Halla Tomasdottir wins Iceland's presidential election

Tomasdottir, 55, secured 34% of the votes in Saturday's election, defeating former Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, who received 25%. Jakobsdottir had resigned as premier in April to run for the presidency.

The Icelandic president, elected for a four-year term, holds limited political powers but serves as a unifying figure for the island nation of nearly 400,000 people, which is a member of NATO.

Tomasdottir will be the seventh president of Iceland since the republic was established in 1944. She is scheduled to be sworn in on August 1. This marks her second presidential bid; she previously ran eight years ago, finishing second to Johannesson.

Tomasdottir, the former head of Iceland's Chamber of Commerce, founded the financial services company Audur Capital in 2007. The company aimed to integrate social responsibility and women's perspectives into finance. (ILKHA)