Summary: The SDP politician told daily Helsingin Sanomat that he had circulated an untrue story because he "was angry".

Social Democratic Party politician and Helsinki city councillor  Abdirahim "Husu" Hussein  has admitted to fabricating a story about removing a passenger from his taxi after being verbally attacked.
 On Monday Hussein retracted his story and apologised for lying. He wrote in a tweet that as a decision-maker he should act honestly and acknowledged that he had betrayed voters’ trust.
 "I apologise for my actions and for lying. As a decision-maker it is my duty to be honest. I depend on my voters’ trust and I have now broken that trust. I shall do everything I can to restore trust in my actions," Hussein said.
 "The [SDP] council group will decide on disciplinary action and I will accept the consequences," he added. Yle was not able to reach Hussein for comment.
 SDP council group to discuss case
 Deputy chair of the SDP Helsinki city council group  Ville Jalovaara  said that Hussein’s case will be discussed in the days ahead. He declined to comment further.
 Council group chair  Eveliina Heinäluoma  did not respond when Yle tried to reach her. However she did take to Twitter on Monday to say that she was "extremely disappointed".
 "I am extremely disappointed in the actions of our council group member Husu. A person in a position of responsibility should act with the dignity required of the position. We will discuss the matter in our next council group meeting," she tweeted.
 About one week ago, Hussein tweeted about an incident in which he claimed that he had stopped along a motorway to order a verbally abusive passenger to leave his taxi. He later modified the story to clarify that he left the passenger at a bus stop and not at the roadside.
 At the time Hussein wrote that among other things, the passenger told him to go back to Somalia to defend his country. Later, in a blog post, Hussein provided additional details about the incident and described the individual as asking about his background and reasons for being in Finland.
 On Monday Hussein told daily Helsingin Saonmat that while he did have "a man behaving in a racist manner" in his taxi, he did not remove the passenger from the vehicle. He said that he tweeted about the incident to spark discussion about the harassment that taxi drivers face.
 "I wrote the tweet on Sunday because I was angry," he said.
 Story falls apart under scrutiny
 Hussein’s taxi operator, Taksi Helsinki, said it had looked into the incident and found that his story did not match up with GPS data from the taxi. On Monday, the firm tweeted that no passengers had been asked to leave a taxi.
 "In response to questions relating to Husu’s claim we confirm that based on an investigation, no one was abandoned and no passenger was removed from a ride. The matter has been discussed with Husu and the matter has been dealt with in this respect."
 In addition to speaking with the councillor, the taxi firm also referred the matter to its quality committee for consideration of possible follow-up measures.
 "We do not accept inappropriate behaviour and Husu's actions will be reviewed by our quality committee, which will consider additional measures," it tweeted.
 Daily Helsingin Sanomat was the first to report on the taxi firm’s probe.

Helsinki city councillor apologises for false story about abusive taxi passenger


Summary: Thirty workers were treated for a pneumonia infection during late summer and early autumn.

German-owned shipbuilder Meyer Turku said on Monday that it had completed vaccination of about 4,000 workers at its shipyard in southwest Finland.
 The immunisation drive followed an apparent pneumonia outbreak in which 30 workers came down with the infection during late summer and early autumn.
 The Turku University hospital said that it is no longer treating any of the patients.
 The shipyard said last week that it had to order an additional 500 doses of the vaccine after supplies ran out. The vaccination campaign was conducted jointly by Meyer occupational health providers and Turku municipal health services. City health officials have said that the vaccinations will continue in the days ahead.
 The National Institute for Health and Welfare, THL, is said to be still looking into the cause of the outbreak and a monitoring meeting is due to take place later this week.

Turku shipyard vaccinates 4,000 workers after pneumonia outbreak


Summary: The party is also benefiting from voters choosing conservative over liberal values.

The continued growth in support for the populist Finns Party --  illustrated last week by an Yle poll  -- is linked to a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, according to  Emilia Palonen ,a lecturer from the University of Helsinki.
 "The rise in support has empowered these party activists, who then speak openly and as if it were truly what they think. Party leaders are not, as in [former Finns Party leader  Timo ]  Soini 's time, curbing such statements, but rather raising them even more," Palonen said.
 Palonen added that any form of dissatisfaction with current political issues, such as climate policy, is being channeled into support for the Finns Party.
 "There is certainly no single reason why people vote for the Finns Party," Palonen said.
 Story continues after photo.
 Postdoctoral Researcher Johanna Vuorelma Tapio Rissanen / Yle
 Johanna Vuorelma , a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Tampere, posited that voters in Finland are no longer just choosing between parties along the traditional right-left axis.
 Instead, according to the researcher, there is now another axis in which the Finns Party represents conservative values and other parties -- such as the Green Party led by  Pekka Haavisto  -- represent liberal values.
 "The voter knows what they are getting when they support these parties," Vuorelma told Yle.
 "Never heard such a thing"
 On Sunday morning at the autumn market in Myyrmäki, a district in the municipality of Vantaa, almost all of the parliamentary parties had a stall out to woo passing voters.
 However, one city councillor told Yle she noticed a difference in the language used at certain stalls.
 "One of our city councillors was asked if it was possible to change the colour of their face. I've never heard such a thing being said, quite frankly," said  Ulla Kaukola , a member of Vantaa city council.
 Another visitor to the market,  Satu Raiskio  from Vantaa, told Yle that she wonders if the Finns Party's poll numbers will be reflected in the next election.
 "I was just discussing with my father in the car that what if in the next election the Finns Party were to win 101 seats. There is nothing more to say other than that democracy is democracy, whatever your personal opinion," Raiskio said.

