Vienna - The Vienna stock exchange announced Tuesday it had received Czech regulatory approval for the takeover of the Prague stock exchange, boosting its control of bourses in Central and Eastern Europe to three.

Besides acquiring 92.4 per cent of the Prague bourse in November, the Vienna exchange in June bought an 81.01 per cent of Slovenia's bourse in Ljubljana and raised its stake in the Prague bourse to 37.7 per cent.

Vienna - Lufthansa AG on Friday signed a deal in Vienna to buy 41.65 per cent of Austrian Airlines from Austria's state holding OeIAG, creating Europe's biggest airline.

The debt-ridden flag carrier will be sold for the token price of 366,000 euros (465,000 dollars), OeIAG confirmed in a statement.

On Wednesday, the German carrier announced that it planned to take over 100 per cent of its smaller Austrian rival, first through the privatization, and then through buying free-floating shares.

Vienna - Austrian police have started to investigate whether the man who abducted and imprisoned Natascha Kampusch was linked to child pornographers, the Oesterreich newspaper reported Friday.

Vienna  - What should have been a cozy night-time conversation in a car in the Tyrolean mountains took a tragic turn, when a young German man and woman died from inhaling exhaust fumes in their snowed-in car, a police spokesman confirmed Thursday.

Investigators assume that the 21-year old woman and the 23-year- old man, both hotel employees in the Soelden ski area, had been sitting in the car for a chat on Wednesday night, turning on the motor and heater for warmth.

Vienna - The price for oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Coun