austria

Chancellor to resign after talks on forming new government fail

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

The announcement came after the People’s Party and the Social Democrats on Saturday continued coalition talks a day after the liberal Neos party’s surprise withdrawal from discussions.

“Unfortunately I have to tell you today that the negotiations have ended and will not be continued by the People’s Party,” said Nehammer, the conservative party’s leader, in a statement on social media.

He said that “destructive forces” in the Social Democratic Party have “gained the upper hand” and that the People’s Party will not sign on to a program that it considers to be against economic competitiveness.

Babler said that one of the main stumbling blocks had to do with how to repair the “record deficit” left by the previous government..

The next government in Austria faces the challenge of having to save between 18 to 24 billion euros, according to the EU Commission. In addition, Austria has been in a recession for the past two years, is experiencing rising unemployment, and its budget deficit is currently at 3.7% of Gross Domestic Product — above the EU’s limit of 3%.

haiti

Central American troops arrive to restore order

port-au-prince, haiti>> About 150 military police officers from Central America have arrived in Haiti to reinforce the embattled government’s fight against violent gangs that have upended daily life for millions in the Caribbean country.

The deployment of around 75 security officers, mostly from Guatemala, was greeted Saturday at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince by the Kenyan commander of the U.N.-backed mission that for months has been struggling to restore order.

“The gangs have only two choices: surrender, lay down their weapons, and face justice, or face us in the field,” the officer, Godfrey Otunge, said in remarks at a welcoming ceremony. “With the addition of the Guatemalan and El Salvador forces, the gangs will have nowhere to hide. We will root them out of their enclave.”

A similar sized contingent, which also included a small number of forces from El Salvador, traveled aboard a U.S. Air Force aircraft and was greeted Friday by top Haitian officials and U.S. Ambassador Dennis Hankins.

TEXAS

Hundreds of animals killed in shopping center fire

dallas>> A fire that broke out at a shopping center in Dallas on Friday morning killed more than 500 animals, most of which were small birds, authorities said.

The 579 animals in the pet shop at Plaza Latina in Northwest Dallas died from smoke inhalation, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesperson Jason Evans said in a statement.

The flames from the fire never reached the animals. Chickens, hamsters, two dogs and two cats also died, Evans said.

The two-alarm fire took about two hours and as many as 45 firefighters to extinguish around 11 a.m., Evans said.

No people were injured in the fire. The structure of the large, one-story shopping center was severely damaged, including a partially collapsed roof, Evans said.

The shopping center includes multiple small businesses and was described on its Facebook page as “a place where people can go to eat, and buy all sorts of Latin goods and services.” A post on the page in Spanish asked for prayers for the families who work there.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined and is under investigation, Evans said.