Austria

Major International Child Pornography Ring Uncovered in Austria
Authorities in Vienna said Wednesday that they have uncovered a global child pornography ring involving thousands of suspects in 77 countries.

Austrian Kidnap Victim Issues Statement Defending Her Captor
Natascha Kampusch, the 18-year old Austrian girl who resurfaced last week after being held captive for more than 8 years, issued a statement Monday saying that she hadn’t missed anything while she was being held, and asking reporters to leave her alone.

Austria: Land of Music, Mountains, and the Best Sex in the World
A study of 29 nations has revealed that the highest rate of sexual satisfaction is found in Austria. On the other end of the spectrum are Asian countries, where Japan ranked dead last.

Hotels Austria - Offer high standard of Accommodation
Austria hotels are available in a wide range from luxurious resorts, star hotels, to lodges, inns and hostels among the inexpensive accommodation. Whether it’s the luxurious hotels or the budget hotels, hotels Austria offer a high standard of accommodation.

Skiing during Austria Travel
Skiing is the most popular sport, among tourists and many times a reason for making their Austria travel. Austria is a destination, which is flocked by visitors all the year round, but the winters abound with number of opportunities for winter sports, of which skiing is the most popular.

Europe By Train - Germany, Austria and Denmark
Traveling to Austria, Germany and Denmark in a single trip can be one of the multiple exciting possibilities that cheap train tickets offer in Europe. Join me in this article and you will find out a detailed route you could follow in about 2 weeks time in the old continent.

The Buzz on Vienna Travel
Vienna is so rich in historical value that, in 2001, its center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Called the Innere Stadt, Vienna's center is the area of town most well traversed by tourists.

Darling Gets Austrian Offer He Can Refuse
What's an unemployed politician to do at the age of 51? In Hubert Gorbach's case, dust down the official ministerial notepaper, exploit his formidable English language skills, and drop a letter to Britain's chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling.

Spy Left Out in the Cold: How Mi6 Buried Heroic Exploits of Agent 'griffin'
Campaigners demand recognition for Austrian who exposed Nazi nuclear plans.

Former Un Chief With Nazi Past Dies at 88
Kurt Waldheim, the former UN secretary general whose election as Austrian president in the 80s triggered an international outcry after his Nazi military service was revealed, died yesterday at the age of 88.

Romantic Vienna - city of high culture and old world charm
Spring is here, love is in the air and if you’re thinking about whisking your partner away for a romantic weekend then Vienna - with its high culture and old world charm - makes a great getaway for two.

Austria Kidnap: Victim's Mother in Court
A Vienna court will today open a hearing into whether the mother of the Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch was involved in her abduction.

Travel in Austria: Free Travel Guide of Vienna by Flashbooking for backpakers
For the Vienna travel guide Flashbooking staff efforts concentrate on making it simple to read and with a nice format.

No Room at the Plush Austrian Inn for Russians and Their Roubles
Businesses vote to impose quota on country's tourists - Locals' anger fuelled by big rise in property prices

Austria's Hills Aren't Alive With Sound of Skiing
For the Austrian village of Hochfilzen it was a disaster. As it prepared to welcome the world's best cross-country skiers and shooters for a biathlon event this weekend there was a problem: no snow.

My Passionate Love Affair With the Weiner Schnitzel
What actually is Wiener Schnitzel and how is it made?

Austrian Parliament Faces Paralysis As Rival Parties Fall Out During First Session
Ineffective leaders are struggling to form governments across central Europe, particularly in Austria, writes Ian Traynor.

The End of a Viennese Whirl
The return of the Social Democrats to power marks the conclusion of a six-year Austrian experiment, notes Ian Traynor.

Make the best of your ski holiday in Austria
With October underway Europe's ski season kicks into gear and holiday makers thoughts turn to ski locations.

Social Democrats Win in Austria
Austria's Social Democrats last night celebrated an unexpected, if narrow, general election victory, evicting the Christian Democrat chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel, from office after six years in power.

Psychiatrist Attacks 'voyeurism' in Case of Austrian Kidnap Victim
· Call for moratorium on experts talking to media · Team caring for Natascha took part in TV discussion

Kidnap Girl Tells of Eight-year Torment
Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian teenager imprisoned in an underground cell, today revealed that she "thought only of escape" during her ordeal.

