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Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Straits Times
Student stabs three girls in Finland school attack
The suspect was arrested shortly after the attack in Pirkkala, south-west Finland, police superintendent Jari Kinnunen said. PHOTO: AFP HELSINKI - A male student stabbed three girls under the age of 15 at a school in Finland on May 20, after distributing a manifesto saying he wanted to attack girls, police said. The girls did not sustain life-threatening injuries and the suspect was arrested shortly after the attack in Pirkkala, south-west Finland, police superintendent Jari Kinnunen told reporters. He would not comment on the attacker's motive, but said police had 'no reason to doubt' he was the author of a manifesto sent to several media outlets. 'There are indications in the manifesto that there is a deliberate selection of girls or women,' Mr Kinnunen said, adding that the injured girls were 'understood to be from the same school'. Police would not comment on whether the suspect knew his victims or how he selected them. They also did not provide details about the girls' injuries or the weapon used in the attack, but said they were investigating it as attempted murder. Public broadcaster YLE said one victim was stabbed in the neck, another in the hand and a third in the waist. Media have identified the suspect as a 16-year-old, but police would confirm only he was 'a boy' at the school under the age of 18. The Vahajarvi primary and middle school in Pirkkala has around 1,250 students aged around six to 15. Something 'exciting' A video of the attack was reportedly circulating online, but Mr Kinnunen said police had not yet determined if it was authentic. YLE said the video showed a person in dark clothes with their face covered, moving around the school premises and attacking students. At the end of the video, there is a scuffle and shouting is heard, it said. Several Finnish media outlets meanwhile said they had received the manifesto. YLE said that it described the reasons for his attack and that he planned to use a knife. It quoted the author as saying he wanted to do something 'significant' and 'exciting', with the aim of going to prison for two to four years. YLE also said the author claimed to have no friends and did not want any, and had planned the attack for about six months. Police said they were alerted to the attack at 10.42am (3.42pm Singapore time), and the suspect was arrested at a market square near the school eight minutes later. Kinnunen said he was not known to police before the attack. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Finland charges Nigerian separatist with inciting terrorism
Representative Image (AI-generated) Finnish prosecutors on Friday said they had charged a man with inciting terrorism online who a media report identified as Nigerian separatist leader Simon Ekpa . Finland's National Prosecution Authority said in a statement that it had charged "a Finnish individual in a case involving suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group. " It added that the alleged crimes had been committed in the city of Lahti between 2021 and 2024 and were related to the suspect's efforts to establish Nigeria's Biafra region as an independent state. The prosecution authority did not name the accused but Finnish public broadcaster YLE identified him as separatist leader Simon Ekpa. Ekpa -- who claims to lead the Biafra Republic's government in exile -- was detained in November. According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges. Ekpa is known as a self-proclaimed leader of a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which is pushing for the independence of Nigeria's southeast, where a bloody civil war was fought in the late 1960s. The dual Finnish-Nigerian national has also been a local representative for Finland's conservative National Coalition Party in the city of Lahti, north of Helsinki , where he has served on a public transport committee. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Seniors Can Hear Whispers Again With These Amazing Hearing Aids Prime Sound Learn More Undo When Ekpa was arrested, Finnish authorities also requested that four other people be remanded in custody on suspicion of financing Ekpa's activities. On Friday, the prosecution authority said the prosecutor had decided to drop charges against four others in the case due to a lack of evidence. Ekpa has been the subject of several of AFP's fact checks in recent years over false claims and disinformation he has made in independence campaigning.
