President-elect Donald Trump is considering recess appointments to skip over Senate confirmations for some of the most powerful positions in the U.S. government.

The city of Florence is taking new measures to crack down on overtourism.

The specter of all-out combat between Israel and Hezbollah seems closer than ever before.

Israel says that halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the country's north to allow its residents to return to their homes there is now an official war goal as it considers a wider military operation in Lebanon.

Thousands of people have attended an anti-government rally organized by Poland’s nationalist conservative opposition party to boost support before next year’s presidential election.

It’s been a month since a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh's prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has named the ruling socialist party boss to oversee the country’s police forces.

Thailand's Constitutional Court has removed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office over an ethics violation.

Kenyan President William Ruto has dismissed almost all of his Cabinet ministers and promised to form a new government that will be lean and efficient following weeks of protests over high taxes and poor governance.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says a controversial Conservative policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is “dead and buried."

Egypt’s new Cabinet has been sworn in and features major changes in the defense, foreign ministry and economy portfolios as the country faces mounting public discontent and conflicts in neighboring nations.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has included seven different parties in his Cabinet in an unprecedented power-sharing agreement for the continent’s most industrialized country.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that Parliament will open on July 18 as he remains locked in negotiations with other parties to form a Cabinet well before then amid rifts in the new governing coalition.

Israeli officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the influential war Cabinet that was tasked with steering the war in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the influential war Cabinet that has overseen the fighting in Gaza.

Haiti’s transitional council has appointed a new Cabinet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as the country’s prime minister.

Haiti’s newly installed transitional council has chosen a little known former sports minister as the Caribbean country’s prime minister, as it tries to establish a stable new government amid stifling violence.

The Dutch parliament has named two new go-betweens to lead negotiations to form the next ruling coalition.

Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders says it is unfair and “constitutionally wrong” that he had to sacrifice his leadership aspirations in order to pave the way for a right-wing ruling coalition in the Netherlands after his party won elections in November.

Geert Wilders says he doesn’t have the support of his prospective coalition partners to become the next Dutch prime minister.

The 19-member Cabinet of Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been sworn into office.

An Israeli official says a top Cabinet minister's trip to Washington has angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Two years after Thailand made pot legal, the country appears set to crack down on its freewheeling drug market with a ban on “recreational” use.

Indonesia’s top security minister has resigned from the Cabinet of President Joko Widodo to focus on running for vice president in this month’s election.

The White House is laying out a new set of guidelines to ensure it will be informed any time a Cabinet head can’t carry out their job.

Canada’s government is preparing for the possibility that Donald Trump could reach the White House again.

Poland’s new parliament has reinstated government funding for in vitro fertilization, previously banned by the conservative party which lost control of the legislature in the country's recent general election.

Qatar has announced a truce-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas that would bring a four-day halt in fighting in a devastating six-week war.

Ecuadorian authorities say a seventh man accused in the assassination of a presidential candidate in August has been killed inside a prison.

Germany plans to ease rules for obtaining its citizenship under legislation approved by the Cabinet.

The Italian finance ministry is defending a proposed 40% tax on some bank profits as being in line with “already existing rules in Europe on extra bank margins.”.

Kosovo’s prime minister has complained of bias against his country from the United States and the European Union and tolerance of what he calls Serbia’s authoritarian regime.

Bulgaria’s parliament has formally approved the new government proposed by two main political rivals — the GERB party of ex-Premier Boyko Borissov, which won the April general election, and the runner-up, the pro-European liberal coalition “We Continue the Change — Democratic Bulgaria.”.

Japan’s government has adopted a revision to the country’s plans to use more hydrogen as fuel.

The International Monetary Fund says the British economy will avoid falling into recession this year.

Britain’s interior minister has brushed off reports that she tried to pull strings after getting a speeding ticket.

A European Union commissioner from Bulgaria has been nominated for the post of prime minister as the Balkan country struggles to end a two-year period of political instability and economic hardship.

