Nehammer says his People’s Party would not support measures that it believes would harm the economy or new taxes.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said he will resign after talks between the country’s biggest centrist parties on forming a government without the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) collapsed.

The announcement on Saturday comes a day after the liberal Neos party withdrew from the negotiations with Nehammer’s conservative People’s Party (OVP) and the Social Democrats (SPO).

“After the breakoff of the coalition talks I am going to do the following: I will step down both as chancellor and party chairman of the People’s Party in the coming days,” he said.

In a video posted to his social media accounts, the outgoing chancellor said “long and honest” negotiations with the centre-left failed despite a shared interest in fending off the gaining far right.

Nehammer emphasised that his party would not support measures that it believes would harm the economy or new taxes.

He said he would enable “an orderly transition” and railed against “radicals who do not offer a single solution to any problem but only live from describing problems”.

The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) won the first parliamentary election in its history in late September with close to 30 percent of the vote.

But other parties refused to govern in a coalition with the eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO and its leader Herbert Kickl, so President Alexander Van der Bellen in late October tasked Nehammer to form a coalition.

Nehammer’s announcement comes after he also failed to reach an understanding with the Neos party.

Neos leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger said progress was impossible and that “fundamental reforms” had not been agreed upon.

After the chancellor’s exit, the OVP is expected to convene to discuss potential successors.

The political landscape remains uncertain in Austria, with no immediate possibility of forming a stable government due to ongoing differences between the parties.

The president may now appoint another leader and an interim government as the parties try to find a way out of the deadlock.

The next government in Austria faces the challenge of having to save between 18 to 24 billion euros ($18.5-24.7bn), according to the European Commission.

The country’s economy has been in a recession for the past two years, is experiencing rising unemployment and its budget stands at 3.7 percent of gross domestic product – above the European Union’s limit of 3 percent.

WASHINGTON (AP) — La exsecretaria de Estado Hillary Clinton, el filántropo demócrata George Soros y el actor-director Denzel Washington recibirán el sábado la más alta condecoración civil de la nación en una ceremonia en la Casa Blanca.

El presidente Joe Biden otorgará la Medalla Presidencial de la Libertad a 19 de los nombres más famosos en política, deportes, entretenimiento, derechos civiles, defensa de los derechos LGBTQ+ y ciencia.

La Casa Blanca indicó que los galardonados han realizado “contribuciones ejemplares a la prosperidad, valores o seguridad de Estados Unidos, la paz mundial u otros significativos esfuerzos sociales, públicos o privados.”

Cuatro medallas serán otorgadas póstumamente. Se entregarán a Fannie Lou Hamer, quien fundó el Partido Democrático de la Libertad de Mississippi y sentó las bases para la Ley de Derechos Electorales de 1965; al ex fiscal general Robert F. Kennedy; a George W. Romney, quien fue gobernador de Michigan y secretario de vivienda y desarrollo urbano; y a Ash Carter, exsecretario de defensa.

Kennedy es padre de Robert F. Kennedy Jr., el nominado por el presidente electo Donald Trump para secretario de salud y servicios humanos. Romney es el padre del exsenador republicano de Utah Mitt Romney, uno de los críticos conservadores más fuertes de Trump.

Entre los grandes filántropos que recibirán el premio se incluye al chef hispanoamericano José Andrés, cuya organización benéfica World Central Kitchen se ha convertido en una de las organizaciones de ayuda alimentaria más reconocidas del mundo, y a Bono, el líder de la banda de rock U2 y activista de justicia social.

Las estrellas de deportes y entretenimiento reconocidas incluyen al futbolista Lionel Messi; al basquetbolista y empresario Earvin “Magic” Johnson; el actor Michael J. Fox, activista a favor de investigaciones sobre la enfermedad de Parkinson; y William Sanford Nye, conocido por generaciones de estudiantes como “Bill Nye the Science Guy”.

Otros galardonados incluyen a la conservacionista Jane Goodall; la editora de Vogue Magazine Anna Wintour; el diseñador de moda Ralph Lauren; el fundador del Instituto de Cine George Stevens Jr.; el empresario y activista LGBTQ+ Tim Gill; y David Rubenstein, cofundador de la firma global de inversiones The Carlyle Group.

