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Coal is re-emerging as a key source of energy for European countries racing to replace increasingly scarce natural gas as Moscow shuts off key pipeline flows. Europe is caught in a worsening energy crisis as Russia uses its energy exports to retaliate against sanctions. So countries like Germany are turning to coal to secure energy supplies before winter hits. Power generation using coal has shot up over 20% in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the UK together since last year, Rystad Energy data shows. European countries have increased coal consumption this year. "Coal is definitely making a comeback, with...

VIENNA — Joe Biden was rejected from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts Friday after failing his second entrance exam. Professor Alois Delug said Biden's art was a mimicry of other, more successful works. "He has a talent for mimicry, I'll give him that. Not sure why he didn't make a go at still life. Still life painters just sit and copy whatever they're staring at. It would've been a natural fit for him, I think. Instead, he kept trying to pass off imitations of Thomas Kinkade as his own." Delug shook his head sadly. "And I like Thomas Kinkade!"...

Gibraltar finally joined the official list of British cities on Monday (Aug 29), after 180 years in which its status, granted by Queen Victoria, had been overlooked due to an administrative error. The British overseas territory bid to become a city earlier this year as part of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, but research in the National Archives established it had in fact been granted city status in 1842. "It is excellent to see official recognition given to the City of Gibraltar, a huge accolade to its rich history and dynamism," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in...

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer backs a European Union-wide cap on runaway electricity prices, he said in a statement issued by his office on Sunday. Austria's conservative-led government was initially sceptical at the idea of capping power prices but it has warmed to the idea as they have continued to rise in line with soaring gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "We must finally stop the madness that is taking place in energy markets. And that can only happen through a European solution," the statement quoted Nehammer as saying, adding that he would seek to convince holdouts in the bloc....

Just shortly after the news that one in three Burger King burgers sold in Belgium is meat-free, and in some locations even one in two, BK reveals that from now on, almost the entire Burger King range, including the popular classics, will be served on a plant-based basis in Austria. The fast-food giant has already demonstrated what the future could look like in an experiment in a restaurant in Vienna’s Margaretengürtel, where plant-based products became the new normal. Those who ordered without expressing a special request for “meat” received a veggie burger. And those who wanted to eat the popular...

An Austrian doctor who was targeted by anti-vaxxers for her public advocacy in favor of the Covid-19 vaccines has committed suicide. The body of Lisa-Maria Kellermayr, who was often quoted in the media about the pandemic and the importance of vaccines, was found at her office in rural northern Austria on Friday, according to Austrian media reports. Officials said she left a suicide note but did not reveal its contents. Kelllmayr had been the target of death threats from anti-vaccination activists. Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen praised the doctor as a great healer and called out those who had...

Many countries are ramping up coal to keep up with rising energy demands. Even some EU countries that were otherwise planning to exit coal usage are now seeing an increase in production and fossil-powered energy generation. ... Despite the best efforts to the contrary, short-term global reliance on coal has only increased... energy is getting harder and harder to come by, and most countries are falling back on reliable .. sources. Energy Issues Have Left Many Nations with No Other Choice.. In the US, coal production has risen significantly from last year... production is up 6%.. ... China, too, has...

The obligation to vaccinate is abolished. Yesterday, a unamimous decision by the National Council ensured this. Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) justified the measure with "completely different conditions" than when it was introduced. OVP mandater Josef Smolle also referred to the less lethal omicron variant, immunization through vaccination and the availability of medication. The opposition will not go away from the obligation to vaccinate either. At least when it comes to compulsory vaccination, the government botch is coming to an end, said SPO health spokesman Philip Kucher. The liberal health spokesman Gerhard Kaniak thanked not only his own party but...

Summary A tale of three countries: In Austria, they’ve figured out the vaccines are dangerous, so the Health Minister is now blaming the doctors. In New Zealand, the data clearly shows the vaccinated have higher all-cause mortality, so their solution is more vaccines and they bury the papers showing the vaccines are the problem. In Australia, the mandates are gone and a few people are coming to realize they goofed big time.

The Austrian government has scrapped a law that would force residents of the country to be fully vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus, with the country’s Health Minister arguing the omicron variant has “changed the rules.” Health Minister of Austria Johannes Rauch of the Green Party and Austrian People’s Party club leader August Wöginger announced that the law would be scrapped as it was not effective in getting more people vaccinated and the omicron variant has led to milder cases of the virus. “Omicron has changed the rules,” Rauch said and added, “the Corona vaccination obligation does not bring anyone to...

