Free Republic

A man in Austria was bitten on the genitals by a python while he was on the toilet — after it’s believed the reptile escaped his neighbor’s home and slithered through the drains, police said. The 65-year-old man in Graz was nipped by the 5-foot-plus albino reticulated python about 6 a.m. Monday as he sat down in the bathroom The snake, a nonvenomous constrictor native to Asia, can reportedly grow to 29 feet long. A reptile expert also responded to the man’s home and removed the snake before cleaning it and returning the pet to its 24-year-old owner.

A 31 year old Syrian refugee has been arrested in connection with three attacks on the Jewish community in Graz in southern Austria...The first attack took place around 11pm on August 18 when Graz’s synagogue was graffitied with the words “Palestine is free” and “Our language and our land are red lines”... He is also suspected of having vandalised the headquarters of a Graz LGBTQ association and a Catholic church last week. Austria’s interior minister, Karl Nehammer, ascribed an “Islamist motive” to the attacks, calling the suspect a “radical Islamist antisemite” and “homophobe”.

A 45-year-old Iraqi migrant .. setting several fires in the center of Graz – Austria’s second largest city after Vienna – including ones at city hall and a district court has been arrested. ... arson attacks started .. at the district court of Graz-West.. the man was seen spraying .. flammable fluid throughout the court’s lobby before setting it on fire ... set another one in front of Graz’s city hall.. The staff saw it on video surveillance and sounded the alarm. ... three separate fires were set and that the smoke became so thick that he wasn’t able to...

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to his Austrian hometown Sunday for the first time since severing official ties with the city two years ago after a flap over the death penalty. The actor-turned-governor was welcomed at the airport in the southern city of Graz by friends and current and former local politicians, including Alfred Gerstl, a former leader of the upper house of parliament often described as his mentor, the Austria Press Agency reported. APA reported that Schwarzenegger would attend Gerstl's 84th birthday celebration Sunday evening. He will also visit Britain and France as part of his short European tour....

Thankfully, I didn't come across this "church" while in Austria. A reader did. This might have broken my lenses. Catholic parish of St. Luke's in Graz. Ground control to Major Tom.... By the way, while looking at this #$@!, keep in mind that is the diocese where Fr. Ibounigg got into hot water and was publicly scolded by the diocese for getting rid of the "people's altar" that was forced on a baroque church. Just so you know. Tabernacle Errm...sanctuary lamp "crucifix" Altar/meteorite

Many of the most heartwarming tales of the holiday season come out of Austria. One thinks of Oberndorf and the little parish church where the organ broke down on Christmas Eve 1818 and so Father Mohr and his organist Franz Gruber wrote a simple song that could be sung with only the accompaniment of a guitar: "Silent Night." One thinks of the von Trapp family saying so long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, adieu to yieu and yieu and yieu and scramming Nazi Salzburg for a new life in Vermont. And now we have a third inspirational story from little Austria. One...

"I'll be back." That pledge from the Terminator traditionally has had special meaning in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown. But now — after the California governor refused to spare two convicted murderers in a row from their death sentences and showed no signs of relenting in another case up next month — the romance is over between Schwarzenegger and Graz, Austria's second-largest city. Acting on Schwarzenegger's orders two weeks after the Dec. 13 execution of former Crips gang leader Stanley Tookie Williams, city leaders Tuesday deleted all references to the bodybuilder-turned-governor on Web sites linked to Graz. Over the weekend, they also...

Arnold Schwarzenegger's name has been expunged from the websites of his Austrian hometown in the latest chapter of the row over the US death penalty. The editing came a day after the California governor's name was removed from Graz's main football stadium. Local politicians berated Mr Schwarzenegger - one of Graz's most famous sons - after he refused to pardon a prominent US death row inmate. The governor subsequently made clear he wanted nothing more to do with Graz. He returned a "ring of honour" the city awarded him in 1999 and demanded his name no longer be used in...

Schwarzenegger Name Removed From Stadium By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer VIENNA, Austria - Officials in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown of Graz quietly and under cover of darkness removed giant metal letters spelling out his name on a soccer stadium. The California governor had asked for his name to be stricken from the 15,300-seat arena after critics in his birthplace, where opposition to capital punishment runs high, scorned him for refusing to block this month's execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams. Late Sunday night or early Monday, authorities in the southern Austrian city unbolted the 20 letters spelling out...

