2 arrested for planning terror plot at Taylor Swift show in Vienna: Police
(VIENNA, Austria) — Security measures have been increased for Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna, Austria, this week after two suspects were arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack, authorities said.
A 19-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested Wednesday morning and a second suspect was arrested in the afternoon, according to Franz Ruf, director-general for public safety in the Ministry of the Interior.
The suspects allegedly radicalized themselves online, Ruf said at a press conference. The 19-year-old suspect allegedly pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State in the beginning of July, Ruf said.
Vienna was a target of their planned attack and the 19-year-old suspect had a particular focus on Swift’s Vienna concert, Ruf said.
The pop star has concerts in Vienna this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The shows are expected to draw 65,000 concertgoers per day, with an additional 10,000 to 15,000 fans outside of the area, police said.
Swift kicked off the massively successful “Eras Tour” in Glendale, Arizona, on March 18, 2023.
In October 2023, the pop star released a concert film chronicling the record-breaking tour, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” that went on to break records of its own and earn a Golden Globe nomination.
At the 100th stop of the tour this summer in Liverpool, England, the 14-time Grammy winner told the audience the tour “has definitely been the most exhausting, all-encompassing, but most joyful, most rewarding, most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life thus far.”
The “Eras Tour” will end in Vancouver, Canada, on Dec. 8.
ABC News’ Carson Blackwelder contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 has rocked the coast of southern Japan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The epicenter of the earthquake is just a dozen miles off the coast of the city of Miyazaki on the island of Kyushu in Japan but the Japan Meteorological Agency has now lifted tsunami advisories for all but Miyazaki Prefecture.
There were reports of people falling and sustaining non-life-threatening injuries. One home in Kagoshima is said to have collapsed, but no injuries were reported. Regional nuclear plants are still reporting no abnormalities.
Miyazaki Airport experienced delays, and while bullet train services have resumed for the region, local services may still be disrupted.
The people of southwestern Japan seem to have avoided major damage, though the shaking would have been terrifying.
The epicenter was located in the Hyuganada Sea, just off the eastern coast of Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, and was measured at a depth of about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles). The Japan Meteorological Agency initially issued a tsunami advisory, predicting waves of up to 1 meter (3.3 feet) along the southern coast of Kyushu and nearby island of Shikoku.
People have been urged to stay away from the coast or river and have been warned that other quakes — even on the same magnitude –may occur.
Video filmed by Ryosuke Take, an employee at a local radio station in Kirishima on Japan’s island of Kyushu, shows objects in the office vigorously shaking.
“The shaking was very strong,” Ryosuke told ABC News. Listeners also reported that “in private homes, dishes fell from kitchens, and nearby hotels have reported that their elevators and kitchens are unusable.”
One area in Kochi prefecture is ordering residents to evacuate but drastic sea level changes have not been reported.
The quake registered a lower 6 in the hardest-hit areas — very high on the Japanese shake scale, which goes from 0 to 7. It would’ve been strong enough to knock over furniture, damage some concrete buildings and even topple some wooden ones.
However, there are currently no reports of any major damage and shaking was not felt in the capital city of Tokyo. Additionally, there have been no change or irregularities reported with regional nuclear plants so far.
ABC News’ Anthony Trotter and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Violence has shaken the U.K. as riots led by far-right groups have gripped multiple cities across the country, leading to nearly 150 arrests, according to officials.
The disorder spread from Islamophobic and anti-immigrant riots on Saturday called for by far-right groups seeking to exploit the knife attack that killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on July 29 in the town of Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, authorities said.
The protests that quickly turned violent have been fueled by disinformation circulated online by right-wing commentators falsely claiming the suspect in the stabbing attack was a Muslim illegal immigrant.
Since Friday, the riots have hit most major northern cities, including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Sunderland, but also Bristol in southern England, and Belfast in Northern Ireland, the worst outbreak of public disorder in more than a decade. The U.K.’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday condemned the violence as “far-right thuggery,” pledging swift prosecution of those involved.