El año pasado, Biden otorgó la Medalla Presidencial de la Libertad a 19 personas, incluyendo al fallecido Medgar Evers, la expresidenta de la Cámara de Representantes Nancy Pelosi, el representante James Clyburn de Carolina del Sur y la actriz Michelle Yeoh.

___

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

JERUSALEM — Elite Israeli forces conducted a dramatic raid in Syria, destroying a secret underground long-range missile factory that also contained information about Syria’s chemical weapons program in September, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The IDF first revealed the mission Thursday in a call with reporters.

“This is one of our most significant and complex special operations in recent years, even in this complex year and a half,” IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said.

The IDF provided spectacular footage of the Israeli commandos during the daring mission as well as the massive explosion of the subterranean complex after the troops had cleared it.

ISRAELI OFFICIAL REVEALS HOW ‘TO TRULY DEFEAT HEZBOLLAH’

“The precision-guided missile factory or facility was dug into the side of a mountain underground,” the IDF spokesperson said.

Information about Syria’s chemical weapons program was uncovered during the mission. 

“I have seen some of them — notebooks and documents — and a lot of them contain very specific chemicals,”  Shoshani said. “One of them that I saw was a chemical handbook that describes how to manufacture a missile at the end of the raid. The troops dismantled the facility, including the machines and the manufacturing, to ensure the safety of Israel.”

Assad’s regime repeatedly used chemical weapons on his population during the nearly 14-year civil war that ripped apart the country. The U.S.-designated terrorist movement Hezbollah played a key role in aiding Assad’s regime during the civil war.

IDF FINDS HEZBOLLAH WEAPONS CACHE IN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL: VIDEO

The factory was designed to manufacture between 150-350 missiles a year, including precision-guided missiles (PGM), according to the IDF. Commandoes from the IDF’s elite air force unit Shaldag participated in the mission. The IDF said 30 Syrian soldiers were killed during the operation.

The IDF spokesperson told reporters the operation “was aimed at an Iranian-funded precision-guided missile factory inside Syrian territory near the border with Lebanon. This facility was designed to manufacture hundreds of strategic missiles per year from start to finish for Hezbollah to use in their aerial attacks on Israel and for its Iranian axis in Syria.

“Because of the specific terrain and this facility being underground, we could not operate from the air area. Also, on Sept. 8 last year, 2024, special forces conducted a nighttime targeted raid on the facility. This raid involved over 100 soldiers. There were also dozens of aircraft, including helicopters and other types of aircraft. The forces were flown in by helicopters.”

Israeli air force Shaldag special forces raid a missile factory in Syria. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

“I salute our heroic fighters for the daring and successful operation deep in Syria,” Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “This was one of the most important preventive operations that we have taken against the efforts of the Iranian axis to arm itself in order to attack us; it attests to our boldness and determination to take action everywhere to defend ourselves.”

After the devastating Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of Israel, which resulted in the murder of more than 1,200 people, including 40 Americans, Israel has faced multi-prong attacks from Iran’s regime — the main sponsor of Hamas, Hezbollah; the Houthis; and the toppled Bashar Assad regime in Syria.

Amit Segal, chief political analyst of Israel’s Channel 12, told Fox News Digital, “The Israeli perspective for years was that Iran operates as an octopus in the Middle East, with the head being the nuclear program in Tehran and the arms being the conventional terrorist organizations surrounding Israel. Netanyahu’s view was that the arms were meant to harass and occupy Israel while the head raced toward nuclear capability, and therefore it was preferable to contain them and focus on the main threat.

IDF officials watch as the operation unfolds.  (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

“This perception shattered on Oct. 7 when it became clear that the arms were not just a nuisance but an existential threat.”

The complex commando raid on the underground Syrian factory could also be a shot across the bow for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities embedded in mountains.

“After a year and a quarter dedicated to severing the octopus’s arms, Israel stands in 2025 at a historic crossroads for the confrontation Netanyahu has long sought and for which history will judge him: eliminating the nuclear threat once and for all,” Segal noted.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Hezbollah terrorists form a human barrier during the funeral procession of slain top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut’s southern suburbs Aug. 1, 2024. (Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)

The IDF spokesperson said construction on the Syrian missile factory “began at the end of 2017 and ended in 2021 when manufacturing machinery was sent from Iran to the site. Most of the components in the factory were sourced from Iran.”

From October 2023 to November 2024, Hezbollah launched over 17,000 projectiles toward Israel, killing dozens of Israelis, the IDF spokesperson said.