Today in Austria: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

• Tyrol's governor wants harsher penalties for climate protesters

Tyrol's governor Anton Mattle (ÖVP) has shown himself open to the proposal of his counterpart, Lower Austria's governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP), to come up with stricter penalties for blockades by climate activists.

Such harsher penalties are "to be discussed," Mattle said in an APA interview.

If rescuers no longer have the chance to get to emergencies because of blockades, he said, he is "definitely in favour of a tough approach." The activists say they always keep at least one free lane to allow rescue services to pass by.

READ ALSO: Climate activists start ‘action week’ with protests in Vienna

• Energy, corruption, labour shortage: Austria’s plans to face its major challenges

Austria's ÖVP-Greens coalition is trying to combat the country's critical challenges ahead of the national elections while it struggles with unpopularity among voters. Here's what the government wants to do.

Italienische Adria wir kommen! 🇮🇹 Unser Nightjet fährt diesen Sommer nach... 🥁 Ancona & Rimini! Wegen Bauarbeiten auf der Strecke nach Rom, bringen wir euch diesen Sommer nach Rimini, Riccione, Cattolica & Ancona.
©Adobe Stock/andrealuciani, eddygaleotti, alexugalek, evgo pic.twitter.com/UHdtkZEYhn

— ÖBB (@unsereOEBB) January 2, 2023

• ÖBB is discontinuing its car train to Italy

The last train that passengers could use to travel to Italy - and bring their cars with them - is being discontinued, the Austrian rail company said. 

The connection had driven passengers and cars from Vienna to the port city of Livorno, in Tuscany, twice a year. The seasonal trip went from May to September.

However, the company is also expanding its night train fleet, it announced on Twitter. Its Nightjet overnight trains are now going to Ancona and Rimini, Italy.

READ ALSO: New routes and prices: How train services in Austria have changed in December

• Around one-third of teachers work part-time

Around one-third of school teachers in Austria work part-time, Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) said on Wednesday in Parliament. 

The minister said that the number is exceptionally high at the beginning of a professional career, as graduates enter the profession or reduce their working hours to their own younger children.

According to the data, the part-time share in the 2021/22 school year was 33 percent at elementary schools, 27 percent at middle schools, 35 percent at AHS and 30 percent at vocational middle and secondary schools (BMHS).

Part-time work is defined as any type of employment that takes on fewer hours than a full-time job, ranging from a teacher that has one or two hours of classes a week to a teacher that reduces their working hours by just one hour.

NEOS education spokeswoman Martina Künsberg Sarre appealed to the government to "improve the framework conditions in such a way that it is attractive for more teachers to take on a higher teaching commitment."

READ ALSO: The verdict: Is it worth enrolling your kids in one of Vienna’s international schools?

• By summer, 15 streets in Graz will have a speeding limit of 30km/h

Experts from the City of Graz, the Province of Styria, the police, the Curatorship for Traffic Safety, citizens and the project team of the Radoffensive 2030 have advocated for the change in the course of traffic evaluations, which will turn the following roads (streets) into 30 km/h speed limits by the summer of 2023:

1. Annenstraße iA Eggenberger Gürtel to Babenbergerstraße
2. Anton-Kleinoscheg-Straße iA Ibererstraße to Exerzierplatzstraße
3. Fischergasse along the entire length
4. Gaswerkstraße iA Eckertstraße to Wetzelsdorfer Straße
5. Goethestraße iA Humboldtstraße to Körblergasse
6. Grafenbergstraße iA Plabutscher Straße to Göstinger Straße
7. Göstinger Straße iA Anton-Gerstl-Straße to Negrelligasse
8. Göstinger Straße iA Negrelligasse to Breunergasse
9. Göstinger Straße iA Breunergasse to Schloßplatz
10. Körblergasse iA Goethestraße to Lindweg
11. Körösistraße iA Lange Gasse to Fischergasse
12. Krottendorfer Straße iA Grottenhofstraße to tunnel exit
13. Marburger Straße iA Brucknerstraße to Petrifelderstraße
14. Messendorferstraße iA Haus-Nr. 146 to KV St. Peter-Hauptstraße
15. Plabutscherstraße iA Ibererstraße to Grafenbergstraße

READ ALSO: Vienna vs Graz: Which city is better for foreign residents?

• Weather

Another warm front reaches the west of Austria, making snow fall only above 1200m, Austria's meteorologic institute ZAMG said. In the east and south, the afternoon remains partly sunny. Also here, denser clouds spread. Afternoon temperatures are 4C to 11C.

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