Stories from Austria

Primetals will build a demonstration plant in Linz to melt sponge iron in an electric melting furnace. The process aims to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 1.9 tons. This follows four years of testing the procedure in a pilot plant.

A twelve-year-old girl died following an accident involving an e-scooter in Lower Austria. The incident occurred at an intersection in Oberndorf an der Melk. The cause of the accident was not specified. A car collided with an e-scooter at an intersection in the Melk district. Details regarding the specific cause of the accident were not immediately available. The driver of the car was uninjured, but the second girl sustained serious injuries and was transported by emergency helicopter. Police are investigating the incident.

Hardware manufacturer Noctua has released official 3D CAD models for its line of cooling fans.

The protection status of wolves in EU forests was downgraded from strictly protected to protected last year. Lukas Ende, an expert at Naturschutzbund Österreich, stated that a favorable conservation status has not been met.

The Austrian Family Ministry announced that starting from a child's fourth birthday, one-quarter of the lower-earning parent's salary will be used as the basis for bonus calculations. This change primarily affects women who frequently work part-time. The Ministry of Finance aims to save approximately 130 million euros through this restructuring. Government parties stated the move is intended to encourage increased labor participation while expanding childcare services. The Austrian Ministry of Family Affairs is redesigning the family bonus to incentivize more work from lower-earning parents, who are typically women in part-time roles. In 2024, the total cost for the family bonus was 2.6 billion euros. The new rules will allow one parent to claim the full amount for a child up to three years of age.

Statistics Austria released new data showing approximately 1.7 million people in Austria are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This figure represents nearly one in five people in the country. Aid organizations are calling on the government to avoid budget cuts in areas where citizens are already under pressure. The report follows the EU definition of poverty risk. Approximately 411,000 children and adolescents in Austria are currently considered at risk of poverty or social exclusion. NGOs including Caritas and the Red Cross have described the situation as an alarm signal. These organizations warn that poverty is becoming entrenched due to federal government spending cuts in specific areas. Eurostat data indicates that 20.9 percent of the European Union population faced a risk of poverty or social exclusion last year.

The University of Vienna has withdrawn Professor Ehrung following statements regarding climate change. The University of Vienna has canceled the presentation of the Golden Diploma to mathematician Taschner, according to reports from Die Presse. The University Senate criticized the promotion of gender studies and colonization as wasted funds. Taschner was previously named Scientist of the Year in 2004.

The Green Tech Welle cluster, which began near Graz in 2005 with 80 small companies, has expanded to include Carinthia. Approximately 300 green technology companies in the region are currently developing green innovations with 2,300 employees.

Investigators believe a discarded cigarette may have caused the forest fire in the Lesachtal region of Carinthia. The fire's origin point was identified at Xavierreberg in the Promecken forest area through witness statements and aerial imagery.

A diplomatic advisor stated that Moscow has not yet reached a decision regarding the return of its employees to the Iranian nuclear power plant. This follows the gradual withdrawal of Russian staff since the start of the American-Israeli war against Iran.