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Austrian rightist Haider dead at 58
Austrian politician Joerg Haider, whose far-right rhetoric at times cast a negative light on the Alpine republic, has died in a car accident at age 58.
Police said the accident happened early Saturday morning in the south of the country when his car veered off the road near the city of Klagenfurt and overturned. He suffered severe injuries to his face and chest. It was not immediately clear if he died at the scene or in a hospital.
Haider, who was born Jan. 26, 1950 in Upper Austria, was governor of Carinthia and leader of the far-right Alliance for the Future of Austria at the time of his death.
"For us, it's like the end of the world," Haider's spokesman, Stefan Petzner, told the Austria Press Agency.
Austrian President Heinz Fischer described Haider's death as a "human tragedy."
In 1999, Haider received 27 percent of the vote in national elections as leader of the Freedom Party. The party's subsequent inclusion in the government led to months of European Union sanctions over Haider's statements, which were seen as anti-Semitic or sympathetic to Adolf Hitler's labor policies.
Haider had since significantly toned down his rhetoric. Over the summer, he staged a comeback in national politics and helped his Alliance for the Future of Austria significantly improve their standing in Sept. 28 national elections.
Haider and his supporters broke away from the Freedom Party in 2005 to form the new movement meant to reflect a turn toward relative moderation.
In particular, Haider wanted to distance himself from his rightist past, which included a comment in 1991 that the Third Reich had an "orderly employment policy" and a 1995 reference to concentration camps as "the punishment camps of National Socialism."
Haider, known for his charisma and intelligence, enjoyed tremendous popularity in Carinthia.
He is survived by a wife, two daughters and his mother, whose 90th birthday he and his family had planned to celebrate over the weekend. Austrian politician Joerg Haider, whose far-right rhetoric at times cast a negative light on the Alpine republic, has died in a car ac... more -
'Unbreakable' encryption unveiled
The world's first "quantum encryption" has been unveiled at a conference in Austria, in what is seen as a major step towards truly perfect security. The world's first "quantum encryption" has been unveiled at a conference in Austria, in what is seen as a major step to... more
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Austrian Man Sets In-Laws On Fire
man killed his parents-in-law by setting them on fire with a homemade flame-thrower, Austrian police said Saturday.
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Man 'torches in-laws' with flamethrower
Police said the 48-year-old used a propane gas container to torch the elderly couple as they lay in bed in the village of St Magdalena am Lemberg.
The bed-ridden woman, who had lost both her legs to diabetes, died where she lay but her husband was found in the garden having tried to escape.
Police said the suspect's wife was in the house but escaped through a window.
The suspect fled the scene but was found later having stabbed himself in the stomach, said police.
Chief investigator Anton Kiesl said the man was being kept in hospital in an induced coma. The suspect's motives were not immediately clear. Police said the 48-year-old used a propane gas container to torch the elderly couple as they lay in bed in the village of St Magdalena... more -
NASN to rebrand as ESPN America
ESPN has confirmed that the North American Sports Network (NASN) will become ESPN America, from Super Bowl Sunday, February 1, 2009. The network is promising to continue bringing the best of North American sports to fans in Europe and the Middle East.
Coverage of over 800 live and as-live sports events includes Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), National Football League (NFL) and NCAA American Football and Basketball. ESPN America also has the rights to the Super Bowl in a number of European territories including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Poland. Key ESPN studio programming is also included.
Mike McKibbin, ESPN Group Marketing Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa said, “ESPN America’s new brand identity will combine the heroics and drama of American sports. It celebrates the virtues required to excel at these sports, and identifies the athletes’ status as heroes in the eyes of the fan. The channel will consistently deliver unrivalled quality in broadcasting coverage, strengthened by ESPN’s innovation, creativity and position as the worldwide leader in sports.
ESPN acquired NASN in 2007 and has subsequently grown the channel to 14 million households in 43 countries. ESPN has confirmed that the North American Sports Network (NASN) will become ESPN America, from Super Bowl Sunday, February 1, 2009. T... more -
Nuclear watchdog to combat terrorist threat
An international watchdog aiming to prevent the theft from nuclear sites of material that could be used in terrorist attacks has been launched.
The World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS), which will be based in Vienna, Austria, will seek to prevent the material falling into the wrong hands.
