Vienna - Three children fathered by Josef Fritzl, the Austrian who has admitted imprisoning for 24 years a daughter who bore him six children, want to go back to school, it was reported Saturday.

However - with public interest in the case still enormous and Fritz's trial due to begin in November - the schools involved were fearful of a media invasion, the Kurier newspaper said.

Vienna - No radioactivity was released outside the International Atomic Energy Agency's laboratory after a small plutonium container burst in early August, the IAEA reported Friday, citing independent analysis.

On August 3, less than one gram of plutonium spilled in the Agency's laboratory in Seibersdorf, around 35 kilometres south-east of Vienna.

Michael Hlava, spokesman of the Austrian Research Centers (ARC), which analyzed samples outside the facility, confirmed to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the environment was not contaminated.

Vienna  - Uniqa Versicherungen AG, one of Austria's largest insurers, said Friday its net profit slipped by 3.5 per cent to 109 million euros (161 million dollars) in the first half of 2008, as falling income from investments outweighed growing premiums.

The insurer reported the value of its written premiums had grown 10.4 per cent to 3 billion euros in the first six months of this year, compared with the same period of the previous year.

Business in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe was booming, Uniqa said, with premiums written in that region rising 60 per cent to 603 million euros.

The region contributed 20.1 per cent to group premiums, up from 13.9 per cent in the first six months of 2007.

Vienna - Austrian-based construction group Strabag SE on Friday reported its net profit rose 25 per cent to 82.3 million euros (121.4 million dollars) in the second quarter, and raised its forecast for 2008, due to a record order backlog.

Strabag's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to 109.8 million euros, up 11 per cent from the second quarter of 2007, while revenues increased by 17 per cent to 3.01 billion euros.

Vienna - Austrian energy provider EVN AG on Thursday reported its net profit decreased by 14.4 per cent to 190 million euros (278.8 million dollars) in the first three quarters of its 2007/08 business year due to higher primary energy prices.

EVN's earnings from operations fell to 165.4 million euros between October 2007 and June 2008, 11.5 per cent less than in the same period of the previous business year.

Lower temperatures helped to collect 8.3 per cent more in revenues, the company said. Sales rose to 1.84 billion euros so far this year, up from 1.70 billion euros.

Alpbach, A