Vienna, Oct 6 : President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, who is on a four-day state visit to Austria, said that India''s relations with Pakistan would improve if a conducive atmosphere is created between both countries.

Discussing India''s neighbourly relations with her Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer, President Patil also said that relations with China have moved forward with the passage of time.

Vienna, Feb 25 - Lufthansa is reducing the cargo business of Austrian Airlines, the newly acquired subsidiary said Wednesday - 24 hours after announcing cuts in its technical maintenance unit.

The troubled Austrian Airlines is currently implementing tough savings measures and cuts, after being taken over by Lufthansa last September in an effort to use synergies between the two carriers.

A quarter of jobs in cargo and maintenance would be slashed, reducing the number by 260, a spokesman said.

Vienna, Jan 8 - Good news for those who seek to shed their holiday pounds: Researchers announced Thursday in Austria that they have found a way to suppress growth of fat cells.

So far, the method has been used in mice, by unlocking a genetic mechanism. Such a method could eventually help humans, too.

By modifying a certain gene, the molecular biologists were able to raise very lean, but healthy, animals that developed almost no white fat cells, according to a study published in the US journal Cell.

Vienna, Dec 14 : The oil price of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) slid to $70.85 at the end of last week, the group reported Monday.

The average price for OPEC-produced oil shed 58 cents Friday.

The recent downward movement in international oil markets was due to a number of economic factors, including negative demand figures for gas oil and petrol, analysts at J. B. C. Energy wrote in Vienna.

Vienna, Dec 7 : African Union leader Jean Ping warned Monday in Vienna that the population on his continent would disappear if there was no progress at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Africa would speak with one voice at the summit meeting that started Monday, as natural catastrophes like floods and droughts had become a reality in developing countries, the chairperson of the African Union's secretariat told reporters.

Vienna, Nov 26 : The dispute over Iran's nuclear programme showed no sign of abating as diplomats gathered at the International Atomic Energy Agency Thursday for a meeting that would be the last under IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

The IAEA's board of governors was set to vote on a resolution drafted by six world powers that would express "serious concern" about a new nuclear site that Tehran revealed belatedly in September and note that Iran had broken international rules by building it.

Vienna - Austrian investor Christian "Toto" Wolff has joined Williams as a minority stakeholder, the British Formula One team announced Friday.

The team did not disclose the size of Wolff's share but said that the 37-year-old financier is taking a seat on the team's board.

Toto Wolff, who lives in Switzerland, is himself a GT and rally racer.

Vienna  - Austria's biggest steelmaker voestalpine AG made a profit of 28 million euros (42 million dollars) in the quarter ending in September, recovering from a loss in the previous quarter, the company said Thursday.

However, the latest results were only a fraction of the 279-million-euro profit made between July and September of last year.

Voestalpine's business year runs from April to April, meaning the company reported its second-quarter results Thursday.

Vienna  - The Austrian government agreed Tuesday to introduce a form of civil union for same-sex couples, which will grant some, but not all rights enjoyed by married heterosexual couples, Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner announced.

The so-called registered partnerships are to give homosexual partners rights regarding social security claims, inheritance or court trials.

However, those who register will not be allowed to adopt children, and lesbian couples will not be able to have children through in-vitro fertilization.

Vienna  - Spain will return Wednesday to Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadion for their last match of 2009, against hosts Austria.

It was in this stadium that La Seleccion won the Euro 2008 final in splendid style, beating Germany 1-0 on a handsome goal from Fernando Torres.

The Liverpool striker will miss Wednesday's match through injury, but the other Spaniards are looking forward to returning to Vienna.

"Vienna is a city with special memories for us," said captain Iker Casillas on Sunday.

"It was there, last year, that we finally managed to win something important."

Vienna  - Austrian oil and gas group OMV AG on Tuesday reported that its net profit had dropped by 34 per cent in the third quarter, as crude oil prices fell and the difference in value between crude and refined products narrowed.