It will work alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency in seeking to improve world nuclear security.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA director, said: "We have come to realize we have to become more intelligent and act in a preventative way" against terrorist groups seeking to steal nuclear materials and technology.
Internationally there are about 200 reports of radioactive material going astray every year, and many more incidents involving break-ins. Last November saw a break-in at the Pelindaba nuclear site in South Africa, where enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs is stored.
The South African government said that the intruders, who were in two teams, "had prior knowledge of the electronic security systems" and were "technically sophisticated".
There is particular concern among western governments regarding the security of materials that were used to make atomic bombs in former Soviet republics.
Sam Nunn, the founder of the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), which has provided funding for WINS, said: "We're doing a better job controlling nuclear materials than 10 years ago, but this is not something we can ever declare victory over as long as the atom is with us."
Charles Curtis, the president of NTI, said: "Global nuclear security is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. We can't afford to wait for a security Chernobyl before we act."
Funding for WINS has also come from the US Energy Department and the Norwegian government. An international watchdog aiming to prevent the theft from nuclear sites of material that could be used in terrorist attacks has been ... more -
He likes Nazi symbols and lauds SS – and voters adore him for it
AUSTRIA has once again lurched to the right in a national election that saw sweeping gains for extreme politics.
Although the socialists took the biggest chunk of the poll yesterday, the far-right parties combined garnered nearly a third of votes. The big winner was Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the Freedom Party – a man who wants to legalise Nazi symbols and in the past has organised ceremonies to honour SS veterans. AUSTRIA has once again lurched to the right in a national election that saw sweeping gains for extreme politics. ... more -
Country Fast Facts: Austria
Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I.
Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade.
A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany.
A constitutional law that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal.
The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 have altered the meaning of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic Monetary Union in 1999. Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War ... more -
Extreme right emerges as strong force in Austria
Austria was shaken by a political earthquake yesterday when the neo-fascist right emerged from a general election as a contender to be the strongest political force in the country for the first time.
The combined forces of the extreme right took 29% of the vote, with Jörg Haider almost tripling the share of his breakaway Movement for Austria's Future to 11%, while his successor as Freedom party leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, saw his party soar to 18%.
The far right's vote doubled compared with the last election in 2006, putting it within less than a point of overtaking the poll victor, the social democrats.
The two big parties, which have run Austria since the second world war, slumped to their worst ever election toll. The Christian democrats (ÖVP), fared particularly poorly at around 26%, down 8%. The social democrats (SPÖ), under a new leader, Werner Faymann, took around 30% and laid claim to the chancellorship. Austria was shaken by a political earthquake yesterday when the neo-fascist right emerged from a general election as a contender to be... more -
Austria braced for right-wing surge in elections
The man who has inherited Jorg Haider's mantle as the figurehead of Austria's far right is expected to scoop up a fifth of the popular vote in national elections today in the latest advance for a European party campaigning on anti-immigration policies.
The dramatic rise of Heinz-Christian Strache and the once ailing Freedom Party, formerly led by Haider, has accompanied growing Austrian sentiment against foreigners, economic woes and a widespread disillusionment with the two main centrist parties.
Today's expected results will be seen as a triumph for Strache, a politician who has made a virtue of being even tougher on immigrants than his party's former leader. Polls have suggested that substantial numbers of the young and elderly, blue-collar workers and middle classes will turn out to vote for the man who strengthened his popularity through slogans such as: 'If you want an apartment, all you need is a headscarf.'
In interviews and rallies, Strache has railed against the leading figures of the political establishment, labelling the country's leaders as 'clowns' and 'traitors' who have 'sold out' Austria to foreigners. His old friend Haider - who led a breakaway from the Freedom Party in 2005 - is now called a 'political dwarf'. The man who has inherited Jorg Haider's mantle as the figurehead of Austria's far right is expected to scoop up a fifth of t... more -
Vote at 16: Austria gets them while they're young - Yahoo! News
16 seems like a shockingly young age for youths to be allowed to vote. On the other hand, it could be a factor of motivation to get young people more involved. 16 seems like a shockingly young age for youths to be allowed to vote. On the other hand, it could be a factor of motivation to get y... more
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Mozart's Lost Music Found in France Library.
A previously unknown piece of music by Mozart has been discovered at a library in western France.
