WILLEMSTAD - Gilmar Pisas was just sworn in as Prime Minister of Curaçao. The party of the convicted former Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte returns to power thanks to the appointment of his party colleague as head of the interim government. According to Schotte, Pisas’ appointment is just temporarily. Pisas will have to make way for Charles Cooper who has not yet passed the screening process.

Schotte himself did not make any attempt to be a minister because he will not pass the screening. But the former prime minister is the leader of the coup that tumbled the former government of Hensley Koeiman only fifty days after its inauguration.

The new interim government Pisa's, consisting of ministers from Schotte's MFK, Korsou di Nos Tur (KdNT), Movementu Progresivo (MP) and two independent MPs means that the parties which are now in power are much more critical towards the Netherlands. According to Schotte, the Netherlands has suppressed the island through the judicial system. Also, the leader of the KdNT, the businessman Amparo dos Santos is in favor of a total independence of the island.

Officially the interim Prime Minister Pisas is only minding the store for a while and to ensure that the new elections take place in late April. Schotte, however, has indicated that he does not want elections. If it were up to him, his new team will stay in power. But the elections cannot be canceled.

It is the first time since Schotte's tumultuous resignation in 2012 that the controversial politician again represents the most powerful governing party in Curaçao. In September of that year, he locked himself in the government building Fort Amsterdam before finally giving up power. </s> " Albania's prime minister has replaced four Cabinet ministers who he says stepped down to devote their time to campaigning for the June 18 parliamentary election. Edi Rama said after a meeting of his Socialist Party's leadership Monday that Fatmir Xhafaj would be the new interior minister, Ogerta Manastirliu the new health minister, Olta Xhacka the social wellbeing minister and Eduard Shalsi the state minister for local affairs.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The New Zealand Herald. </s> LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra will name actor and former culture minister Salvador del Solar as his new prime minister on Monday, three sources said.

Salvador del Solar, who was culture minister under disgraced former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski for about a year, will be sworn in later on Monday, the sources said. The sources asked not to be named because an announcement had not yet been made. </s> Billy is the editor of Verdict. You can reach him at billy.bambrough@verdict.co.uk

Eurozone finance ministers will convene in Brussels today to decide who will be the next European Central Bank (ECB) vice-president.

Ministers are also expected to review Greece’s economic adjustment programme, the reform of the European Stability Mechanism.

Last week it was revealed the economic committee of the European Parliament sees Irish central bank governor Philip Lane as a stronger candidate for the post of European Central Bank vice president than Spanish economy minister Luis de Guindos.

However, after intense lobbying of German chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders by Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister, Guindos would appear on track to win support for the job today.

Vitor Constancio has been ECB vice-president since June 2010. Before that he served as governor of the Bank of Portugal from 2000.

Officials from Austria, Cyprus and Finland say they are leaning toward supporting Guindos, according to the Bloomberg survey.

Euro zone ministers pick a candidate today with a formal vote tomorrow when they are joined by non-euro zone EU finance ministers.

The candidate then has a hearing with the parliament’s committee and the ECB is asked for an opinion.

Who are the two candidates?

Lane is a member of the ECB’s governing council and is well versed in how the Bank works — this could be a deciding factor in the race.

However, there have been reports suggesting Lane is more interested the position of ECB chief economist, which will be vacant next year.

Guindos — a former finance minister but not a central banker — was criticised by the European Parliament for not having the right kind of experience for the ECB role.

As finance minister in the Spanish conservative government since 2011, he is the longest-serving member of the Eurogroup — and ran to be its president in 2015.

Guindos worked previously at Lehman Brothers bank and the PriceWaterhouseCoopers consultancy firm.

What was said:

The economic committee of the European Parliament chairman Roberto Gualtieri said in a statement:

Sven Giegold, the spokesman for economic and financial affairs for the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, said:

The appointment will be the first in a reshuffle in positions within the central bank that could change the course of its monetary policy.

