News from Austria

Underage migrants attack family on a Halloween night stroll
Published: 04 Nov 2016 11:16
While walking around town to watch the Halloween celebrations, a happy evening stroll quickly turned into a horror show when a family was allegedly attacked by two drunken underage migrants in Kremsmuenster, Upper Austria.
Local media reported that two Afghan asylum-seekers aged 15 and 17 attacked a couple that was chaperoning a group of ten children on a tour around the town center. The underage migrants supposedly felt disturbed by the group during their drinking session.
http://www.thelocal.at/20161104/underage-migrants-attack-family-on-a-halloween-night-stroll

It's never-ending. Pity we can't turn the clock back....

If only we could......

Names confirmed for Schönbrunn baby panda twins
The male panda of a pair of twins born at Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo has been named according to results from an online poll that closed on Wednesday.
Of the 2,000 names submitted to a poll that opened on October 18th, it was announced on Thursday that the male counterpart of Schönbrunn Zoo's newest pair of twin baby pandas will be named Fu Ban.
http://www.thelocal.at/20161104/names-confirmed-for-schoenbrunn-panda-twins

Beautiful pair.

Aw, too cute!

A car driver crashed into a horror clown after he got frightened by the axe-wielding man.

The accident happened in Klagenfurt, a city in the southern Austrian province of Carinthia. The clown got away with slight injuries after the impact.

According to the police, at around 1:45 a.m. on November 1, the 27-year-old masked man stood on a municipal road dressed like a clown with an axe in his hand.

A 19-year-old driver was so frightened when the clown suddenly emerged out of the fog, that he crashed right into the 27-year-old.

Due to the media reporting on clown attacks, the car driver drove away after the accident, but soon afterwards informed the police about the event.

The car driver was tested for drink driving by the police, but the test turned out negative. An alcohol test however gave a positive result for the 27-year-old horror clown.
http://www.thelocal.at/20161105/horror-clown-hit-by-car-in-klagenfurt

Poetic justice.

German member of far-right group deported from Austria
http://www.thelocal.at/20161111/german-member-of-far-right-group-deported-from-austria
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Prison for five boys who assaulted schoolgirl
http://www.thelocal.at/20161111/five-teenagers-convicted-for-rape-and-abuse-of-schoolgirl
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Snow for eastern Austria and Vienna this weekend
http://www.thelocal.at/20161111/snow-forecast-for-east-austria-vienna-this-weekend

Thank gawd I have a very large RV and winter tyres, with chains in reserve! LL

I hope you get just enough snow for it to be pretty, but not enough to be a nuisance, LL.

Yes LL.  I hope that is what you get.   Also, please stay safe.   

Panda twins 'baptised' at Vienna zoo
Published: 24 Nov 2016 09:35 GMT+01:00



Two pandas conceived naturally and born at Vienna zoo, Fu Feng and Fu Ban, have been officially baptised, 100 days after their birth.

The twin cubs were absent from the ceremony attended by China's ambassador, however, with the male and female being kept away from the public's gaze until the end of the year.

"The names bring good fortune and it is a special sign that the twins were born in the 45th year of the diplomatic relationship between the People's Republic of China and Austria," ambassador Li Xiaosi said.

The name for the female, Fu Feng (Happy Phoenix), was chosen by the zoo while her brother's name, Fu Ban (Happy Companion), was selected by an online ballot of 12,000 people.

It was decided not to name them before they were 100 days old since around half of newborn cubs die. Today they weigh five and six kilos (11 and 13 pounds) respectively, up from 100 grams at birth.

Not only are Vienna's Giant Pandas a symbol of the friendship between China and Austria - they are also a magnet for tourists. According to vice-chancellor and minister of tourism Reinhold Mitterlehner: “This year already about 800,000 tourists from China visited Austria, next year we will cross the one million line.”

Didn't see them but thier parents were out and about. LL

Aw, lovely!

Lucky you, LL.  

Five-year-old crushed under fiaker wheels in Vienna
Published: 28 Nov 2016
A five-year-old Czech boy who fell out of a horse-drawn carriage in Vienna’s first district is being treated in hospital for life threatening injuries.

The boy rolled under the rear wheels of the fiaker, which crushed his chest and lungs.

Police said that the boy was able to open the door of the carriage, unobserved by his family, and fell out. “He leaned against the door, fell into the street and was run over by the left rear wheel of the coach, in his chest area,” police spokesman Paul Eidenberger told Radio Vienna.

The boy suffered serious injuries to his chest and lungs and was taken to hospital. He is in a medically-induced coma and is on a ventilator. Doctors say he is currently stable but that his condition could change at any time.

The accident happened early on Saturday evening in Strauchgasse in Vienna’s first district.

