Author: Daily Sabah With DPA

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has announced plans to resign in the coming days after coalition talks between his conservative party and the Social Democrats to form a new government collapsed on Saturday. In a video message, Nehammer said he would also resign as leader of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). His announcement came shortly after the party broke off coalition talks with the Social Democrats (SPÖ). “It is evident that the destructive forces within the SPÖ have gained the upper hand,” said Nehammer, confirming the end of these talks as well. He underlined that the ÖVP would not agree to…

Russia has said its military successfully repelled a Ukrainian attack using long-range US-made ATACMS missiles in the Belgorod border region, and threatened to retaliate. All ATACMS missiles used in the attack have been shot down, the Russian Defene Ministry said on Telegram on Saturday, adding that Moscow would respond accordingly. It was not possible to independently verify the claims. In November, US President Joe Biden had authorized Kiev to attack certain targets in Russia with US-provided ATACMS missiles in order to defend against the ongoing Russian invasion. Russia has said that it will respond to any attacks with the long-range…

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah admits the club are still “far away from any progress” on a new contract with his current deal due to expire in July. However, he refuses to be “concerned or stressed” by the situation and is determined to enjoy what could be his final six months at Anfield by winning the Premier League for a second time. The Egypt international’s contract has been a long-running saga, with team-mates Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold in a similar situation, but despite numerous public utterances about a lack of movement a solution appears to be no closer. Salah,…

President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed the hope that US President-elect Donald Trump’s unpredictability will work to Ukraine’s benefit in an interview broadcast by Ukrainian television. “I see him as strong and unpredictable,” Zelensky said in the interview broadcast on Thursday. “I would very much like President Trump’s unpredictability to be directed primarily towards the Russian Federation,” he added. Zelensky said he thinks that Trump was genuinely interested in concluding peace and that Russian President Vladimir Putin feared the US president-elect. Zelensky repeated that all Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia since 2014 would be returned to Ukraine, and he insisted on…

The top election candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, expects to hold a live online conversation with tech billionaire Elon Musk on January 9, Weidel announced on Friday. Musk, a close adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump and a major political donor, recently created controversy by wading into German politics with a ful-throated endorsement of the AfD in an opinion piece in the Sunday edition of Die Welt newspaper. Trump has also said that Musk will have an official role in the next US administration. The conversation between Musk and Weidel will be hosted on Musk’s…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz weighed in on Friday about a possible ban on fireworks in the country, saying that clear new regulations are needed following injuries and deaths from explosives over the New Year’s holiday. “We must have clear rules on what pyrotechnics can be used and take tough action against all those who do not comply with the law,” said Scholz during a visit to the local fire brigade in the Berlin suburb of Kleinmachnow. “That’s the right way to go.” Chaos on New Year’s Eve in many German cities has repeatedly prompted debate about fireworks restrictions in recent…

Tesla last year suffered the first decline in deliveries of its electric cars in more than a decade, according to the company’s figures released on Thursday. The US manufacturer led by tech billionaire Elon Musk delivered just under 1.79 million vehicles to customers. This was 19,355 fewer than in 2023, although Musk had forecast a slight increase. Tesla would have had to deliver 515,000 cars to customers in the final quarter of 2024 to achieve this. Despite a sales offensive, only 495,570 vehicles were ultimately sold in Q4 – still a record figure. The figure also fell short of analysts’…

World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been suffering from tinnitus since he and his team were caught up in an Israeli air strike in Yemen, the top global health official said on Wednesday. “I am okay, but I have developed tinnitus (ringing in my ears) from the loud explosion. I hope it will be temporary,” 59-year-old Tedros wrote on X after his return to Geneva. Israel’s air force bombed the airport in the Yemeni capital Sana’a last Thursday as the WHO director-general’s team was about to board their flight after talks in the city. According to Tedros,…

A South Korean court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol, the Yonhap news agency reported. The Corruption Investigation Office is investigating Yoon for unexpectedly imposing martial law on December 3. The office applied for an arrest warrant on Monday after Yoon ignored three summonses to appear for questioning. Yoon is the first sitting South Korean president to face an arrest, according to Yonhap. Once Yoon has been taken into custody, the office has 48 hours to decide whether to apply for an additional warrant to detain him for longer or release him, Yonhap reported.…

Jewellery worth more than £10 million ($12.5 million) as well as designer handbags worth £150,000 have been stolen from a house in Primrose Hill in London. A white man aged in his late 20s to 30s broke into a house in Avenue Road between 5 pm and 5:30 pm (1700-1730 GMT) on December 7 by climbing in through a second-floor window, the Metropolitan Police said. He took the Hermes Crocodile Kelly handbags, £15,000 in cash as well as items of jewellery worth £10.4 million that included unique pieces. The suspect was wearing a dark hoodie, cargo pants and a grey…