Researcher: Finns Party rise fomenting anti-immigrant sentiment


Summary: The National Bureau of Investigation is also looking into whether a related group has violated a court-ordered ban.

Helsinki police department is considering launching an investigation into a demonstration that took place in the capital last Saturday. The criminal offence under consideration would be illegal congregation of a banned organisation.
 A grassroots organisation calling itself "Toward freedom!" (KV or Kohti vapautta! in Finnish) was behind the protest that took place at midday at Narinkkatori in downtown Helsinki.
 Members of the group handed out fliers and waved flags bearing symbols similar to Nazi swastikas. According to tabloid daily Iltalehti, police arrived on the scene but did not intervene in the event.
 The demonstration was apparently timed to coincide with the date of the Kristallnacht or Night of Broken Glass. The 1938 pogrom by civilians and paramilitary troops against German Jews saw tens of thousands thrown into concentration camps and widespread destruction of Jewish property.
 According to Helsinki resident  Dmitry Gurbanov , anti-Semitic stickers also appeared in the city during the weekend.
 "Last night Nazis (sic) were out in Helsinki on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht. Police did not intervene in their actions. Now PVL [banned neo-Nazi group Nordic Resistance Movement] has announced that the stickers printed with ‘Jude’ were put up in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and also in Finland," Gurbanov tweeted.
 He added that one of the stickers had been posted outside the Israeli embassy as well as a synagogue.
 Story continues after images.
 Toward freedom! describes itself as a national socialist movement but is widely considered a neo-Nazi group. It has organised several demonstrations across the country during the course of the year.
 According to  Tommi Kotonen , a Jyväskylä University researcher, activists from the banned Nordic Resistance Movement (PVL) are likely behind the movement's activity.
 He noted that PVL members have participated in KV’s operations and that the banned group has shared "activism reports" on its website. Additionally, before the courts ordered it proscribed, PVL also organised several protests using the slogan, "Toward freedom!"
 Last autumn  the Turku Appeal Court upheld a lower court decision  to ban PVL, making it illegal for the group to mobilise, demonstrate and distribute propaganda. Meanwhile Finland’s Supreme Court has also issued  an interim ban on the organisation , pending a final decision on its fate.
 The National Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating whether or not the group has violated the temporary ban by continuing to operate under the Toward freedom! name.

Helsinki police mull probe into neo-Nazi demonstration


Summary: Finland's press covers day two of industrial action that has shut down letter, magazine and non-EU parcel delivery.

Central Finland daily Keskisuomalainen reports on  day two of the postal workers' strike , saying that members of the PAU post and logistics union will gather again on Tuesday in Helsinki to demonstrate. The workers will congregate in the capital's Ilmala district at 12:30pm and march to the Posti headquarters in northern Pasila.
 Negotiations between PAU and the service sector employers union Palta on terms and conditions for postal workers broke down in late October, resulting in a  two-week strike . Two days ago, PAU announced that would  extend its strike until December 8  if an agreement cannot be reached in collective agreement talks. Negotiations will continue on Wednesday, 13 November.
 If the strike is extended, it will expand to Posti's office and sales staff as well, KSML says. Transport unions and the massive welfare sector union JHL are also considering joining in the industrial action if a settlement can't be found and the strike continues after 24 November.
 KSML writes that the strike has stopped all letter and magazine deliveries in Finland. Posti claims domestic parcels will be delivered normally, but items sent from within the EU may be delayed by several days. Support from the aviation workers union IAU means that handling of packages from outside Europe will resume only after the strike action has ended, the paper says.
 Husu suspended until June 2020
 The northwest Oulu-based daily Kaleva carries a story on the Social Democratic Party's decision to  suspend Helsinki city councillor   Abdirahim "Husu" Hussein  from the SDP council group, after it was revealed that he fabricated part of a recent story he told about a racist taxi customer.
 Eveliina Heinäluoma , chair of the SDP council group, announced the decision on Twitter on Tuesday, saying that Hussein had been dismissed from the council until June 2020 "because of his lying and the subsequent lack of confidence".
 Kaleva writes that one week ago,  Hussein tweeted  about an incident in which he claimed that he had stopped along a motorway to order a verbally abusive passenger to leave his taxi. He later modified the story to clarify that he left the passenger at a bus stop and not at the roadside. On Monday Hussein admitted that he did not remove the passenger from the vehicle, but had tweeted about the incident to spark discussion. He apologized for his untruth and said he would accept the consequences.
 Taksi Helsinki confirmed on Monday that Hussein had not ejected the passenger from the taxi. The taxi company told the paper that it is considering further action.
 Super jab for seniors
 And the capital city area's newspaper Helsingin Sanomat features an item on a  new vaccination that is being trialled on people over 65 years of age  in Finland.
 The new jab is part of an exceptionally large study assessing the effectiveness of flu vaccinations for the elderly. The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reports that 13 municipalities and over 34,000 seniors will participate. The first round will administer the jab this winter, and next year it will be repeated because influenza viruses mutate so quickly. The results of the trial won't be ready until sometime in the next decade.
 The new vaccination protects against not just influenza, but also several secondary illnesses that can occur after an elderly person falls ill, such as pneumonia, serious infections or a heart attack. Patients with heart problems, diabetes and asthma can also find that their conditions grow worse after contracting the flu.
 Immune responses to influenza vaccines decline with age, reducing clinical effectiveness. A higher-dose influenza vaccine has therefore been developed for seniors that contains four times the active ingredients contained in a  standard-dose vaccine .
 The booster influenza vaccine for seniors is already in use in the US, and tests must be made on the European market before it can be introduced here. Clinical tests in two top medical journals show that the vaccine has been effective in reducing the incidence of respiratory-related hospital admissions, HS reports.

