Politics

Former law professor, Tsai Ing-wen, 59, has become the first female President of Taiwan. She won 60 per cent of the votes for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) defeating the opposition KMT’s Eric Chu who gathered 30 per cent, with two thirds of the votes counted on Saturday evening. The DPP has been less enthusiastic about economic integration with China while the KMT has pursued friendly economic ties with the mainland over the last eight years in office.

"We failed. The Nationalist Party lost the elections. We didn't work hard enough,” Eric Chu said on Saturday before taking a long bow in front of a “thin” crowd of supporters.

Chu stepped in to become the Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate in Taiwan’s presidential race when his predecessor was deemed too divisive. The island held two elections on Saturday, one for the presidency and one for seats in the national legislature - The Democratic Progressive Party scored resounding victories in both ballots.

The UN is set to announce the lifting of sanctions on Iran today after Tehran scaled back its nuclear programme. The International sanctions had suffocated Iran’s ability to trade with the west, and was put in place to force anti-western Iran to negotiate on its nuclear programme. The lifting of the sanctions will be marked as a great achievement for U.S. President Barrack Obama and Secretary of State, John Kerry as well as their European partners.

Iran has released four Iranian Americans as part of a prisoner exchange agreement. The office of the Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said:  “In line with ratifications of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the Islamic establishment’s general expediencies, four Iranian prisoners, who hold dual nationality, have been released within the framework of a prisoner swap” One of the prisoners is believed to be Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was as convicted of espionage in Iran last year.

Just days after two US Navy boats and ten sailors were seized at Farsi Island ahead of President Obama's state-of-the-union address and just days before Tehran will see international sanctions lifted as part of the "historic" nuclear accord, four US hostages have been freed in a prisoner swap between Washington and Tehran.

Among the detainees is Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian who was famously held for spying after being convicted in a shadowy trial last year and faced up to 20 years in an Iranian prison.