Estonia’s Parliament on Wednesday has given the green light to a new coalition to form a government, led by the center-right Reform Party of Kaja Kallas.

Finnish voters have given a boost to conservative parties in a weekend election, depriving the popular left-wing Prime Minister Sanna Marin of another term as the country prepares to make its historic entry into NATO in the coming days.

The Australian government on Thursday released the wording of a referendum question that promises the nation’s Indigenous population a greater say on policies that affect their lives.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has announced a crackdown on people smugglers, from a southern town near where a boat crowded with migrants broke apart, killing scores of people.

Israel has sealed the home of an Palestinian man who killed seven people outside an east Jerusalem synagogue in a preliminary step ahead of its expected demolition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government plans to charge ahead with an overhaul of the country’s judicial system.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has dismissed his fourth minister in two months to patch a scandal-tainted Cabinet that has raised questions over his judgment of staff credentials.

Peru’s newest president has sworn in her Cabinet and asked each member to pledge not to be corrupt while in office.

Albania’s prime minister says Britain is carrying out a “calculated attack” on his country by blaming it for the increased number of immigrants crossing the English Channel illegally.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is facing criticism after telling gay soccer fans heading to the World Cup in Qatar that they should show some “compromise” and "be respectful of the host nation.”.

A standoff between a powerful gang federation and Haiti’s government is testing how much power both sides wield and threatens to further derail a paralyzed country where millions of people are struggling to find fuel and water.

Voters in Kuwait have chosen to shake up their parliament and sent two women to the assembly in the Gulf Arab nation’s second election in less than two years.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has reshuffled his Cabinet in a bid to distance his administration from the conservative Unification Church over its ties to the assassinated leader Shinzo Abe and senior ruling party members.

The House Jan. 6 committee has interviewed former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and is in negotiations to talk to several other former members of Donald Trump’s Cabinet.

The House Jan. 6 committee plans to interview more former Cabinet secretaries and is prepared to subpoena conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, who’s married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, as part of its investigation of the Capitol riot and Donald Trump’s role.

Japan’s Cabinet has formally decided to hold a state funeral for assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September.

The fractious race to replace Boris Johnson as Britain’s prime minister has narrowed, with four candidates battling for two spots in a run-off vote by members of the governing Conservative Party.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a confidence vote Monday night but saw his authority undermined as more than 40% of his party’s lawmakers backed calls for him to step down.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrambled to patch up his tattered authority after surviving a no-confidence vote that exposed his shrinking support in a fractured Conservative Party and raised serious doubts about how long he can stay in office.

A French government spokeswoman says there will be “zero tolerance” for sexual misconduct by members of French President Emmanuel Macron’s newly named government.

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a new Cabinet.

An attorney for an Arizona real estate developer who was referred to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation by congressional Democrats wants to publicly rebut the allegations.

Sri Lanka's president swore in four new Cabinet ministers Saturday in an effort to ensure stability until a full Cabinet is formed in the island nation engulfed in a political and economic crisis.

Britain’s foreign secretary has warned the European Union that the U.K. will have “no choice but to act” to revoke parts of a Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland if the EU doesn't show flexibility.

Sri Lanka’s sports minister and the president’s nephew, Namal Rajapaksa, has resigned from his position amid growing public outrage over the country’s economic crisis and shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

Israel's prime minister is assuming the unlikely role of mediator between Russia and Ukraine with his surprise visit to Moscow.

Germany’s leaders have announced plans to end most of the country’s coronavirus restrictions by March 20.

Black members of President Joe Biden's Cabinet came together Thursday for a Black History Month event highlighting their roles in the administration, some of which are historic firsts.

Spain’s left-wing ruling coalition is securing its hold on power with the approval of a landmark labor reform and a new national spending plan for next year that includes a hefty disbursement of pandemic recovery funds.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is convening a special Cabinet meeting Thursday to pass a decree-law that makes it mandatory to wear masks outdoors amid a record surge in COVID-19 cases.