Tuesday's papers: Possibility of sympathy strikes, councillor suspension, booster jab trial


Summary: Tampere University research found higher mortality in people with pessimistic attitudes, who also tended to eat poorly.

Pessimists are more likely to contract and die from coronary heart disease than people with an optimistic view of things, finds new research from the University of Tampere in southern Finland.
 Medical science licentiate  Mikko Pänkäläinen 's doctoral dissertation set out to determine whether the personality traits of optimism and pessimism can influence coronary heart disease, and if this effect could be mediated.
 His results found a four-fold risk of developing heart disease among the most pessimistic fourth of the study population, compared to the least pessimistic fourth. In contrast, optimism was not found to be statistically connected to the disease's incidence and mortality.
 "When you exclude deaths due to other causes, the risk for the most pessimistic individuals to die from coronary heart disease were more than twice that of the least pessimistic in the 11-year follow-up period," Pänkäläinen said.
 Pessimists also tended to have a more unhealthy diet in terms of cardiovascular disease risk, and could not or did not try to change their eating habits as often as the others.
 "Increased inflammation levels seemed to be an important link between pessimism and the disease," Pänkäläinen explained.
 Better preventative care is needed
 Earlier research has shown that pessimists can successfully improve their living habits if they are given the right motivation.
 "More research is needed on psychosocial interventions for the most pessimistic patients, as well as efforts that could be made on a societal level to help people stay positive in a world that often does its best to discourage this," Pänkäläinen added.
 The study was part of the "Ikihyvä Päijät-Häme" research project, in which 3,000 middle-aged men and older women and men from southern Finland were monitored from 2002 to 2012. Mortality statistics on the group were compiled one year after the study ended.
 Data on the subjects was collected via in-depth questionnaires, blood tests and health examinations. The participants also completed a revised Life Orientation Test questionnaire, designed to measure optimism and pessimism.
 Pänkäläinen says he hopes the results of his study will help target preventative care and identify new ways for treating coronary heart disease. He will defend his dissertation in Tampere on 22 November.

Pessimists more likely to die from heart disease, study finds


Summary: Half of teens surveyed do not see marijuana experimentation as risky.

Use of intoxicants by youngsters in Finland is changing. While the number of people in their mid-teens who have never consumed alcohol has risen to 31 percent, more youth are trying marijuana.
 One in 10 Finnish youth aged 15-16 has used cannabis while attitudes toward illicit drugs have become more positive. That is according to a study conducted last spring and published on Tuesday by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
 The poll suggests that cannabis experimentation and usage have risen particularly among boys. This is in contrast to neighbouring Sweden and Norway, where cannabis usage has not risen among minors, and may even be lower than in Finland.
 The results are from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), which has been carried out every fourth year since 1995 in 23-39 European countries. Students turning 16 during the year of study take part in the survey. In Finland, more than 4,600 ninth graders participated.
 The use of cannabis and  snus  (powdered tobacco) has become more common, but they have not replaced cigarettes and alcohol, says  Kirsimarja Raitasalo , a senior researcher at the THL. Rather, the use of controlled substances often seems to be more concentrated among the same young individuals.
 "During the entire observation period, cannabis use has been more common among the young people who use alcohol, particularly those regularly engaged in binge drinking, compared to those abstaining from alcohol use. It appears that cannabis has not replaced alcohol, but has instead been adopted alongside it," she says.
 Marijuana use on the rise
 Cannabis usage has increased year by year in Finland, especially among boys in the last four years.
 One in 10 ninth graders has tried cannabis. In the 1990s only about five percent of youth surveyed said they had tried cannabis and attitudes were more negative.
 Young people say that cannabis use has steadily increased because it is easy to access. Another reason is that many consider it to be risk-free. About half of respondents said they did not believe there were any risks in experimenting with pot, and 16 percent of boys said they did not even see any risks in regular usage.
 A similar trend has been seen for some time among young adults as well. Roughly one in four Finns has tried marijuana at some point.
 More teetotallers, fewer smokers
 While the parents of today's ninth graders were statistically likely to have consumed alcohol heavily as teenagers, today's kids are more moderate when it comes to alcoholic beverages.
 Their alcohol consumption has declined throughout the 2000s. More than 30 percent of those in their mid-teens say they have never drunk alcohol, and four out of 10 say they have not done so within the past year. This is partly due to stricter rules and surveillance of alcohol sales. Still, alcohol remains the most widely used intoxicant in this age group.
 Cigarette smoking has dropped sharply among ninth graders over the past couple of decades. Now just seven percent say they smoke daily, down from one in four in 1995. Again researchers attribute this to stiffer regulations as well as price hikes and attitudinal shifts.
 However they say that one worrying trend is that girls are generally using some controlled substances as much as boys. For instance, a few years ago the use of  snus  was rising rapidly among boys. It has now plateaued among boys, but is now rising among girls. According to the poll 19 percent of them say they have tried the tobacco pouches compared to 35 percent of their male counterparts.

Survey: Finnish teens using more cannabis, less alcohol and cigarettes


Summary: Earlier this autumn, the financial group let go of 115 corporate banking and insurance employees.