After Eight Years in a 'place of Despair', Kidnap Victim Tells Austria of Her Ordeal
· TV and print interviews describe paranoid captor · Locals 'just shrugged' when she sought aid

Media Frenzy As Abducted Teenager Prepares to Talk About Her Ordeal
Natascha Kampusch, who survived an eight-year kidnap ordeal after being seized at the age of 10, is to give her first interview tonight to Austrian TV as part of a series of highly lucrative media deals likely to make her a millionaire.

Kidnapper's Retro Computer Offers Scant Clues
The investigation into the kidnapping of Natascha Kampusch has been complicated by the discovery of an obsolete computer in the house where she was held, Austrian police said today.

Haven in Austria for Travelers
The hotel has a lot of facilities and amenities that are truly enjoyable and fun. Once you're inside your hotel room, you will feel like you're just in your own room. The hotel also has a restaurant that offers different kinds of cuisines that are definitely tempting and delicious.

Austrian Kidnap Teenager 'mourns' for Her Captor
The Austrian teenager who spent more than eight years imprisoned in a dingy underground cell until her escape last week yesterday spoke fondly of the man who kidnapped her, describing him as 'part of my life'.

Kidnapped Girl 'found Alive After Eight Years'
An 18-year-old discovered in a state of panic on the outskirts of Vienna is believed to an abduction victim who dominated Austrian headlines in the late 1990s.

Turkey's Eu Hopes Hit Trouble Again
Turkey's troubled negotiations on joining the EU hit further difficulty yesterday as Austria tried to place the brakes on enlargement and a veteran European leader warned talks may have to be frozen.

The Imperial Age Is Alive When You Travel To Vienna
There is no city that encompasses Western European sophistication and Eastern European culture and charm quite like Vienna, Austria. Baroque edifices enchant the pristinely kempt boulevards while sleek restaurants are packed with networking business suits.

Two Suffer Burns After Barbecue Ends With Bang
It had seemed like the perfect end to Easter Day - a bit of communal grilling in the garden. But a cosy barbecue in the Austrian town of Traiskirchen ended disastrously when a stray spark set a garden hut alight.

Travel to Austria – Your Year-Round Travel Destination
So you want to travel to Austria. Well, you've made a wise choice. Austria is considered one of the top year-round travel destinations. Because of its beautiful Alps, winter sports are quite popular in Austria, providing Austria with high tourist attendance in the winter and giving you a reason to travel to Austria any time of the year.

Woman, 33, Pleads Guilty to Murdering Four Babies
A woman in Austria pleaded guilty to murdering four of her babies at the start of her trial yesterday.

Austrian Court Jails Holocaust Denier Irving
The British revisionist historian and Nazi apologist David Irving was today sentenced to three years in prison after he admitted denying the Holocaust.

Strange Case of the £35m Saltcellar
It is one of the world's greatest Renaissance artefacts, an extraordinary gold-plated saltcellar by the Florentine genius Benvenuto Cellini. But for nearly three years the Austrian police had no idea what had happened to the £35m figurine after it was stolen in 2003 from a Vienna museum.

Strange Case of the £35m Saltcellar
It is one of the world's greatest Renaissance artefacts, an extraordinary gold-plated saltcellar by the Florentine genius Benvenuto Cellini. But for nearly three years the Austrian police had no idea what had happened to the £35m figurine after it was stolen in 2003 from a Vienna museum.

EU Constitution in Line for Makeover to Woo French
Germany and Austria will try to reach out to disgruntled French voters by changing the EU constitution to include a commitment to uphold Europe's social model.

Austria Tries to Revive European Constitution
The European constitution will be taken out of the deep freeze today when Austria launches its six-month presidency of the EU with a pledge to try to revive it.

European Union - Return to the Future
Leader: It would be an exaggeration to say that millions of Europeans are waiting with bated breath to see how Austria handles the business of the European Union when it takes over the presidency tomorrow.

Austria 'fed Up' With Eu As It Takes on Presidency
Austria's president yesterday admitted that many of his citizens are "fed up" with the European Union, as the country prepares to take over the EU presidency from Britain on Sunday.

Requiem for a Budget
Next year's celebrations in Salzburg of Mozart's 250th anniversary are likely to be drowned out by the ongoing row over the EU budget, says Nicholas Watt.

Nazi Apologist Finds His Works in Austrian Prison
Austria's authorities were facing acute embarrassment yesterday after it emerged that the controversial historian David Irving had discovered two of his books inside the prison where he was held last month.

Croatian Leader Attacks Deal With Austria for Wartime Compensation
· Mesic claims government went behind his back · Offer seen as payback for support of EU bid

Milivoj Asner Sent Jews and Serbs to the Camps. But Will He Escape Justice?
Austria stalls on extradition after Nazi-hunter highlights actions of 92-year-old in wartime Croatia.

