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Austria’s chancellor to quit as coalition talks collapse
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he will resign in the coming days, both as chancellor and party leader, after talks about forming a coalition government collapsed.
The chancellor said his party – the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) – and the Social Democrats had failed to agree on key issues.
The liberal Neos, another party involved in the talks, also pulled out on Friday.
In September the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) won an unprecedented victory in Austria’s general election, but the other parties ruled out forming a coalition with the FPÖ’s leader Herbert Kickl.
The collapse of the talks could lead to the conservatives negotiating with the far-right, or to a new election taking place, analysts have said.
The Russia-friendly FPÖ has been in a ruling coalition before. It would likely welcome a new election as opinion polls suggest its popularity has grown further since September.
The FPÖ has said in a statement on X that three months have been lost by the coalition talks and adds that “instead of stability, we have chaos”.
The party has called for Social Democrat leader Andreas Babler to also resign and said President Alexander Van der Bellen bears “a significant share of responsibility for the chaos that has arisen and the lost time”.
The FPÖ won almost 29% of the vote in September’s election, the People’s Party came second with 26.3% and the Social Democrats third, with 21%.
There was a high turnout of 77.3% as Austrian voters took part in an election dominated by the twin issues of migration and asylum, as well as a flagging economy and the war in Ukraine.
The FPÖ’s Kickl promised to build “Fortress Austria”, to restore Austrians’ security and prosperity.
The party wants firm rules on legal immigration and it has promoted the idea of remigration, which involves sending asylum seekers to their original countries.
The FPÖ was founded by former Nazis in the 1950s.
Two days before last year’s general election vote some of its candidates were caught on video at a funeral where an SS song was sung.
The party later denied the song, dating back to 1814, had any link to “National Socialist sentiments”.
[BBC]
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Flames ignite homes and cars as 30,000 people ordered to evacuate from Los Angeles wildfire
Los Angeles declares a state of emergency as a wildfire explodes from 10 acres to more than 1,200 acres in mere hours.
Fire chief Kristin Crowley says more than 30,000 people are under evacuation orders and 13,000 buildings under threat
Footage shows houses on fire in the Pacific Palisades area and residents abandon their cars to flee the flames
The fire broke out about 10:30 (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday and it exploded in size, fanned by 50 mph (80km/h) wind gusts and incredibly dry conditions
[BBC]
Pakistan have been docked five World Test Championship (WTC) points and fined 25% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over rate during their 10-wicket defeat in the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town. They were ruled to be five overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
Match referee Richie Richardson imposed the sanction, which Pakistan captain Shan Masood accepted after pleading guilty to the charge – levelled by on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Nitin Menon, third umpire Alex Wharf and fourth umpire Stephen Harris – which meant that was no need for a formal hearing.
Teams are deducted one point for every over by which they fall short of their target. This is Pakistan’s third points deduction in the 2023-25 WTC cycle. They were docked two points after the first Test against Australia in Perth in December 2023, and six points following the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi in August 2024.
As a consequence, Pakistan now have 35 points – instead of a possible 48 – from 12 Tests in the 2023-25 cycle. The latest deduction has brought their percentage of points contested – the number that determines a team’s position on the WTC table – down from 27.78 to 24.31. They remain in eighth place as before, but their points percentage is now only a few decimal points better than West Indies, who occupy the bottom of the nine-team table with a percentage of 24.24 – with no over-rate deductions.
The deduction adds a layer of intrigue to one of the two remaining series in the 2023-25 WTC cycle – Pakistan are due to host West Indies for two Tests, in Karachi and Multan, starting January 16.
[Cricinfo]
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The names of new Members of Parliament to serve on the Committee on Parliamentary Business and the Committee on Public Finance announced to Parliament
The names of three new Members of Parliament to serve on the Committee on Parliamentary Business and four new Members of Parliament to serve on the Committee on Public Finance were announced to Parliament on Tuesday (Jan. 07) by the Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne.
Accordingly, the Speaker announced that notwithstanding the provisions of the Standing Order 115 of the Parliament, as per the motion agreed to by Parliament subject to the amendments, on the 06th December 2024, Members of Parliament (Prof.) Anil Jayantha, Gamagedara Dissanayake and. Gayan Janaka, have also been nominated by the Committee of Selection, to serve on the Committee on Parliamentary Business.
The Speaker also announced that in terms of the provisions of the Standing Order 121 of Parliament and the motion agreed to by Parliament on the 06th December 2024 Members of Parliament Chathuranga Abeysinghe, . Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam, Dr. (Ms.) Kaushalya Ariyarathne and Arkam Ilyas have been nominated to serve on the Committee on Public Finance.
Dr. Wickramarathne further stated that the Committee on Parliamentary Business held on 31 December 2024 approved the request to re-establish the Caucus on Climate Parliament of Sri Lanka for the Tenth Parliament and the Parliamentary Caucus for Open Parliament Initiative for the Tenth Parliament.
Flames ignite homes and cars as 30,000 people ordered to evacuate from Los Angeles wildfire
Pakistan docked five WTC points for slow over rate during Cape Town Test
Keir Starmer calls on ICC to ‘deliver own rules’ amid Afghanistan boycott row
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