Finland's OP Financial Group continues its restructuring efforts and now plans to lay off employees in its central operations. About 460 jobs will be terminated and 190 new positions will be created.
 "We have estimated that a maximum of 290 people would be made redundant," said  Hannakaisa Länsisalmi , OP's HR director.
 The banking group is offering the 1,900 people who are at risk of being let go retraining opportunities. Länsisalmi says the exact number of employees OP will jettison from the central operations unit will become clear in early 2020.
 Earlier this autumn,  OP laid off 115 employees  from its corporate banking and insurance customers business branches.
 The group says it has entered co-determination negotiations in a bid to save 18 million euros in operating costs by the end of next year.
 In autumn 2018, OP Group began to transition towards what it calls a more self-directed working model. The change started in the retail banking unit, and the central operations redundancy talks mark the final phase of this restructuring.

OP Group to lay off more employees, 290 jobs at risk


Summary: The gender wage gap and long periods of child home care increase the disparity between men’s and women’s pensions.

Men's pension income continues to outstrip women's in Finland, according to a new report commissioned by the Social Affairs and Health Ministry.
 The report found that on average, women’s pensions are one-fifth smaller than men’s. While the gender difference in pensions has narrowed over the past two decades, progress has been slow, the authors noted. On a European scale, the gender-related pension gap in Finland is quite large, the report added.
 Nowadays, there is no major difference between men and women in terms of average employment rates, career duration or retirement age. However there is a notable disparity in earnings, particularly on a global scale.
 Pension reforms make little difference
 According to the authors of the report, the  gender wage gap  is a central factor influencing the pensions divide between men and women. The unequal division of parental leave between men and women as well as especially long periods of child home care leave also play a role in increasing the gender-related pay and pension gap in Finland.
 Although having a family often causes a major disruption to a woman’s professional career, after caring for youngsters, women are generally able to return to good jobs. Finland is the only European country where employment rates among 60-year-old women is higher than among men of the same age.
 The report pointed out that the rules of the Finnish pension system are the same for men and women. At the same time, recent reforms to the system do not appear to have had any material impact on the gender pensions gap.
 It is estimated that by the year 2085, women’s median pensions will still be 15 percentage points lower than men’s. Changes in labour markets and earnings levels as well as the impact of pension system reforms will only be seen years or even decades in the future.
 EU worried about poverty among elderly women
 In Europe, more attention is being paid to discussions about the adequacy of pensions, wage parity and the gender-related pensions gap. The European Union has expressed concern about poverty among elderly women.
 The report noted that the risk of poverty among aged women is double that faced by men. Retirement now accounts for a significant period of life and for elderly people, pensions are the most important and sometimes the only source of income.
 National and guarantee pensions are still key for many female retirees since moves to balance them out benefit women in particular.
 Low income is a strongly gendered phenomenon, especially among older age groups, the report said. The gender pension difference is also about equality as well as income and social justice.
 From the perspective of an individual’s livelihood, pension income disparity becomes even more significant as life expectancy grows and people live longer as pensioners. Nowadays, the time spent in retirement accounts for about a quarter of an individual’s life span.
 The report was produced as part of a two-year gender gap in pensions project partly funded by the European Union. The goal of the project is to generate discussion about the difference in men’s and women’s pensions and to increase awareness about the factors behind the phenomenon.

Report: Women's pensions one-fifth smaller than men's


Summary: The postal strike could spread to the rail service next week.

Julkisten ja hyvinvointialojen liitto (JHL)

An estimated 200 Posti employees gathered on Tuesday for a demonstration in Helsinki on the second day of a national postal strike.
 They marched from the Ilmala neighbourhood to Posti headquarters in nearby Pasila. The demonstration was called by the Finnish Post and Logistics Union (PAU), with activists arriving from around the country.
 Solidarity strikes
 Meanwhile the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors (JHL) has announced a sympathy strike and the Aviation Union (IAU) says it will continue its own support measures as long as the postal strike lasts, which could be a month or more.
 JHL locomotive engineers will decide on Thursday whether to walk out in support of the postal workers.
 The JHL walkout would close down freight train rail yards next Tuesday, 19 November, with train maintenance workers joining the action the following day. The walkouts would not affect passenger train traffic.
 Story continues after photo
 Vainikkala switching yard in Lappeenranta, eastern Finland. Jari Tanskanen / Yle
 The unions say they want to help accelerate PAU's negotiations with the employers' group Palta over working contracts for some of the majority-state-owned company's staff.
 JHL: Posti moves "nasty and immoral"
 "Posti's management is trying in a completely nasty, immoral way to achieve profit by trampling on collective agreements," JHL president  Päivi Niemi-Laine  said in a statement on Tuesday.
 IAU president  Juhani Haapasaari  said that the aviation union is prepared to extend its sympathy strike as long as PAU members are off the job. The IAU had originally planned for its job action to last until 24 November.
 The union has stopped all support functions for Posti handling at the nation's airports, which has effectively halted international air mail deliveries.

Posti strikers march, other unions weigh sympathy action


Summary: Researchers tracked toddlers' stress levels at home and at daycare by gauging cortisol levels in saliva samples.

