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VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria said Wednesday it will close its national museums and suspend all remaining trains to neighboring Italy to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. The decision affects rail links from regions in western and southern Austria which border Italy. All long-distance routes — notably overnight trains to Rome, Milan, and Venice — had already been canceled. The country announced on Tuesday the near closure of its land border with its […]
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Two people in Austria have tested positive for the new coronavirus, authorities said Tuesday, marking the country’s first cases after an outbreak in northern Italy. The two 24-year-olds have been quarantined in a hospital in Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol province, which borders Italy, according to Tyrol Governor Guenther Platter. One of them is from Lombardy, one of the Italian regions hit with the outbreak, but it is not yet […]
by Julia ZAPPEI VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria’s conservative Sebastian Kurz will return to office Tuesday as the world’s youngest democratically elected leader heading an unlikely coalition with the Greens after his previous far-right alliance collapsed. Vowing to “protect the climate and the borders”, the 33-year-old will become chancellor of a government — termed as “exotic” and “unlikely” by Austrian media — that marks the first time the Greens rule in the small Alpine country. Kurz’s People’s […]
SANKT LEONHARD IM PITZTAL, Austria (AFP) — In his office nestled in Austria’s snow-capped Pitztal valley, Eberhard Schultes is among those pushing to expand the region’s skiing sector — but environmentalists alarmed about the region’s vanishing glaciers are pushing back. Schultes is the managing director of the Pitztaler Gletscherbahnen mountain lift company, which is trying to win approval for a new ski area to connect the Pitztaler glacier to the neighbouring Oetztal formation. Even though […]
VIENNE, Austria (AFP) — The Austrian capital Vienna has retained its ranking as the world’s most liveable city, according to an annual report from the Economist. Vienna once again came ahead of Melbourne — which had held the top ranking for seven years until losing it to Vienna in 2018 — according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released Wednesday. The top two were followed by Sydney, Osaka and Calgary. Each […]
by Jastinder KHERA and Julia ZAPPEI VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Monday became the first chancellor in the country’s post-war history to be removed from office by a no-confidence vote over a corruption scandal that had already brought down his coalition with the far-right. The motion against Kurz and his cabinet is the latest fallout from the so-called “Ibiza-gate” scandal, which saw far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache […]
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said Sunday he wanted snap elections to take place in September after the government collapsed over a corruption scandal. “My preference is for early elections in September, if possible the beginning of September,” he told journalists after holding talks with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The legal procedures to fix the date will now have to take place over the coming weeks, with Van der Bellen set to hold further talks […]
The Vatican Supreme Court has cleared a senior priest accused of making advances towards a German nun during confession, the Vatican said on Friday. The five-member Supreme Court, the Apostolic Signatura, said in a statement that after careful examination the “serious” allegation could not be proved “with the required moral certitude”. Austrian priest Hermann Geissler proclaimed his innocence but resigned in January as one of three top officials at the Congregation for the Doctrine of […]
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria on Wednesday proposed taxing internet giants such as Google and Facebook five percent of their digital advertising revenue, a higher rate than France and other EU countries are seeking. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the tax aimed to stop the “unfairness” of internet giants who have until now routed their sales through subsidiaries in low-tax EU members. The government hopes that the new tax, which still has to be approved […]
Finland ranked as the world’s happiest country for the second year running while war-torn South Sudan sank to the least contented in a United Nations report released on Wednesday. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people, known for their love of forests, lakes and saunas, topped the study which used survey data asking citizens in 156 countries how happy they perceive themselves to be, as well as measures such as life expectancy, income and social […]
by Sophie MAKRIS VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — It looks like a scene from the halcyon days of the railways: travelers finding their sleeper berth, turning on the reading light and stowing their cases under the bed. But it’s still a common nightly ritual at Vienna’s main station, where overnight train routes have endured in the age of low-cost flights — and are even expanding. From early evening onwards, the departures board at Vienna’s “Hauptbahnhof” station […]
by Philippe SCHWAB Austria’s leaders are coming under increasing pressure to grant statutory paternity leave to all fathers, despite fierce resistance in business circles. Austria has allowed fathers to take an unpaid month off following the birth of their children — the so-called “Papamonat” or “daddy’s month” — since 2017, but at the employer’s discretion. During the four weeks, the new dads receive 700 euros ($790) in social security payments — a right the country’s […]
