hello, i'm helena humphrey. taiwanese voters have chosen william lai as their president in an historic election cementing a path that is increasingly divergent from neighbouring china, who warned voters not to vote for the doctor—turned—politican. mr lai, who represents the democratic progressive party, won 40% of the vote, beating the other two opponents by a wide margin. he has broken new ground, winning an unprecedented third consecutive presidential term for his party. but the win could also increase tensions with china, who have called mr lai a troublemaker and separtist. china considers taiwan a part of its territory and has been calling for a "peaceful reunification" but has not ruled out the use of force. in recent months the country has ramped up its military presence on the island, heightening fears of a possible conflict. rupert wingfield—hayes has more from the taiwanese capital, taipei.

onto stage comes the man who will now be taiwan's next president. in the end, william lai won the election by a larger margin than expected. china's president, xijinping, tried to intimidate voters here not to choose him, but failed. his supporters say, if anything, it had the opposite effect. china warned the people of taiwan not to vote for this man. they said he is a troublemaker who will take the island closer to war. well, tonight they have given their answer by electing him their new president. speaking to the international media following his victory, president—elect lai was quick to offer beijing an olive branch.

translation: over the last eight years, we have tried i continuously to extend goodwill. unfortunately, china has not responded to these gestures. we hope in the future china will realise peace serves the interests of both sides. it's notjust its democratic system that sets taiwan apart from china. five years ago it became the first place in asia to legalise same—sex marriage. today, for the first time, mota lin and her partner got to vote together as a family with their three—year—old daughter. translation: this election is very important. _ we've just come back from hong kong, and people there are envious of us. they've told us we must protect our democracy or we could end up like them. for taiwan's main opposition party, the kmt, today's result was another humiliating defeat. the whole party leadership bowed as they begged

for forgiveness from their supporters. the kmt�*s candidate, hou you—ih, had run on a platform of getting closer to china. that policy may have contributed to his defeat. instead, voters gave the party xijinping loathes an historic third presidential win. now everyone is waiting to see how china's leader will respond. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. live now to steve lai in taipei. good to see you there, steve. to begin with, what do you think this election result means for both taiwan and the region? means for both taiwan and the reuion? ~ ~' ., means for both taiwan and the reuion? ~ ~ ., ., , region? well, it kind of means a bit of the _ region? well, it kind of means a bit of the same, _ region? well, it kind of means a bit of the same, in _ region? well, it kind of means a bit of the same, in fact. - region? well, it kind of means a bit of the same, in fact. i'ml a bit of the same, in fact. i'm here in liberty square, or freedom square, built by the founder of the kmt, and you can sort of see that the mood here is very calm, very relaxed, the

day after the elections. but what this means is an unprecedented third term for the dpp, as we mentioned earlier. william lai is expected to carry on the policies of his predecessor, tsai, going forward. the problem that he may find, though, is that despite having won a third term for his party in becoming the president elect for taiwan, in becoming the president elect fortaiwan, his in becoming the president elect for taiwan, his party, the dpp, have lost the majority in the legislature. and so that means there's been no party that has an outright majority, and that might hamper some of the dpp's agenda going forward. it might mean that they might have to have more compromise with the other two parties, or it might lead to a stalemate, in fact. so it remains to be seen. as you mentioned, he cut a conciliatory tone with china. taiwan still doesn't have official dialogue with china after china severed ties eight years ago once tsai came into power. so do tensions are expected to remain largely the

same, although domestically speaking william lai may be rendered somewhat because of the legislature numbers, that he just doesn't have the majority n. he just doesn't have the majority n-_ he just doesn't have the majority n. he just doesn't have the ma'ori n. , , ., majority n. this has been a very closely _ majority n. this has been a very closely watched - majority n. this has been a i very closely watched election. what has been the response to william lai's victory?— william lai's victory? yes, it is a very _ william lai's victory? yes, it is a very curious _ william lai's victory? yes, it is a very curious election - william lai's victory? yes, it is a very curious election in i is a very curious election in that regard. a lot of the taiwanese people we have been speaking to have been very concerned about bread—and—butter issues, but you can't escape from the fact that china, the us, the big world powers, are sort of peering over the shoulders of voters here in taiwan to see which way taiwan voters want to take the self ruled ireland. we know that leading up to the election, as you mentioned, beijing had labelled william lai a troublemaker and a separatist. he was not the candidate that they wanted to see come into power. following lai's victory, beijing's taiwan affairs spokesperson said that the vote will not impede the inevitable trend of china's reunification and will not change the basic landscape of

