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The race between the deteriorating security situation north of Israel’s border, and the need to complete the border fence, is tightening. But the fence and systems are nearly in place. As the raging civil war between loyalists to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and various rebel factions continues to spill over into the Golan Heights, workers are moving to replace border installations. Several countries have pulled their troops out of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Golan demilitarized buffer zone as the situation has become increasingly dangerous, including Austria, which began withdrawal of its troops last week. Elbit Systems' "MSS...

The disintegration of the UN peacekeeping forces in the Golan shows why Israel cannot rely on international forces for its security, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the cabinet at the outset of its weekly meeting on Sunday. Netanyahu was referring to Austria's decision last week to pull out its 380 troops from the 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Israel-Syria border. While international forces can be part of agreements, they can not be what Israel relies upon for its security, Netanyahu said. He added that he will raise this in his talks this week with US Secretary of...

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria will withdraw its peacekeepers from the U.N. monitoring force on the Golan Heights given worsening fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels, it said on Thursday. Austrians account for about 380 of the 1,000-strong U.N. force monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel, and their departure will deal a serious blow to the mission. ... It came hours after Syrian rebels seized a U.N.-manned border crossing linking Syria and Israel on Thursday. Israeli security sources later reported Syrian troops had retaken it after heavy fighting.

So asks Newsweek's cover, which features a full-length photo of the prime minister his people voted the greatest Briton of them all. Quite a tribute, when one realizes Churchill's career coincides with the collapse of the British empire and the fall of his nation from world pre-eminence to third-rate power. That the Newsweek cover was sparked by my book "Churchill, Hitler and The Unnecessary War" seems apparent, as one of the three essays, by Christopher Hitchens, was a scathing review. Though in places complimentary, Hitchens charmingly concludes: This book "stinks." Understandable. No Brit can easily concede my central thesis: The...

The gilded lifestyle of MEPs has been compared to the uncontrolled excesses of ancient Rome after research showed their perks have not been dented despite biting austerity measures. From Italian MEPs who enjoy free haircuts to Maltese ones who get 52 free gallons of petrol a month, the perks—and expenses—continue unabated for the representatives of European Union nations. MEPs from the 27 EU nations are paid salaries of £137 million ($207 million) a year, according to research by German pricing watchdog Preisvergleich.de, and some earn 740 percent more than the average citizen. …

The classic History Channel documentary series. This episode: German small arms of WWII.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria may pull its peacekeeping troops from the Golan Heights, evacuating the U.N. buffer zone, its defence minister warned on Tuesday, as Syria and Israel exchanged fire across a long dormant frontline now inflamed by civil war. Vienna's warning was aimed at Britain and other allies which want to help Syrian rebels by lifting an EU arms embargo - doing so, minister Gerald Klug told Reuters, would rob Austrian troops of their neutrality in a Syrian conflict that has already seen foreign peacekeepers come under fire and some even held hostage. He stopped short of saying an...

The European Union is to ban olive oil jugs and dipping bowls from restaurant tables in a move described by one of Britain’s top cooks as authoritarian and damaging to artisan food makers. The small glass jugs filled with green- or gold-colored extra virgin olive oil are familiar and traditional for restaurant goers across Europe, but they will be banned from 1 January 2014 after a decision taken in an obscure Brussels committee earlier this week. From next year, olive oil “presented at a restaurant table” must be in prepackaged factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labeling in...

Amid growing calls from Tory MPs for David Cameron to respond to the Ukip threat by bringing forward legislation on an EU referendum, Farage warned that his party would not go away even if No 10 "starts singing the same song". William Hague, who famously suffered a major defeat in the 2001 election after tacking to the right, called for a cautious response to Ukip as he warned of the dangers of "quick fixes". Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, said many Ukip voters were "frustrated Conservatives". As the Tories work out their response to Ukip, which won nearly a quarter...

Austria Kisses the Islamist Crocodile April 19, 2013 By Daniel Greenfield In late 1970s Vienna, a father bought his little girl a baby crocodile for her birthday. The child had become enchanted with the reptile after seeing a picture of it in a storybook and when all the other presents were opened, her new pet was presented to her. The little girl was delighted with the present. She tried to kiss the crocodile. The croc bit her on the nose. The little girl began to cry and had to be taken to the hospital. And the angry father went off...

A century ago, one section of Vienna played host to Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin.

