New President Subianto announces Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet, with 109 members

New President Subianto announces Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet, with 109 members
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Newly appointed cabinet ministers stand behind Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto, center, as he announces his cabinet lineup at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 20, 2024. (AP)
New President Subianto announces Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet, with 109 members
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Indonesia's newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto, accompanied by Gibran Rakabuming Raka, vice president and the eldest son of former president Joko Widodo, speaks as he announces his cabinet ministers at the presidential place in Jakarta on October 20, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 21 October 2024
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New President Subianto announces Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet, with 109 members

New President Subianto announces Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet, with 109 members
  • Subianto has said earlier that he needs a strong administration, even though analysts said that his “fat” Cabinet would bloat the bureaucracy
  • Subianto has announced an ambitious goal of increasing annual economic growth to 8 percent by the end of his five-year term

JAKARTA, Indonesia: Newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto announced Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet late Sunday, with 109 members representing his pledge for a strong government.
He named his Cabinet of ministers, vice ministers and head of national agencies the “Red and White Cabinet,” referring to the colors of Indonesia’s flag.
Subianto became the eighth president of Southeast Asia’s largest economy on Sunday.
The Cabinet of Subianto’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, had 34 ministers and head of government agencies.
Subianto has said earlier that he needs a strong administration, even though analysts said that his “fat” Cabinet would bloat the bureaucracy.
“I want to create a strong government that would unite our multicultural society and diverse political interests,” Subianto said before inviting more than 100 people for interviews at his residence last week. “It must be a big coalition, and some will say my Cabinet is fat.”
The Cabinet features politicians from a coalition of seven parties who supported his victory in the February election, and figures allied with Widodo’s Cabinet, who were reappointed to continue their jobs under Subianto’s presidency. Analysts said the move was a political reward to Widodo for the latter’s tacit support in the election.
Subianto was sworn in with his new vice president, 37-year-old Surakarta ex-Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He chose Raka, who is Widodo’s son, as his running mate, with Widodo favoring Subianto over the candidate of his own former party. The former rivals became tacit allies, even though Indonesian presidents don’t typically endorse candidates.
Subianto was a longtime rival of the Widodo, who ran against him for the presidency twice and refused to accept his defeat on both occasions, in 2014 and 2019.
But Widodo appointed Subianto as defense chief after his reelection, paving the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties. During the campaign, Subianto ran as the popular outgoing president’s heir, vowing to continue signature policies like the construction of a multibillion-dollar new capital city and limits on exporting raw materials intended to boost domestic industry.
Backed by Widodo, Subianto swept to a landslide victory in February’s direct presidential election on promises of policy continuity.
Subianto reappointed nearly half of Widodo’s Cabinet members, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, making her the first person to hold the ministry under three different presidents.
Indrawati, 62, who has served as the executive director of the International Monetary Fund and managing director of the World Bank, is one of Indonesia’s longest-serving finance ministers, having held the post for long stretches under Presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo.
She has earned considerable respect in international circles, particularly for her reforms of the chaotic Indonesian taxation system and her role in steering Indonesia through the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We regularly consulted with each other to discuss strategies for strengthening the Finance Ministry and the state finances to support his programs,” Indrawati told reporters after meeting with Subianto last week.
Other ministers from Widodo’s Cabinet include Interior Minister Tito Karnavian, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan, Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.
Subianto has announced an ambitious goal of increasing annual economic growth to 8 percent by the end of his five-year term, and embarking on an ambitious spending program, including an increase in defense spending, hikes in civil servants’ salaries, and a program to give 83 million children free meals.


North Korea’s Kim watches missile test-firings from country’s first destroyer

North Korea’s Kim watches missile test-firings from country’s first destroyer
Updated 20 sec ago
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North Korea’s Kim watches missile test-firings from country’s first destroyer