cross strait relations. that is the view from china. they are not happy. they still see taiwan as part of the mainland and seek unification with the self ruled ireland. the us, meanwhile, taiwan's biggest meanwhile, taiwan�*s biggest ally— meanwhile, taiwan's biggest ally— the secretary of state, anthony lincoln, praised the island's robust regulatory system and electoral process, which we saw yesterday. incredible the way they administer the whole electoral process. he also added that washington is committed to maintaining cross strait stability. he issued a congratulations, expressing hope for peace in the taiwan strait. russia's foreign ministry also had something to say about this. we know they are an ally of china. their position is that taiwan has not changed and that russia considers it an integral part of china. so you can see the response from around the region. pretty much everyone lining up with their pre— positions of where they think taiwan sits within its relationship with china. steve,

thanks so _ relationship with china. steve, thanks so much. _ joe biden says he sent a private message to iran about houthis in yemen following us airstrikes against the group. president biden said america was confident that it was very well prepared for the current situation, without giving further details. houthi fighters held military exercises on saturday, vowing a strong and effective response to the american— and british—led airstrikes in yemen. video released by the iran—backed houthi movement showed officials gathered at an outpost near the yemeni—saudi border. exercises included the dropping of bombs on sites marked with american and israeli flags. angered over israel's ongoing war in gaza, houthis have been disrupting international trade in the red sea. after warning houthis to stop the attacks for weeks, the us and uk governments carried out what they called defensive airstrikes on friday and the us struck another houthi target early on saturday. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega has more. before and after —

these satellite images show the impact of the american and british attacks on houthi targets in yemen. the us says airfields and weapons storage depots were destroyed. overnight the us carried out more strikes, targeting a radar facility in the capital, sanaa. british forces were not involved. american officials say the strikes are designed to reduce the ability of the houthis to attack ships in the red sea and called them "legitimate and proportionate". the houthis, who captured a ship in december, say they are acting to support palestinians in gaza and to hit israel's allies. iran gives them weapons and training, and the houthis say the attacks will continue unless there is a ceasefire in gaza. the attacks have disrupted the key red sea trade route. commercial vessels are now travelling around africa. it means delays

and extra costs. the houthis accuse the us and its allies of an escalation on israel's behalf. they say the attacks have had no significant impact on its forces and threaten with what they describe as a very harsh and painful response. so far, their reaction has been muted. they fired a missile yesterday which didn't hit its target. also yesterday, a huge protest against the strikes was held in sanaa. the americans say they don't want a major confrontation but are warning the houthis they are ready to respond. hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. live now to gina abercrombie—winstanley, former us ambassador and middle east policy council president.

a warm welcome to you, ambassador. great to have you backin ambassador. great to have you back in the programme. president biden has sent a private message to iran regarding the houthi movement in yemen, which iran backs. what kind of message do you expect them to deliver? well, i think there _ expect them to deliver? well, i think there are _ expect them to deliver? well, i think there are two _ expect them to deliver? well, i think there are two important l think there are two important things about the message. the first, of course, is that it convey urgency, that it convey conviction, and that it convey clarity. and then in that message, it would be that we do not want war, the united states does not want to escalate or expand this war, but the united states is prepared to protect its own. it is prepared to continue to protect freedom of navigation. so asking the iranians to contain, to pull

back, the houthis and their attacks on shipping i am sure is a major part of that message. but again, it needed to convey clarity, conviction and urgency to the iranians, and urgency to the iranians, and also recognise that the iranians are not interested. so far they have been very clear — in engaging in a direct fashion in engaging in a direct fashion in conflict with the united states. ~ ~' ., in conflict with the united states. ~ ~ ., ., ., , states. we know that there has been a further _ states. we know that there has been a further us _ states. we know that there has been a further us strike - been a further us strike overnight. houthis have promised to retaliate. do you think that these extracts from the united states, from the uk—do you think that they are achieving their purpose when we hear that response? the purpose of deescalation, _ hear that response? the purpose of deescalation, probably - hear that response? the purpose of deescalation, probably not. i of deescalation, probably not. i don't think that that was expected. the houthis have always been a wildcard. they have shown themselves prepared for long—term, sustained conflict, as we've seen with their conflict with the government of yemen. again, it's been really difficult. on