Austria has accused the UK of being a haven for money launderers ahead of an EU meeting in Dublin, with Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal and Slovenia’s (potential) bailout needs also on the agenda. The Austrian finance minister, Maria Fekter, described Britain as “the island of the blessed for tax evasion and money laundering” in an interview with her country’s Kurier newspaper on Thursday (11 April). Comparing the UK and its “protectorates”—micro-states subject to British law—to Cyprus in terms of hosting secretive foundations and trusts, she noted: “Just as we urged the abolition of sealed foundations in the Cyprus rescue to drain...

In the event that an arms embargo on Syria is lifted next month, as might happen, Austria is threatening to withdraw its troops from the UNDOF observer force that has helped to maintain peace on the Golan for the last 40 years. With three of the other five countries who contribute troops to UNDOF having withdrawn in the last few months, Austria's 377 troops are the largest contingent of the roughly 1,000 troops who remain in the neutral zone on the Heights. But according to the Austrians, the mission is becoming impossible. If the embargo is lifted at the end...

Spending more money on asteroid and meteor detection techniques won't necessarily make the planet safer, according to a planetary scientist. Alexander Deutsch, a professor of planetology at the University of Münster in Germany, explained that the relatively small meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February would not have been detected using technologies available around the world today. "The problem is that even if they use more of these highly sophisticated observatories, they will not find very small projectiles, but on the other hand, the small projectiles are not very dangerous, and the opinion is that the larger ones or...

Margaret Thatcher was a staunch defender of Jewish causes and a supporter of Israel in her political career, unlike most Tory politicians before her By Charles C. Johnson|December 28, 2011 7:00 AM When asked about her most meaningful accomplishment, Margaret Thatcher, now embodied by Meryl Streep in the biopic Iron Lady, did not typically mention serving in the British government, defeating the Argentine invasion of the Falklands, taming runaway inflation, or toppling the Soviet Union. The woman who reshaped British politics and served as prime minister from 1979 to 1990 often said that her greatest accomplishment was helping save...

'It was one of the most audacious acts of the Cold War which could have come straight from the pages of a spy novel. Georgi Markov was jabbed with an umbrella which fired a poison pellet into his leg as he crossed Waterloo Bridge. He died three days later – and for almost 35 years mystery has surrounded the whereabouts of his killer. Now the prime suspect has been tracked down to a small Austrian town where he works as an antiques dealer. Francesco Gullino, 66, who was known by his Communist handlers as 'Agent Piccadilly', lives in a rundown...

What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books. I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide – 98% of the vote. I’ve never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force. In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank...

Political revolt against the euro construct has spread to Germany. A new party led by economists, jurists, and Christian Democrat rebels will kick off this week, calling for the break-up of monetary union before it can do any more damage. "An end to this euro," is the first line on the webpage of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). "The introduction of the euro has proved to be a fatal mistake, that threatens the welfare of us all. The old parties are used up. They stubbornly refuse to admit their mistakes." They propose German withdrawl from EMU and return to the D-Mark,...

Controversy has erupted over next Tuesday's European Parliament resolution "on eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU", meant to mark international women's day, after libertarian Swedish MEPs from the Pirate Party spotted the call for a ban in the small print. While not legally binding, the vote could be the first step towards European legislation as the EU's assembly increasingly flexes its political muscle within Europe's institutions.

The Daily Telegraph has seen confidential spending proposals and internal documents planning an unprecedented propaganda blitz ahead of and during European elections in June 2014. Key to a new strategy will be “public opinion monitoring tools” to “identify at an early stage whether debates of political nature among followers in social media and blogs have the potential to attract media and citizens’ interest”. Spending on “qualitative media analysis” is to be increased by £1.7 million ($2.7 million), and while most of the money is to be found in existing budgets, an additional £787,000 ($1.24 million) will be need to be...

There’s been a lot of discussion within some in the media regarding the demographic changes taking place in Europe. But those of us who’ve travelled there have observed it firsthand: namely, the decreased birthrate among Europeans compared to the enormous birthrate increase among Muslim immigrants. Overall, the birthrate across the continent is far below the replacement level of 2.1 children per couple. Italy, Spain, Austria, and Germany have a fertility rate of only 1.4, while Poland and Russia languish at 1.3 and 1.2, respectively. However, as a subgroup, Muslims in Europe are producing from 4 to 6 children per couple....