VIENNA -- Officials in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown of Graz quietly and under the cover of darkness removed giant metal letters spelling out his name on a soccer stadium. The California governor had asked for his name to be stricken from the 15,300-seat arena after critics in his birthplace, where opposition to capital punishment runs high, scorned him for refusing to block this month's execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Californian Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian home town of Graz removed his name from the city's stadium over Christmas, amid anger over his decision to deny clemency to a death row inmate. Austrian news agency APA showed the stadium's entrance displaying only its historical name, "Graz-Liebenau," and quoted an anonymous city official as saying Schwarzenegger's name had been removed overnight to avoid a public furor. Graz city officials were not reachable on Monday, a holiday in Austria. Left-wing politicians launched a petition drive in Graz to have the town rename the stadium because the Austrian-born governor allowed the...

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Officials in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown quietly removed his name from a soccer stadium overnight, complying with the California governor's demand in a bitter dispute over his death penalty stance. Authorities late Sunday night or early Monday removed the large metal letters spelling out the action star-turned-politician's name from the 15,300-seat stadium in the southern city of Graz, taking advantage of the Christmas lull to avoid attracting attention. Schwarzenegger had written to the mayor of Graz a week ago asking that his name be removed after local activists called for the stadium to be renamed because of...

VIENNA, Austria - The mayor of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian hometown on Tuesday begged the California governor to reconsider his decision to end ties to the city after locals assailed him for his death penalty stance. Siegfried Nagl, mayor of the southern city of Graz, said he dashed off a letter to Schwarzenegger pleading with him not to return a ring of honor bestowed on him by officials in his birthplace in 1999 and reassuring him that most residents still admire him. "I hope that very soon we'll hear you say, 'I'll be back,'" Nagl told the actor-turned-politician, one of Austria's...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday told officials in his hometown in Austria to remove his name from a sports stadium and stop using his name to promote the city. The governor's request came after politicians in Graz began a petition drive to rename the stadium, reacting to Schwarzenegger's decision last week to deny clemency to condemned inmate Stanley Tookie Williams. Opposition to the death penalty is strong in Austria. In a letter that began "Dear Mister Mayor," Schwarzenegger said he decided to spare the Graz city council "further concern" should he be forced to make other clemency decisions...

The Arnold Schwarzenegger Football Stadium in Austria's second-largest city Graz is to be renamed as a sign of displeasure with the city's most famous son,. A majority of members on Graz City Council voted to rename the stadium after the Austrian-born governor of California approved the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, according to newspaper Kleine Zeitung. The Terminator-turned-governor was born six kilometres outside Graz in the community of Thal. http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/arnies-terminated/2005/12/16/1134676432847.html

An Austrian couple with 12 children have split up - after the husband admitted he was gay. Mum Alina Look dumped husband Hannes after his shock revelation. Hannes had announced that he was leaving the family home at Graz for another man. Hannes told Alina he only made her pregnant so she had "something to do". Alina said: "I received a phone call from a friend who told me she had seen Hannes with another person, she said they had been kissing and cuddling. "I didn't believe her when she told me the other person was a man, but when...

<p>Graz, Austria -- Should Arnold Schwarzenegger be elected governor of California, he may well be facing a conflict of interest of sorts. He owes allegiance not only to the United States but also to his native Austria.</p> <p>Shortly before gaining U.S. citizenship in 1983, the bodybuilder-turned- actor made sure to retain his Austrian citizenship as well -- a status rarely granted in Austria, which in principle does not allow dual nationality.</p>

Graz, Austria -- Should Arnold Schwarzenegger be elected governor of California, he may well be facing a conflict of interest of sorts. He owes allegiance not only to the United States but also to his native Austria. Shortly before gaining U.S. citizenship in 1983, the bodybuilder-turned- actor made sure to retain his Austrian citizenship as well -- a status rarely granted in Austria, which in principle does not allow dual nationality.

Schwarzenegger's Hometown Jews Doubt Pro-Hilter Report GRAZ, Austria (AP)--To members of the Jewish community in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown, allegations that the California gubernatorial hopeful ever professed admiration for Adolf Hitler are ludicrous. "It's just election propaganda," said Feridoun Djavid, a leading member of Graz's Jewish community who originally comes from Persia. Gathering in the community center between Yom Kippur prayer services on Monday, others told The Associated Press that they are convinced that Schwarzenegger's opposition to anti-Semitism has always been firm and genuine. Schwarzenegger, the front-runner in Tuesday's California recall election, struggled last week to counter allegations that he once...

<p>Jews in Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian hometown said Monday that allegations the movie star-turned-California gubernatorial candidate ever professed admiration for Adolf Hitler are ludicrous.</p> <p>"It's just election propaganda," said Feridoun Djavid, a leading member of Graz's Jewish community.</p> <p>Others gathering in the community center between Yom Kippur prayer services told The Associated Press they are convinced that Schwarzenegger's opposition to anti-Semitism has always been firm and genuine.</p>