Ulrich Leisinger, head of research at the International Mozarteum Foundation in Austria, said the single sheet of music was "really important".
"His handwriting is absolutely clearly identifiable," he added. "There's no doubt that this is an original piece handwritten by Mozart."
The sheet was found among the archives by staff at a library in Nantes.
Mr Leisinger said the municipal Mediatheque library contacted his foundation to ask for help authenticating the work.
The score was written on a sheet of paper just 10cm in size. It appears to be a "Credo in D major".
There is a second piece which looked like a "first draft, in parts illegible," said a library official.
It was part of the collection of Pierre-Antoine Laboucheroe, a 19th-century collector who donated his legacy to the city.
The score was catalogued as part of the library's collection, but was later "entirely forgotten" about.
It was rediscovered by the library as it re-catalogued its archives, and authenticated by a researcher from the Mozarteum Foundation last year.
Mr Leisinger said there had been just 10 Mozart finds of such importance over the past 50 years.
If sold, the single sheet would likely fetch around $100,000.
'Extremely rare'
Mr Leisinger said it was the "draft for a piece that Mozart did not work out, for whatever reason".
"It's a melody sketch so what's missing is the harmony and the instrumentation, but you can make sense out of it," he said.
"The tune is complete. It's only one part, and not the whole score with eight or twelve parts.
"One can really get a feeling of what Mozart meant, although we do not know how he would have orchestrated it."
He added: "The fact that an entirely new sheet shows up is extremely rare." A previously unknown piece of music by Mozart has been discovered at a library in western France. ... more -
Josef Fritzl to rent out flats in incest dungeon cellar house
Josef Fritzl, 73, a retired engineer, has hired a second lawyer to deal with his property and rent out the flats in his three-storey home in the town of Amstetten dubbed a "House of Horrors".
Fritzl lived in a top floor apartment with his wife Rosemarie, 69, and three of the children he fathered with his daughter Elisabeth, 42, over 24 years, while the other three were forced to live with their mother in a dank concrete dungeon in the cellar, never seeing the light of day until the case was revealed this April.
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I guess you still have to pay the bills. Josef Fritzl, 73, a retired engineer, has hired a second lawyer to deal with his property and rent out the flats in his three-storey h... more -
Melting Alps
Due to global warming, melting permafrost theratens a centuries-old mountain observatory's foundation.
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Fritzl case: Daughter speaks about ordeal for first time
Elisabeth Fritzl, who was kept in a cellar for 24 years by her father Josef, has spoken for the first time of the "all-powerful" brute who imprisoned and abused her and her children.
Miss Fritzl, now 42, was interviewed by Austria's most senior female judge Andrea Humer, who is compiling a case against her father. During her 24 years of imprisonment, she was raped repeatedly by her father and gave birth to seven children. Three of the children, Lisa, 16, Monica, 14 and Alex, 12, were chosen to live with Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie upstairs, while three others, Kerstin, 19, Stefan, 18, and Felix, six, were left in the dungeon. The seventh child died soon after birth, with Fritzl disposing of the body in a furnace.
The family was discovered in April when Kerstin fell ill and was sent to a hospital by Fritzl.
Miss Fritzl had been too traumatised to speak about her ordeal until July, three months after she was freed from her cellar dungeon.
In a series of statements which have just come to light, she is reported to have told the judge: "He was very brutal against me. And when I did not agree to have sex, then the kids would suffer. We knew he would kick us or be bad to us." She explained her father regularly bullied them into subdued silence, punishing them if they dared to answer back.
She said: "He would often say we had no chance down under, in the cellar where it all happened. He said he could close the door whenever he wanted and then we would soon see how we survived."
Miss Fritzl said: "It was his kind of communication to use rough words. He would be insulting against me and the children. When he said such words against the kids they ducked and tried to get out of his way. He would say, 'Shut up and get away from me.' And if that wasn't enough he would be even more abusive." She added: "He wouldn't let the kids develop their own personalities. He didn't like them to talk back. At the beginning, when they were small, it wasn't such a problem. But as they got bigger and started developing a personality it was more of a problem. He did not like it and he tried to stop it. He would not allow the kids to have their own will."
