Li Keqiang: China’s former deputy leader suffers fatal heart attack
China’s former deputy leader Li Keqiang has died after suffering a heart attack.
The English-speaking economist, 68, had once been considered a contender for the country’s top job, but was passed over in favour of Xi Jinping.
Under the centralising grip of President Xi and his amassing of ever-greater powers, China’s premier and second-in-charge became increasingly sidelined.
While Mr Li, a champion for private business, had promised to improve conditions for entrepreneurs who generate jobs and wealth, the leadership increased the dominance of state industry and tightened control over tech and other industries.
It left Mr Li and others on the party’s ruling seven-member standing committee with little influence.
He was dropped from the group in October 2022 despite being two years below the informal retirement age of 70.
On the same day, President Xi awarded himself a third five-year term as party leader, ditching a tradition under which his predecessors stepped down after 10 years.
He filled the top party ranks with loyalists, ending the era of consensus leadership and raising the prospect of him holding the top job for life.
The number two slot was filled by Li Qiang, a figure from Mr Xi’s days in provincial government, who lacked his predecessor’s national-level experience.
His departure marked a shift away from the skilled technocrats who have helped steer China’s economy in favour of officials known mainly for their unquestioned loyalty to the president.
President Xi sidelined his deputy as he tightened his grip on power
Mr Li’s sudden death has shocked many people in the country, with a related hashtag on the Chinese social media platform Weibo attracting more than one billion views in just a few hours.
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On posts about Li, the “like” button was turned into a daisy – a common flower for funerals in China, and many users commented “rest in peace”.
Others described his death as a loss and said he worked hard and made a great contribution to China.
Beijing resident Xia Fan, 20, hailed him “a really conscientious and responsible premier”.
“He really accompanied the growth of our generation, that’s how it feels in my heart,” she said.
The number two slot was filled by Li Qiang, a crony of Mr Xi. Pic AP
Designer Chen Hui praised the contribution made by Mr Li.
He said: “If I were to talk about it, it’s impossible to finish it in one day. It’s a pity.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also expressed his condolences, as has Japan’s embassy in China, which highlighted his important role in relations between the two countries.
Born in 1955, Mr Li was from a generation of politicians schooled during a time of greater openness to liberal Western ideas.
Introduced to politics during the chaotic 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, he made it into prestigious Peking University on his own merits rather than through political connections.
He held a series of provincial posts and jobs at ministries in Beijing, on a career path meant to prepare future leaders.
He joined the party’s central committee in 2007.
As premier, he guided the world’s second-largest economy through challenges such as tensions with the United States and the COVID pandemic.
Porn star Stormy Daniels has described to jurors an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter she claims she had with Donald Trump in 2006.
Ms Daniels was testifying at the former president’s criminal trial over hush money she was paid to keep silent about the alleged encounter during the presidential race.
But it was not all bad news for Mr Trump. On the day the court heard from Ms Daniels, his trial in Florida on charges of illegally keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving office, scheduled to start on 20 May, was postponed indefinitely by a federal judge.
Ms Daniels, 45, speaking at the “hush money” trial, said she tried not to think about having sex with him while it was allegedly taking place.
Trump trial as it happened: Raging ex-president calls for mistrial over ‘difficult to control’ witness Stormy Daniels
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Stormy Daniels recalls bedroom encounter with Trump
Mr Trump, 76, stared straight ahead when she entered the courtroom and occasionally shook his head and whispered to his lawyer.
After the lunch break, Mr Trump’s defence lawyers demanded a mistrial over what they said were prejudicial and irrelevant comments.
The judge rejected the defence’s request and said defence lawyers should have raised more objections during the testimony.
Later in the day, the Trump team used its opportunity to question Ms Daniels to paint her as motivated by personal hatred of the former president and hoping to profit off her claims against him.
“Am I correct that you hate President Trump?” defence lawyer Susan Necheles asked.
“Yes,” Ms Daniels acknowledged.
Donald Trump in court. Pic: Reuters
Stormy Daniels in Manhattan in 2018. Pic: AP
Hush money payment
In the final weeks of Mr Trump’s 2016 Republican presidential campaign, his then-lawyer and personal fixer Michael Cohen paid Ms Daniels $130,000 (£103,000) to keep quiet about what she described as an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter with Mr Trump at a celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe in July 2006.
Mr Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 2018 related to the payments and served more than a year in prison – with federal prosecutors saying he acted at Mr Trump’s direction.
Mr Trump, the Republican candidate for president again this year, has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records to cover up the payment and denies having sex with Ms Daniels.
Trump’s ex-personal lawyer Michael Cohen served more than a year in prison. Pic: AP
Imbalance of power
Ms Daniels described how an initial meeting at the golf tournament, where they discussed the adult film industry, progressed to a “brief” sexual encounter she said Mr Trump initiated after inviting her to dinner and back to his hotel suite.