the one hand, for the united states, since the us government has been trying to bring reconciliation between the two parties within yemen to be in conflict with the houthis. that was never our intent or wish. that said, if the strikes are effective in degrading their abilities to strike shipping then there will be a lessening of tension for a period of time. if of tension for a period of time. , ., time. if there is, though, however. _ time. if there is, though, however, the _ time. if there is, though, however, the prospect i time. if there is, though, however, the prospect of| time. if there is, though, - however, the prospect of more escalation, we don't necessarily know how this will go. are you concerned about the prospect of more regional contagion? i mean, how wide do you think this war in the middle east could potentially get? two well, we see the three fronts with israel, whether it is in the gaza strip, the actions that are happening in the west bank — let's not forget over 300 palestinians have been killed in the west bank since the seven october hamas attack — the front in

lebanon on in the conflict with hezbollah, and syria and iraq, and then there are the houthi. so from day one, day two, we have recognised in the us government and the international community the danger of this war expanding and escalating. unfortunately thatis and escalating. unfortunately that is not decreased, and it has not decreased as a result of the strikes that were carried out by the us, uk and support for other nations. but getting international shipping going forward, ensuring that there are not these monetary costs for the entire international community, is a very important step to take, and that's why these strikes against the houthis have been carried out. but the danger very much is in place, which of course is why president biden wanted to send a message to the iranians. we are of course, now, in an election year pointing out the obvious, that the biden administration is engaged on multiple fronts. how much of a challenge do you think that it poses to the

administration? it think that it poses to the administration?- think that it poses to the administration? it being an election year— administration? it being an election year is _ administration? it being an election year is one - administration? it being an election year is one of - administration? it being an l election year is one of those wild cards, and the president certainly is having to balance the broad support he has among the broad support he has among the american people for supporting israel in a matter of self defence, but increasingly we are seeing among american citizens, whether they work for the government or a private american citizens, and american representatives, and local legislators, in congress in particular, increasing unease, this may, at the nature, at the way the israelis are prosecuting this war. the way that they have been going about or interpreting self defence. and it is not an interpretation thatis and it is not an interpretation that is acceptable to many americans. you can see by the protests that have been carried out around the states, and frankly around the world, today, and these protests and

these voices will continue. we have had some americans start political action groups saying they won't vote for president biden, and these are important groups among american citizens who are very key to his success in the last election. though it's a difficult balancing act for the president.- for the president. former diplomat _ for the president. former diplomat and _ for the president. former diplomat and middle - for the president. former diplomat and middle eastj for the president. former - diplomat and middle east policy council president, as always, great to get your take. pro—palestinian protests took place around the world on saturday, calling for a ceasefire in the fighting in gaza. marches have been held in at least 30 countries, including here in washington, where large crowds waved palestinian flags as the mostly young protesters gathered in a show of solidarity on the 99th day of the war. pro—palestinian marches have also been held in london. the metropolitan police said it had made six arrests in relation to offensive placards.

separately, in israel, thousands of people have started a 24—hour protest in tel aviv, calling for the immediate release of hostages in gaza. the demonstrators urged leaders to resume negotiations for the hostages' release, on the eve of the 100th day of their captivity. israeli officials believe 132 hostages are still being held in gaza. here in the us, we're less than two days away from the iowa caucuses, where republican supporters will start the process of selecting their nominee for the 2024 presidential election. leading up to the big night, the headline out of iowa has not been candidates, like donald trump, nikki haley or ron desantis, it's been the weather. intense winter storms have caused major disruptions to republican presidential hopefuls campaigning in the midwestern state. a blizzard dropped about 15 inches — that's 38cm — of snow across iowa causing some candidates to cancel events. so just how cold

will it be on monday? some forecasts in des moines, the state capital, say the low will be —18 fahrenheit — that's —28 celsius. it's expected to be the coldest caucus day on record. i've been campaigning here for 11 months now, all over this state, and in october or november, i was — at every one of the town halls — i was, like, it is cold. laughter and that's - what they did, in october, november, they laughed and they go, "oh, this is mild, this is mild." and i was, like, "no, it's not, it is cold." i get it now. laughter. i totally get it now. this is unbelievable. i am a florida boy, born and bred, and yet here i am in negative temperatures. i'm not going to be cancelling. if people are going to come out and hear from me, i'm going to show up all the way until the end of this caucus. you're going to see

