capehart. we begin the saturday show with breaking news from the middle east. the united states and its allies launched another round of strikes against iran-backed militants. the strikes hit at least 36 targets across 13 houthi controlled sites in yemen. the pentagon says these strikes are a message to the houthis to stop interfering with global trade in the red sea. a statement from defense secretary lloyd austin reads, in part quote, they will continue to bear further consequences if they do not and they are illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels. we will not hesitate to defend lies, and the free flow of commerce in one of the world s most critical waterways. however, u.s. officials clarified today s attacks are not in response to the american casualties in jordan. a spokesman for the houthis warned the group would retaliate. writing, quote, we will meet escalation with escalation. this comes as secretary of state antony blinken prepares to depart for
but why the flare up now? all of these things are interconnected, and that s why it s really dangerous right now. so the big question now is, could this red sea conflict become the next war in the middle east? first of all, let s start by looking at what has actually been happening in the red sea. in mid november, 2023, the houthis, an iranian backed rebel group in yemen, began targeting commercial shipping off their coast. so, who exactly are the houthis and what is it motivating them? the houthis, who are a so called rebel group in yemen, they hail from the north west of yemen. they have been very active in this area for about a decade. it s only now that we re noticing because our global trade is being impacted. they hijacked this ship called the galaxy leader and they fired missiles and drones at others. us and british warships went to their defence. the houthis vowed revenge. the world economy, every economy will suffer if ships keep coming under attack in this illegal
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 president. speaking to the international media following his victory, president elect william lai was quick to offer beijing an olive branch. translation: over the last eight years we have tried - 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 t
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 xi jinping 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 him their answer by electing him their president. speaking to the international media following his victory, president elect william lai was quick to offer beijing an olive branch. translation: over the last eight years we have tried - continuously to extend goodwill. unfortunately, china has not responded to these gestures. we hope in the future china will realise the piece 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 a
result mean for taiwan and the region? well, on the surface, helena, this victory means largely more of the same. william lai, now he is succeeding tsai ing wen, after eight years of her in power, for the dpp, it means more of the same policies. tensions with taiwan are expected to continue. china has already severed ties when tsai ing wen came to power eight years ago. those are unlikely to be resumed. and as taiwan under the dpp continues to look west to safeguard its democracy and build ties, we can expect perhaps more of the same. but there is perhaps something that lai has to contend with he may be forced to moderate some of his positions and some of his policies, and that is because the dpp has lost the majority in parliament. that means he won t be able to push through his agenda without some cooperation from the other parties involved in taiwan. now, my colleague shaimaa khalil has been speaking to some taiwanese expats that usually live in america, but they travell