Belgium has a new government. All it took was seven months of negotiation — which by Belgian standards is breakneck speed. New Prime Minister Bart De Wever had previously served as mayor of Antwerp from 2013, besides leading his N-VA party for the last two decades. An experienced and formidable politician, it’s surprising it’s taken him this long to lead his country.

Organizers have canceled three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria after authorities said they foiled a terror attack planned for the Vienna leg of her blockbuster Eras tour.

The extraordinary decision – which could come at significant cost to Vienna’s businesses – has devastated fans and renewed focus on the vulnerability of huge concerts as soft targets for terror networks and spree killers.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's new far-right party alliance in the European Parliament has fulfilled the requirements to form a political group called "Patriots for Europe."

To form the group, 23 MEPs from seven countries are needed.

On Saturday, the group secured the membership of the far-right Danish People's Party and the far-right Flemish Vlaams Belang, meeting the required threshold.

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO), Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz and the populist Czech ANO party led by Andrej Babis are forming a new alliance in the European Parliament.

“We take on the responsibility to launch this new platform and new faction. I want to make it clear that this is our goal,” Orban told reporters at a joint news conference with FPO leader Herbert Kickl and ANO’s Babis, calling for other parties’ support.

The coup began with the sound of a doorbell.

Just after 8 a.m. on Feb. 28, 2018, Austrian police Commander Wolfgang Preiszler pressed the buzzer at the headquarters of the country’s domestic intelligence service and held his ID up to the security camera.

Within minutes, dozens of his colleagues armed with Glock pistols and a battering ram fanned out through the building in bullet-proof vests and balaclavas, seizing confidential data stored on the agency’s servers and sensitive documents lying on desks.

The European Union is dealing with an increase in legal and illegal arrivals by migrants, prompting some member states to temporarily re-introduce border controls within what is normally a zone of free movement.

The bloc's Schengen rules allow such action "as a last resort" in cases that are deemed serious threats to internal security or public policy.

These countries have reinstated stricter checks:

* Austria introduced checks at its border with the Czech Republic in October, set to last until Dec. 6.

We're barely two months into the reunited rump of Pantera touring again, and the legendary heavy metal band is already at the center of a free speech scandal.

Earlier this week, music news site Consequence reported that the band has been booted from the lineup of two German music festivals and had a scheduled performance in Vienna, Austria, canceled as well. Concerts organizers haven't been explicit about the reasons for the canceled performances.