News In Brief

Austrian demonstrators halt power plant project at forest

Thousands of demonstrators, forming a human wall, prevented site clearance work Monday for a hydroelectric power plant only hours after the work had started, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Police were told not to use force against the demonstrators and work was halted.

The demonstrators say the plant, near Hainburg, will destroy one of Europe's last primeval forests and have demanded that clearing work on the site be halted pending a referendum next March.