clearing snow from the pavement onto the roads, it has been reported.Authorities in the cities confirmed today (Tues) that tenants and privately assigned snow workers will be reported to the police or fined by city council officials on the spot if they throw snow […]