Austria

Austrian public prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges Monday against a 21-year-old defendant who they say planned to carry out an attack on one of superstar singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna in August 2024.

The leaders of the centrist coalition government in Vienna are reportedly set to agree to a ban on Sharia Law, with Chancellor Christian Stocker declaring that there is no room for a “caliphate” in Austria.

The national broadcaster responsible for hosting the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest announced on Wednesday that audience members will be allowed to bring “all official flags,” presumably including the Palestinian flag, and that booing will not be censored out of the live event, emboldening pro-Hamas protesters who have made the non-political event a major target.

School headscarf ban passed by the Austrian government, defying months of opposition by “Islamist influencers”.

GLOCK, Inc. posted an announcement to their company website noting that over 30 handgun models will be discontinued. 

European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the corporate entity that stages the Eurovision Song Contest, announced on Monday that it would cancel an “extraordinary” meeting planned for November to vote on allowing Israel to continue participating in the contest.

If Israel is banned from competing at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest then host Austria will simply drop the event and walk away.

A Syrian migrant was arrested by police after several people were injured in an axe attack on a high speed train travelling to Austria.

An Austrian state government has introduced a new approach towards asylum seekers, requiring those of working age who receive state assistance to perform community service and reducing benefits for those who refuse to work.

The Austrian government is pushing more gun control this week after the myriad gun controls which already exist in the country failed to prevent Tuesday’s school shooting.

Former student who killed nine at a school in Austria planned attack in detail but appears to have shot victims at random.

Austria fell silent on Wednesday in memory of 10 people killed in a school shooting in Graz, which ended with the gunman taking his own life.

Nine people died in a school shooting in Austria that occurred despite gun control measures including licensing and registration requirements.

Several people have died, including the suspected attacker, with many more injured at a high school in the Austrian city of Graz.

A court in Vienna on Monday acquitted former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his government, reversing a verdict from last year in which Kurz was given a suspended prison sentence.

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest winner called for Israel to be excluded from next year’s competition in an interview published Thursday.

The moderators of the Reddit community dedicated to the Eurovision Song Contest shut down the page entirely for 12 hours after the Grand Final in the early morning hours of Sunday due to “hate speech and strong emotional reactions.”

Austrian singer JJ won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest Saturday with “Wasted Love,” a song that combines operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno twist.

The time has come: After a typically turbulent month of gimmicks, weird social media videos, and more fondue than anyone’s doctor would recommend, the Eurovision Song Contest will hold its Grand Final on Saturday.

A Bulgarian man who was the ringleader of a Russian spy ring in the U.K. was sentenced Monday to more than 10 years in prison.

In Paris, the bells of the recently restored Notre Dame rung out and football matches across Italy are cancelled in mourning. 

A Syrian allegedly stabbed six people in the Austrian town of Villach in a suspected Islamist terror attack that left a 14-year-old boy dead.

Herbert Kickl and his prospective coalition partners said they have reached an agreement to bring down the budget deficit.

Herbert Kickl said he aspires to “govern Austria honestly” as he prepared for talks on a potential coalition with conservatives.

Talks on forming a new three-party government in Austria collapsed Friday as the smallest of the prospective partners pulled the plug.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya claimed on Sunday that 7,621 Syrian refugees “returned voluntarily” from Turkey between December 9-13.

Some Euro states making calculation it is cheaper to make a a single cash payment to go home than keep the guests on welfare indefinitely. 

In the wake of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Germany and Austria have suspended all asylum applications from the war-torn country until further notice.

Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped supplies to Austria early Saturday, according to the Vienna-based utility OMV after it said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award.

Establishment parties in Europe suffered another defeat on Sunday as the elections for the National Council in Austria saw the populist Freedom Party come in first place for the first time in history.

Security forces carried out raids against 72 alleged Islamic extremists this week ahead of the 23th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The suspects in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna earlier this month sought to kill “tens of thousands” of fans before the CIA discovered intelligence that disrupted the planning and led to arrests, the agency’s deputy director said.

The prime suspect in bomb plot to kill Taylor Swift fans at a concert in Vienna “today or tomorrow” has been revealed.

An unidentified vigilante sawed off the head of a provocative sculpture of the Virgin Mary in the act of giving birth to Jesus that had been exhibited in the Catholic cathedral in the Austrian city of Linz.

Team USA Football continued its futility at the U20 World Championships on Sunday, falling to Austria 32-25 in the bronze medal game.

Police have arrested a 91-year-old Austrian auto parts billionaire from Canada on sexual assault charges, and there is more than one accuser.