North Korea’s Kim watches missile test-firings from country’s first destroyer
  • The official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that Kim watched the tests of the destroyer’s supersonic and strategic cruise missiles, anti-aircraft missile, automatic guns and electronic jamm
  • North Korea and Russia have been sharply expanding military and other cooperation in recent years, with the North supplying troops and conventional weapons to Russia
SEOUL: North Korea said Wednesday leader Kim Jong Un observed the test-firings of missiles from a recently launched destroyer — the first such warship for the North — and called for accelerating efforts to boost his navy’s nuclear attack capabilities.
North Korea last week unveiled the 5,000-ton destroyer equipped with what it called the most powerful weapons systems built for a navy vessel. During Friday’s launching ceremony at the western port of Nampo, Kim called the ship’s construction “a breakthrough” in modernizing North Korea’s naval forces.
Outside experts say it’s North Korea’s first destroyer and that it was likely built with Russian assistance. They say North Korea’s naval forces lag behind South Korea’s but still view the destroyer as a serious security threat as it could bolster North Korea’s attack and defense capabilities.
The official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that Kim watched the tests of the destroyer’s supersonic and strategic cruise missiles, anti-aircraft missile, automatic guns and electronic jamming guns earlier this week.
He appreciated the ship’s combination of powerful strike weapons and conventional defenses and set tasks to speed the nuclear-arming of his navy, the report said.
During the ship’s launching ceremony, Kim said the destroyer will be deployed early next year. He said the acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine would be his next big step in strengthening his navy. He underscored the need to beef up North Korea’s deterrence capability to cope with what he called escalating US-led hostilities targeting the North.
An analysis of photos of the warship shows that its anti-air radar system is likely from Russia, said Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defense Network in South Korea. He said the warship’s engine system and some of its anti-air weapons systems also likely came from Russia.
North Korea and Russia have been sharply expanding military and other cooperation in recent years, with the North supplying troops and conventional weapons to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine. The US, South Korea and their partners worry Russia will likely in return provide North Korea with high-tech weapons technologies that can enhance its nuclear program as well as shipping other military and economic assistance.
South Korea’s military said Wednesday that South Korean and US intelligence authorities were closely monitoring North Korean warship development. South Korea’s spy agency separately told lawmakers that North Korea won’t likely be able to deploy a nuclear-powered submarine anytime soon without Russian support.
In March, North Korea unveiled a nuclear-powered submarine under construction. Many civilian experts said at the time that North Korea may have received Russian technological assistance to build a nuclear reactor to be used in the submarine.
Lee said the deployment of a warship with an advanced radar system off North Korea’s west coast could sharply bolster its air defense capabilities for Pyongyang, the capital. Lee said South Korea, which has 12 destroyers, still vastly outpaces North Korea’s naval forces. But he said the North Korean destroyer, which can carry about 80 missiles, can still pose a big threat, as South Korea’s navy hasn’t likely braced for such an enemy warship.

Russia begins building road bridge to North Korea

Russia begins building road bridge to North Korea
Updated 7 min 40 sec ago
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Russia begins building road bridge to North Korea

Russia begins building road bridge to North Korea
  • The new road bridge, which has been under discussion for years, will be 850 meters (2789 ft) and link up with the Russian highway system

MOSCOW: Russia and North Korea on Wednesday began construction of a road bridge between the two countries that will span the Tumen river, part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia’s prime minister said.
The bridge is being built near the existing “Friendship Bridge,” a rail bridge which was commissioned in 1959 after the Korean war.
At a ceremony dedicated to the start of the new bridge’s construction, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said it was a significant event in Russian-North Korean relations, the TASS state news agency reported.
“The significance goes far beyond just an engineering task,” Mishustin was quoted as saying. “It symbolizes our common desire to strengthen friendly, good-neighborly relations and increase inter-regional cooperation.”
The new road bridge, which has been under discussion for years, will be 850 meters (2789 ft) and link up with the Russian highway system. Its construction was agreed during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to North Korea in 2024.
Russia’s Kommersant newspaper said the bridge will be ready by the summer of 2026.
Mishustin said the bridge “will allow entrepreneurs to significantly increase transportation volumes and reduce transportation costs, ensure reliable and stable supplies of various products, which will contribute to the expansion of trade and economic cooperation,” TASS reported.
About 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine out of a total deployment of 15,000, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday, citing the country’s intelligence agency.