Straits Times
07-05-2025
- General
- Straits Times
Finnish fighter jet crashes in Arctic town, pilot ejected
The pilot of the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet was rescued after ejecting, Finland's armed forces said. PHOTO: AFP ROVANIEMI, Finland - A Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet crashed on May 7 near the Rovaniemi airport in Finland's Arctic north, but the pilot was rescued after ejecting, the armed forces said. The crash occurred 'in the Rovaniemi airport area' around 11am (4pm in Singapore), the military said in a statement. 'The aircraft crashed during a rehearsal for an airshow,' Brigadier-General Timo Herranen, commander of the Finnish Air Force, told AFP. Brig-Gen Herranen said 'the pilot luckily was able to eject from the aircraft' and had only sustained 'mild injuries'. Brig-Gen Herranen did not wish to comment on a possible reason for the accident 'at this stage' and said an investigation was under way. According to the military, there were 'no injuries on the ground'. Dark smoke could be seen rising from the scene and several emergency vehicles were dispatched to the area. Witness Mika Lehtiniemi saw the fighter jet in the sky just before the crash as he drove along a nearby bridge. He told Finnish broadcaster YLE it was flying unusually low over the Syvasenvaara residential area before it appeared to stall, its nose turning upwards. 'The plane stood up very strongly and turned on its back, as it were. Then a few seconds passed and I saw a cloud of black smoke. I didn't see the fire, (just) the black horrible smoke,' he said. Airport operator Finavia told AFP it did not expect civilian flights to be affected by the accident for the time being, with the next flight not expected for several hours. A Nordic defence ministers' meeting was taking place in Rovaniemi on May 7. The ministers were watching the exercises at the time, but were in a safe area far away from where the accident occurred. 'We did not see the accident, but we were informed immediately,' Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a post to X. The Finnish air force's fleet of F/A-18 Hornets were delivered by Boeing between 1995 and 2000 and are due to be decommissioned by 2030, replaced by F-35s from rival US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. AFP Finland fleet of F/A-18 Hornets are due to be decommissioned by 2030. PHOTO: AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
France 24
07-05-2025
- General
- France 24
Finnish fighter jet crashes in Arctic town, pilot ejected
The crash occurred "in the Rovaniemi airport area" around 11:00 am (0800 GMT), the military said in a statement. "The aircraft crashed during a rehearsal for an airshow," Timo Herranen, commander of the Finnish Air Force, told AFP. Herranen said "the pilot luckily was able to eject from the aircraft" and had only sustained "mild injuries". Herranen did not wish to comment on a possible reason for the accident "at this stage" and said an investigation was underway. According to the military, there were "no injuries on the ground". Dark smoke could be seen rising from the scene and several emergency vehicles were dispatched to the area. He told Finnish broadcaster YLE it was flying unusually low over the Syvasenvaara residential area before it appeared to stall, its nose turning upwards. "The plane stood up very strongly and turned on its back, as it were. Then a few seconds passed and I saw a cloud of black smoke. I didn't see the fire, (just) the black horrible smoke," he said. Airport operator Finavia told AFP it did not expect civilian flights to be affected by the accident for the time being, with the next flight not expected for several hours. A Nordic defence ministers' meeting was taking place in Rovaniemi on Wednesday. The ministers were watching the exercises at the time, but were in a safe area far away from where the accident occurred. "We did not see the accident, but we were informed immediately," Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a post to X. The Finnish air force's fleet of F/A-18 Hornets were delivered by Boeing between 1995 and 2000 and are due to be decommissioned by 2030, replaced by F-35s from rival US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.
New Straits Times
07-05-2025
- General
- New Straits Times
Finnish fighter jet crashes in Arctic town, pilot ejected
RAVANEIMI, Finland: A Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet crashed Wednesday near the Rovaniemi airport in Finland's Arctic north, but the pilot was rescued after ejecting, the armed forces said. No details were available about the cause of the crash, which occurred "in the Rovaniemi airport area" around 11am (0800 GMT), the military said. "The pilot, who escaped in an ejection seat, has been taken to a health facility for further examination. There are no injuries on the ground related to the plane crash," it said in a post on X. Dark smoke could be seen rising from the scene and several emergency vehicles were dispatched to the area. Witness Mika Lehtiniemi saw the fighter jet in the sky just before the crash as he drove along a nearby bridge. He told Finnish broadcaster YLE it was flying unusually low over the Syvasenvaara residential area before it appeared to stall, its nose turning upwards. "The plane stood up very strongly and turned on its back, as it were. Then a few seconds passed and I saw a cloud of black smoke. I didn't see the fire, (just) the black horrible smoke," he said. Airport operator Finavia told AFP it did not expect civilian flights to be affected by the accident for the time being, with the next flight not expected for several hours. Police were cordoning off the area to make way for rescue operations, said police inspector Jouni Koivunen. "An investigation will be launched together with the Air Force once those rescue operations have been completed," he told AFP. A Nordic defence ministers' meeting was taking place in Rovaniemi on Wednesday. The ministers had been due to observe training exercises, but that was cancelled after the accident.