Hundreds of extremist demonstrators have attacked police and set fire to mosques and shops, with hundreds of masked individuals rampaging through city centers.
In the northern English town of Rotherham on Sunday, a mob of hundreds of people attacked a hotel that was housing asylum seekers. The rioters assaulted police protecting the hotel, smashing windows and then trying to set it on fire. At least 10 police officers were injured, South Yorkshire Police said, calling the violence “deplorable.”
“We absolutely condemn the scenes of disorder we witnessed, with a total of around 700 people in attendance,” the police added.
Several small fires were started, but South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services “worked to extinguish these quickly,” according to officials.
A heavy police presence was expected to stay outside the hotel and the surrounding area for the rest of Sunday evening and into Monday, according to the police.
South of Rotherham, another hotel in Tamworth, England, was targeted by rioters. Police in the area urged the public to stay away while they worked on controlling the situation. One officer was injured, the police said Sunday night.
“We’re urging members of the public to avoid the area around the Holiday Inn, Tamworth, as specialist officers continue to deal with violent acts of thuggery,” Tamworth Police said in an update Sunday evening local time.
On Saturday, police said they rescued a Black man in Manchester who was being kicked and punched as dozens of men surrounded him. In Sunderland, hundreds of Muslim men gathered to protect a local mosque as groups of individuals targeted the religious building.
Starmer held crisis talks on Saturday with his government discussing measures to shut down the violence.
The prime minister released a statement Sunday condemning the violence and vowing to “do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice.”
“I utterly condemn the far-right thuggery we have seen this weekend,” Starmer said.
“Be in no doubt: those who have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law,” he added.
“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves,” Starmer said. “This is not a protest, it is organized, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online.”
Starmer said more arrests would follow and prosecutions would be swift. The government is moving to have courts open 24 hours a day to rapidly process the arrested. The government has also offered increased protection for mosques.
U.K. authorities have accused far-right groups of coordinating the violence. Following the deadly knife attack in Southport, far-right groups and commentators quickly spread false claims on social media, particularly X, that the attacker was a Muslim migrant who crossed illegally on the so-called “small boats” from Europe.
However, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, just outside Southport, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, police said. The suspect was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.
(FORT BLISS, Texas) — Travis King, the U.S. Army soldier who ran across the border from South Korea to North Korea last year will plead guilty, to desertion and assault charges as part of a plea deal, according to his attorney.
At a court hearing on Sept. 20 at Fort Bliss, Texas, King is expected to plead guilty to five of the 14 charges he is facing. The five charges include one for desertion, three for disobeying a lawful order, and one for assault on a non-commissioned officer.
King’s attorney, Franklin Rosenblatt, disclosed the plea deal in a statement provided today to ABC News. The possibility of a plea deal for King’s case first came to light in mid-July.
“US Army Private Travis King will take responsibility for his conduct and enter a guilty plea,” Rosenblatt’s statement read. “He was charged by the Army with fourteen offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He will plead guilty to five of those, including desertion.”
“He will plead not guilty to the remaining offenses, which the Army will withdraw and dismiss,” he adds.
“Travis’s guilty plea will be entered at a general court-martial. There he will explain what he did, answer a military judge’s questions about why he is pleading guilty, and be sentenced,” said Rosenblatt. “Travis is grateful to his friends and family who have supported him, and to all outside of his circle who did not pre-judge his case based on the initial allegations.”
At the Sept. 20 hearing a military judge will determine whether to accept the deal and how much time King should serve in a military prison.
In July, 2023 King crossed into North Korea triggering an international incident when he was held by North Korean authorities for more than two months after he dashed into North Korea at the Joint Security Area at the DMZ. Prior to joining the tour group that brought him to the DMZ King had escaped from his Army escort at the airport where he was to have boarded a flight to take him back to the United States.