Australian triple-murder suspect allegedly cooked ‘special’ mushroom meal

Australian triple-murder suspect allegedly cooked ‘special’ mushroom meal
Updated 14 min 53 sec ago
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Australian triple-murder suspect allegedly cooked ‘special’ mushroom meal

Australian triple-murder suspect allegedly cooked ‘special’ mushroom meal
  • ‘Special meal’ for her in-laws was Beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms
  • Within hours of the lunch, the four guests developed diarrhea and vomiting

MORWELL, Australia: An Australian woman promised a “special meal” for her in-laws before dishing up a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms that killed three of them, jurors heard Wednesday.
On the opening day of a trial that has drawn global attention, Erin Patterson, 50, faced a jury accused of three murders – including her parents-in-law – and one attempted murder.
She has pleaded not guilty to all counts, with her defense saying it was all “a terrible accident.”
Patterson “deliberately poisoned” her guests, Crown Prosecutor Nanette Rogers told the jury.
The accused served “individual beef Wellingtons, mashed potatoes and green beans,” with the guests eating from four large grey dinner plates, while she ate from a smaller, orange plate, Rogers said.
Patterson invited her guests to the lunch in late July 2023 at her home in the sedate Victoria state farm village of Leongatha, telling them she had a health issue to relate, the prosecutor said.
Her estranged husband Simon Patterson declined, texting her the night before that he felt “uncomfortable” going.
In a return text minutes later, Patterson said she was “disappointed,” as she wanted to prepare a “special meal and that she may not be able to have a lunch like this for some time,” Rogers said.
But her husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, decided to go, along with his aunt Heather Wilkinson and her husband, local pastor Ian Wilkinson.
During the lunch, Patterson claimed to have cancer and wanted their advice about how to tell her two children, the prosecutor said.
Medical tests later found no evidence she had cancer, Rogers said.
Within hours of the lunch, the four guests developed diarrhea and vomiting, and were raced to hospital.
All were diagnosed by treating doctors with poisoning by death cap mushrooms, Rogers told the court.
Within days, Don, Gail and Heather were dead.
Ian, the pastor, survived after nearly two months in hospital.
Patterson went to the hospital two days after the lunch and complained she, too, was unwell, the prosecution said.
She initially refused medical assistance and left the hospital, but relented and returned for treatment, the court heard.
Patterson said her children had eaten leftovers of the beef Wellington.
But she claimed to have scraped off the mushroom paste and pastry because they were “fussy,” Rogers said.
When medical staff demanded to see her children, Patterson resisted saying she did not want them to “be panicked and stressed.”
“She did not appear to be concerned about children’s health but rather about stressing them out,” Rogers said.
The children eventually received medical attention but did not have any symptoms of poisoning.
Rogers said Patterson knew that neither she nor her children had consumed the deadly mushrooms.
Police located beef Wellington remnants at Patterson’s home, which were found under forensic investigation to have traces of death cap mushrooms, Rogers added.
Patterson allegedly told doctors she used fresh mushrooms from a supermarket and also dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery – but she did not remember which one.
A Department of Health investigation was unable to trace any shop selling death cap mushrooms.
Patterson discarded a food dehydrator in the days after the lunch, which was later found to contain traces of death cap mushrooms, prosecutors said.
Patterson’s lawyer Colin Mandy said the poisoning was a “tragedy and terrible accident.”
“She didn’t do it deliberately, she didn’t do it intentionally. The defense case is that she didn’t intend to cause anyone any harm on that day,” he said.
Patterson is being tried in the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell, south of Melbourne.
The trial is expected to last about six weeks.


Russians fighting more intensely despite ceasefire talk, Ukraine commander says

Russians fighting more intensely despite ceasefire talk, Ukraine commander says
Updated 26 min 30 sec ago
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Russians fighting more intensely despite ceasefire talk, Ukraine commander says

Russians fighting more intensely despite ceasefire talk, Ukraine commander says

DUBAI: Russian forces have significantly increased the intensity of their combat activity, Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday.
"Despite loud statements about readiness to cease fire for the May holidays, the occupiers have significantly increased the intensity of combat actions, focusing their main efforts on the Pokrovsk direction," Syrskyi said on Telegram after working with brigades holding Ukraine's defence in the area.


France says Bessent receptive to idea of zero reciprocal tariffs

France says Bessent receptive to idea of zero reciprocal tariffs
Updated 40 min 1 sec ago
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France says Bessent receptive to idea of zero reciprocal tariffs

France says Bessent receptive to idea of zero reciprocal tariffs

PARIS: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is receptive to the idea of zero reciprocal tariffs between France and the United States, French finance minister Eric Lombard said, as France and the European Union continue tariff talks with the US
“He told me that this was not out of reach,” Lombard told Sud Radio on Wednesday as he summarised talks he had held with Bessent.
“We want to get back to zero tariffs. Our American partners have been softening their position,” he added.