Splendid Isolation
Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel is unbowed despite finding himself politically isolated over Turkey joining the EU. He is, after all, only speaking for the people, writes Ian Traynor.

Turkey Eu Talks Deadlocked As Austria Digs in
· Negotiations enter final day with no deal in sight · Accession row threatens 'clash of civilisations'

Austria covertly promotes Islamic Terror
There will be far reaching consequences binding for Europe, the Islamic World and America, if the Austrian anti-Turkish blackmail meets any success in next Sunday’s (October 2 2005) Luxemburg meeting of EU foreign ministers that will be presided by Britain.

EU Warns Austria on Turks
Austria will be given a blunt warning tomorrow that it will be blamed for rupturing 40 years of relations between the European Union and Turkey if it scuppers membership talks.

EU Set for Emergency Talks Over Turkey
EU ministers are to hold emergency negotiations this weekend after Austria today objected to starting entry talks with Turkey.

Austria Blocks Turkey's Road to Eu Membership
Turkey will today face a new setback to its EU ambition when Austria declares that it is wrong to open membership talks with Ankara while blocking Austria's near neighbour - and fellow Christian country - Croatia.

Nine Die As Concrete Block Hits Cable Car Line
Nine German tourists, including six children, were killed yesterday when a helicopter dropped a concrete block on a cable car line they were travelling on at a popular Austrian ski resort.

Far-right Leader in Expenses Row
Austria's far-right leader, Jörg Haider, was at the centre of a financial row yesterday after disclosures about the lifestyle he led at taxpayers' expense.

Haider Sheds Party and Porsche to Win Back Voters. But is He Too Late?
Jorg Haider, former leader of Austria's far-right, talks to the Guardian.

Jobless Germans Pour Into Austria
Welfare reforms trigger surge of new cross-border Gastarbeiter.

Austrian Politician in Nazi Row
An Austrian politician complained yesterday that Nazis were persecuted in postwar Austria and described Austrian soldiers who deserted from the Wehrmacht as 'murderers of comrades'.

Use of Crash-test Corpses Defended
An ethics commission in Austria yesterday defended the use of human corpses as crash-test dummies.

Last Dive for Lake Toplitz's Nazi Gold
Austrian government licenses a hi-tech US treasure hunter in the hope of solving a 60-year-old mystery.

Haider Leads New Austria Party
Jörg Haider yesterday launched a comeback attempt in Austrian politics, abandoning the party he turned into the most popular far-right movement in Europe to announce his leadership of a new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria.

Europe's Far-right Parties Hold Coalition Talks
Europe's extremist anti-immigrant parties should unite in a new pan-European movement under the leadership of the Austrian politician Jörg Haider, a leading Belgian hardliner says in an interview published today.

Scientists Dig Up Family Skeletons
It has been a mystery for more than a century - is a skull in an Austrian basement really that of arguably the greatest composer of all time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Over the weekend a group of archaeologists began to answer the question by digging up the remains of Mozart's close...

'Iceman' Discoverer Joins His Find in Alpine Grave
The 67-year-old German who discovered Otzi the Iceman in the Austrian Alps has been found dead in a stream in those same mountains.

Authors Write Off Plan to Compile Austrian Cultural Classics
In the salons of literary Vienna, heirs to the dark despair of Thomas Bernhard, the insights of Sigmund Freud, and the biting satire of Karl Kraus, a new and improbably cheery slogan is making the rounds - "Austria might be a small country, but in the arts it's a superpower".

Austrian Writer Wary at Scooping Nobel Prize
The severe, feminist and dissident Austrian writer has unexpectedly won the $1.3m (£750,000) Nobel prize for literature.

Man Charged As Victims of Austria Crash Are Named
A mother of three and a teenage girl were yesterday revealed to be among the five British holidaymakers killed in the Austrian coach crash, as the pensioner blamed for Tuesday's accident was charged with causing death by negligence. The victims, named after forensic scientists worked...

Woman Wins Leave to Sue Austria in Us for Looted Art
The US supreme court delivered a landmark ruling yesterday entitling a Jewish fugitive from the Holocaust to sue the Austrian government in America for the return of valuable paintings allegedly looted from her family. The justices ruled by six to three that Maria Altmann, an 88-year-old...

Austria Outlaws Battery Chickens
Austria banned battery chicken farming yesterday in an animals rights act which also bars wild animals from circuses, forbids the chaining of dogs, and guarantees cattle at least 90 days unfettered movement a year. All four parties in parliament approved the law unanimously - a highly...

