Karzai Nominates New Cabinet

A week after having all 17 of his cabinet nominees rejected by parliament, Afghan President Hamid Karzai presented a list of 16 new candidates, none of whom were nominated last week. Karzai did not present nominations for minister of communications or minister of water and energy, saying instead that candidates would be announced soon. The nomination process will take several days as parliament questions each nominee and then votes in a secret ballot; Karzai is hoping to have his cabinet finalized before attending an international conference on Afghanistan this month in London. Though parliament's rejection of the first round of cabinet nominees was hailed by some as a sign that Afghanistan's government is serious about taking on corruption and incompetence, it has left the struggling country without a fully functioning government.