Finance

Not everything has to end with a bang, or at least with clarity. The puzzle is not always solved in the end, and you do not always know whether you are dealing with a puzzle at all. Welcome to reality and welcome to the world as Eva Schmidt describes it. “The world opposite” is the name of her new volume of stories, which lets us participate in observations that are actually quite everyday. However, the accuracy of their description is not commonplace.

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The Vorarlberg author Eva Schmidt (69) made a brilliant comeback in the literary world in 2016 with her book “A Long Year” – her first in almost two decades. Her episode novel consisting of 38 individual stories of (small) urban life made it onto the shortlist of the German Book Prize, which she succeeded again three years later with “The Untalented Liar”. What was true at the time remains valid: “Eva Schmidt is right in the middle of it all. And yet remains ostentatiously unaffected by all of this.

It is the people vis-a-vis or the newly moved neighbors who like to be the focus of observations, which rarely turn into speculations: strangers who come strangely close to us just through closer inspection. Occasionally, however, people close to you suddenly become strange: for example, when you find a weapon hidden by them. “Do you want to shoot me?” This question, which is not meant to be taken seriously, is in two stories in the room, and you don't have to know the Austrian crime statistics in detail to know that these questions are directed by women to men.

Occasionally one can well imagine the tragedy or the violence at the end, but mostly the stories remain unspectacular, at least on the outside. Some have failed and just don't know it yet. Some are duped and already suspect it. It is not always relationships that are scrutinized here, and most of the time the people Eva Schmidt writes about feel alone anyway, whether they are in couple relationships or not. A couple of times the author even forges a whole network of relationships with friends, partners and relatives. You really don't want to swap with anyone. And the thought of what devastation the corona pandemic is causing in this “world opposite” makes one feel very uncomfortable. In any case, Eva Schmidt not only manages in one of her stories that a completely normal question causes great unease: “What are we going to do tomorrow?”

(SERVICE – Eva Schmidt: “The world opposite”, stories, young and young, 224 pages, 22 euros)

Now is the right time to make preparations for the balcony and terrace or at least the indoor garden.

A coat of paint helps to show off the flower pots. Various exterior colors, for example. via www.littelgreen.de

Vertical Garden: Set of three pots to hang up. In 6 colors for around € 17.99, www.ehlo.com

Well-rounded: spherical flower pot from Aytm for € 40, – at www.ambientcirect.com

Striped eye-catcher for indoors and outdoors: ceramic pot for € 55.00 from www.oyoylivingdesign.com

Vertical plant pocket system for indoor & outdoor, different colors. € 22.49 at www.bloomling.at

Elegant plant box in black from Ferm Living. For € 160 at www.nordicnest.de

Brings shine to the apartment: planter set gold-metallic

€ 99 at www.westwingnow.de

Fresh herbs even without a balcony: Smart indoor garden from Bosch, with light and irrigation system. For € 249 from www.bosch-home.at

AUA boss Alexis von Hoensbroech

From March 18th, AUA economy class customers will have to pay extra for food. Only water and chocolate coins are free. What else the AUA is planning.

Only 3.1 million passengers (-79 percent)! In 2020 the AUA lost 319 million euros, the biggest lousy in 63 years. Without state aid (150 million donated) it would have been 469 million. The entire Lufthansa group flew 6.7 billion into the red. Will the AUA have enough money? According to CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech, yes. He assumes a strong recovery in summer, when many are vaccinated against Corona.

In the summer, the AUA wants to fly to 80 percent of the pre-Corona destinations. It is currently 40 percent. Focus: Mediterranean area, for example Greece, Italy, Turkey and Spain.

A flying Viennese café and restaurant are used on European flights – free catering is no longer available. From March 18, passengers will be able to choose from a menu for a fee. The palette ranges from Sachertorte, apple strudel (warm) and man cuts to Wiener Melange on a silver platter to Brettljause and chicken schnitzel.

Vienna. Even if the AUA has been in the black for the past seven years, the Lufthansa subsidiary has gotten used to economic grief from earlier years. However, the year 2020 overshadowed everything that has gone before, said AUA boss Alexis von Hoensbroech on Thursday when the figures were presented. “Corona struck us like a natural disaster.”

The bottom line was that the number of passengers dropped by 80 percent to three million and the number of flights dropped by 70 percent to 42,310. However, the latter is not a good sign, but the opposite. It shows that the load factor of the aircraft has also decreased by around 20 percentage points to 62 percent. The AUA also became less profitable.

