Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has announced he will resign in the coming days after talks on forming a new government failed for a second time.

His declaration on Saturday came after the People’s Party and the Social Democratic Party 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,” Mr Nehammer from the conservative People’s Party said.

He claimed “destructive forces” in the Social Democratic Party had “gained the upper hand” and that the People’s Party would not sign on to a programme that is reportedly against economic competitiveness.

Social Democratic Party leader Andreas Babler said he regretted the decision by the People’s Party to end the negotiations, adding: “This is not a good decision for our country.”

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

He added: “I have offered to Karl Nehammer and the People’s Party to continue negotiating and called on them not to get up.”

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The next government in Austria faces the challenge of having to save between €18bn to €24bn, according to the EU Commission.

Austria has also 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%.

The talks have dragged on since Austria’s president, Alexander Van der Bellen, tasked the conservative chancellor in October with putting together a new government.

The request came after all other parties refused to work with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, which in September won a national election for the first time with 29.2% of the vote.

More than 6,000 prisoners have been released in Myanmar as part of an amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of the country’s independence from Britain.

The head of Myanmar’s military government has granted amnesties for 5,864 prisoners from the Southeast Asian country, as well as 180 foreigners who will now be deported, state-run media said.

The freed inmates included just a small proportion of hundreds of political detainees locked up for opposing army rule since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar’s military takeover in February 2021 was met with a huge nonviolent resistance, which has since developed into a widespread armed struggle.

The freeing of prisoners began on Saturday and in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, buses took detainees out of the Insein Prison. Many were met by loved ones who eagerly held up signs with their names.

If the freed inmates break the law again, they will have to serve the remainder of their sentences alongside any new ones, the terms of release state.

In another report, MRTV television said government leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has also reduced the life sentences of 144 prisoners to 15 years.

All other inmates’ sentences have been reduced by one sixth, apart from those convicted under the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Arms Act and the Counterterrorism Law – all laws which are often used against opponents of military rule.

According to rights organisation the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 28,096 people have been arrested on political charges since the army takeover, and 21,499 of those remained in jail as of Friday.

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Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for the military government, told journalists those released include about 600 people prosecuted under a law which makes it a crime to spread comments that create public unrest or fear, or spread false news.

There has been no suggestion the releases include that of Myanmar’s former leader Suu Kyi, who – now aged 79 – is serving a 27-year sentence after being prosecuted for a number of politically-tinged charges.

Most of the foreigners being freed are Thai people arrested for gambling in a border town, the spokesperson added.

It is not uncommon for Myanmar to mark holidays and significant occasions with prisoner releases.

The country became a British colony in the late 1800s and regained independence on 4 January 1948.

Drive an hour outside China’s commercial capital Shanghai, and you’ll reach Elon Musk’s Tesla gigafactory.

It manufactures almost one million Tesla cars a year and produces more than half of all its cars worldwide.

But with US president-elect Donald Trump preparing to move into the White House, the relationship between his new buddy Elon Musk and the leadership of China‘s Communist Party is in sharp focus.

Shanghai has been the key to Tesla’s success, largely thanks to the city’s former Communist Party secretary, now China’s premier, Li Qiang.

Chief executive of Shanghai-based Auto Mobility Limited, Bill Russo, says: “Qiang is China’s number two person. His position in Shanghai made everything possible for Tesla.”

He added: “In 2017, China adjusted its policy guidelines for the automotive industry to allow foreign companies to own their factories in China.

“Tesla signed its deal in 2018, broke ground in 2019, and started producing the Model 3 in 2020.”

The factory opened at breakneck speak and in record time.

In April, Musk met Qiang in Beijing, later posting on X: “Honoured to meet with Premier Li Qiang. We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days.”

The Musk-China ties go all the way to the top.

When China’s President Xi Jinping visited the US in November 2023 he met Musk, who posted: “May there be prosperity for all” – echoing the language often used by China’s government.

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Musk has previously weighed into the debate over the status of Taiwan. Two years ago, he suggested tensions could be eased by giving China some control over Taiwan.

This comment incensed Taiwan’s leaders.

Chinese commentator Einar Tangen, from the Taihe Institute in Beijing, says: “If Musk had said anything else, he could face action against the Shanghai plants. He’s not going to endanger that. He’s playing both sides for his own advantage.”

What’s in it for China?

Musk needs China, and in the months to come, China may need Musk.

He could act as a well-connected middleman between the Chinese Communist Party and Trump, in the face of a potential global trade war.

“Like it or not, we are living in a world where China is the dominant player in the race to an electric future,” says Russo.

Musk pioneered the EV industry in China, but is now struggling to compete with local car brands like BYD and Nio.

The relationship between Musk and Trump could become volatile, but for now, Musk stands to benefit.

“Donald Trump has never had a problem giving exceptions to friends,” Tangen says.

“It fits his personality, that he can grant pardons and give favours to the people and companies he chooses.”

Musk ‘the pioneer’

Musk is well regarded as a pioneer in China and most people speak of him highly.

Strolling along the Bund waterfront area in Shanghai, Benton Tang says: “Tesla really impacted the entire industry here.

“It pushed people to develop and improve the quality, the design and especially the price.”

Interest in the Musk family has also gripped China’s online community.

His mother, Maye Musk, frequently visits the country, where she has a huge social media following as a senior-age celebrity fashion icon and endorses several Chinese products including a mattress brand.

Her book, A Woman Makes A Plan, has been translated into Chinese and is a bestseller here.

Meanwhile, as the countdown to Trump’s inauguration gains pace, the spotlight on the president-elect’s coterie of advisers intensifies.

In the middle of the glare is Elon Musk.

China waits to see what that will mean for them.