Four out of six positions within the ECB executive board will have to be replaced by the end of 2019. The first of these will take place on June 1, which will be the new vice president’s first day on the job. </s> Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra has sworn in actor and former Culture Minister Salvador del Solar as his new prime minister in a cabinet reshuffle aimed at shoring up his slipping approval ratings.

The move on Monday comes days after former Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva stepped down amid calls for a government shakeup.

Vizcarra chose to keep Finance Minister Carlos Oliva and Energy and Mines Minister Francisco Ismodes in their posts but changed eight other ministers, including the production and agriculture ministers.

Del Solar, 48, has degrees in law and international relations but is best known for his roles in Spanish-language films and television series, including a turn as a priest in Netflix's drugs drama, Narcos.

He served as Peru's culture minister for about a year under former-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who resigned last March amid a region-wide corruption scandal.

Vizcarra, a former vice president, was sworn in as president shortly after.

Peruvian presidents often reshuffle their cabinets when approval ratings fall, though all recent presidents have ended their terms widely unpopular.

Vizcarra's approval rating rose to a high of 66 percent in January after he confronted the opposition-controlled Congress to push for anti-corruption measures, which had passed easily in a national referendum in December.

Corruption is seen as rife in Peru, where the last five former presidents have either been jailed on corruption charges or are currently under investigation for fraud.

Opposition leader Keiko Fujimori is also embroiled in an ongoing corruption investigation.

In February, Vizcarra faced criticism for travelling to Spain and Portugal on a state visit instead of visiting regions affected by flooding and landslides.

His approval rating dropped to 56 percent in March.

Despite bouts of political turmoil, Peru has been one of Latin America's most stable and fastest-growing economies this century. </s> Socialist Pedro Sánchez has been sworn in as the new prime minister of Spain, following the ousting of conservative Mariano Rajoy.

He took the oath alongside King Felipe VI in a brief ceremony in Madrid. </s> James Marape sworn in as Papua New Guinea's prime minister

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — Former Papua New Guinea Finance Minister James Marape has been sworn in as the country's new prime minister, following the resignation of Peter O'Neill last week.

Local media reported that the PNG parliament voted overwhelmingly for Marape on Thursday.

Marape told reporters that he doesn't have all the answers for the country, but would do his best to mobilize the talents of members of government, the opposition, and "more importantly, talents from the greater Papua New Guineans out there."

O'Neill resigned last Sunday after seven years on the job. His announcement followed weeks of high-profile defections from his government to the opposition. </s> Madrid (CNN) Pedro Sánchez was sworn in Saturday as Spain's Prime Minister, a day after ousting scandal-hit political rival Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote.

Sánchez, who leads the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, took the oath of office before King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace near Madrid. He was the first Spanish Prime Minister to be sworn in without a Bible or crucifix, according to his party.

"I promise by my conscience and honor to faithfully fulfill the obligations of the office of President of the Government with loyalty to the King, and to keep and enforce the Constitution as the fundamental norm of the State," Sánchez said.

Rajoy was present at the ceremony, shook Sánchez's hand and wished him good luck.

Pedro Sánchez takes the oath of office Saturday at the Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid.

The 46-year-old politician faces significant challenges as he assumes office. Spain was riven last year by the Catalan independence crisis, which remains unresolved , and many Spaniards continue to feel the effects of the global economic crisis.

Sánchez -- a pro-European economics professor who was a keen basketball player in his youth -- previously said he would call for snap elections should he become Prime Minister.

Sánchez will work on his Cabinet this weekend, and it will be announced at some point next week, his party said.

His Socialists secured support for the no-confidence motion from a number of other parties in parliament, including the anti-austerity Podemos, Catalan pro-independence parties and the Basque Nationalist Party.

Since his own party holds only 84 seats in the 350-seat chamber, Sánchez will need to keep those parties, with their differing agendas, on his side in order to pass any legislation.

Catalonia's separatist President Quim Torra called Saturday for dialogue with Sánchez as members of the Catalan regional executive were sworn in in Barcelona, ending seven months of direct rule by Madrid.

