Demonstrations have been continuing in Austria, following the appointment of the far-right party Freedom Party to the new coalition government.

Several thousand people marched through the centre of the capital, Vienna, calling for resistance to the new government.

But the BBC correspondent there said most of the demonstrators are already resigned to it, and this latest march was designed merely to show their disapproval.

The Freedom party leader, Joerg Haider, has dismissed political sanctions imposed by the European Union, calling them insignificant and urging Austrians not to be intimidated.

Meanwhile European conservative party leaders meeting in Madrid have distanced themselves from the new Austrian administration. Without naming Austria, they said there was no place for racism and xenophobia in Europe.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service