International
The controversial former General Prabowo is declared the official winner of the elections in Indonesia
The controversial former General Prabowo Subianto, accused of human rights violations during his time as a military, has been declared the winner of the presidential elections in Indonesia held on February 14 on Wednesday, according to official results.
After more than a month of counting, the Indonesian Electoral Commission indicated on its YouTube channel that Prabowo obtained 58% of the votes, compared to the 24% achieved by former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and 16% of former Java governor Central Ganjar Pranobo, the other two candidates for the presidency.
Since the elections, there have been numerous protests to denounce an alleged electoral fraud and both Anies and Ganjar also recently affirmed their intention to legally challenge the results by denouncing that Prabowo has received unofficial support from the outgoing president, Joko Widodo.
The former general has presented himself in tandem with the Widodo’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36 years old and who will become vice president.
Both received more than 96.21 million votes, compared to 40.97 million from Anies and his electoral partner, the aspiring vice president Muhaimin Iskandar, and 27.04 million from Ganjar and Mohammad Mahfud Mahmodin.
These elections in Indonesia, the third democracy in the world and the country with the most Muslims on the planet, have been marked by the past of Prabowo, accused of human rights violations when he was head of the elite Korpassus corps (December 1995 to March 1998) and the special forces (from March to May 1998).
However, Prabowo, a 72-year-old outgoing Minister of Defense, managed to position himself as the favorite candidate after having rehabilitated his image as an “endearing” grandfather through a campaign in which he has come to perform dances that went viral on TikTok, in a wink to the younger voters.
His alliance with Gibran Rakabuming Raka was also a revulsive to his campaign due to Widodo’s popularity.
This electoral pact provoked criticism among the followers of Anies, 54, and Ganjar, 55.
Widodo, who could not run for election again due to the legal limit of two terms, did not publicly position himself on any candidate, but the rest of the candidates allege that his implicit support was crucial for Prabowo’s victory.
Indonesian laws allow the outgoing president to position himself on future campaigns, although they prohibit the use of state funds for them, one of the main aspects on which the complaints of the candidates against Prabowo and Gibran are based.
Of an angry and decisive nature, Prabowo has been accused of abuses against civilians in East Timor and Papua and the kidnapping of activists during his time in the Army, from which he was expelled for disobedience in 1998, and had his entry banned in the United States for several years.
International
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Pope Francis met on Thursday at the Vatican with 16 Israelis who had been held hostage in Gaza for months by the Islamist group Hamas, according to the official Vatican news website.
The group consisted of ten women, four men, and two children, as reported by the same source. Several of the former hostages showed the Argentine pontiff banners or photos of their loved ones who remain in captivity.
Francis had previously met with the families of hostages in April this year and November 2023, but this was the first time he had met with individuals who had personally endured captivity.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the pope has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages, while also condemning the suffering of the Palestinian population.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Islamist militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages who died in captivity.
Of the kidnapped, 97 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that 34 of them have died.
The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed at least 43,736 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-governed territory.
International
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings on Thursday, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 16 injuries, according to Syria’s Ministry of Defense and state television.
The ministry stated that around 3:20 p.m. local time (12:20 GMT), the Israeli military launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighborhood in western Damascus and the Qudsaya suburb to the northwest of the capital.
The airstrikes “resulted in the death of 15 people and injuries to 16 others, including women and children,” based on initial estimates, in addition to significant damage to private property and civilian buildings, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, state television reported Israeli airstrikes on three buildings in Mazzeh and another on a building in an educational complex located in a residential area of Qudsaya.
Following the strikes, loud explosions were heard throughout the city, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted locations. Ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene to attend to the victims.
International
Drug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
Three people were on the boat that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel around midnight at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near the Andalusian city of Cádiz, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard reported.
Two officers sustained “contusions,” the spokesperson explained.
The drug traffickers managed to bring the boat to shore, where one of them was “abandoned” severely injured. The other two fled.
The Civil Guard officers attempted to resuscitate the victim before transporting him to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but he ultimately died early in the morning.
The other two suspects took advantage of the officers’ absence while they were taking the victim and returned to set their boat on fire.
The collision occurred very close to the site of another accident on September 1, where a drug trafficker died following a Guardia Civil pursuit.
The suspects’ boat traveled “400 meters” before crashing head-on and “at full speed” into the riverbank, where a hundred bundles of hashish were found.
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