Expressed in euros, this meant a drop in sales from 2.1 billion to 460 million euros. After deducting the costs, there was a record loss of 319 million euros (excluding the depreciation for the value of the aircraft amounting to 60 million euros). The worst result in the company's 63-year history. Operationally, however, the picture looked even gloomier, according to von Hoensbroech. The figures already include the non-repayable state aid in the amount of 150 million euros. “Without this aid we would be minus half a billion euros,” said the AUA boss.

“No longer exist”

Von Hoensbroech also emphasizes that the situation for the AUA in the previous year was absolutely life-threatening. “Without the rescue package, we would no longer exist.” At the moment, however, it is financed to the extent that it can be made over the mountain without further help – if the situation recovers in the summer, which is particularly important for aviation.

Von Hoensbroech does not want to say how much money the AUA has in the account. However, the so-called cash burn rate has fallen from “one to two million” per day in the previous year to “half a million to one million” euros. The reason for this was state aid such as short-time work and the deferral of taxes on the one hand and tough cost management on the other.

“We are still turning every stone.” For example, home offices should play “a bigger role” in the future – also because AUA wants to give back half of its space at the airport, so that not every employee has their own desk. The number of these decreased in the previous year from 7,000 to 6,400 people due to fluctuation. Half of the arithmetical overhang of 1,100 employees has thus already been reached. “We are grateful that eight percent of the employees have left us, even if we are always sorry in individual cases,” said the AUA boss.

Hope for half of 2019

Crucial for the future of the AUA is that in the summer, thanks to vaccinations, flying will be possible again for many people. Then the subsidiary of Lufthansa, which had to accept a loss of 6.7 billion euros in 2020, expects an increase in occupancy to 60 to 70 percent. This should result in a value of 40 to 50 percent over the entire year. Less than in the business plan from a year ago, but enough to survive on its own.

Even though there will be a loss this year and the AUA will have to repay not only the guaranteed loans of 300 million euros, but also the deferred taxes at some point. Even if everything goes well, AUA will still have a few tough years ahead of it. (jaz)

[R9BQ3]

Powell: The US Federal Reserve won't allow high inflation

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has dampened inflation worries and practically ruled out a rate hike in the near future. With the upswing, an increase in prices is to be expected, he said in an online event of the “Wall Street Journal” on the job market. But it will very likely remain with a one-off effect in the wake of a wave of consumption after the pandemic has subsided. He does not expect that inflation will solidify.

But the Fed will not make the same mistake as it did in the 1960s and 1970s when it reacted too late to building inflationary pressures. High inflation is a very bad situation. “The Fed will not allow that again,” stressed Powell on Thursday. Even if inflation is currently below the Fed's target, the central bank is aware of history.

In addition, the goal of full employment is not expected to be achieved this year. An interest rate hike should only be considered in an environment in which the economy has practically recovered from the corona crisis. “Realistically, that will take a long time.” The central bank will not raise interest rates in order to cool the economy down just because the number of employees is going up.

Powell had recently emphasized that the US economy would still be dependent on help from the monetary authorities for a long time in view of the virus crisis. The US Federal Reserve is currently helping the US economy with, among other things, very low interest rates and monthly securities purchases totaling 120 billion dollars (99.60 billion euros). Powell now reiterated that there is still a long way to go to achieve the Fed's goals.

The credit card with biometric recognition should make entering the PIN at the payment terminal superfluous.

Mastercard has entered into a cooperation with Samsung to develop a credit card with a fingerprint sensor. The two companies announced on Thursday. The credit card is equipped with a biometric chip from Samsung and should not only offer more security for card payments, but also make contactless payment even more convenient.

No more PIN entry

While no PIN has to be entered at the terminal when paying via Apple Pay and other providers, as the transaction is biometrically secured via the smartphone, consumers often have to enter or even sign their code for classic credit card payments. In times of pandemics, however, many prefer to avoid such interactions with the keyboard of the terminal or even ballpoint pens at the cash desk.

The pimped credit card will initially be used by Samsung itself as a Samsung Card in South Korea. Transactions are processed via Mastercard, but Samsung is also the largest credit card company in South Korea. The fingerprint sensor is integrated directly into the Mastercard. This is a new development and not Mastercard's own technology that was introduced a few years ago.

Shopping center Corona shopping center

The government has sent an amendment to the law for review. In the future, an FFP2 mask should no longer be able to replace a negative corona test.