They Voted for Hitler in Austria (and He Put In Gun Controls) by Kitty Werthmann What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books. I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide – 98% of the vote. I’ve never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force. In 1938, Austria was in deep...

Austrians voted to keep military conscription on Sunday, bucking a trend towards replacing conscripts with professional armies in Western Europe that began with the end of the Cold War. The neutral Alpine nation that once stood at the frontier between the Warsaw Pact and NATO voted 60 percent in favor of maintaining the draft, which is seen as binding civil society to the military and instilling a sense of citizenship in young men. The result is a blow to Chancellor Werner Faymann's Social Democrats, who had argued a smaller, professional force would be more suited to modern military reality, more...

(Reuters) - Thirty hostages and at least 11 Islamist militants were killed on Thursday when Algerian forces stormed a desert gas plant in a bid to free many dozens of Western and local captives, an Algerian security source said. Two Japanese, two Britons and a French national were among at least seven foreigners killed, the source told Reuters. Eight of the dead hostages were Algerian. The nationalities of the rest, as well as of perhaps dozens more who escaped, were unclear. Americans, Norwegians, Romanians and an Austrian have also been mentioned by their governments as having been captured. Underlining the...

Vienna, Austria, Jan 4, 2013 / 02:08 pm (CNA).- Several Catholic churches in Europe were reportedly set on fire in the days before Christmas, raising concerns of vandalism motivated by an opposition to Christianity.   The Observatory on the Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe reported that three churches were burned in Austria on Dec. 23, while a Nativity scene was burned at a church in France on December 18.   In the small Austrian town of Amstetten, three churches were set aflame, with one being severely damaged. The alleged suspect – a young man – was interrogated by...

"IRAN SPY NETWORK 30,000 STRONG Pentagon report: Iranian intelligence linked to spying, terror attacks" SNIPPET: "Iran’s intelligence service includes 30,000 people who are engaged in covert and clandestine activities that range from spying to stealing technology to terrorist bombings and assassination, according to a Pentagon report." SNIPPET: "“MOIS provides financial, material, technological, or other support services to Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), all designated terrorist organizations under U.S. Executive Order 13224,” the report said. The spy service operates in all areas where Iran has interests, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Central Asia, Africa, Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, France,...

Three churches in the Austrian town of Amstetten (pop: 21,000) were burned this morning. All of the indications point to arson. Several eye-witnesses saw a suspect. As is their custom, the police and newspapers have given a detailed account of his stature and clothing, but fail to mention his skin colour. Amstetten has a large Mohammedan population.

A former ice cream parlour owner confessed in court on Monday to shooting, sawing up and freezing both her ex-husband and her lover, and burying them under the cellar of her store in Vienna. Estibaliz Carranza, a 34-year-old Mexican-Spanish woman dubbed the “Ice Lady” by Austrian media, told a court that both men had “demeaned” her; her ex-husband by yelling at her and making fun of her poor German, her lover by being unfaithful. In both cases, she said she had shot her victim with a .22 calibre Beretta pistol, chopped up the body with a chain saw, put...

Palestine can count on about 12 Yes votes by EU countries when it tries to upgrade its UN status, in a move expected later this month. … A senior EU diplomat told this website the Union remains divided on the question, however. He noted that member states’ votes “will probably follow the same pattern as with UNESCO,” referring to a decision by the UN’s Paris-based cultural wing to admit Palestine as a member last year. At the time, 11 countries—Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain—backed Palestine’s UNESCO bid. Another 11—Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Italy,...

Austria's center-left Chancellor Werner Faymann kicked off Saturday his campaign for re-election next year with a call for higher taxes and a commitment to the crisis-hit European Union. Speaking at a party conference of his Social Democrats (SPOe), Faymann said he wanted to raise taxes on the wealthy and bring back an inheritance tax in order to improve "social justice" and curb the "excesses of capitalism.""In order to increase the number of all-day school places… to 100 percent, we need €500 million ($650 million) per year," he said. "This is exactly the amount that an inheritance tax… would generate." …

The Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will attempt to become the first human to break the sound barrier unaided by a vehicle. He is going to jump out of a balloon at more than 120,000ft (36.5km) above Roswell, New Mexico. In the near vacuum at that altitude, he should accelerate beyond about 690mph (1,110km/h) within 40 seconds. If all goes well, he will open a parachute near the ground to land softly in the desert, 10 minutes later.