Portugal is reimposing coronavirus restrictions because of fears over the threat from the omicron variant.

Authorities in the Spanish city of Zaragoza are bracing for a critical surge in the level of the Ebro River after flooding further upstream in recent days was blamed for two deaths.

A three-party deal to form a new German government under center-left leader Olaf Scholz has cleared its final hurdle.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has sworn in his new Cabinet more than four months after he assumed leadership of Haiti following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Sudan’s reinstated prime minister says that he will have the authority to form his own independent government, according to the agreement he signed a day earlier with the country’s top generals who overthrew him in a coup last month.

Bars, restaurants and gyms can reopen in Auckland from early December but customers will be required to show proof they’ve been fully vaccinated.

Sudan’s deposed prime minister signed a deal with the military on Sunday that will see him reinstated, almost a month after a military coup put him under house arrest.

Tonga’s government says the isolated South Pacific nation's main island will go into lockdown for a week after it reported its first case of the coronavirus.

The United Nations chief has urged Sudan’s generals to reverse their takeover of the country.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that a fifth National's party minister will join his Cabinet as part of deal to cement the junior coalition partner’s support for a national target of zero net carbon emissions by 2050.

President Vladimir Putin has ordered many of Russia's workers to stay off work for a week starting later this month amid rising coronavirus infection and death numbers.

Tunisia has a new government after more than two months without one.

Tunisia’s president has named the country’s first female prime minister after sacking the previous prime minister and suspending parliament.

Dutch political party leaders are meeting to force a breakthrough in deadlocked negotiations to form a new ruling coalition.

Taiwan officials say the island has applied to join an 11-nation Pacific trade group.

The Taliban have expanded their interim Cabinet by naming more ministers and deputies, but failed to appoint any women.

Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers have set up a ministry for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice” in the building that once housed the Women’s Affairs Ministry.

Afghanistan’s new foreign minister says the Taliban governing the country remain committed to not allowing militants to use their territory to launch attacks.

The Middle Eastern State of Qatar, which has played an outsized role in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s sweep to power on Aug. 15, has sent a delegation to Kabul.

Lebanon’s new prime minister has pledged to try and gain control of one of the world’s worst economic meltdowns, after forming a government following a year of political stalemate.

The Netherlands appears to be heading toward talks to form a minority coalition after efforts to piece together a Cabinet made up of five parties from across the political spectrum broke down Tuesday.

Israel’s government on Wednesday advanced a raft of new coronavirus restrictions, including sweeping implementation of a digital vaccine passport and tighter restrictions on mass gatherings, as the country struggles with skyrocketing new infections.

Former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says she will not run for Michigan governor in 2022, putting an end to speculation about the onetime Trump administration Cabinet member and partner in one of the state’s most influential Republican couples.

Israel's prime minister says Lebanon is responsible for attacks launched from “its backyard" no matter who fires them.

South Africa's imprisoned former President Jacob Zuma has been admitted to a hospital for observation near the Estcourt Correctional Center where he is currently serving a 15-month sentence.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has unabashedly renewed a threat to kill drug dealers in his final state of the nation speech, while defending his nonconfrontational approach in the country’s territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.

President Joe Biden marked six months in office on Tuesday with a full, crowded Cabinet meeting.

Spain’s government wants to outlaw expressions of support for Gen. Francisco Franco’s 20th-century dictatorship and ban bodies which extol that period’s policies and leaders.

Tensions have intensified in Lebanon with riots in the north leaving more than two dozen people injured, including five soldiers who were attacked with a hand grenade.

Italy is banning mammoth cruise liners from sailing into Venice starting Aug. 1.

In a massive Cabinet revamp, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dropped 12 senior ministers and inducted a younger team aimed at refurbishing his government’s image after widespread criticism of its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Zealand medical regulators have approved use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, after earlier in the year approving the Pfizer vaccine.