Taiwan President Resigns Party Leadership After Election Defeats

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is stepping down as chairwoman of the island's Democratic Progressive Party after the party suffered losses in local elections. 

Tsai, the island's first female president, will remain in that post, which she won in 2016. But in a statement, she took full responsibility for the defeats, apologized to supporters and said the party would undergo some restructuring.

The leader has pushed for more independence from Beijing, which greeted the election results as a sign the Taiwanese people want closer ties with the mainland. 

China maintains Taiwan is rightfully one of its provinces, and while their governments don't maintain diplomatic relations, they do have extensive economic ties.

Voters in Saturday's election also weighed in on same-sex marriage in three different referendums, voting to uphold the current civil code defining marriage as between a man and a woman. A separate referendum to ban teaching LGBT issues in schools also passed.