Right-wing Meloni sworn in as Italy's first woman prime minister

Italy's newly elected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacts during the swearing-in ceremony at the Quirinale Presidential Palace, in Rome, Italy October 22, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

ROME (Reuters) -Giorgia Meloni was sworn in as Italy's first woman prime minister on Saturday alongside her cabinet team, giving the country its most right-wing government since World War Two.

She takes office at an especially fraught moment, with Italy's debt-laden economy once again heading into recession, firms buckling under the weight of soaring energy bills, and splits within her coalition over the war in Ukraine.