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13. 10. 09. - 15:00

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13. 10. 09. - 15:00

Roofless competition

A 58-year-old down and out has been crowned Miss Homeless in Belgium with a first prize of a rent free flat for a year.

Therese Van Belle, 58, beat nine other finalists in the contest who will now all go back on the streets.

Organiser Aline Duportail said the competition was meant to draw attention to the plight of the homeless.

"It was about the contestants' inner strength and determination to get themselves out of their old life and on a new path," she explained.

Austrian Times

Zumtobel reports worse results
Vorarlberg lighting firm Zumtobel has reported worse results for the first three quarters of its 2009/2010 business year (1 May to 30 April).

Special security measures for Austrian poker tournament
Austrian police will take special security measures at this month’s European Poker Tour (EPT) tournament following the robbery at an international poker tournament in Berlin earlier this month.

Soaring fuel prices avoid more drastic inflation decrease
Inflation in Austria dropped slightly last month, federal statistics agency Statistik Austria said today (Tues).

Back seat passengers in seat belt warning
One third of back seat car passengers in Austria do not use seat belts, according to the Committee for Traffic Safety (KfV).

Erste Bank Austria chief to retire early
Erste Bank in Austria announced today (Tues) that its General Director Elisabeth Bleyleben-Koren would retire on 30 June 2010 even though her contract expires in mid-2012.

Five Romanians arrested for robbery in Upper Austria
Police arrested five Romanians suspected of having injured and robbed a car dealer yesterday (Mon) in Ansfelden in Upper Austria’s Linz-Land district.

New season begins at Vienna's Prater
The new season kicks off at Vienna’s Prater amusement park with the popular Schweizerhaus restaurant expanding its beer garden and installing a 117 metre high tower near the entrance setting the theme for "Vienna in 1900".

Minister makes U-turn on asylum seekers
People’s Party (ÖVP) Interior Minister Maria Fekter has said for the first time that Austria might not need a third asylum seekers’ centre - a move seen by many as being a policy U-turn.

Vienna electricity outage lasts one hour
A defective cable caused an electricity outage in Vienna-Leopoldstadt this morning (Tues) for about one hour, said energy supplier Wien Energie.

Palfrader and Scheuba to get the dirty job done at Volkstheater
An acclaimed cabaret stage show featuring TV star Robert Palfrader will be performed at the Volkstheater Vienna this Saturday.