CATALONIA may be the catalyst for a renewed wave of separatism in the European Union, with Scotland and Flanders not far behind. The great paradox of the European Union, which is built on the concept of shared sovereignty, is that it lowers the stakes for regions to push for independence. While a post-national European Union may be emerging out of the euro zone crisis, with a drive for more fiscal union and more centralized control over national budgets and banks, the crisis has accelerated calls for independence from member countries’ richer regions, angry at having to finance poorer neighbors. Artur...

A piece of nettle cloth retrieved from Denmark's richest known Bronze Age burial mound Lusehøj may actually derive from Austria, new findings suggest. The cloth thus tells a surprising story about long-distance Bronze Age trade connections around 800 BC. 2,800 years ago, one of Denmark's richest and most powerful men died. His body was burned. And the bereaved wrapped his bones in a cloth made from stinging nettle and put them in a stately bronze container, which also functioned as urn... Karin Margarita Frei's work and the grave's archaeological remains suggest that the cloth may have been produced as far...

Crusader friar of Habsburg Austria London barrister and historian James Bogle discusses here the life and times of a great Catholic: Blessed Mark of Aviano (Marco d’Aviano in the original Italian), who deserves to be much better known in the English-speaking world.    On 27 April 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Rev Fr Mark of Aviano OFMCap (1631-99). The ceremony occurred without any world-wide protest from Muslims, and certainly nothing of the sort that accompanied the considerably more innocuous recent commentary of Pope Benedict XVI at Regensburg.Mark of Aviano was a Capuchin friar, born Carlo Domenico, in Aviano in...

Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) Infiltration and Influence in America  "Allah is our goal; the Messenger is our model; the Koran is our constitution; jihad is our means; and martyrdom in the way of Allah is our aspiration."  "It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet." --Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood What the Muslim Brotherhood means for the US: Memo lays bare group's plans to destroy U.S. from within By Ron Dreher, Dallas Morning News   "Our strategy...

In what has to be the worst case of wasteful packaging in the history of modern conveniece, a grocery store in Austria is actually selling pre-peeled bananas that have then been re-packaged in cellophane-covered foam trays.

Nick Clegg clashed with the Prime Minister today after criticising plans to claw back powers from the EU. The Deputy Prime Minister said that only 'populists, chauvinists and demagogues' could benefit from a treaty negotiation, even though David Cameron yesterday re-affirmed his intention to repatriate powers. Mr Clegg warned that European politicians should focus on 'jobs and growth' rather than attempting to reform EU institutions. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2061798/EU-treaty-change-Nick-Clegg-clashes-David-Cameron-reform.html#ixzz1dnt5E4wa

Explanation: Medieval Albrechtsberg castle is nestled in trees near the northern bank of the river Pielach and the town of Melk, Austria. In clearing night skies on August 12 it stood under constellations of the northern summer, including Aquarius, Aquila, and faint, compact Delphinus (above and right of center) in this west-looking skyview. The scene also captures a bright meteor above the castle walls. Part of the annual perseid meteor shower, its trail points back toward the heroic constellation Perseus high above the horizon in the early morning hours. Entering the atmosphere at about 60 kilometers per second, perseid meteors...

When archaeologists discovered thousands of medieval skeletons in a mass burial pit in east London in the 1990s, they assumed they were 14th-century victims of the Black Death or the Great Famine of 1315-17. Now they have been astonished by a more explosive explanation – a cataclysmic volcano that had erupted a century earlier, thousands of miles away in the tropics, and wrought havoc on medieval Britons. Scientific evidence – including radiocarbon dating of the bones and geological data from across the globe – shows for the first time that mass fatalities in the 13th century were caused by one...

A furore over circumcision in Germany reached neighbouring Austria on Tuesday as a state governor advised doctors against performing the procedure, even when it is on religious grounds. Markus Wallner, centre-right state premier of Vorarlberg, said the instructions followed a controversial June ruling by a court in the German city of Cologne that equated circumcision of young boys with grievous bodily harm. That verdict provoked uproar from religious and political leaders in Israel as well as Muslim countries, with Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly saying it risked making Germany a "laughing stock".

