Austria could soon have its first government led by the far right since World War II.

The leader of Austria’s Freedom Party received a mandate Monday to form a new government, which would be the first headed by the far right since World War II if he succeeds.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen says he will meet with far-right politician Herbert Kickl as speculation grows that he will ask the Freedom Party leader to form a government.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he will resign in the coming days after talks on forming a new government failed a second time.

Germany and several other European countries said Monday they are suspending decisions on asylum claims by Syrian nationals because of the unclear situation in their homeland following the fall of Bashar Assad.

Austrian utility OMV says supplies from Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped early Saturday after the company said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award.

Austria's chancellor says Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazrom will cut off supplies early Saturday to Austrian utility OMV.

A lawmaker from the far-right Freedom Party has been elected as the new speaker of Austria’s parliament, weeks after the party won a national election for the first time.

Austria’s president has tasked the incumbent chancellor with forming a new government after all other parties refused to work with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party.

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party could win a national election for the first time when Austria votes on Sunday.

Organizers of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week called them off on Wednesday after officials announced arrests over an apparent plot to launch an attack on an event in the Vienna area such as the concerts as part of her Eras Tour.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has discussed the war in Ukraine with the leader of Austria, an ally of Kyiv that has a policy of military neutrality.

Brigitte Bierlein, the former head of Austria’s Constitutional Court who became the country’s first female chancellor in an interim government in 2019, has died.

The Austrian government says that it is giving the country’s world-famous Vienna Boys Choir 800,000 euros ($884,000) to help it out of severe financial difficulties.

Hungary will not support a European Union plan to provide Ukraine with billions in budget assistance next year, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.

Austria, Hungary and Serbia have held another top-level meeting dedicated to curbing migration, including by sending more than 100 police officers, vehicles equipped with night vision cameras and drones to the border with North Macedonia.

Austria says it will start checks at its border crossings with Slovakia following a similar decision by the Czech Republic.

The Austrian government has presented plans for a power price cap to curb the rise in energy costs.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Vienna for bilateral talks that focused on migration as well as on the war in Ukraine.

Russia has resumed scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond after warning that it planned to step up missile strikes on the capital.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he told Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine and raised the issue of “serious war crimes" committed by Russian troops.

The U.N. children’s agency says nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine’s president has warned his nation that the coming week will be as crucial as any in the war.

Civilian evacuations are moving forward in patches of battle-scarred eastern Ukraine a day after a missile strike killed at least 52 people at a train station where thousands were waiting to leave before an expected Russian onslaught.

The Austrian government says it plans to end the country’s main COVID-19 restrictions on March 5, though wearing masks will remain obligatory in some places.

Austrian officials plan to loosen coronavirus restrictions in February.

German news agency dpa has reported that police are investigating thousands of cases of suspected forgery of coronavirus vaccine certificates.

The Austrian government has presented revised plans for its proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Austria’s new chancellor says the country’s fourth national lockdown will end on Sunday but that lockdown restrictions will remain in place for the unvaccinated.

Karl Nehammer has been sworn in as Austria’s third chancellor in two months.

Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer says he will be the acting leader of the conservative People’s Party and will seek to become Austria’s next chancellor.

— New Zealand’s medical regulator has approved its first coronavirus vaccine, and officials hope to begin giving shots to border workers by the end of March. Tate Reeves says he’s skeptical about a new federal effort to reduce racial disparities in coronavirus vaccination rates. ___BEIRUT — Lebanon has broken its single-day record of coronavirus deaths with 81 as the country continued its nationwide lockdown for the third week. ___LAS VEGAS — Nevada has recorded its deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic in January after reporting eight additional coronavirus deaths over the weekend. Mike DeWine and his wife received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday in a procedure streamed live.

A military police officer guard at the crime scene near a synagogue in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Austrian officials say that Fejzulai, a dual citizen of Austria and North Macedonia, hoodwinked the justice system's deradicalization program after his release. Slovak intelligence informed Austria that Fejzulai was trying to buy ammunition, and “something apparently went wrong with the communication in the next steps,” Nehammer said. Swiss daily St. Galler Tagblatt reported that Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter described them as “colleagues” of the attacker. The assailant attended school in Vienna for years and until recently lived with his parents in the city, Ruf said.

The suspect was identified as a 20-year-old Austrian-North Macedonian dual citizen with a previous terror conviction for attempting to join the Islamic State group in Syria. “Yesterday's attack was clearly an Islamist terror attack," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said. The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed credit for the Vienna attack, calling the perpetrator a “soldier of the Caliphate.” The claim of responsibility was published through the militant group’s media arm, Aamaq. In Switzerland, police in the city of Winterthur said an 18-year-old and a 24-year-old were arrested in consultation with Austrian authorities. Some of the circumstances of the Vienna shooting are reminiscent of the case of Usman Khan, who stabbed two people to death in 2019 in central London.

Police officers stay in position at stairs named 'Theodor Herzl Stiege' near a synagogue after gunshots were heard, in Vienna, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. Austrian police say several people have been injured and officers are out in force following gunfire in the capital Vienna. Initial reports that a synagogue was the target of an attack couldn't immediately be confirmed. “We are victims of a despicable terror attack in the federal capital that is still ongoing,” Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said hours after the gunfire erupted. Oskar Deutsch, the head of the Jewish community in Vienna, said it was not clear whether the main synagogue had been targeted.