Politics

Bloomberg Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga suffered a fresh blow amid criticism of his pandemic management, when his favoured candidate lost an election for mayor in city where he began his political career. Hachiro Okonogi was defeated by Takeharu Yamanaka, a former university professor supported by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in the race for mayor of Yokohama, ...

Bloomberg The US is placing “paramount priority” on defending crowds at Kabul airport seeking to leave Afghanistan against a potential IS terrorist attack, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. “The threat is real, it is acute, it is persistent and it is something that we are focused on with every tool in our arsenal,” Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of ...

Bloomberg The Defense Department told US airlines to provide 18 planes to aid in the Afghanistan evacuation effort, saying the extra capacity will help military aircraft focus on operations in and out of Kabul. Activation of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program involves four planes from United Airlines, three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni ...

Bloomberg Austria’s government said it won’t accept asylum seekers fleeing the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and will instead focus on assisting them locally. “I am clearly against voluntarily accepting more people,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said, according to excerpts of an interview published by broadcaster Puls 24. “That won’t happen on my watch.” The ruling People’s Party has taken a hard ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel reinforced her vow to push for additional sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin uses the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany as a “weapon.” The comments came two days after President Vladimir Putin raised the stakes in mounting tension over energy with the EU. Putin imposed conditions on any extension of a gas-transit ...

Bloomberg Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob struck a tone of reconciliation in his inaugural public address, seeking to bring stability to a nation that has seen three premiers in 18 months. Ismail extended an invitation to opposition leaders to be part of the National Recovery Council that oversees the country’s plan to exit the pandemic, and the special Covid-19 ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven shocked the political establishment on Sunday by announcing he will end his seven-year term in November, as well as stepping down as the leader of the Social Democrats. “In next year’s election campaign, the party will be led by someone other than me,” Lofven, 64, said in a speech outside Stockholm. The former union ...

Bloomberg US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim, who is currently visiting South Korea, is planning to meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Seoul on Monday to discuss North Korea issues, Yonhap News reported. Kim arrived at the Incheon International Airport on Saturday, just hours before Morgulov was due to land, Yonhap said. Kim is scheduled to ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden’s promise to help vulnerable Afghans flee their country in the face of a Taliban onslaught is running up against his reluctance to budge from an August 31 deadline to withdraw all US forces. Refugee groups and former officials says he can’t sustain both. Biden said he was essentially putting Afghan allies of US and Nato forces ...

Bloomberg Ismail Sabri Yaakob was sworn in as Malaysia’s third prime minister in 18 months, heralding the return of a pro-Malay party that has dominated politics for decades and as the focus on reviving a pandemic-ridden economy becomes more urgent. The monarch presided over the swearing-in ceremony for Ismail, 61, the deputy leader of the previous government and a longtime ...