There is little difference in the level of stress that kids experience, regardless of whether they are cared for at home or in public daycares, according to new research at the University of Turku.
 The institution's FinnBrain study found that the nature of care provided for kids had no real impact on their daily cortisol levels. Cortisol is often known as the stress hormone because of its connection to the stress response.
 Researchers said they detected some variations in isolated readings, however. The research also suggested that there was no link between the size of daycare groups and children’s cortisol levels.
 The study tracked children under the age of three and relied on a series of saliva samples to measure cortisol levels both at home and at daycare.
 According to a statement from the university, toddlers who received care at daycare had slightly higher cortisol levels during the afternoon, compared to when the same children were at home at the same time of day.
 "This is partly explained by an afternoon nap, because the samples were taken during the afternoon after nap time and cortisol levels are a bit higher immediately after waking up. However naps do not completely explain [cortisol] levels and it may be that for some children, afternoons at daycare may be more of a strain than at home," FinnBrain researcher and doctoral student  Katja Tervahartiala  said in the statement.
 Little insight into daycare stress
 Group comparisons indicated that overall, children cared for at home had slightly higher cortisol levels than kids in daycare groups. Researchers attributed this to the fact that cortisol levels fluctuated more among children in home care and average differences in cortisol levels among children were greater than among kids in daycare groups.
 So far there has been little research into children’s stress levels in daycare environments, neither has previous research had a reference group of children receiving home care.
 The FinnBrain daycare research included more than 200 children and over 30 daycares in Turku and nearby municipalities. The Turku University FinnBrain birth cohort study is examining the impact of environment and heredity on children’s development. It involves more than 4,000 families and follows children from pregnancy into adulthood.

Research: Kids no more stressed at daycare than at home


Summary: A woman who phoned about a lost wallet was put on hold for 24 minutes – and billed 73 euros for the call.

Finland's Consumer Disputes Board has recommended that private lost-and-found service Suomen Löytötavarapalvelu make changes to its phone services.
 In October 2017, a woman from the southeast city of Lappeenranta was billed 73 euros after she called to track down a lost wallet and waited on hold for 24 minutes to speak to a service representative. The recording told her that the call would be answered quickly, that waiting in the queue was subject to a fee, and the prices could be found on the company's website.
 After waiting almost a half hour, someone finally gave her an answer in 30 seconds: the wallet that she described had not been found. The woman was shocked when she realised the cost of the phone call.
 When the company refused to lower the fee, she complained to the Consumer Disputes Board.
 Phone call fee reduced to five euros
 The Consumer Disputes Board determined that as Suomen Löytytavarapalvelu did not inform the woman of the price-per-minute for waiting, no price had been agreed on at the call's onset. For this reason, the board reasoned that the woman should only be expected to pay a reasonable amount.
 It voted unanimously to lower Suomen Löytötavarapalvelu's 73-euro phone charge to five euros.
 "If a service agreement is not made online, but via a phone call, the pricing information must be given over the phone," said the board's chair  Pauli Ståhlberg .
 The law limits the fee that the lost and found service can demand for storing lost items to 17 euros. The board said that this restriction should be kept in mind in determining the company's charges for the phone service.
 Company says it has dropped waiting time fees
 Suomen Löytötavarapalvelu CEO  Petri Fonsén  told Yle that this was a one-off case and that the woman had been reimbursed as recommended by the consumer board.
 Fonsén added that customers will no longer be billed for waiting time on the service line and that the cost per minute for answered calls is now clearly stated when one calls the number.
 The CEO also noted that inquiries can be made free of charge by visiting the company's office or by post.

Consumer Board raps lost-and-found centre over €73 phone call


Summary: The prosecutor said that the men shot at wild animals from a car and left some of them wounded.

On Tuesday a court in Ostrobothnia, western Finland began hearing the case of three young men suspected of aggravated hunting and conservation crimes. A preliminary investigation into the case alleged that the men shot at wild animals from a car and left some of them wounded.
 The prosecutor has called for suspended prison sentences of between six and 10 months for the suspects.
 Two of the men facing charges of aggravated hunting and conservation crimes are believed to have shot about 40 animals, mainly hares and roe deer. The conservation offence relates to the shooting of protected seagulls. At the time the offences were committed, one of the pair was 18 years old.
 According to the prosecutor, the third man was present when some of the animals were shot. He also faces charges relating to hunting crimes.
 The charge sheet also indicates that the men also shot as many as 1,000 cats. However the statute of limitations has expired in relation to some of those offences. The crimes were committed in Pietarsaari in 2016 and 2017.
 Defence: Men's actions not especially cruel
 The prosecutor told the court that the shootings generally took place at night. One of the men would drive the car and when an animal came into sight, another would blind it using the headlights and the other would shoot.
 They took some of the prey with them, but left most of the animals without checking to see what happened to them. During the investigation, they admitted to wounding some of the animals. Some of the shooting took place outside of the hunting season.
 "This is not hunting, it’s something else altogether," district prosecutor  Marina Ek-Bäck  told the court.
 However the defence said that the men were not involved in systematic hunting. Rather, they drove around at night and shot at hares or roe deer whenever they came across them.
 "Systematic hunting is when the animal is hunted down and shot. This was the thoughtless action of young men, you might call it an extremely stupid impulse," said defence lawyer  Anne Mäkelä , adding that her two clients took responsibility for their actions.
 Mäkelä claimed that the men’s deeds did not constitute aggravated offences: their actions were not especially callous, cruel or planned. They were not aiming for financial gain, nor was the number of animals they attacked especially large in relation to the local wildlife population.
 Hunting club also seeking damages
 A local hunting club is also seeking damages from the men, charging that their poaching has depleted roe deer populations in the area. However the defence countered that some estimates indicate that roe deer stock is on the rise.
 Juha Gustafsson , chair of the Pietarsaari hunting club, said that members reported slightly fewer roe deer sightings last year. He noted that the entire club has shot one or at most two animals a year.
 Gustafsson said that in recent years, the club decided not to hunt hares to see whether hunting was possible. He said hunting opportunities seemed poor for a few years, but now the population seems to have recovered.
 The men admitted to the court that they had shot wild animals and pleaded guilty to hunting offences, but rejected charges of aggravated crimes.
 In addition to suspended prison sentences, the prosecution called on the court to impose a minimum five-year hunting ban on the two main defendants and a similar ban of at least three years on the third defendant.
 A verdict is expected at the end of November.

