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SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Austria’s foreign minister says closing the so-called “Balkan route” to migrants seeking to reach central and northern Europe was the right move. Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz held talks with his Macedonian counterpart, Nikola Poposki, on Sunday. He told reporters afterward that closing borders to deter migrants has become an accepted practice despite initial criticism.

The portrait began with a commission by the husband of the artist's alleged lover, and underwent a Nazi theft, a legal feud and a deal brokered by Larry Gagosian for Winfrey that is likely the biggest private sale of a single artwork in 2016. Oprah Winfrey has a long list of accomplishments. Being the seller of one of the top 10 most expensive paintings in history is now one of them. The OWN network founder and multibillionaire reportedly sold Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II” (1912) for $150 million to an unidentified buyer in China, according to Bloomberg’s art...

Country joins alliance of 16 countries creating 'border defence project' for external EU boundary Austrian is planning to send troops to “protect” the European Union’s external borders against refugees. Hans Peter Doskozil, the defence minister, said Austria was one of 16 countries around the Balkan route used by more than a million migrants to journey from Greece into Europe who are cooperating on the new “border defence project”. “The western Balkan route is still not as closed as it should be,” the Social Democrat (SPO) minister told Die Welt. “Unfortunately (there are) still significant activities by criminal smugglers and a...

The Austrian government are working on plans to deploy troops across the world, both inside and outside of the European Union, such is the level of concern about the scale of illegal immigration. The current estimate is that between 500 and 1,000 migrants are arriving in Austria every week and the country is keen to put an end to such a high level of illegal immigration.

You are my children so come spend time with me for now as you enter into worship welcoming in My Spirit of Grace truly Heaven shall open and my angelic army abound around you for you are My holy place as I live in and with you as one abiding together . Allow me to show, yes reveal to you that which are mysteries to others yet make I it known to you for you are my Gideons and we are about to take on a great victory over darkness and this is why my presence in you is expanding...

My orchestra is about to perform its final symphony for as My kingdom has arrived in you now it is time to place My presence upon you My Bride as I did upon Adam and Eve in the garden for truly now you are more than just a garden for you bear the fruit of My Spirit as My Tree of Life for others and so now through you they shall drink in My Living Waters as the woman at the well. Prepare yourself for now My Presence upon you shall be Heaven on Earth . Matthew 6:10 10 Thy...

BERLIN — The seemingly endless saga of the house in which Adolf Hitler was born has taken a new turn, with the owner challenging an Austrian law that allows the government to seize ownership and, possibly, demolish the property. The house in the town of Braunau, just across the Inn River from Bavaria, has been in limbo for decades. The Austrian government took over the main lease in 1972 in an effort to ensure that the property would not fall into the hands of someone seeking to glorify its link to a dark history. Hitler was born in the building...

A ban on all Muslim face veils in public places is part of new measures agreed by Austria’s ruling coalition partners, and is due to be implemented before the next parliamentary vote in 2018. The ban is a part of the ‘integration law’ included in the coalition’s new action plan, which was negotiated by the representatives of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPO) and the conservative People's Party (OVP), which together form the ruling centrist coalition. The contents of the new governmental program were presented on Monday. The proposed Muslim face veil ban mostly applies to the burka and niqab...

Austrian Islamists were in the process of drawing up plans to set up a caliphate in Austria, a massive raid conducted by over 800 Austrian police officers has revealed. around 800 Austrian police officers conducted a series of raids in the capital of Vienna and in Graz which saw 16 separate domestic premises searched, and led to the arrest of fourteen radical Islamists who are thought to be connected to the Islamic State terror group. Police say that the raid was the result of a two-year long investigation into the radical Salafist network Die Presse reports. Of the fourteen Islamists...

Watch out, guys! An Austrian femme fatale known as the “Ice Cream Killer” will have plenty of new men to choose from at her new lockdown. Estibaliz Carranza, 38, will be transferred to an all-male prison because she’s too dangerous to be locked up at a women’s facility, but authorities might be playing right into her hands. The maniacal murderess has a history of luring men into her web and then killing and slicing up their bodies with a chainsaw. In 2012, she was sentenced to life behind bars for the dismemberment murders of her ex-husband and her onetime lover...

