- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
IS suspect planned suicide attack at Taylor Swift Vienna concert: officials
A 19-year-old Islamic State sympathiser planned a suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, the country's intelligence agency said on Thursday.
Austrian authorities detained two suspects Wednesday for allegedly plotting to attack one of three Vienna concerts by the US star due to start Thursday. All were cancelled at the last minute leaving disconsolate "Swifties" to gather in the Austrian capital.
The 19-year-old main suspect had confessed, saying he "intended to carry out an attack using explosives and knives," domestic intelligence agency (DSN) head Omar Haijawi-Pirchner told a news conference.
"His aim was to kill himself and a large number of people during the concert, either today or tomorrow," he added. The concerts were to run from Thursday to Saturday.
The second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian, was employed at a facility management company which would have "provided services" at the Ernst Happel Stadium where Swift was to perform, said Haijawi-Pirchner.
The younger suspect, who has so far refused to talk to authorities, was "in the area" of the stadium when he was detained, said Haijawi-Pirchner.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer said there were "concrete and detailed" plans to commit a "blood bath".
According to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, a "tragedy was averted".
"The situation was very serious", he added, particularly in view of a recent attack at a Taylor Swift themed event in Britain, where three girls were killed in Great Britain.
Explosives and detonators were found in a search of the main suspect's apartment, authorities said.
- Disappointed Swifties -
Austria's top security chief Franz Ruf told reporters the two suspects had recently made changes in their private lives.
The main suspect, an Austrian with Northern Macedonian roots, had changed "his appearance and adapted it to Islamic State propaganda", while the second, an Austrian of Turkish or Croatian origin, had broken up with his girlfriend, he said.
Ruf earlier confirmed that authorities had received information "from foreign partners" which led to the arrests, but he declined to specify.
Police had promised to ramp up security for the concerts while having minimised any concrete danger, but organisers still cancelled Swift's shows. About 65,000 people were expected at each show.
Swift's fans gathered in parks and plazas across Vienna to share their disappointment. Dilyara Joldassova, a 23-year-old engineer who travelled from Kazakhstan for the show, said she was "broken-hearted".
Swift did not immediately comment on the decision to cancel the Vienna shows but after the British attack said she was "completely in shock".
Three girls were killed and five people seriously wounded in the mass stabbing at a dance class in Southport inspired by the American singer.
According to Ruf, police "did everything humanly possible to ensure" that the Vienna concerts "could go ahead", but the cancellation decision was taken by the organisers.
The 34-year-old star was to bring her record-breaking "Eras" Tour, which began its European leg in Paris in May, to Vienna on Thursday.
Following France, the tour stopped in Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Poland.
In Austria, more than 170,000 spectators were expected to attend the shows, bringing in some 100 million euros, according to estimates by the news agency APA.
By the end of the year, "Eras" had already become the first tour to sell more than $1 billion in tickets and it is on track to more than double that by the time it concludes in Vancouver in December.
Austria experienced its first deadly jihadist attack in November 2020, when a convicted IS sympathiser went on a shooting rampage in Vienna, killing four people and wounding 23 before police shot him dead.
Nogueira--PC