- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
Meloni takes over as Italian PM, urges fractious allies to unite
Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni took office Sunday as Italy's first woman prime minister, calling on the fractious members of her coalition government to unite as they face looming crises on several fronts.
Four weeks after her post-fascist Brothers of Italy party won general elections, Meloni formally assumed office in a handover ceremony with outgoing premier Mario Draghi, before gathering her cabinet.
"We must be united, there are emergencies the country is facing. We have to work together," the 45-year-old told her ministers during their first meeting, lasting half an hour.
The new government is the most far-right in Italy since World War II, and takes power at a time of soaring inflation and an energy crisis linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It has already been rocked by tensions within Meloni's coalition, which includes Matteo Salvini's far-right League party and former premier Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing Forza Italia.
Meloni was forced this week to repeat her unwavering support for Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia after Berlusconi was recorded defending President Vladimir Putin.
The prospect of a Eurosceptic, populist government taking the helm of the eurozone's third largest economy has already sparked concern among Italy's allies, particularly in the EU.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Saturday she had a "good first call" with Meloni, saying she looked forward to "constructive cooperation".
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany said he wanted to keep "working closely together with Italy in EU, NATO and G7" -- a sentiment Meloni reflected in responses to congratulatory messages on Twitter.
A spokesman for French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile left open Sunday the possibility that he will be the first foreign leader to meet Meloni, as he headed to Rome and the Vatican for a pre-planned visit.
- Reassuring ministers -
Meloni and her 24 ministers were sworn in on Saturday before President Sergio Mattarella and she declared her intention to get "straight to work".
On Sunday Meloni joined outgoing prime minister Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief who took over in February 2021, for a formal handover of power.
They held private talks for almost 90 minutes before a smiling Draghi symbolically handed to Meloni a small bell used in cabinet debates, which she, grinning, rang a few times for the television cameras.
As a teenage activist, Meloni praised late dictator Benito Mussolini, but insists fascism is history and has transformed her party from a marginal group of radicals to a national force.
Brothers of Italy won just four percent of the vote in 2018 elections, but secured a 26 percent in the September 25 poll.
During 18 months as the only real opposition to Draghi's national unity government, Meloni swept up disillusioned voters, presenting herself as a straight-talking defender of traditional values and Italy's national interests.
But her ministerial experience is limited to three years as youth minister under Berlusconi's 2008-2011 government, while her party has never held power.
In an attempt to reassure investors that Italy's debt-laden economy was safe in her hands, Meloni has appointed Giancarlo Giorgetti as economy minister.
Giorgetti, who served as minister of economic development under Draghi, is considered one of the more moderate, pro-Europe members of Salvini's League.
Draghi's energy minister, Roberto Cingolani, will stay on as government advisor as Italy tries to wean itself off Russian gas, reports said.
- Coalition tensions -
Meloni's party no longer wants Italy to leave the EU's single currency but remains strongly Eurosceptic, as is the League, which won nine percent in the elections.
However, she named committed European Antonio Tajani, a former president of the European Parliament who co-founded Forza Italia with Berlusconi, as foreign minister and deputy prime minister.
Salvini will serve as deputy prime minister and minister of infrastructure and transport.
On Saturday Meloni again affirmed her desire to work with NATO, which she described as "more than a military alliance: a bulwark of common values we'll never stop standing for".
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and US President Joe Biden sent their congratulations, as did Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
The tensions with her allies reinforce doubts as to how long she can keep her coalition together, in a country that has had almost 70 governments since 1946.
Pope Francis noted the start of the new government in his weekly Angelus Sunday, offering his prayers for "unity and peace in Italy".
M.Anderson--CPN