Josef Fritzl is facing potential charges of rape, incarceration, incest and manslaughter. Elisabeth Fritzl, who was kept in a cellar for 24 years by her father Josef, has spoken for the first time of the "all-powerful&#... more -
World body painting competitions
All of these images (at the link) are from the “World Body Painting Festival”. A cult event that for those involved in the art of body painting.
As you can see from the attached images it really does showcase some of the finest examples in body art and recognizes this with their awards.
They are posing at the World Body Painting Festival 2008 in Daegu, South Korea.
The main festival is held every year in Seeboden, Austria, but expanded into Asia for the first time this year with a bonus exhibition. All of these images (at the link) are from the “World Body Painting Festival”. A cult event that for those involved in the art of body... more -
Vienna celebrates Venus centenary
Austrians are celebrating 100 years since the discovery of a tiny but curvy statuette that dates back 25,000 years.
The 11cm-tall (four-inch) stone figure - the Venus of Willendorf - will be in a special show at Vienna's Natural History Museum with similar statuettes. Austria's post office is also to unveil a stamp in her honour on Friday, the Associated Press reports. Fans can already buy chocolates, soap and sweets modelled on her famously voluptuous figure.
A very early representation of a female body, the statuette was found by archaeologists in the hamlet of Willendorf, by the Danube, in 1908. Given to the Natural History Museum, she first went on public show in 1998. The display to mark the centenary of her discovery, opening on Saturday, will also feature figurines of women found in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the AP says.
The Venus of Willendorf, which was not made from local materials, dates back to the Paleolithic era, a time when woolly mammoth still roamed the area. Walpurga Antl-Weiser, at the Natural History Museum, told the AP it was difficult to know what the statuette's makers intended her to represent - perhaps a fertility symbol or goddess - but she held a fascination for people.
"She's very corpulent but still very beautiful," she said. "One gets the feeling she has become an icon." Austrians are celebrating 100 years since the discovery of a tiny but curvy statuette that dates back 25,000 years. ... more -
Plutonium leaks at Austrian plant
There has been a plutonium leak at a site run by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Austria.
UN nuclear monitors said pressure had built up and plutonium had contaminated a storage-room at the Seibersdorf laboratory, south of Vienna. Last year the head of the IAEA warned the facility was outdated and did not meet UN safety standards. Austrian officials said the empty lab had been sealed off and no-one was at risk. An investigation is planned.
The lab is used to carry out tests on samples taken during IAEA inspection missions. "Pressure build-up in a small sealed sample bottle in a storage safe resulted in plutonium contamination of a storage room... at the IAEA's Safeguards Analytical Laboratory in Seibersdorf," said the agency. The leak, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday, automatically set off an alarm via an air-monitoring system, said Daniel Kapp, a spokesman for Austria's environment ministry. He added that radioactivity in the air would have been completely contained by the lab's filters, and Austrian monitoring centres had detected no increase in radioactivity, meaning no-one was in danger.
Last November, IAEA director general Mohammed El Baradei said the site, constructed in 1970, did not meet UN safety standards. He warned there was an "ever-growing risk" key components of the lab might break down, although the IAEA said there was no connection between Sunday's leak and the modernisation requirements. There has been a plutonium leak at a site run by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Austria. ... more -
Unborn child sues Austrian state!!!
An unborn Austrian boy with an incompletely-formed spinal cord, has initiated legal action against the state in order to confirm the dignity of his life, Austrian media reported Friday.
The suit is in the name of Emil, who is expected to be born next week with spina bifida or split spine, a developmental defect that leads to an open spinal tube.
Emil's parents Sabine and Andreas Karg are seeking to overturn a Supreme Court ruling from March, which awarded damages to a mother whose child was born with spina bifida after doctors failed to detect the abnormality before birth.
'We just wanted to draw attention to the fact that a child cannot be a damage,' Andreas Karg said at a press conference recently.
The couple from Lochau in western Austria said they initiated the lawsuit against the Austrian state for infringement of Emil's honour and dignity.
The Kargs stressed that they are not suing the state to stop the abortion of disabled babies. But, they would like parents whose unborn babies are diagnosed with similar conditions to seek counselling and think carefully before taking any action. An unborn Austrian boy with an incompletely-formed spinal cord, has initiated legal action against the state in order to confirm the d... more -
Josef Fritzl's wife back at horror house...
Josef Fritzl's wife, Rosemarie went back to the house where her daughter Elisabeth had been kept as.....
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