me everywhere. carl nasmanjoins me now from the campaign trail in iowa. good evening to you, braving the cold, you are a california man yourself. carl, you've just been at an event hosted by candidate asa hutchinson. what was his message, and what's the atmosphere there, with just a day and a half to go until the first vote of 202a? not long to go and as we have heard, it is very cold in iowa. despite the temperatures, this was an overflowing crowd for the former governor asa hutchinson. really a good turnout for him. he's not doing so well in the past, around i%. he said he wanted to make what he called his final arguments to the jewry he called his final arguments to thejewry tonight. he talked about the situation in the us—

mexico border but the biggest message tonight and throughout this campaign was about donald trump. he has consistently been one of the few candidates to attack and criticise the former president. he said he does not believe he is fit to hold office and come a general election, donald trump inaudible. i asked a former governor why he thought he was one of the few people willing, beside chris christie, to go after and criticise donald trump and what that says about the current state of the republican party. i the current state of the republican party. ithink it sa s republican party. i think it says that _ republican party. ithink it says that the _ republican party. ithink it says that the republican i republican party. i think it- says that the republican voters have _ says that the republican voters have been misled by donald trump — have been misled by donald trump ever since january six, particularly, and any time he calls— particularly, and any time he calls that _ particularly, and any time he calls that attack on our capital— calls that attack on our capital as a patriotic act of some _ capital as a patriotic act of some kind, his misleading voters _ some kind, his misleading voters and so that is why you need — voters and so that is why you need to— voters and so that is why you need to tell the truth and

leaders _ need to tell the truth and leaders have to go out there and — leaders have to go out there and tell— leaders have to go out there and tell republican voters that we are — and tell republican voters that we are getting ready for a real shellacking, as we call it in the — shellacking, as we call it in the south, if we do not understand the risk of having a donald — understand the risk of having a donald trump candidacy. -- caitol. donald trump candidacy. -- capitol- he _ donald trump candidacy. -- capitol. he also _ donald trump candidacy. -- capitol. he also mentioned that he believes that once voters get a closer look at the criminal indictments facing donald trump, that will make him an even weaker candidate come the general elections. how are other candidates dealing with the fact that the weather has thrown a massive curveball? we saw nikki haley, ron desantis, back out on the campaign trail they cancelled many events yesterday. they are out there making their case to voters and urging supporters to, despite the weather, show

up to, despite the weather, show up at the caucus sites on monday. it is expected to be the coldest caucus night ever. we heard nikki haley say, let's finish the job, we heard nikki haley say, let's finish thejob, finish we heard nikki haley say, let's finish the job, finish strong. ron desantis said that if you show up, i will fight for you for the next eight years. donald trump, he has not been in iowa. he landed a few moments ago and not been doing in person events but he is expected back out on campaign trail tomorrow. this is largely being seen as a race for second place. how is the field looking right now? we just wejust got some we just got some new polling data out from a local newspaper here. it is considered to be the gold standard, which really showed the state of the race going into caucus at night. still a commanding lead for donald trump. up 28 points, down from 32 points in december. this is still within

the margin of error, it appears that nikki haley has leapfrogged ron desantis into second place. ahead by 20% and ron desantis i6%. but the big leader still donald trump in this file, the des moines. a great level of support for the former president.— former president. really interesting _ former president. really interesting inside - former president. really interesting inside out. former president. really interesting inside out on j former president. really - interesting inside out on the campaign trail. thank you a lot. turning now to news here in washington. john kerry, the former us senator and secretary of state, is stepping down from his role as us special climate envoy. mr kerry served as president joe biden's top official on climate change since 2021, and will reportedly depart from that role in the coming months. he's expected to help out with biden's re—relection campaign. his decision to step down as climate envoy comes just one month after the cop28 climate summit, where he helped broker an international agreement for nations to transition away from fossil fuels. the biden administration

reportedly says no decision has been made on kerry's potential successor. just over a week after the door blew out on an alaska airlines flight, forcing more than 100 planes to be grounded, there has been another mid air issue for boeing. this time, the incident was injapan, a boeing flight had to be turned around after pilots discovered a crack in the cockpit window, midair. the flight was being operated by all nippon airways, in a boeing 737—800 aircraft, going from the city of sapporo to toyama, onjapan's main island. a spokesperson for the airline said the crack was not something that affected the flight�*s control or pressurisation, adding that there were no injuries to any of the passengers or crew. meanwhile, investigations on the grounded 737 max 9 aircrafts are continuing in the wake of that in air incident on the alaska airlines flight. the us aviation authority is reportedly in no rush to lift its order to indefinitely ground the max 9s until a thorough

