Cabinet

Pakistan's ruling party Friday authorized a sweeping overhaul of the country's Cabinet that probably will mean a marked reduction in the number of ministers, a response to critics who have called the bloated government's size an impediment to economic reform. International lenders and opposition leaders have been keeping up pressure on the ruling Pakistan People's Party to slash the size of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's Cabinet, a bulky roster of 52 ministers and advisors. World lending groups such as the International Monetary Fund provide billions of dollars in loans that help keep the country's fragile economy from collapsing, but they are now demanding a tax overhaul and spending cuts in return for their financial assistance.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's nominee to lead the Energy Department won unanimous confirmation by the Senate on Thursday while two other Cabinet choices narrowly advanced out of committee, amid complaints from Democrats over Republican delaying tactics. Ernest J. Moniz, an MIT physics professor who becomes the new Energy secretary, is the fifth Cabinet appointment confirmed since Obama won a second term, and the first without any Republican dissent. By comparison, all but one of President George W. Bush's 11 initial second-term appointments were confirmed by the end of April, even though his party held no more Senate seats than Democrats control now. Republicans had delayed consideration of Thomas E. Perez, Obama's choice to lead the Labor Department, and Environmental Protection Agency nominee Gina McCarthy before Thursday's party-line committee votes to recommend them to the full Senate.

The crafted cabinet of select timber and hand-hammered metal timber, designed by Tony Stuart, opens up to form a cocktail bar. It was displayed to very good advantage in the fifth-floor corridor of the center's Green Building by the firm of Uniquely Australian. Its showroom wasn't quite ready but its products were, the cabinet being one of a wide selection from Down Under.

Amgen Inc. is a biotechnology company that develops medicines used in the treatment of cancer, kidney disease, arthritis, bone disease and other serious illnesses. The Thousand Oaks company's top-selling products include arthritis medication Enbrel, osteoporosis drug Prolia and anemia medicines Aranesp and Epogen. And its Neulasta helps the body generate white-blood cells to prevent infection during chemotherapy treatment. Amgen earned $4.3 billion last year on record revenue of $17.3 billion.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's nominee to lead the Energy Department won unanimous confirmation by the Senate on Thursday while two other Cabinet choices narrowly advanced out of committee, amid complaints from Democrats over Republican delaying tactics. Ernest J. Moniz, an MIT physics professor who becomes the new Energy secretary, is the fifth Cabinet appointment confirmed since Obama won a second term, and the first without any Republican dissent. By comparison, all but one of President George W. Bush's 11 initial second-term appointments were confirmed by the end of April, even though his party held no more Senate seats than Democrats control now. Republicans had delayed consideration of Thomas E. Perez, Obama's choice to lead the Labor Department, and Environmental Protection Agency nominee Gina McCarthy before Thursday's party-line committee votes to recommend them to the full Senate.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Friday that he plans to stay mayor until the end of his term June 30, an announcement aimed at ending talk of him taking a post as President Obama's secretary of Transportation. "I have said many times that I will be focused on my job as mayor of Los Angeles until 11:59 and 59 seconds on June 30, 2013," Villaraigosa said in a prepared statement. "I am flattered and humbled by the speculation that has included my name for a possible Cabinet secretary position, but I am firmly committed to remaining in L.A. and finishing my term.

A hard-line group demanded Friday that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad obey the country's supreme leader or risk losing the confidence of lawmakers from his own conservative political camp. The Front Loyal to Imam and Leadership, a group of 14 conservative political parties and organizations led by prominent hard-liner Habibollah Asgaroladi, demanded that Ahmadinejad consult with his supporters before making appointments to his Cabinet, which he must submit for approval within 12 days.

Benjamin Netanyahu, taking office as Israeli prime minister amid heckling by leftist and Arab lawmakers, offered Tuesday to seek a "permanent arrangement" for limited Palestinian self-rule. "We do not wish to rule another people," the conservative leader declared in a speech to the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

Heavy gunfire erupted in the heart of Tunisia's capital on Sunday as the army appeared to be closing in on stalwarts of the regime driven from power last week and the interim government prepared to name a new Cabinet free of any major figures linked to deposed President Zine el Abidine ben Ali. Former Interior Minister Rafik Belhaj Kassim was taken into custody in his hometown of Beja, about 60 miles west of Tunis, the capital, a day after the...