Obituary: Cardinal Franz König
Enlightened Austrian primate who opened a dialogue with eastern churches and leftwing politicians.

Haider Comeback Leaves Austria Braced for Trouble
Austria's centre-right government is bracing itself for internal revolt and destabilisation efforts following the return to the political limelight of Jörg Haider.

Haider's Election Comeback
Jörg Haider, leader of the Austrian far right and enfant terrible of European politics, appeared to have staged a startling political comeback last night after being repeatedly written off as a spent force. In provincial elections in his power base of Carinthia in southern Austria,...

Pope to Beatify 'buffoon' Who Was Austria's Last Emperor
Critics suspect political agenda behind campaign. In the ranks of his admirers nostalgic for the old empire, he was a pacifist cast among warmongers, a gentle soul out of his depth among backstabbing diplomats, ministers, and generals.

Four Eu States Fight to Guard Neutrality
Four European countries were fighting last night to ensure that controversial defence provisions in the new EU constitution do not breach their traditional neutrality. Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Austria banded together to demand changes in the treaty text, due to be finalised at what...

'Super Region' Plan to Revive Empire
Political leaders from three countries, including Austria's controversial far-rightwinger, Jorg Haider, are pushing for creation of a new European "super-region" that would slice through national boundaries and take in a large part of the old Austro-Hungarian empire. The plan is likely to...

Brussels Blocks Austrian Attempt to Create Gm-free Zone
The European commission has blocked the first attempt by an EU region to turn itself into a statutory GM-free zone. Upper Austria wanted a total ban on cultivating genetically modified crops to protect conventional and organic crops, as well as wildlife, from potential contamination....

Austria indignant as Mozart makes shortlist for best German of all time
Voting for the "best German of all time" got off to a shaky start yesterday after the Austrian ambassador to Germany complained that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose name appears on a list of eligible candidates, is Austrian.

EU Scientists Reject Gm-free Zone
Plans to ban GM crops in parts of Europe were set back yesterday after EU scientists seemed to rebuff an attempt by a region in Austria to declare itself a GM-free zone. Upper Austria had wanted to opt out of EU-wide rules and introduce a total ban on the cultivation of GM crops but...

The world's dearest pinch of salt taken in 54 seconds
A simple smash-and-grab theft of the world's most valuable salt cellar has rocked the Viennese art elite, shocked the Austrian public, and brought calls for the sacking of the director of the city's sumptuous Art History Museum.

Europe Hit By Strikes Over Pension Cuts
Tens of thousands of Austrians are to converge on Vienna from all over the country today to protest at the centre-right government's plans to slash pensions and raise the retirement age. The Vienna rallies coincide with a "Black Tuesday" of industrial action in France, also triggered by...

Austrian Nazi Death Camp Brings Out Its History at Last
Mauthausen the latest to open a visitor centre. A pale grey motor powering a fan was used by the Nazis to extract fumes from the Austrian gas chamber in which 3,500 concentration camp inmates were murdered. On a hillside above the Danube yesterday, the fan and the motor were put on public display for the first time since the second world war.

Haider's Party 'back in Cabinet'
Four months after bringing down the Austrian government and forcing early elections, the extreme right leader Jörg Haider may get his toe back into the national government today. The Christian democrat chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel's People's party was completing coalition talks...

Austria - Rejoining the East
Harry Potter would have surely enrolled. A school for wizardry has just opened in Austria in the forbidding mountains around Klagenfurt. The apprentices will be granted a sorcerer's diploma upon completion of their studies. This is a wise move. Austria may need all the witchcraft it can master in the next few years.

Haider Backs Off on Threat to Quit Politics
Austria's far right leader, Jörg Haider, today once again reneged on a promise to resign from politics that he made hours after his party's poor showing in last Sunday's general election. Yesterday Mr Haider declared himself fed up with politics after his Freedom Party took only 10%...

Wounded Haider Throws in Towel After Poll Drubbing
Austrian far right leader to quit as governor after vote slumps by 60%.

End of the Road for Far-right Haider
Jörg Haider, the far right Austrian politician who once praised Hitler's employment policies, was fighting for his political survival last night after voters deserted his party in droves. The Freedom party's share of the vote collapsed to below 10% after bitter internal squabbles...

Haider and Thither
A history of coming and going casts doubt on the resignation of the leader of Austria's far-right Freedom party, writes Kate Connolly.