Some relevant lessons on how the Nazis got total control in Austria -- for today. Before the COVID invasion, a story appeared in a magazine called “Military,” no longer published, about an Austrian woman who grew up under Hitler’s Nazi regime. I saved it and, in reexamining it, found that its relevance for us is greater than before. What the woman had to say presents parallels to current times that are, to say the least, astonishing. I shall call the woman Betty. Hitler did not take Austria with tanks and guns, said Betty, he was elected by the Austrian people....

Europe may need to ration its energy supply if efficiency doesn't improve and demand doesn't cool, the International Energy Agency's executive director warned. If winter weather is harsh and drags on while demand in China ramps up as COVID lockdowns continue easing, then rationing is on the table unless energy efficiency starts improving quickly, Faith Birol told the Financial Times. "I wouldn't exclude the rationing of natural gas in Europe, starting from the large industry facilities," he said. Birol suggested better efficiency, renewable sources, and "making the most of existing" energy supplies would help ensure energy security, rather than starting...

'The Sound of Music,' was based loosely on a 1949 book by Maria von Trapp. Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, had seven children.Rosmarie Trapp, whose Austrian family the von Trapps was made famous in the musical and beloved movie The Sound of Music, has died. She died Friday at the age of 93 at a nursing home in Morrisville, Vermont, Trapp Family Lodge announced. Her brother Johannes is president of the Stowe resort. Rosmarie was the first daughter of Austrian naval Capt. Georg von Trapp and Maria von Trapp, and a younger half-sibling to...

Persevere my children for as you push through the lies of the enemy you receive the overcomers crown. There is no guage or slide rule for faith my children but each valley, it's length and dimension empowers your faith in me your Redeemer for I have already overcome for you and it is as you deny the lies of the enemy the shackles have no hold but remember above all to guard your heart from guile for this is the weakness the enemy shall seek. Be true to my heart and love unconditionally for against love there is no weapon...

The CoV Measures Act will be extended until mid-2023. A corresponding resolution by means of an amendment is due in the Health Committee and will probably also be implemented next week by the plenum of the National Council. From the coalition, it was said on APA request, the extension had preventive reasons. Actually, the Measures Act, which regulates exit restrictions, would have expired in the middle of this year. The FPO was then also indignant about the upcoming decision. Health spokesman Gerhard Kaniak said in a broadcast that the OVP and the Greens continued to hang the sword of Damocles...

When did so many young and healthy middle-aged people, described as fit and sporty, drop dead before 2020? Since December 2020, many sudden and unexpected deaths of mayors under 60 years old have occurred in Germany and Austria. Questions are swirling about whether these elected officials were overwhelmed by job stress, or could there be another reason for so many “fit and healthy” politicians dying? On December 12, 2020, 41-year-old CSU Mayor Dirk Rosenbauer collapsed during a municipal council meeting and later died in a hospital in Coburg. The headline read, “At only 41 years old – mayor from Bavaria...

It was hell that a girl apparently had to endure on Wednesday afternoon in a stairwell of the former mail distribution centre in Linz. Four young migrants (14 and 15 years old) allegedly attacked the 16-year-old girl and raped her for more than an hour. One of the suspects was still on the run on Thursday evening.

After a surge in COVID cases caused by the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant, Austria is set to re-impose mask mandates that were dropped just two weeks ago. And there you were thinking the technocrats had finally let it go. Mask mandates in every area of the country apart from the capital Vienna were lifted as part of the general continent-wide trend of finally learning to “live with COVID.” That included ending the requirement for Austrians to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter most premises. However, despite the BA.2 variant proving even less dangerous than the original Omicron...

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RUSSIA’S CZECHOSLOVAK LEGION of World War One was an army without a country. The 60,000-man unit, raised between 1915 and 1917, was made up of Czech and Slovak patriots keen to free their ancestral homeland from Austrian rule. By taking up arms in the name of the Russian Tsar, the men of the unit hoped that after the war the great powers would reward them with statehood. But when in 1917, the Bolsheviks rose to power following the collapse of Russia’s Romanov dynasty and then made a separate peace with the Central Powers, the Czechoslovak Legion suddenly found itself trapped...