• croatiantimes.com
• romaniantimes.at
• salzburgtimes.at
• viennatimes.at
• austrianindependent.com

Today

• Vienna - Pub Quiz at Charlie Ps
• Vienna - Unknown Underground
• Vienna- January and February at the Austrian Film Museum
• Vienna - Art by Petronilla Hohenwarter.
• STOMP at the MuseumsQuartier

21. 08. 09. - 16:00

• more Around the World news
• RSS Feed Around the World

21. 08. 09. - 16:00

Ramsay robot wars

Chinese chefs have staged angry protests outside a new chain of restaurants that sacked their staff and replaced them with robots.

The robot chefs were created by a Chinese firm for the new "I Robot" chain of restaurants which opened this month in southern China's Guangxi province.

At each restaurant two robot chefs now do the work of 10 human cooks with only one human assistant needed to chop and prepare the ingredients which are then put into the robot chefs who make instant meals from the food.

Waiters make the order via computer touch screens that are passed on instantly to the kitchen and the dishes are prepared for collection often a matter of minutes later.

Huang Xianghao, the manager of the restaurant chain, said: "Our prices are the same as other restaurants, although the robot chefs' dishes probably taste better.

"They are expensive at 26,000 pounds each but even with the low wages of most Chinese cooks the robots will have paid for themselves within a year and after that it's just the cost of electricity and servicing."

"Each chef can cook up more than 300 recipes in a matter of minutes without anything other than somebody to feed raw materials into the robots.

"Chinese cuisine is known for its delicacy and deliciousness. It's amazing to many customers that robots can make such good dishes.

"The robot chefs are more efficient and hygienic. And they don't complain."

* Earlier this week Swiss police arrested more than 1,000 Chinese chefs at restaurants across the country that had been illegally smuggled into the country and were working for less than three pounds an hour.

Austrian Times

Vienna ÖVP endorses proposed district cuts
Vienna People’s Party (ÖVP) Josefstadt district head Veronika Mickel suggested continuing to speak about a reduction of positions in the city's administration.

Skiing starts in Vienna
Over this winter holiday week, Vienna’s residents will once again be able to make a trip to the slopes without venturing out of the city. The capital’s very own ski slope, "High Hills", will be open daily to the public from 4 February until 11 February.

Vranitzky appreciates tuition fees discussion
Former Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Franz Vranitzky has said he welcomes the current debate about a reintroduction of tuition fees.

Wiener Linien records rising demand for annual passes
The number of people opting for annual Wiener Linien tickets is soaring.

Many Austrians mistrust jurisdiction
Almost four in 10 Austrians had a worse opinion of the country’s juridical system today than a few years ago, a new survey shows.

Ice wine harvest later than ever
The grapes for ice wine production have been harvested later than ever this year in Austria. The fruit for the popular dessert wine are normally picked in December at the latest but only now have the temperatures been cold enough for the harvest.

Westbahn welcomes 6,000 a day
Westbahn manages to sell one in two of the overall number of tickets it offers, a spokesman said today (Fri).

Vice chancellor refuses to exclude FPÖ
The People’s Party (ÖVP) keeps refusing to disassociate itself from the Freedom Party (FPÖ) following FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache’s controversial comparisons with the Nazi era.

Austrian and German terrorists hid plans in their underpants
Two alleged terrorists including one Austrian hid plans in their underpants to hack off heads, burn bodies and then send the videos back to their al-Qaeda bosses in Afghanistan, a German court has heard.

Vitamin D linked to fertility
Austrian scientists have found a link between a lack of vitamin D and fertility. Graz-based endocrinologist Barbara Obermayer-Pietsch and her colleague Elisabeth Lerchbaum compared data from several vitamin D studies and say there is a clear link between vitamin D and the production of testosterone and sperm quality.