Author: admin@primenews

Finland’s conservative former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has won Sunday’s presidential election, final results show. He secured 51.6% of the vote, while his Green Party rival Pekka Haavisto, the former foreign minister, had 48.4%. Mr Haavisto has already admitted defeat. It is the first election since Finland joined the Nato military alliance. Mr Stubb, 55, takes a hardline approach towards Russia, with which the Nordic nation shares a long land border. He had said that joining Nato was a “done deal” for his country as soon as Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.…

Under cover of darkness, a single fighter jet roars as it rips across the deck of the USS Bataan, a vast US assault ship. Moments later, a second jet follows. The flashing red and green lights on the tips of their wings soon disappear somewhere over the eastern Mediterranean. Home to 24,000 US Marines and sailors, this gigantic floating military base filled with armoured vehicles, jets and helicopters usually deploys at speed to transport troops on to land. But when Yemen’s Houthis began firing missiles and flying drones into commercial ships in the Red Sea, the crew of the USS…

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has transferred duties to his deputy while in hospital for an “emergent bladder issue”, the Pentagon has said. Mr Austin, 70, will remain at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Virginia for treatment. The Pentagon said the White House and senior officials had been informed. The defence secretary was under scrutiny for failing to disclose his prostate cancer diagnosis and hospital stays in December and January. Mr Austin apologised for the incident last week. On Sunday, at about 16:55 local time (21:55 GMT), the Pentagon released a second statement saying Mr Austin “transferred…

R&B star Usher delivered a hit-heavy half-time show at Sunday’s Super Bowl – with help from will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Ludacris… and a pair of roller skates. A disclaimer shown before the performance jokingly warned viewers it may cause “singing, dancing, sweating, gyrating, and possible relationship issues”. It would go on to deliver on all fronts. Dressed in all-white and surrounded by a swarm of energetic dancers, Usher emerged on the stage at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and launched straight into one of his best-known songs, Caught Up. It kicked off a dynamic performance which took advantage of the…

The men’s marathon world record holder, Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum, 24, has died in a road accident in his home country. He was killed alongside his coach, Rwanda’s Gervais Hakizimana, in a car on a road in western Kenya on Sunday. Kiptum made a breakthrough in 2023 as a rival to compatriot Eliud Kipchoge – one of the greatest marathon runners. And it was in Chicago last October that Kiptum bettered Kipchoge’s achievement, clocking the 26.1 miles (42km) in two hours and 35 seconds. The two athletes had been named in Kenya’s provisional marathon team for the Paris Olympics later this…

Israel says two Israeli hostages have been rescued in a raid in Rafah, amid reports of “violent” Israeli air strikes on the southern Gazan city. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says the freed hostages are in “good medical condition”, and they have been taken to hospital for medical tests. Earlier, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said Rafah was under attack, with a number of deaths reported. Israel said it had conducted strikes in southern Gaza, providing no details. In a statement on social media, the IDF said that during an overnight “joint operation between the IDF, ISA [Israel Security Agency…

A Qatari court has released eight former Indian naval officers previously on death row for unspecified charges. Seven of the men have already returned to India, Delhi’s foreign ministry said on Monday. In January, authorities said their death sentences had been converted into prison sentences of “varying” lengths. Neither Qatar nor India revealed the charges against the men, who were working for Dahra Global, a private firm in Qatar. But Financial Times and Reuters have reported that the men were charged with spying for Israel. “We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of…

As the latest phase of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown cuts through high-level banking and the elite nuclear rocket force, some have questioned when it might end. The short answer: it won’t. It has become a central plank of the system of governance for China’s leader. And, because the anti-corruption drive has been used to remove anyone with even the slightest hint of a tendency to divert from his way of doing things, Mr Xi is sometimes characterised as an out-of-control Stalin-like figure purging left, right and centre without good cause. But there are those who do not see it that…

Pakistan’s second and third political blocs have agreed to co-operate after elections in which jailed ex-PM Imran Khan’s supporters came first. Ex-PM Nawaz Sharif’s PMLN and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s PPP issued a statement saying they planned to work together to bring political stability. If they do form a government, the move is likely to anger Mr Khan’s followers. His PTI party was barred from taking part in the election, so most of its candidates stood as independents. Earlier, police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of Mr Khan’s supporters in Rawalpindi. According to final results, independents won 101 of…

The greenback is strengthening again after a bumpy 2023, as Wall Street accepts that interest rate cuts are coming later than previously expected. The US Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against the British pound, euro, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar and Swedish krona, is up 2.8% for the year as of Friday morning. The US currency slid last November and ended the year lower against that basket of currencies as investors grew optimistic that the Federal Reserve would soon cut interest rates. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in January that interest rate cuts are unlikely to begin in March,…