The Daily Populous

Saturday January 11st, 2020 evening edition

image for Taiwan election: Tsai Ing-wen wins second presidential term, beating Beijing-friendly rival

Taiwan’s incumbent leader Tsai Ing-wen has won Saturday’s presidential election, defeating her Beijing-friendly rival Han Kuo-yu by a wide margin.

“Taiwan is showing the world how much we cherish our free and democratic way of life,” Tsai told supporters at 9pm as she confirmed her victory.

A jubilant crowd of supporters outside the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei burst into cheers as Tsai appeared on stage to address reporters.

Tsai has polled comfortably ahead of her main contender Han, of the Kuomintang Party, since voting closed at 4pm on Saturday.

With 8.1 million votes as of 10:30pm, Tsai won the highest number of votes of any presidential candidate in Taiwan’s history of democratic elections.

Han, on the other hand, received just over 5.5 million votes, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Explainer: President Tsai Ing-wen faces mainland-friendly challenger Han Kuo-yu as Taiwan heads to the polls. »

Right-wing hawk attack tactics aren't working this time — and here's why

Authored by salon.com
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To be clear, Republicans tried to use these old demonizing tactics in the wake of Trump's order to assassinate Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the second most powerful man in Iran.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina declared that anyone who questioned Trump's obvious lies justifying the killing of Soleimani was "empowering the enemy.".

Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia claimed that Democrats "are in love with terrorists" and that Democrats "mourn Soleimani more than they mourn our Gold Star families.". »

Iran's president says Ukrainian jet unintentionally shot down, cites human error

Authored by cp24.com

OTTAWA -- Iran's president acknowledged Saturday that an Iranian missile took down a Ukrainian jetliner on Wednesday killing all 176 civilians on board.

The admission came a day after Iran denied claims being made by Canada, Britain and the United States that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by Iran, possibly accidentally.

Ukraine International Airline's senior executive said Iran should not have kept their civilian airspace open amid the hostilities with the U.S. »

Neil Peart, Rush Drummer Who Set a New Standard for Rock Virtuosity, Dead at 67

Authored by rollingstone.com

Neil Peart, the virtuoso drummer and lyricist for Rush, died Tuesday, January 7th, in Santa Monica, California, at age 67, according to Elliot Mintz, a family spokesperson.

“Those wishing to express their condolences can choose a cancer research group or charity of their choice and make a donation in Neil Peart’s name.

“Neil is the most air-drummed-to drummer of all time,” former Police drummer Stewart Copeland told Rolling Stone in 2015. »

Under pressure, Iran admits it shot down jetliner by mistake

Authored by abcnews.go.com

Under pressure, Iran admits it shot down jetliner by mistake Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 aboard.

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Saturday acknowledged that it accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 people aboard, after the government had repeatedly denied Western accusations and mounting evidence that it was responsible.

The U.S. and Canada, citing intelligence, said they believed Iran shot down the aircraft with a surface-to-air missile, a conclusion supported by videos verified by The Associated Press. »