600-year-old bra and underwear discovered in an Austrian castle Contemporary bras are more comfortable, modified versions of corsets — or so it was believed, until a 2007 discovery changed the way we see women's underwear. Working with a team of her colleagues, archaeologist Beatrix Nutz recently publicized her discovery of several linen bras and some underwear in a medieval castle. Nutz has presented academic papers about her discovery, and even analyzed the underwear for DNA (see picture). But the public didn't hear about the medieval bras until a BBC history program showed pictures of them. Nutz and colleagues also found...

Greek island wants to join Austria Posted By Joshua KeatingWednesday, July 18, 2012 - 12:11 PM Share German MPs provoked outrage in Greece in 2010 with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggestion that the coutnry shoudl consider selling off some of its islands to settle its accounts. But it appears that some residents of the island of Ikaria is looking to leave the country unilaterally:

New cars and vans in the European Union will produce one-third less carbon dioxide within eight years, under proposed new rules set out on Wednesday (11 July) in Brussels. By 2020, the average emissions from new cars will have to be no more than 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer driven (5.4 oz/mile), a cut of more than 40 grams from today's levels and of 35 grams per kilometer compared with the 2015 target, if the proposed new regulations are accepted. Connie Hedegaard, climate chief of the European commission, said the goals were "ambitious but achievable" and would benefit...

"British suspected Islamic terrorist arrested in Germany A major German security operation targeted "dangerous" Islamist extremists in dawn raids by 850 police officers on 70 mosques, schools and homes across Germany." SNIPPET: "Hans-Peter Friedrich, Germany's interior minister, banned one Salafist network, Millatu Ibrahim, for "working against our constitutional order and against understanding between peoples". He also announced an investigation into two other networks, Dawa FFM and "The True Religion", with a view to a seeking additional bans."" SNIPPET: "Secret intelligence gathered by police and anti-terrorism officers across Europe gave "cause for concern" in Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands and Austria,...

David Bahnsen of Newport Beach, California is a Senior Vice President of Morgan Stanley, and also serves on the Board of Advisers of the California Recovery Project with Dr. Arthur Laffer. Bahnsen has abandoned his earlier support of the Ron Paul crusade, and now describes himself as an "economically literate Republican." He is the author of "The Undiscerning and Dangerous Appreciation of Ron Paul." Bahnsen says "It is the ironic that Ron Paul's alleged praiseworthiness comes from his devotion to the Constitution, when in fact, he has emphatically rejected it." Bahnsen has many family and business connections with libertarians. His...

The European Parliament on Wednesday (13 June) approved draft laws that would strongly increase Brussels' power over eurozone countries' budgets. But they tempered the previously austere proposals with measures for growth, debt redemption and democratic scrutiny. "This is the core of a fiscal union," said Austrian MEP and socialist leader Hannes Swoboda. "This is the first time that there is a structural solution [to the eurozone crisis] on the table," said Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt. His Green counterpart Daniel Cohn-Bendit called it a "milestone" for the strength of agreement among MEPs. The pair of laws—also known as the two-pack—is among...

For the record this is an AIDS Benefit Ball promoted by among others UNAIDS- see their full press release below.   Cathcon has every sympathy with combating AIDS and know of the magnificent work done by the Knights of Malta, especially in South Africa, but how do they think their cause is served by insulting the faith of every right believing Catholic in the entire world that just beggars belief.   Will the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna speak up in protest?  - I doubt it.  UNAIDS joins 20th Anniversary Life Ball in Vienna 21 May 2012  UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director,...

Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter dismissed as "nonsense" French President François Hollande's approach to resolving the eurozone debt crisis and insisted, in a newspaper interview, on financial discipline. "Growth financed by debt? Those are the recipes from the day before yesterday. The arguments that France's new president François Hollande is putting forward again are nonsense and got us into this whole mess in the first place," the Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten paper quoted her as saying. Hollande has focused on boosting growth and employment in Europe and said on Monday all options must be on the table at an informal EU summit...

Brothel visits revealed as confirmation gifts in Austria following police investigation. 162 charges made

Son of Austrian Chancellor shares fascinating perspective of events in When Hitler Took Austria SAN FRANCISCO, April 12, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- In March 1938, Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg found himself under house arrest by invading German troops who stormed the country as part of the Nazi takeover of Europe. Chancellor von Schuschnigg spent time in Gestapo prisons from May 1938 to December 1941, when his wife Vera and daughter Sissi joined him in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Ignatius Press has published the gripping true story of von Schuschnigg as told by his son, who came of age during these...