Haider regains party leadership
Jörg Haider, Austria's populist far-right politician, was nominated chairman of the Freedom Party once again yesterday, in the wake of a party feud that led to the resignation of its official leader from the governing coalition and the government's collapse.

Haider putsch forces Austrian election
Ex-leader of Freedom party made cabinet members quit. Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel announced an early general election yesterday, probably in November, after members of his junior coalition partners, the rightwing Freedom party, quit the Austrian cabinet.

Far right wrecks Austrian government
The Austrian coalition government was in tatters last night after the resignation of three key cabinet ministers and members of the populist rightwing Freedom party, including its leader.

Austria's Coalition on the Brink
Austria's coalition government looked in danger of collapsing yesterday after prominent members of the rightwing Freedom party threatened to resign in a dispute about tax cuts. The party's leader and vice-chancellor, Susanne Riess-Passer, the finance minister, Karl-Heinz Grasser, and...

Jason Cowley: At home with Hitler
The bomb in a nightclub in the Austrian town of Linz summons up the terrible ghosts of the past. The X-Large nightclub in the southern suburbs of the Austrian city of Linz has long been popular with young students, travellers and migrants from eastern Europe.

Haider Visit Infuriates Anti-nazi Protesters
Anti-Nazi demonstrators yesterday protested outside a central London hotel where Austria's far right politician Jorg Haider hosted a tourism conference to launch an airline route between Britain and his powerbase in Carinthia. Demands by a Labour MEP that Mr Haider be banned, on grounds...

Officials on Trial for Austrian Ski Train Fire
One of the biggest criminal trials in Austrian history began yesterday when 16 officials appeared before a Salzburg court charged with causing the mountain train inferno which killed 155 people in November.

Far Right Leader Faces Protests at Airline Promotion
Protesters plan to picket the far right Austrian politician Jorg Haider when he visits London next week to promote a Ryanair service to Austria. The Anti Nazi League has dubbed the no-frills airline "Aryanair" for allowing its name to be associated with the former leader of the xenophobic...

Do You Wanna Be in My Gang?
Austrian populist Jörg Haider's plans to build a right-wing, pan-European club could attract some surprising supporters, says Kate Connolly.

Germany's Liberal Party Flirts With the Far Right
The Austrian far-rightist Jörg Haider extended an endorsement to the leadership of Germany's august liberal party yesterday amid claims that it is being hijacked by anti-semitic populists in the run-up to September's general election. His congratulations will be viewed with profound...

Vienna's tourist trail of plunder
A new book details property stolen from Austrian Jews under the Nazis, and names famous beneficiaries.

Where the right has gained ground
Austria: Coalition of conservative Austrian People's party and extreme right Austrian Freedom party was sworn in in February 2000

Le Pen is Not Mightier Than Jörg
Many Austrians have used the French election to underline the normality of their own shift to the right, disturbing in a country set for further neo-Nazi demonstrations in May, writes Kate Connolly.

Billy Wilder Dies, Aged 95
Oscar-winning filmmaker, Billy Wilder, has died in Los Angeles, aged 95. He was believed to have been suffering from pneumonia, according to producer and long-time friend, George Schlatter. Austrian-born Wilder's gift for writing and directing led to such classics as Sunset Boulevard,...

Austria's Political Player Shares Stage With Saddam
Jörg Haider, leader of the rightwing Freedom party, has only become more popular by flirting with Islam and Iraq, writes Kate Connolly.

Simon Hoggart's Week
It almost made me want to cry. We have been in Austria, on a week's skiing holiday.

Haider Quits National Party Amid Furore Over Saddam Visit
Austria's far-right Freedom party appeared to be heading for a split last night after Jörg Haider announced he was ready to quit national politics. Mr Haider, who is in effect the party's leader, went on Austrian television to describe his decision to leave as "final". The decision...

Haider's stance on Czech nuclear plant threatens coalition
Austria's coalition government appeared to be on the verge of collapse last night because of a row about a nuclear power station in the Czech Republic and the enlargement of the European Union. The far-right Freedom party, the coalition's junior partner, has broken with the conservative...

Nuclear row powers Haider's prospects
A campaign by the Austrian rightwing populist Jörg Haider to prevent the Czech Republic from joining the European Union looks increasingly likely to lead to the collapse of the government coalition in Vienna. Haider's campaign has been presented as a show of environmental concern over a...

Family stranded on ski lift
A new year skiing holiday turned into a nightmare for a German woman and her two sons when they were trapped on a ski lift in southern Austria after the operators unwittingly closed it down for the night. The 39-year-old woman and her sons, aged nine and 10, took the lift from Kals, near...