The German defense company Rheinmetall has teamed with Austrian arms manufacturer Steyr Mannlicher to manufacture and market the RS556 – a German version of the 5.56mm x 45 cal. modular assault rifle system based on Steyr’s STM556. The Austrian weapon was first unveiled in 2012. Eying the German market, Rheinmetall positions the new weapon as a candidate for the German “System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr” – the planned replacement of the G36 – the standard German military assault rifle made by Heckler & Koch. This project is set to begin in 2019. Rheinmetall will offer the new assault rifle as a joint...

Police are hunting vandals after a series of chapels and shrines were desecrated within the space of a few days in northern Austria. Statues have been beheaded, prayer books burned and sacred images destroyed since the New Year in the Innviertel region on the Bavarian border. On New Year’s Eve, the vandals struck a chapel in the village of St Radegund, damaging a statue of the Virgin Mary before burning prayer books and wooden objects from the chapel in a nearby wood. That same day, another chapel at the nearby town of Auerbach was also attacked, with vandals smashing the...

A Christian woman was stabbed by an asylum seeker after he heard her reading from the Bible. The 50-year-old woman was only saved by her winter coat when she was attacked with a knife in the accommodation in Timelkam in Vöcklamarkt in Upper Austria. Her alleged attacker is a 22-year-old man from Afghanistan who had taken offense to the fact that the woman had been invited by Christian residents of the property to discuss the Bible. […] When questioned by police, the man accepted he had overreacted, but claimed he was suffering from “personal problems”. …

THE Archbishop tipped to be the next Pope has warned that Christians face being pushed aside by a growing Islamisation of Europe and wants to put a stop to accepting new refugees. While in the beginning Schoenborn also used the same infamous words as German Chancellor Angela Merkel "Wir schaffen das" ("We will manage it") when talking about refugees, over time he felt overpowered by the "unbelievable number of refugees" like many others in society. The Archbishop explained that like many others he was surprised by the large number of asylum seekers and he has now become "more cautious" about...

Link: http://www.thelocal.at/20161223/calls-made-to-ban-ritual-slaughter-of-animals-in-austria

CHRISTMAS treats have been taken off a menu and replaced with 'winter delicacies' over fears the phrase would offend Muslims. A function held at the Austrian embassy in Germany still served traditional festive fare such as Lebkuchen but rebranded them as 'winter delicacies'. The event was a presentation by the Chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, who has written the book What Do Muslims Do at Christmas?: Islamic Faith in Everyday Life in Germany. The invitation to guests, from ambassador Nikolaus Marschik, was described as a “cosy get-together with winter delicacies.” A reporter attending the...

Austrian police will distribute 6,000 pocket alarms on New Year's Eve to help prevent incidents like the mass sex assaults in neighbouring Germany a year ago, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. "It's a national campaign aimed primarily at women on New Year's Eve," ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told AFP. If activated, the free gadgets will emit a shrill sound aimed at chasing away potential aggressors, he added.

A NATIVITY play was turned into chaos after an asylum seeker stormed the stage and started preaching from the Koran. The Somali asylum seeker suddenly leapt on stage during the traditional depiction of the Christian story in the Austrian town of Oberndorf near Schwanenstadt in the state of Upper Austria, causing horror and upset amongst the children and parents. At first, no one had reacted when the asylum seeker came to the venue and stood next to the stage where children of nursery school age were performing. The Somali man storms the stage The asylum seeker suddenly leapt on stage,...

Gun sales in Austria have “quadrupled” as citizens of that nation seek to secure means of self-defense in response to the “immigrant crisis” that has enveloped Europe. Earlier in 2016, the crisis led Austria to “began limiting the number of asylum applications it would receive.” But gun sales began to skyrocket prior to this move being made.

BERLIN – The center-left candidate handily defeated his far-right challenger in Austria’s presidential election on Sunday, boosting the political establishment in Europe as it sought to contain the fallout of Donald Trump’s victory in the United States and thwart the spread of nationalism. The far-right Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer conceded defeat on his Facebook page less than 30 minutes after polls closed and following projections showing a surprisingly strong lead for Alexander Van der Bellen. The 72-year-old statesman and former Green Party politician was winning by 53.3 percent to 46.7 percent with nearly 100 percent of the votes counted. The...