Cabinet

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s prime minister dissolved his 50-plus member Cabinet yesterday in order to replace it with a smaller group in response to demands for greater financial savings in the economically struggling country. Dissolution of the Cabinet, which included a mass resignation by ministers, is a concession to opposition leaders. The government is seeking their support to pass a broad economic overhaul insisted upon by international lenders whose billions are keeping Pakistan afloat.

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin revealed the makeup of Russia's new Cabinet of ministers Monday, after repeated delays that sparked speculation that Kremlin power groupings were fighting over key positions. The list was notable for the absence of several Putin-era heavyweights, and included many new names, though none of them high profile or known to be proponents of radical change. The most significant player to leave the Cabinet is Deputy Prime Minister Igor I. Sechin, considered the leader of a group known as the siloviki, powerful Putin allies who once served in Russia's...

Russian President Vladimir Putin named a new Cabinet on Monday that retained some of the outgoing government's key figures but added a few fresh faces, cementing his grip on power as he begins his third presidential term. Putin, who has ruled Russia for more 12 years, kept the foreign, defense and finance ministers, but replaced some of the most unpopular Cabinet members. The dismissals, however, do not necessarily mean that they have been completely purged from officialdom. Russian media are speculating that some could get other senior jobs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin named a new Cabinet on Monday that retained some of the outgoing government's key figures but added a few fresh faces, cementing his grip on power as he begins his third presidential term. Putin, who has ruled Russia for more 12 years, kept the foreign, defense and finance ministers, but replaced some of the most unpopular Cabinet members. The dismissals, however, do not necessarily mean that they have been completely purged from officialdom. Russian media are speculating that some could get other senior jobs.

Libya's interim ruling council has fired the nation's Cabinet just five months after it took office, citing incompetence, two senior officials said Thursday, just two months before the country's first national election. National Transitional Council official Fathi Baja told The Associated Press that 65 of the NTC's 72-members approved a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib in a meeting Wednesday. It's the latest blow to Libya, struggling to reorganize after the overthrow of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

President Obama said yesterday that Small Business Administration chief Karen Mills, who is from Brunswick, will become part of his Cabinet. The announcement came as Obama asked Congress to give him authority to reorganize and consolidate government. The decision to bring Mills into the Cabinet does not require congressional approval. Mills has headed the federal agency since 2009. (AP)

Kuwait's ruler has named the Gulf nation's new government, appointing the prime minister who served in a caretaker role before parliamentary elections earlier this month. The new Cabinet announced Tuesday also has no women. It's the first time since 2005 that women are absent from Kuwait's top political affairs. No women were elected to the new parliament, which had four female lawmakers in the last assembly. Besides Prime Minister Sheik Jaber Al Hamad Al Sabah, the 16-seat Cabinet has four other members of the ruling family.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's ruling military council promised Sunday to reshuffle the Cabinet, hours after the Islamist-dominated parliament suspended sessions to protest the panel's failure to heed repeated calls for the government's dismissal. Parliament Speaker Saad el-Katatni said he received a call from the ruling generals promising to announce a reshuffle within 48 hours. Although the concession fell short of the parliament's demand for a whole new Cabinet, the speaker said the call restored parliament's ‘‘dignity.

TOKYO - Japan's prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, removed his gaffe-prone defense minister yesterday as part of a Cabinet reshuffling aimed at winning support for a tax increase to trim his nation's soaring debt. Noda replaced five of the 17 ministers in his Cabinet. These included the former defense minister, Yasuo Ichikawa, who had been censured by the opposition after boasting that he knew little about the 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen on Okinawa, a crime that caused a backlash against US bases on the island.

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin revealed the makeup of Russia's new Cabinet of ministers Monday, after repeated delays that sparked speculation that Kremlin power groupings were fighting over key positions. The list was notable for the absence of several Putin-era heavyweights, and included many new names, though none of them high profile or known to be proponents of radical change. The most significant player to leave the Cabinet is Deputy Prime Minister Igor I. Sechin, considered the leader of a group known as the siloviki, powerful Putin allies who once served in Russia's...

