Premier announces new Cabinet

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.