Austria

Direct train line Vienna-Prague will enhance frequency and the southern town of Villach will be connected to Czech Republic by ComfortJet trains starting in December

The program of New Year's Concert 2026 at the Vienna Musikverein has been announced: it includes five premieres, including two pieces by female composers and Yannick Nézet-Séguin from Canada will conduct the concert for the first time

Bilingual signs in two municipalities home to the Slovenian minority in Carinthia have been vandalised in what is suspected to be a politically-motivated act; the incident was condemned by the minority as well as officials in Slovenia and Austria

A country-wide test of the civil warning alarm system has used over 8.300 sirens to check the operation of the technical equipment throughout Austria, as well as familiarize all residents with the signals and their meaning

Breakthrough for the cross-border Brenner tunnel to Italy was celebrated with the presence of authorities; the system, 204 kilometers long, is scheduled for completion by 2032 and will cost €10,5 billion, 50% funded by EU as 'priority infrastructure'

The National Council has started its autumn work sessions with debate about tightening of the weapons law, as announced before the summer in consequence of a deadly rampage at a school in Graz

Airbnb has been providing data to the city of Graz, including the identity of the landlords, in response to growing opposition by many cities to short-term apartment rentals; Graz is demanding accommodation fees from landlords and will impose fines soon

Stephanie Venier, 31, announced the end of her skiing career; world champion with gold in the Super-G and bronze in the team combination, Venier caused a sensation last winter in Saalbach-Hinterglemm but has recently suffered a lack of motivation

Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian extreme athlete who became the first person to break the sound barrier in a freefall jump in 2012, died in a paragliding crash on Italy's eastern coast; he was 56 and reportedly died because of a heart attack while flying

Two streets in Braunau am Inn, Adolf Hitler's hometown, are to be renamed following a 28 to 9 vote by the city council as they are named after classical music composer Josef Reiter and entertainer Franz Resl, both of whom were Nazi party members

A convicted Syrian offender has been deported to his country, marking its first forced return to Syria in 15 years

A wave of shock is upsetting Austria after a former student, who reportedly had felt bullied, opened fire at his high school killing 10 people and himself, in one of the worst European school shootings ever; he used legally acquired weapons

What has been called celestial concert saluted European Space Agency's 50th anniversary and the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II, composer of renown The Blue Danube Vienna waltz; the melody was transmitted in the interstellar space towards Voyager1