Teaching staff, kindergarten teachers and civil servants in party relations have so far had the choice: Either they have corona tests or they wear an FFP2 mask at work. In the night of Thursday, however, the Ministry of Health sent a new amendment to the law for assessment (by March 9), which turned many regulations on corona measures inside out. For example, teachers, kindergarten teachers and civil servants should not be able to choose whether to wear a corona test or wear an FFP2 mask. You should have to go to a corona test in the future.

The Austrian trade, however, is critical of the amendment, which has been sent for assessment. In particular, the planned mandatory test with no alternative for all employees with customer contact causes severe irritation. The trade association managing director Rainer Will fears additional financial expenses for dealers and says in a press release:

“With 330,000 employees in the retail sector alone, the planned mandatory test without an alternative for all of our companies – whether small or large – would be an economic disaster.”

The reason for the additional workload: Since, according to the general collective agreement, the employer has to release the employees from work while the remuneration is still being paid, the employer would have to cope with considerable additional financial and organizational expenses if this change actually occurs. For small shops that are only manned by one person, this would mean having to use a substitute for the test period. “This is simply no longer financially viable for companies, some of which have been badly hit by the Corona crisis.”

It has now “even been scientifically proven that the risk of infection for employees in retail is much lower than that of the general population,” Will clarified. In addition, one could not understand the “intention behind this planned amendment”.

Should the federal government finally put its plan into action, the trade association will at least demand the approval of nose bur self-tests as valid evidence. These have been available free of charge in pharmacies since this week. “The nose drill tests could be carried out directly in the branches by the employees themselves and would therefore take up far less time resources. In addition, the test streets could be relieved as a result,” says Will with conviction.

Football Bundesliga club FK Austria Wien presented the internationally operating company Insignia as a new investor on Thursday. In connection with this partnership, a joint marketing company was established. FK Austria Wien AG thus remains 100 percent owned by the association, whose purple color and logo remain unchanged. Club board member Markus Kraetschmer spoke of a “milestone in club history” after the deal was fixed.

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The favorites are currently struggling with massive financial problems. The latest annual report showed liabilities of 78 million euros. In the 2019/20 season alone, the “Veilchen” posted a loss of 18.8 million euros. With the help of the Insignia Group, which is known for luxurious lifestyle products, “an economic basis and the framework conditions” are now to be created “to return to the European stage,” emphasized Kraetschmer. Insignia Vice President Luka Sur, who was born in Vienna and therefore spoke of a “return home”, even named participation in the Champions League as a long-term goal.

Exact numbers and details of the investment were not given. However, there is an “internal timeline” for returning to the top athletes at home, whereby, according to Kraetschmer, “the focus is definitely on the 2021/22 season”. “We absolutely agree with our partner that we are now in a year of transition,” said Austria President Frank Hensel, referring to the current Bundesliga table with Austria in eighth place. “We would like to take the championship group with us and also the European Cup place, but we want to be successful next season.”

Hensel spoke of a “pleasant day for Austria and its fan base” in times of the corona crisis, “the greatest challenge since the Second World War, which is life-threatening for many clubs around the world”. In Austria, ghost games are expected at least until the beginning of the next season. That is why this “strategic partnership” with Insignia is so important.

The sporty architect of the successful future should stay the same. “Peter Stöger is the sporting boss of this club and he will remain so,” affirmed Hensel, who is confident that the ex-international and former Cologne and Dortmund coach will continue to work for the Favoritner. Stöger's current contract expires at the end of the season.

Sur noted that in 25 years Insignia had also become a recognized football consultancy, with good contacts to Chelsea, AS Roma and Borussia Dortmund being mentioned. In addition, the 26-year-old Brit made people sit up and take notice with the following statement: “We believe in Austria's potential to become one of the best and most important brands in football.” For him there is “no better city in Europe than Vienna” and there “no better team than Austria”.

Kraetschmer recalled the past 16 months in which the club had been looking for ways to find a way out of the financial hardships. “Many partners” would have offered themselves because the “infrastructure with stadium, training facilities and academy” would make the association at the distribution circle in Vienna-Favoriten particularly attractive. But “tenth place in the UEFA five-year ranking” would also have drawn the attention of international investors to Austria.

In his more than 23 years at the club, Kraetschmer also experienced the Austria era under Frank Stronach and his Magna group. At the time, the Austro-Canadian billionaire also made people sit up and take notice with grandiose announcements, but ultimately left the violet fans disappointed. “This experience was very important,” said the club's board of directors when asked about it on Thursday. But the partnership with Insignia is “not comparable with the Magna management at the time”.