Three men accused of poaching wild animals, shooting 1,000 cats


Summary: Newspapers on Wednesday looked at foreign women working to help each other into working life in Finland, among other stories.

When is it safe to travel somewhere? The best way to check is looking at a Foreign Ministry’s website, and in Finland that source has long advised against travel to Iraq.
 The ministry is set to ignore that advice now,  reports  Helsingin Sanomat, as it sends  Vesa Häkkinen  to be its first ambassador in Baghdad since 1991.
 The news comes as the country is swept by a  wave of protests , and a bloody crackdown by the authorities, but Häkkinen is stoical about his task.
 The mission, says Häkkinen, is to help Finnish businesses export to Iraq and to assist in ensuring the country is stable in the years to come.
 There’s also a political mission, as then-Foreign Minister  Timo Soini  made clear a year ago when he announced that an ambassador would be stationed in Iraq.
 That’s to negotiate the deportation of Iraqis in Finland whose asylum claims have been rejected.
 HS says that last year more than 20,000 Iraqis received negative decisions on their asylum claims, and those people are for now in limbo. Finland wants to return them, but Iraq is refusing to accept forced deportations.
 Working women
 Kauppalehti  covers  a Facebook group founded by foreign women in Finland looking to advance their careers or even just find a job.
 The move was, according to founder  Chiara Costa-Virtanen , a response to negative media coverage of highly-educated foreigners’ chances of getting appropriate work in Finland.
 Some 1,700 women have joined the closed group to exchange experiences and network. The group also holds ‘after work’ events that attract between 30-70 people each time.
 Costa-Virtanen says that networking is key, because ‘80 percent of job openings are hidden’, or not advertised.
 Group member  Caroline Bondier  moved to Finland from France 16 years ago, and now works in a senior position at lift-maker Kone.
 “It’s important that firms communicate clearly their desire to hire foreign-background workers,” Bondier tells KL. “Lots of them are interested, but maybe they don’t know how to do it. This group can help with that.”
 Nazi sign draws ire
 This week has seen a ‘military’ pub in the village of Lappila draw criticism from breweries and social media users after a story by local news site  Seutu4  revealed the pub displays an ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ sign on its wall.
 The phrase, which translates as ‘work makes you free’, was displayed at the Auschwitz concentration camp as the Nazi machine conducted its genocidal business.
 On Tuesday the Auschwitz Museum weighed in via Twitter, stating that ‘"Arbeit macht frei" was a false, cynical illusion the SS gave to prisoners of the  #Auschwitz  camp. Those words became one of the icons of human hatred. It's painful to see the symbol misused this way.
 The pub also saw brewery Sinebrychoff had given owner  Juha Koskinen  an ultimatum to remove the sign. He refused and the brewery stopped beer deliveries this week,  according  to local paper Etelä-Suomen Sanomat.
 “Everyone thinks differently,” Koskinen  told  Iltalehti. “I haven’t had any negative feedback from customers.”

Wednesday’s papers: Baghdad ambassador, working women, and a Nazi bar


Summary: This week Teemu Pukki promised Finland are on their way to the European Championships.

Since the first World Cup in 1930 there have been 36 World Cups or European Championships. Finland’s male footballers have not played at a single one.
 That could all be about to change next summer, so long as they beat Liechtenstein on Friday night.
 The Alpine principality are relative minnows in footballing terms, some 126 places below Finland in the world rankings, but Finland are used to disappointments.
 In 1997 an unbelievable last minute  Teuvo  ' Tepi' Moilanen   own goal against Hungary  scuppered their bid for France 1998. In 2007 they went out with a whimper, drawing 0-0 in Portugal when only a win would do.
 Fans of the Eagle Owls (or  Huuhkajat  in Finnish) are used to disappointment.
 Even so, this week at the national team’s press first press conference of the international break, Norwich City striker  Teemu Pukki  is confident they will come through.
 "I can promise that we’ll take care of business," said Pukki, who has scored seven goals in eight games during these qualifiers. "For once. For once I dare to promise."
 Huuhkajat belief
 It’s a good thing too as Finland is finally starting to get very excited about its national team.
 In honour of the occasion Viasat will have a 12-hour buildup to the big match. Pukki’s club Norwich City, who are currently rock-bottom of the Premier League, have tried to capitalise on their star forward’s God-like status in Finland, opening a popup shop in a Helsinki mall and organising a watch party for those not lucky enough to get one of the 10,000 tickets to Töölö football stadium.
 They've even declared on social media that 'Norwich believes in the Huuhkajat' and sent several staff members over to Finland to build their fanbase and corporate relationships.
 There are big-screen events in Helsinki, Tampere, Turku and other municipalities across the country. Some of them are outdoor, which represents a big show of faith from organisers given the typical November weather forecast for Friday evening.
 80 years of hurt
 So what happened? How did this Finland team come to the brink of ending 80 years of hurt?
 "That’s the fun point about this team," says Ilta-Sanomat football journalist  Janne Oivio . "Essentially this is a worse version of the same team that did really badly from 2014-2017, without four of its biggest stars:  Niklas Moisander ,  Perparim Hetemaj ,  Alex Ring  and  Roman Eremenko . And now they were amazing and they have qualified for the euros."
 Coach  Markku "Rive" Kanerva  is the man credited with the transformation, but Oivio says it’s been more evolution than 'Rivelution'.
 "There’s no big influx of young stars, no tactical revolution, it’s just all come together," says Oivio. "Kanerva deserves huge credit for coaxing the right mentality out of the players after years of losing."
 "It’s amazing. I don’t think international football is that hard. You don’t have that much time to prepare, you just instill the tactics and prepare the team. The big thing was when they realised 'hey, we’re not that bad'."
 On Friday they will probably reap the rewards of that realisation. Pukki promised, after all.
 We’ll be discussing the men’s national team with Janne Oivio in this week’s  All Points North podcast . If you have a question or comment, let us know via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or to yle.news@yle.fi.