OMV made a net profit of 362 million euros (541 million dollars) between July and September.

The average price of benchmark Brent oil fell by 41 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The company made sales worth 4.72 billion euros, nearly a third below the third quarter of 2008.

Vienna - Wienerberger AG, the world's biggest brickmaker, reported Friday that its net profit had dropped 83 per cent to 5.8 million euros (8.6 million dollars) in the third quarter, as lower demand and restructuring costs dragged down results.

The Austrian-based company said it would shut down five more plants in Hungary, Poland, Germany and the United States, in addition to the 26 factories being closed through the end of this year.

Revenue amounted to 518.5 million euros, 22 per cent below the third quarter of last year.

Sales volumes dropped significantly, especially in North America, where demand shrank by some 40 per cent. Drops were also recorded in Central and Eastern Europe.

Vienna  - Austrian pharmacies are starting to offer fish to customers alongside more conventional medicines, as a way to promote the health benefits of the aquatic animals, a group of pharmacists announced Thursday in Vienna.

Valerie Odelga's pharmacy in Judenburg began selling smoked char three weeks ago.

"In the first three days, we sold a whole month's worth of stock," she said.

Vienna  - An Austrian women's handball coach received a hefty fine and a three-year ban Wednesday for colliding with a French Metz player, to prevent a decisive goal against his Hypo Niederoesterreich team, the European Handball Federation (EHF) said.

Coach Gunnar Prokop's foul occurred in the last seconds of a European Champions League game in Austria last week, which ended with a 27-27 draw.

Vienna - An Austrian man was found guilty Tuesday of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. He received a seven-year prison term, one month after he and 21 others were arrested in an international crackdown on a child pornography network.

Vienna's criminal court found 41-year-old Christian S also guilty of publishing images of the crimes on the internet, which he regularly announced in advance to other members of the online forum.

The man, who is a butcher, abused the 11-year-old girl over the course of several weeks, Austrian press agency APA reported.

Vienna - Philipp Kohlschreiber began lining up a possible second straight year of German success at the Bank Austria Trophy with a defeat of Spain's Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-4 for a semi-final spot Friday.

The number 24 won his sixth match at the tournament to duplicate his showing of a year ago, when he reached the last four at the Stadthalle before losing to Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Compatriot Philipp Petzschner went on to win the 2008 title.

Vienna - Spain's Feliciano Lopez reached the quarter-finals at the scene of his only career title performance Thursday, putting out irritable Austrian Daniel Koellerer 6-3, 6-3 at the Bank Austria Trophy.

Sixth seed Lopez tasted his only trophy success at the Stadthalle in 2004 when he beat Guillermo Canas for the trophy.

Lopez, 28, has reached his sixth quarter-final in as many appearance in Vienna, standing 16-4 at the event.

Vienna - Austrian Airlines's net loss jumped to 75.7 million euros (112 million dollars) in the third quarter of 2009, the company said Thursday, in the first report since its takeover by German carrier Lufthansa in September.

The loss was more than four times bigger than in the same period last year, when it stood at 16.4 million euros.

A decrease in passenger numbers of nearly 9 per cent and financial provisions for the current restructuring programme contributed to the negative results, the airline said.

Vienna - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors arrived in Vienna from Tehran Thursday, an agency spokesman confirmed, after visiting a new nuclear site that was disclosed too late under IAEA rules.

The quartet of experts spent four days at the new uranium enrichment plant near Fordu, 100 kilometres south of Tehran, as well as in the capital itself, to verify that the installation is not being built for military purposes.

Vienna - German Philipp Kohlschreiber claimed the first spot in the quarter-finals of the Bank Austria Tophy Wednesday when injured opponent Victor Crivoi quit little more than half an hour into their match.

The fourth-seeded Kohlschreiber secured a 6-2, 3-0 win due to Crivoi's right shoulder problem.

Kohlschreiber will await an opponent from a match between Spanish fifth seed Nicolas Almagro and American Wayne Odesnik.