A Cabinet packed with politicians tied to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was sworn in by King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej leads a lineup criticized by the news media and the public as unqualified, unsuitable and tainted by allegations of corruption. Samak himself is under investigation for corruption stemming from his tenure as Bangkok's mayor. The new Cabinet includes an interior minister accused of subverting justice and a deputy prime minister who was Thailand's first high-profile politician to be banned from public office temporarily.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama will nominate Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx as the new secretary of Transportation on Monday, a White House official said. If confirmed, Foxx would take charge of a department that has been in the spotlight of late because of flight delays associated with furloughs of air traffic controllers. Last week, under pressure from inconvenienced travelers, Congress passed legislation allowing the Federal Aviation Administration - part of the Transportation Department -- to halt the furloughs, which are related to $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts.

CAIRO - Egypt's besieged justice minister has submitted his resignation after protests over the weekend by Islamists, who want to purge the courts of judges and lawyers perceived as political enemies of President Mohamed Morsi. Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki, who has wanted to quit his post for months, offered his latest resignation amid anger at the inability of Morsi's government to revive the nation's economy and ease political divisions. Morsi announced Saturday that he would soon reshuffle his Cabinet.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's pick for Labor secretary, Thomas E. Perez, emerged unscathed Thursday from a Senate confirmation hearing that was more perfunctory than contentious. Conservatives have been critical of Perez, the administration's top civil rights enforcer, portraying him as a dangerous liberal who would be an overly assertive regulator at the Labor Department. But despite predictions that his confirmation could be acrimonious, there was very little of the tough questioning that Republican adversaries said he deserved.

Re "Palestinian politics do matter," Opinion, March 24 Khaled Elgindy, a former advisor to Palestinian leadership, is right when he says, "The United States does not have to like Palestinian politics or endorse its themes or outcomes - any more than it needs to embrace the appointment of pro-settlement and anti-peace figures to Israel's Cabinet - but it does need to acknowledge them. " Israelis are fond of saying, "How can you expect us to negotiate with organizations that want to destroy our state?"

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Monday named the nation's top civil rights lawyer, Thomas E. Perez, to lead the Labor Department, setting up the next confirmation fight with congressional Republicans who vowed to investigate the nominee's record on voting rights and immigration. Perez, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, would replace Hilda L. Solis, the former California congresswoman who stepped down after four years. If confirmed, Perez would be the only Latino so far in Obama's second-term Cabinet.

The Tunisian prime minister stepped down Tuesday after failing to form a new government, a move he had hoped would defuse tensions in the divided country. Hamadi Jebali had tried to persuade his ruling Nahda party, a moderate Islamist faction, to dissolve its Cabinet and create a new government of technocrats. The revamped government was meant to dial down tensions after the assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid, which infuriated secular liberals and propelled thousands of protesters into the streets early this month.

Japan's beleaguered prime minister has unveiled a new Cabinet intended to turn the tide of his unpopularity and regain the support of voters worried about rising prices and fed up with scandals. But the shake-up produced mostly old-guard faces, and the opposition derided it as merely a cosmetic change and a publicity stunt. Yasuo Fukuda, who has seen his ratings nose-dive in recent months amid accusations of bribery in the bureaucracy and lost pension records, said the new Cabinet would focus on reforms but needed veterans to carry out his policies.

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto reshuffled his Cabinet after his reelection as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, giving a major post to a lawmaker convicted of taking bribes. His Cabinet choices signaled no major policy changes and include mostly veteran lawmakers whose task will be to continue the administrative and fiscal reforms that he has made his government's main priority. But the appointment of Koko Sato, convicted in the 1980s of taking bribes from Lockheed Corp.

TUNIS, Tunisia - Tunisia's Islamist-led government Thursday rejected a proposal by its prime minister to form a new Cabinet amid growing political tension after nationwide protests sparked by the assassination of a key opposition figure. The announcement by the dominant Nahda party highlighted differences among Islamists and spurred fresh uncertainty over how to keep the slaying of Chokri Belaid, a fierce government critic, from tipping the economically fragile country into deeper unrest.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Friday that he plans to stay mayor until the end of his term June 30, an announcement aimed at ending talk of him taking a post as President Obama's secretary of Transportation. "I have said many times that I will be focused on my job as mayor of Los Angeles until 11:59 and 59 seconds on June 30, 2013," Villaraigosa said in a prepared statement. "I am flattered and humbled by the speculation that has included my name for a possible Cabinet secretary position, but I am firmly committed to remaining in L.A. and finishing my term.