The boy was in the carriage with his parents and his brother. The fiaker driver said that he had not noticed that the boy had fallen out as he has been concentrating on the traffic. It was only when he heard the parents screaming at him to stop that he realised something was wrong.

Eidenberger said that the family come from the Czech Republic and are in Vienna for a holiday. He added that both the fiaker driver and the boy’s mother are being investigated “as a matter of routine”, on suspicion of negligence and causing bodily injury. He did not give any further details.
http://www.thelocal.at/20161128/five-year-old-crushed-under-fiaker-wheels-in-vienna

Any parent who doesn't make sure a child sits in the middle of the seat in the vehicle, ie between his/her parents, is asking for an accident to happen.   When my kids were young and we rode in one of them I always insisted we have a 'closed' fiaker, just in case.   LL

Unfortunately, LL, you can't legislate for stupid.

It sounds to me like the poor child's parents simply weren't paying attention - the coachman didn't have eyes in the back of his head.

Krampus bursts into flames after procession
Published: 29 Nov 2016


A 30-year-old Austrian man who performs as a fire-breathing Krampus demon suffered serious burns after a costume he was wearing for a traditional procession in Styria caught fire.

Krampus is Santa’s (known in Austria as Saint Nicholas) terrifying evil companion, who punishes naughty children.

Peter Feierl, who organised the ‘Perchtenlauf’ procession in Obdach, said the man is “on his way to recovery” but that he has no idea as to why his costume caught fire - adding that all safety precautions had been followed.

The event finished at around 8pm and people had begun to disperse when the man’s costume burst into flames. Luckily members of the local fire brigade had been watching the procession and were quickly able to extinguish the flames. However, he still had severe burns on his upper body.

Doctors said that the man suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns and that up to 20 percent of his skin was affected. He’s being treated by plastic surgeons in Graz.

Police are now investigating the incident. It’s possible that a lit torch that the man was holding came into contact with flammable liquid that had dripped onto his costume.

Feierl said that the man has been taking part in Krampus events across Austria for the past ten years - and is known for his fire breathing skills.

Right...see my previous comment on children falling out of carriages.....

Hitler house to be confiscated after law change

Published: 01 Dec 2016
A parliamentary committee has approved a special law to allow the confiscation of the house where Adolf Hitler was born from its current owner.

The building has been empty since 2011, although the owner, Gerlinde Pommer, earns rent from the government to keep it unused. The building has been in her family for more than a century.

Hitler was born there on 20th April 1889 and her family were prominent supporters of the Nazis, yet they still managed to get the property returned to them after World War II.

http://www.thelocal.at/20161201/hitler-house-to-be-confiscated-next-month-after-law-change

Finally, a decision that should have been made years ago. LL

The twin cubs are so cute.

I hope a solution can be found that doesn't involve destroying the building, hard to explain it, but that somehow doesn't sit well with me - not that it affects me in any way at all, I just don't like destruction.

Austrians vote for president in election watched Europe-wide


Protesters walk during a demonstration against Norbert Hofer, candidate for presidential elections of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party, FPOE, in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. The poster reads 'No Nazis in the Hofburg' referring to Austria's presidential palace.

VIENNA (AP) — December 04, 2016  In an election sure to reverberate across Europe, Austrian voters are choosing between a right-wing populist and a left-leaning former politician for their next president. Austria's presidency is a mostly ceremonial post. But the Sunday election is being watched as a barometer of how populists in other European Union countries may fare in coming months.

The Austrian vote pits Alexander Van der Bellen against Norbert Hofer. A former leading member of the Greens Party, Van der Bellen is the hope of Austrians who want to stop Hofer, a popular leader of the anti-migrant and anti-EU Freedom Party.

Most polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 5 p.m. local time. Results are expected late Sunday, but the winner may not be known until absentee ballots are counted on Monday.

http://www.thelocal.de/20161204/afghan-teen-arrested-over-german-murder-rape

Afghan teen arrested over German murder-rape
Published: 04 Dec 2016 11:34 GMT+01:00

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A teenage Afghan asylum seeker has been arrested on suspicion of the rape and murder of a 19-year-old female student in Germany, police and prosecutors said Saturday.

Asylum home boss on trial over repeated rape of refugee (15 Nov 16)
Second young woman found dead in Freiburg (11 Nov 16)
Seven arrested at refugee homes over alleged gang rape (04 Nov 16)
The 17-year-old Afghan was arrested on Friday after his DNA was found at the scene of the crime and he was identified on CCTV, authorities in the south-west German town of Freiburg told a press conference.

The Afghan, who has said nothing to investigators about the alleged crimes, arrived in Germany in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor and had been living with a host family.

...etc.

I doubt if the latest horrible incident in neighbouring territory is going to help with all the #lovewins stuff.

Let's be honest, what did they really expect?