She said she did not feel physically or verbally threatened during the encounter, but she perceived an imbalance of power, with Mr Trump being “bigger and blocking the way”.
She said she found it “hard to get my shoes” after it ended “because my hands were shaking so hard”.
“He said, ‘Oh, it was great. Let’s get together again, honey bunch’,” Ms Daniels said. “I just wanted to leave.”
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This was Donald Trump with his trousers down – no doubt | James Matthews
Daniels expected to return to witness stand
Mr Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the hush money payments.
Speaking outside of court at the end of the day, Mr Trump said: “This was a very big day, a very revealing day. As you see their case is totally falling apart.”
Ms Daniels is expected to return to the witness stand when the trial resumes tomorrow.
There are moments, more than others, that scream the humiliation of it all.
Take this, before Tuesday’s proceedings got underway. “No descriptions of genitalia or anything but it’s important to elicit that she had sex with him.”
It was the prosecution’s assurance prior to questioning Stormy Daniels after Donald Trump’s lawyers had objected, in advance, to her testifying to the details of sexual acts.
It would be that kind of day in this kind of trial.
Trump trial as it happened: Stormy Daniels accused of car park ‘threat’ lie
In a dingy New York courtroom, this was the president and the porn star, together again, in a reunion most reductive for Mr Trump.
He might have secured guarantees on anatomical detail but, from the moment the court heard “The People call Stormy Daniels” this was Mr Trump with his trousers down, no doubt.
Ms Daniels told her story, of growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the daughter of a single mother. She edited her high school newspaper, enjoyed ballet dancing and horses and had ambitions to be a technician.
By the time she met Mr Trump, aged 27, we learned she was an adult film actress and director, star of the likes of 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up.
By her telling, the Trump encounter was more Austin Powers – the penthouse suite, the satin pyjamas and the spanking with a rolled-up magazine.
“Bullshit,” Mr Trump was heard to mutter. His problem is that this kind of bullshit sticks.
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Stormy Daniels recalls bedroom encounter with Trump
Whatever his lawyers’ protestations about Ms Daniels’ credibility – and there are holes – that’s hardly the headline for a watching, voting, public.
What will they take from court to the polling booth in November? Quite apart from the imagery, what message does it send to key demographics?
An affair with a porn star, whilst married, is a poor fit with the principles of evangelicals, so critical to the Trump vote in 2016. Suburban women might also reel from this tawdry peek backstage at the presidency.
How much will Mr Trump worry? About $130,000 (£103,000) worth. It is the premium he paid to stop the story coming out in the first place.
Sadly, for him, the insurance policy has run out.
World
Israel-Hamas war: Hostages’ families urge PM Benjamin Netanyahu to take a deal to get their loved ones home
There is anxiety in Museum Square in Tel Aviv – a space which has turned into a commemoration centre for the 132 hostages still held by Hamas.
A place for quiet contemplation, as well as for crowds who gather hand-in-hand to solemnly sing Israel‘s national anthem.
An agreement to get the hostages out of Gaza is far from certain.
The crowd sings Israel’s national anthem in Tel Aviv
Israel-Gaza war: Latest updates
There is so much confusion around any potential deal.
But most people here want their prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to come to an agreement and get the captives back home.
We had a chance encounter with Yehuda Cohen.
His 19-year-old son Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli soldier, was taken on 7 October.
Mr Cohen’s message to Israel’s leadership was simple – take a deal.
Right now, however, he is not very hopeful.
“Nothing is moving, we will feel better when something will start moving, that a deal will be on the table, agreed and hostages will start being released,” he said.
Yehuda Cohen, father of Nimrod Cohen
Nimrod Cohen is among the hostages
Mr Cohen had particular criticism for Mr Netanyahu.
He said of the PM: “He has his own considerations, mainly his private considerations – he wants to survive, he’s thinking only about himself.”
Mr Cohen even challenged Mr Netanyahu in person a few weeks ago about whether a ceasefire would guarantee the release of all the hostages. He did not get an answer.
Simona Steinbrecher, mother of Doron Steinbrecher
Doron Steinbrecher
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Doron Steinbrecher, a 31-year-old veterinary nurse, lived at Kibbutz Kfar Aza when Hamas took her away.
The only proof of her abduction was a solitary message on WhatsApp.
“They’ve arrived, they have me,” she wrote.
Her mother Simona Steinbrecher thinks of little else all day.
She says any deal should be accepted to get her daughter back home.
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But she admits: “I’m afraid the deal won’t be done, so I don’t even let myself think about it.
“Until someone tells me – Simona, your daughter has come back, I don’t think about it.”
Seven months into this conflict, following Hamas’ killings and kidnappings, the latest talk of an agreement – however near or far it could be – simply provides no relief for so many hostage families.
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