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 ...