APN this week: Why are Finland suddenly good at football?


Summary: Last year in Finland, doctors wrote out one million fewer antibiotics prescriptions than ten years prior.

Prescriptions for antibiotics in Finland have fallen by a third in the last 10 years, according to a study commissioned by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
 Researchers using figures from the social insurance institution Kela found that the number of antibiotic prescriptions fell by 29 percent between the years 2008 and 2018. This means one million fewer prescriptions were written last year than ten years prior.
 In 2008 health insurance companies reimbursed the cost of 3.2 million euro's worth of antibiotic prescriptions in Finland, while in 2018 this number fell to 2.3 million.
 The biggest drop, 60 percent, came in the area of antibiotics prescribed for children under the age of 4.
 For children between 5 and 17 years of age, antibiotic prescriptions were down by 43 percent. For people over 65, the reduction was considerably smaller, at 17 percent.
 One reason children's antibiotic use has fallen is likely the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine to the national vaccination programme. The pneumococcal vaccine can prevent pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis in some cases.
 Cracking down on unnecessary use
 There has been plenty of talk about the  unnecessary and excessive use of antibiotics  in the last few years. A general concern about  increasing antibiotic resistance , when  bacteria grow resistant to antibiotics , has also gained ground.
 According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health. Each year over 700,000 people die worldwide from antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases.
 The number is expected to grow if the rise in antibiotic-resistant  superbacteria  is not controlled somehow.
 Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections, but have no effect on viral infections. Despite the fact that they have no effect on various viruses, they are still often prescribed to treat them.
 "To further reduce the use of antibiotics, it is crucial that physicians treat infectious diseases in accordance with treatment recommendations. We also need more specific diagnostics to ensure that the prescribed treatment is targeted to people in need," said emeritus professor of general medicine  Pekka Honkanen  in a Pfizer press release.
 Compared to the rest of Europe, Finland had the ninth lowest daily dose of antibiotics per thousand inhabitants in 2017, according to a  report  from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The countries in the study with the lowest antibacterial consumption per capita were the Netherlands, Estonia and Sweden.

Antibiotic use down by a third in last decade


Summary: Eight of the pigments tested contained carcinogenic substances and chemicals that could affect fertility.

Products containing hazardous substances Intenze The Alex De Pase Series, Magenta (LOT SS265) Arte Stylo, Café (LOT 180624) BioTouch micropigments black (LOT 30845) Mastor permanent makeup dark pink M307 (mfg: 2016.03.12 exp: 2019.03.12) Dynamik BLK (LOT 12026230) Bloodline all purpose black (exp: 01/22) Color King Black Color King Orange
 Tests of inks used in tattoos and permanent makeup revealed the presence of toxic chemicals that could cause cancer or affect fertility, the safety and chemicals agency Tukes said in a press release on Wednesday.
 The agency said that  it analysed a total of 20 pigments  sourced from Finnish suppliers, an online store based in the EU and another from outside the EU. It found that a total of eight pigments contained aromatic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or heavy metals.
 Altogether six of the inks tested were used for permanent makeup, while 14 were typically used for tattoos. Tukes said that toxic substances are currently classified as hazardous to health and may cause cancer, genetic defects or reproductive health problems. Others were substances that could cause skin irritation or sensitivity.
 In eight of the products tested the concentration of the harmful substances exceeded EU limits for tattoo and permanent makeup pigments. The agency said that it contacted the companies that sold the pigments and requested that they withdraw products that were found to pose a potential health hazard.
 "Some of the substances used in tattoo inks were not originally intended to be used for injecting into the skin and their safety has not been tested to a great extent for such a purpose. Tests detected 4-methyl-m-phenylenediamine, benzo[a]pyrene, cadmium, lead and nickel, for example. Hazardous substances in tattoo inks may present a risk to human health. As research data is not sufficient, it is often not possible to set a safe concentration limit," Tukes senior officer  Petteri Talasniemi  said in the press statement.
 Tukes noted that there is not enough research data available on possible links between tattoo inks and cancer. "However we cannot rule out health risks that are caused by substances in inks that may cause cancer or be toxic for reproduction. The substances may increase cancer risk, be toxic for reproduction or they could be otherwise harmful," Talasniemi added.
 Tukes noted that the EU is currently drawing up new rules on tattoo and permanent makeup inks as there is no specific legislation governing their use. Meanwhile the European Chemicals Agency headquartered in Helsinki has proposed EU-wide regulations to cover chemicals used in these pigments.
 The agency said that it will continue to monitor tattoo inks.

Safety watchdog flags toxic substances in tattoo, makeup pigments


Summary: Shopping is not always cheaper in Estonia than Finland.

