TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s new premier has picked his Cabinet to be sworn on Thursday in a shuffle that President Ma Ying-jeou hopes will renew public support after it plunged over the government’s handling of Typhoon Morakot. Incoming Premier Wu Den-yih announced several key changes to the old lineup late Wednesday, two days after his predecessor Liu Chao-shiuan announced that he and his Cabinet would resign. The resignation came amid public anger over the government’s slow response to the most devastating storm to hit the island in 50 years. Wu said Taiwanese representative to Indonesia Timothy Yang will replace Foreign Minister Francisco Ou, while Veterans Affairs Commission Minister General Kao Hua-chu will take over from General Chen Chao-min and assume duties as defense minister. Ou came under heavy criticism for initially rejecting offers of foreign aid after the typhoon hit, and Chen was chastised for the military’s slow response in dispatching troops to help rescue typhoon victims.

Malaysia summons Indonesian diplomat over cultural spat

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysia said it had summoned Indonesia’s ambassador to express ‘‘grave concern’’ over angry protests in the neighboring country triggered by accusations of cultural theft. The dispute started in Indonesia in August after erroneous reports emerged that Malaysia had screened tourism advertisements featuring the traditional ‘‘pendet’’ dance of Indonesia’s Hindu-majority Bali island. The ad was actually a botched promotion for a Discovery Channel program on Malaysia but protesters vowing to ‘’crush Malaysia’’ have nevertheless burned Malaysian flags and thrown rotten eggs at the country’s embassy in Jakarta. ‘‘Malaysia expresses grave concern on the actions of certain quarters in the Republic of Indonesia which are intended to spark conflicts between the peoples of Malaysia and Indonesia,’’ the foreign ministry said late Wednesday.

Playboy’s Hugh Hefner files for divorce from wife

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, host to an ever-changing coterie of scantily-clad young women at the Playboy Mansion, has filed for divorce from the estranged wife who many people forgot he had ever married. Hefner, 83, filed court documents last week seeking to end his marriage to former Playmate Kimberley Conrad, 47, citing irreconcilable differences. The documents, obtained by celebrity website TMZ.com on Wednesday, said the pair were married in July 1989 and have been separated since January 1998. Conrad and Hefner have two sons. Since their separation, Conrad and the boys have lived in the house next to the famed Los Angeles Playboy Mansion where Hefner resided with several girlfriends and stars in the TV reality show ‘‘The Girls Next Door.’’ ‘‘I am happy to be out of the marriage. I only remained married (to Conrad) for the sake of the children, at her request. I am happy to have this behind me,’’ Hefner told TMZ.

Ungaro hires Lindsay Lohan for fashion ‘electro-shock’

PARIS — Hollywood actress and wild child Lindsay Lohan has teamed up with fashion house Emanuel Ungaro to give the ageing brand an ‘‘electric shock’’, its president said on Wednesday. Lohan’s role as ‘‘artistic adviser’’ will be to feed ideas to newly appointed chief designer Estrella Archs, Ungaro’s President Mounir Moufarrige told Reuters in a phone interview. ‘‘She’s a super consumer and super consumers have ideas to contribute to the elaboration of a collection,’’ he said. ‘‘The brand is getting an electro-shock treatment.’’ The first collection will be unveiled on Oct. 4. Lohan is known for her love of fashion and shopping, but over the past two years her creative endeavors have been eclipsed by scandals, nightclub antics and drug problems.