Members of France's new Socialist-led government are taking office and preparing for their first Cabinet meeting with President Francois Hollande. New Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, a moderate longtime legislator valued for his knowledge of Germany, named the Cabinet on Wednesday night. The ministers are taking office Thursday in ceremonies bidding farewell to their conservative counterparts who served under former President Nicolas Sarkozy. The new Cabinet meets later Thursday.

ATHENS, Greece — Greece on Thursday swore in 300 legislators for just one day before it dissolves Parliament and calls new elections, among them 21 lawmakers from Golden Dawn — arguably the most far-right party to be involved in a European national legislature since Nazi-era Germany. Formerly a shadowy fringe group, Golden Dawn vehemently rejects the neo-Nazi label, insisting it is a nationalist patriotic party, but its meteoric rise from a largely marginalized outfit a few years ago to one that won nearly 7 percent in recent elections has alarmed many in Greece and in Europe.

Palestinian officials say Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is replacing almost half of his West Bank-based Cabinet. The reshuffle is a clear sign that efforts to end the Palestinian political split and blend separate governments in the West Bank and Gaza are stuck. The West Bank is run by internationally backed pragmatists while the militant Hamas is in charge in Gaza since a violent 2007 takeover. A Palestinian unity deal has been held up by repeated disagreements. The officials say the 10 new ministers are to be sworn in later Wednesday.

The Haitian government is drafting legislation for the newly emerging mining industry to help this impoverished Caribbean nation reap benefits, the new prime minister said Tuesday. Laurent Lamothe, who saw his Cabinet and policy plan approved hours earlier, told The Associated Press during an interview that the legislation will be sent to Parliament soon. It will lay out rules apportioning royalties for the government and setting protections for the people and environment that could be affected by mines.

A South African Cabinet minister died while attending an African Union meeting in Ethiopia, South Africa's president said Saturday. In a statement Saturday, President Jacob Zuma did not give a cause of death for Roy Padayachie, 62, who died Friday in the Ethiopian capital, where the AU is headquartered. "No amount of words can express this loss that the government and people of South Africa feel," Zuma said. Padayachie had been moved from minister of communications to minister for public service and administration in October in a Cabinet shuffle that became...

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai will resign by the end of the month as part of an agreement Nepal's major political parties reached overnight to create a new coalition government, an aide said Friday. Bhattarai's Cabinet resigned Thursday night to make way for the new government, his press adviser Ram Rijan Yadav said. Bhattarai will form the new government, including members of all major parties in Nepal, by the weekend to help draft a new constitution by a May 27 deadline.

The Haitian government is drafting legislation for the newly emerging mining industry to help this impoverished Caribbean nation reap benefits, the new prime minister said Tuesday. Laurent Lamothe, who saw his Cabinet and policy plan approved hours earlier, told The Associated Press during an interview that the legislation will be sent to Parliament soon. It will lay out rules apportioning royalties for the government and setting protections for the people and environment that could be affected by mines.

CAIRO - Egypt's ruling military council promised Sunday to reshuffle the Cabinet, hours after the Islamist-dominated Parliament suspended sessions to protest the panel's failure to heed calls for the government's dismissal. Parliament speaker Saad el-Katatni said he received a call from the ruling generals promising to announce a shake-up within 48 hours. Although the concession fell short of the Parliament's demand for a whole new Cabinet, the speaker said the call restored Parliament's "dignity.

A policy barring foreign tourists from buying marijuana in the Netherlands went into effect in parts of the country Tuesday, with attention focused on the southern city of Maastricht, where a cafe was warned over violating the ban and a buyers' protest is planned for later in the day. Weed is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but it has been sold openly for decades in small amounts in designated cafes known as "coffee shops" under the...

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's ruling military council promised Sunday to reshuffle the Cabinet, hours after the Islamist-dominated parliament suspended sessions to protest the panel's failure to heed repeated calls for the government's dismissal. Parliament Speaker Saad el-Katatni said he received a call from the ruling generals promising to announce a reshuffle within 48 hours. Although the concession fell short of the parliament's demand for a whole new Cabinet, the speaker said the call restored parliament's ‘‘dignity.