Therefore, Kraetschmer is now confident that things will go better for Vienna Austria this time. “This club has won the most titles in Austria, if you put everything together (24 times champions, 27 times cup winners, note). We know about our responsibility for this club,” emphasized the 49-year-old.

Therefore, the Young Violets playing in the 2nd division should continue to be an important building block for success. “We definitely want to continue on this path,” assured Hensel and praised the work of the academy's own academy, which had “performed extremely well as a link between the junior and professional departments”. “Six (academy players, note) are playing in the fighting team today,” recalled the Austria President. And according to Kraetschmer, participation in the Austrian pot is still included in the license application for 2021/22.

Around 80 percent of people will go through at least one HPV (human papillomavirus) infection in their lifetime. “You could actually look at it as a pandemic,” said the doctor Elmar Joura from MedUni Vienna during a background discussion on World HPV Day on Thursday. The virus can cause cancer in women and men, but vaccination can prevent it. When it comes to vaccination, we can “get even better”, stressed Youth and Women's Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP).

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There are no exact figures on vaccination coverage in Austria. The values are around 40 to 50 percent, but only “in the target group for school vaccinations”, where immunization is offered free of charge for nine to eleven year olds, as Joura explained. “There would be a lot of room here to catch up,” said the HPV vaccination expert. Austria did pioneering work in the invention of the principle and the development of active ingredients and was the first country in Europe to recommend vaccination for boys as well. The e-vaccination certificate is definitely an additional opportunity.

The vaccination is effective against six types of cancer, emphasized Joura. Among them are three gynecological, mainly cervical carcinoma, but also anal and throat carcinoma, which affects both sexes, and penile carcinoma. The doctor advocates vaccination as part of the free child vaccination program, but also afterwards without an age limit. Women aged 30 and over should also get tested for HPV. In the event of a positive result for HPV strains 16 or 18, a colposcopy of the cervix with a biopsy is made, in which case an “extremely high risk factor” for later cancer is identified.

“Vaccination is currently on everyone's lips, but not all vaccinations,” said Raab. Corona has meant that certain preventive measures have fallen behind. The HPV vaccination is important not only for girls, but also for boys, the minister emphasized. With the opening of the school, she wants to draw more attention to this and is also in close contact with the Ministry of Education. A future awareness-raising about the mother-child pass is also a possibility.

In terms of numbers, the sexual transmission of HPV is the most important, said Joura. He therefore advocated vaccination in good time before starting sexual activity and because the immune response is stronger with an early vaccination. An infection is possible with “every close contact”, there are also many transmissions at birth. The expert therefore primarily emphasized the prevention of cancer, not sexual transmission. In western Austria there was even resistance at the beginning of the vaccination campaign due to conservatism, but that has evened out over time.

Ina Herzer, Austria CEO of the vaccine developer MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme), said the situation of the infrastructure and easy access to vaccination is different in Austria. She asked Raab for this to be standardized. In addition, it should be ascertained which vaccination gaps have arisen and “how can we close them,” said Herzer. Raab spoke of a federal system in the health sector. But you will “on the part of the federal government to ensure that the vaccination coverage increases”.

In any case, it is financially advisable to take advantage of the free vaccination in the children's vaccination program up to the age of twelve. Recently, the deadline for the lower-cost HPV catch-up vaccinations was extended by one year to the age of 16 due to the corona pandemic. Here, around 60 to 70 euros per vaccination – a total of three – have to be paid, as Herzer explained. After that, the costs of around 200 to 215 euros per vaccination must be paid completely privately.

Google's busy handling of emojis in the web client is increasingly causing frustration.

Emojis have come a long way. Countless new characters have been added in the past few years, many of whom have contributed to greater inclusion. But making different skin colors, sexual orientations or women in male professions visible does not work with the world's largest e-mail provider: Gmail.

Dusty desktop client

Because, as Emojipedia shows in a blog post, many of the new emojis introduced by Gmail since 2015 cannot be displayed when reading the message in the desktop browser. Instead of heads in a certain skin color, the standard yellow face comes with a square next to it. Professions or combinations of people, where several emojis merge into one dedicated one, are displayed in a sequence of characters and emojis.

The Gmail apps from Android and iOS are not affected by the problem, since emojis are always converted into the system emojis there regardless of the app. Windows 10, for example, also applies to some representations in the desktop client, but not to many of the more complicated emojis that have been introduced in recent years. There is currently no solution to the problem.