"President Pedro Sánchez: Let's talk and let's meet," Torra said. "Let's take risks, from your side and our side. Let's sit at the same table and negotiate from government to government. This situation we are experiencing can't go on any longer."

Some of the Cabinet members wore yellow at their swearing-in ceremony to recall Catalan separatists who remain in prison or in self-imposed exile over their role in the independence bid. Among those is Carles Puigdemont , the former president of Catalonia, who is currently in Germany.

Posting Friday on Twitter, Sánchez promised a fresh start for the country. "Spain starts a new page. A period to recover the dignity of its institutions. From responsibility, dialogue and consensus, it is time to work for equality, to build a country that does not leave anyone behind," he said.

Rajoy had been in power since 2011 as the head of the Popular Party. On Friday, he became the first leader in Spain's modern democracy to lose a no-confidence vote in parliament.

Rajoy's party has been plagued with corruption allegations for years. Rajoy has faced the humiliation of testifying in cases against its members, though he has not been among the accused.

The confidence motion was filed by Sánchez after a court convicted Rajoy's former aides of running slush funds to help finance Popular Party election campaigns. The court also questioned the credibility of Rajoy's testimony during the proceedings.

It was the first time in Spain that a party had been convicted and fined on corruption-related charges. </s> News of the day from around the world, May 6

Quarantined ship: Authorities in Curacao on Monday said 318 people aboard a Church of Scientology ship docked in the Dutch Caribbean island will remain quarantined until they determine how many might be infected with measles. Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth said a team of health officials took 277 blood samples and sent them to the Netherlands. He expects results on Tuesday or Wednesday. The 440-foot Freewinds ship was previously quarantined in St. Lucia after a female crew member was diagnosed with measles.

Panama election: Panama’s Electoral Court has declared opposition candidate Laurentino Cortizo the winner of the country’s presidential vote. The court said Cortizo of the Democratic Revolutionary Party won 33%, with 95% of ballots counted from Sunday’s vote. Cortizo, a cattle rancher, will formally be named president-elect on Thursday. “I call on all Panamanians to join in a national effort to correct the country’s path, rescue the country and get the economy on the right track,” Cortizo said Monday. Second-place candidate and businessman Rómulo Roux of former President Ricardo Martinelli’s Democratic Change party won 31% of the vote. The campaign focused on corruption and slowing economic growth in the Central America trade and financial hub and turned into the tightest presidential contest in recent years.

North Macedonia vote: Stevo Pendarovski, the presidential candidate backed by North Macedonia’s center-left government, won the presidency in a runoff election with a conservative rival. State election commission chief Oliver Derkorski announced late Sunday that Pendarovski had won with 51.8% of the votes. Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, the candidate favored by the conservative opposition party, got 44.5%. The election was seen as a test of the government’s pro-West policies. Pendarovski backed the government deal with Greece that renamed the country in exchange for NATO membership, while Siljankovska criticized it. The presidency is a mostly ceremonial position, with some powers to veto legislation.

Mexico crash: An executive jet flying 13 people from Las Vegas crashed in northern Mexico, authorities said Monday. An air search located the downed plane in a remote mountainous area near Ocampo on Monday, the Coahuila state government said in a statement. “There were no survivors seen,” the statement said. Local media reported the plane was carrying three crew members and 10 passengers. The jet left Las Vegas on Sunday and had been expected in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey. Local media reported the passengers were returning from a weekend trip that included seeing the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight.

Brunei human rights: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said a moratorium on capital punishment is in effect for new Shariah criminal laws including stoning people for gay sex and adultery that sparked an international outcry. The United Nations has called the laws implemented April 3 “draconian,” while the U.S. and several other countries have urged Brunei to halt its plans. Celebrities including George Clooney, Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have rallied for a boycott of nine hotels in the U.S. and Europe linked to Brunei. Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years. The new laws say those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped. Thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offense and a left foot on their second.
Gilmar Pisas is sworn in as Prime Minister of Curaçao.