News in Brief
China names Li Qiang premier
AP – China on Saturday named Li Qiang, a close confidant of top leader Xi Jinping, as the country’s next premier nominally in charge of the world’s second-largest economy.
Li was nominated by Xi and appointed to the position at Saturday morning’s session of the National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial parliament. That came a day after Xi, 69, secured a norms-breaking third five-year term as state leader, setting him up to possibly rule for life.
Pope: Ukraine war fuelled not just by ‘Russian empire’
REUTERS – The war in Ukraine is driven by the interests of several “empires” and not just of Russia’s, Pope Francis said in an interview published on Friday.
Francis said the conflict was fuelled by “imperial interests, not just of the Russian empire, but of empires from elsewhere”, according to Reuters.
He expressed a readiness to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin to call for peace.
Chile’s president shakes up cabinet
AP – President Gabriel Boric shook up his cabinet on Friday, replacing five of his 24 ministers on the eve of beginning his second year in power, announcing the change two days after Chile’s lawmakers rejected a proposed tax overhaul for financing most of his government program.
It was the second time Boric has carried out a major cabinet reshuffle. The previous overhaul came in September when 62% of voters rejected a new constitution that had been championed by the president.