investigation is complete. let's turn to some important news around the world. regions across ukraine were targeted by a barrage of russian missiles and drones on saurday. ukraine's air force counted a0 attacks, but said it had successfully shot down eight missiles, and used electronic means to ensure more than 20 other projectiles didn't reach their targets. russia's defence ministry said the assault focused on industrial military targets. indonesia's mount marapi has spewed huge columns of ash into the air as authorities raise the volcano's alert status to the highest level. it comes a month after the volcano erupted, leaving 23 dead. hundreds of residents have been evacuated to temporary shelters. it's the second occurence of major volcanic activity in indonesia this week.

mount lewotobi laki—laki erupted on wednesday, spewing ash clouds more than 6 thousand feet into the air. new zealand's former prime ministerjacinda ardern married her longterm partner clarke gayford in a small private ceremony in north island. official photos showed ms ardern smiling in a custom ivory gown. the wedding was originaly scheduled for early 2022 but was postponed due to strict restrictions she imposed on the country during the covid pandemic. stay with us here on bbc news hello. we've had some fairly chilly weather over the past few days, but things are about to get colder, as we're going to see a blast of arctic air moving in for the next couple of days. so a drop in temperature and some snow showers which will cause a bit of disruption, particularly in the north. so we've got a couple of weather fronts shifting their way south, opening the doors to these cold northerly winds, bringing us that arctic air. through the next few hours, already some snow showers working in across parts of shetland, mainland north of scotland. also seeing a little bit of snowfall, a few light rain

showers, further south. but actually most of us are dry and as the sun rises, i think, first thing, temperatures are going to be just about either side of freezing. so through the day on sunday then we've got the snow showers packing in across the north of scotland. it's also going to be really windy, particularly up towards the northern isles, where gusts could reach 70 miles an hour, so blizzard conditions there. further south, few spots of light rain, perhaps northern ireland, wales, into central southern england. but most places are going to be avoiding these showers and we'll see temperatures between about 3 to 6 degrees, but it'll feel cooler with the wind, especially in the north. now, heading on into monday, snow showers continue to pack in on that northerly breeze. they'll become more frequent across the northern half of scotland, but also for northern ireland, some snow possible here on monday and through some of these irish sea coasts, perhaps. pembrokeshire, one or two snow showers also possible for the likes of the north york moors towards norfolk as well.

most of us, though, looking dry with some wintry sunshine. but look at those temperatures, justi to 5 on the thermometer. but when you add on those brisk northerly winds, it's really going to feel bitterly cold. feeling around about —5, —6 around some of those east coasts, for instance. moving through into tuesday, and nowjust have a look at these showers just moving in for northern ireland, perhaps southern scotland, perhaps one or two into parts of northwest england and wales as well. there is the potential for a little bit more disruptive snow on tuesday, especially moving in towards the central belt, i think, later on in the day. so we're keeping an eye on the snow showers in the north, but further south and east, i think, you're going to be staying dry if cold again. so there's that area of low pressure bringing a bit of snow i think for some of us on tuesday. that clears away. this area of low pressure towards the south is most likely to be staying out across france, but if it does push further north into that colder air. across southern england, it could bring a bit of snow. either way, i think next week we're looking at a colder week, a fair amount of dry weather in the south, some snow showers mainly in the north and sharp overnight frosts. bye— bye.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. i have a proposal that we take all the money people spend on doing diversity panels and just use all that money to hire women to make things. whether she's on a film set or on a stage at a political rally, actress, producer, and director america ferrera has built a careerfighting

against the labels that everybody told her would hold her back. she was the first latina and the youngest person ever to win an emmy award in a leading role for her character in ugly betty. and her speech in this summer's hit barbie film resonated with audiences across the world when she goes on a rant about the double standards and pressures that women face. for this series of bbc 100 women, we sat down with america ferrera to chat about her experience growing up as a daughter of immigrants in los angeles, the need to have more representation on screen, and how she uses what she calls her superpower. america ferrera, thank you so much for sitting down with bbc 100 women and for taking some time out of what seems like a very busy awards schedule. it's my pleasure. thank you for having me.

you just received the jane fonda humanitarian award,