New Greek cabinet to be sworn in

Greece’s incoming prime minister is to name his Cabinet today, a day after being appointed to head an interim coalition government which will push through a new European debt deal and secure continued bailout funding to prevent a catastrophic default.

Former banker Lucas Papademos will announce his new ministers later today, after which they will be formally sworn in.

The deal to appoint the former vice president of the European Central Bank as premier capped an intense political crisis and came after days of intense negotiations between the country’s two main parties, the governing Socialists and opposition conservatives.

Many key ministerial positions are expected to remain unchanged, with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos widely expected to retain the role.

Mr Venizelos was deeply involved in negotiating the latest debt deal - a package agreed as recently as October 27.

The €130bn debt deal took months to work out, and includes provisions for private bondholders to write off 50% – some €100bn – of their Greek debt holdings.

The latest political turmoil was sparked by Mr Papandreou’s surprise announcement on October 31 that he would put the deal to a referendum.

His plan infuriated European leaders, rocked global markets and led many of his own Socialist party politicians to rebel and call for his resignation.

Mr Papandreou withdrew the public vote plan after the main conservative opposition said they backed the deal, and agreed to step aside.

After days of intense power-sharing talks, his Socialists and the conservatives, led by Antonis Samaras, along with a smaller right-wing party, appointed Mr Papademos as interim premier.

Mr Papademos’s government will be called on to pass the debt deal and secure the next €8bn instalment of the country’s initial €110bn bailout. Without the funds, Greece will default in a matter of weeks.

Meanwhile the United States is calling on leaders in Europe to "move quickly" to sort out their finances and prevent another global crisis.

Speaking at a meeting of Asia's finance ministers in Hawaii, the US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned Europe could be heading for a new recession.

He described a "vicious circle" of government debt, vulnerable banks and a lack of consumer spending.

In Italy, the man being tipped to replace Silvio Berlusconi as Prime Minister has made no public statement about the speculation.

Mario Monti, 68, was appointed a senator for life this week, while the country's president has asked him to drop out of another engagement to stay in Rome for the weekend.