Vienna hotly tipped as Madonna reveals gym plans

Categories
Lifestyle

Vienna may be among the European cities pop star Madonna is eyeing up as locations for her fitness centres.The award-winning singer’s management announced recently that she had plans to open 10 gyms in Brazil, Argentina, Asia and Europe. The branch will be called The Hard Candy Fitness Centers after her 2008 album “Hard Candy” which […]

Four in 10 police applicants fail fitness check

Categories
General News

Almost half of young Austrians applying to become police officers in Vienna fail the mandatory fitness test, it has emerged.Vienna police said today (Fri) around four out of 10 applicants did not pass the fitness check, and that the basic German skills test was also a stumbling block for many wannabe police officers.The Organisation for […]

‘Rowdy’ sheep face eviction

Categories
General News

A herd of sheep faces eviction after its shepherd has refused to relocate them after his agreement with a Vienna University has come to an end, it has been reported.Richard Krampl’s 23 East Friesians have been grazing on an estate owned by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna-Floridsdorf for more […]

Verbund earnings tumble

Categories
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. […]

I won more than I lost, says poker ace Becker

Categories
Sports

Tennis legend Boris Becker has claimed he had a positive balance since starting to play poker.”I won more money than I lost so far,” he claimed today (Weds).The German added: “But I won’t talk figures. Poker players don’t do that. They are a bit superstitious.”Becker, who quit professional tennis 11 years ago, is currently in […]

Ryanair to axe Frankfurt – Vienna link

Categories
Business

Ryanair announced today (Weds) it will stop operating flights between Frankfurt and Klagenfurt from next March.The Irish no frills airline explained its decision to axe the route connecting the German city and the Carinthian capital as a reaction to the German government’s decision to levy a tax of eight Euros on tickets for flights from […]

Lugner legal bid for Sunday shopping

Categories
Business

A Viennese entrepreneur has revealed plans to launch legal action over the Austrian Sunday shopping ban.Richard Lugner, whose Lugner City shopping centre opened in 1990, said today (Tues) he had assigned a lawyer to file a complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court (VfGH) about current regulations.Federal law disallows shops of all kind to do business […]

Halloween spending set to soar

Categories
Business

Almost three in 10 residents of Vienna plan to buy sweets or decorations to celebrate Halloween this year, according to a survey.The city’s Economy Chamber (WKW) found that 29 per cent of people living in Vienna will spend money ahead of the 31 October event which has a long tradition in America. Only 22 per […]

Support for end of conscription wanes

Categories
Politics

Support for the abolition of mandatory military service in Austria is in decline, a new poll has shown.Vienna-based agency Karmasin found only 41 per cent of Austrians oppose the current six-month obligatory service, down from 48 per cent in July.The agency, which spoke to around 500 Austrians for political magazine profil, further found that 44 […]

Europe’s far-right factions to meet in Vienna

Categories
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 […]