Austria

Austria urges Syria's al-Assad to play constructive role in Mideast

Austria urges Syria's al-Assad to play constructive role in Mideast Vienna - Austrian leaders called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to use his country's influence to stabilize the wider Middle East region on Tuesday, the second day of his visit to Austria. At the outset of a bilateral business forum, Austrian President Heinz Fischer called on Syria to use its influence on Iran.

The aim was to get Tehran to react constructively to proposals from the international community for resolving the nuclear stand-off and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, Fischer told the forum.

First Austrian quarantined with possible swine flu

First Austrian quarantined with possible swine flu Vienna - An Austrian hospital put a woman in quarantine Tuesday on suspicion that she was the country's first patient with swine flu, a spokeswoman of the hospital in Steyr said. A laboratory in Vienna was running additional tests after initial results showed no infection with the virus.

The 28-year-old woman recently returned from Mexico, the centre of the outbreak.

When she was admitted to the hospital in the town of Steyr with flu-like symptoms on Tuesday, she set into motion an emergency plan, spokeswoman Christine Doerfel said.

Injured Polish politician returns home after Austrian ski accident

Injured Polish politician returns home after Austrian ski accident Vienna - Polish politician Marek Nawara returned to his home country Monday after being hospitalized in Austria with severe head injuries from a skiing accident in February, according to his hospital in the town of Klagenfurt.

The premier of the Malopolska province is set to continue his rehabilitation treatment in Poland.

"It is remarkable how well he has recovered after his accident," said Eberhard Uhl, the head of the neurosurgical unit of the hospital.

Syria's al-Assad on visit to Austria

Syria's al-Assad on visit to Austria Vienna - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer in Vienna Monday, at the start of a visit that was set focus not only on the situation in the Middle East, but also on bilateral economic ties. In his talks with Fischer, al-Assad was expected to discuss Syria's role in the region.

In an interview published Sunday in the Austrian daily Die Presse, the Syrian president said Israel has an "extremist, far-right government that does not support peace."

US memo drafters were complicit in torture, UN torture monitor says

US memo drafters were complicit in torture, UN torture monitor says Vienna  - United States officials who drafted policies on harsh interrogation tactics for terrorism suspects should be prosecuted as accomplices in torture, the United Nation's monitor on torture Manfred Nowak said Friday in Vienna.

Nowak was reacting to the announcement by US President Barack Obama on Tuesday that he would let Attorney General Eric Holder, the chief of the the US Justice Department, decide whether to investigate those who drafted the legal memos during the Bush administration.

OPEC oil price hovers at 48.60 dollars

OPECVienna - The price of oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) gai

Pages