Estonia has long been  a destination for Finns in search of a bargain , but new analysis from the Estonian Institute for Economic research shows that some products are now actually cheaper to acquire in Helsinki than Tallinn.
 The figures show that it’s not worth crossing the Gulf of Finland to buy disposable nappies, vitamin D supplements, coffee, tea or chocolate.
 Ordinary painkillers are also slightly dearer in Tallinn.
 Nappies are 30 percent cheaper, with a 68-pack of Pampers coming to 9.28 euros in Helsinki and 13.32 euros in Tallinn during the week the comparison was made.
 Story continues after graphic
 Petteri Juuti / Yle
 The majority of purchases made during the comparison, however, were cheaper in Tallinn. Government policy has also had an impact on that.
 "The government reduced alcohol taxes in July," said  Marje Josing  of the institute. "That showed in prices straight away. Especially in the price of beer."
 Alcohol has historically been the number one attraction for Finns heading south, with some specialist Finnish websites closely following price movements at Tallinn’s large alcohol retailers.
 Finnish breweries have even  demanded tax changes  to mitigate the moves made by Estonia’s government.
 Story continues after graphic
 Petteri Juuti / Yle
 Alcohol is not, however, where the biggest savings can be made. Coca-Cola, carrots, chicken and public transport are all much cheaper in Estonia’s capital.
 For example one kilogram of carrots in Tallinn costs 54 cents, whereas in Helsinki the orange root vegetable would set you back 1.38 euros per kilogram.
 Cheaper labour reduces prices
 Estonian prices have in recent years risen closer to Finnish levels, but there is still a hefty gap. The country’s retail prices are around 80 percent of the regional average, whereas Finland’s prices are on average 122 percent of the European average.
 The differences are felt pretty keenly in services as well as retail products. Lower wages in Estonia mean that services are cheaper to provide, and the price for customers is lower.
 The biggest differences are to be found in dentistry, but also hairdressing, taxi trips, eating out and nights in hotels are cheaper in Estonia.
 The Institute compares prices in Helsinki and Tallinn every quarter. The comparison includes products and services that are available in both countries.
 Discount campaigns are also included, if they apply during the week comparison purchases are made.
 It’s only cheap to those on Finnish wages
 Prices might be cheap, but only to those on Finnish wages. If prices are compared to salaries, many numbers in Estonia are much bigger.
 For example if someone earning an Finnish average salary of around 3,400 euros paid as much for petrol as someone on the Estonian average wage, they would be shelling out 3.40 euros per litre.
 A 500 gram pack of coffee would come to 12 euros and a 200-gram bar of chocolate would be seven euros. A night in a hotel, meanwhile, would come to a whopping 330 euros.

Not everything is cheaper in Tallinn: Which products cost less in Helsinki?


Summary: A deputy ombudsman's policy position argues that school events should be inclusive, which makes churches problematic.

Politicians in Finland are divided over a new policy position from deputy parliamentary ombudsman  Pasi Pölönen  that states that school celebrations to mark Christmas or the end of the academic year should not be held in churches.
 Finnish schools remain closely linked to the two national religions: the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Finnish Orthodox Church, and it is not uncommon for school events to be arranged on their premises.
 The deputy parliamentary ombudsman, who is charged with ensuring that state officials observe the law, said in the policy position that school celebrations should be inclusive, and therefore arranged in a way that all of the pupils can participate, regardless of their beliefs.
 Churches convey religious messages
 The ombudsman also reasoned that holding school functions in churches is problematic because the buildings are intended for religious services and therefore convey religious messages.
 His decision has been received with both criticism and praise in the Finnish Parliament. The Left Alliance and the Greens have commended Pölönen's recommendation, but representatives of the Centre, Finns and National Coalition parties (NCP) have denounced his position.
 NCP chair  Petteri Orpo  and Centre Party chair  Katri Kulmuni  were quick to comment, arguing that churches should remain an alternative venue for school events.
 Centre Party MP and constitutional law committee member  Markus Lohi  said that the deputy ombudsman's decision directly contradicted the committee's unanimous decision from 2014. He also noted that holding a school function in a church does not automatically make the event religious.
 NCP: Policy should be made clearer
 In a joint statement, NCP members of the parliamentary constitutional law committee  Wille Rydman  and  Heikki Vestman  said that Pölönen's decision is "at least in tension" with the committee's earlier interpretation. The conservative party MPs asked the committee to clarify the situation.
 In his blog, Rydman goes into greater detail about his take on the issue. The MP said that in his opinion, the deputy parliamentary ombudsman's decision seems to have been based more on the wording of the Basic Education Decree, and not on what the constitutional committee had ruled.
 "This is quite problematic, especially since the parliamentary constitutional law committee has its own stridently-worded recommendation. This was largely necessary because the position of the ombudsmen had diverged from the view of the committee. Now we find ourselves in the same situation," Rydman said.
 The deputy parliamentary ombudsman's policy position has also led to consternation among nationalist Finns Party parliamentarians.
 Committee expected to disagree
 The Finnish Parliament's constitutional law committee will likely have to take a position on the deputy ombudsman's position in the near future. The last time the committee presented its interpretation of the matter dates back to 2014, in connection with the Chancellor of Justice's report from that year.
 The Chancellor of Justice's annual report from 2018 is still on the committee's desk, awaiting consideration, as budget negotiations pushed it off the agenda. There has been no time to hear any expert testimony on the report either.
 The constitutional law committee has not yet discussed the new school celebration guidelines from the deputy ombudsman, but consideration of the 2018 report might provide a good opportunity to do so.
 The committee's report on the ombudsman office's annual report was completed in October, before the new policy position from deputy Pölönen was released.
 MPs will debate the 2018 ombudsman report on Wednesday evening in parliament, and the school celebration venue issue is expected to come up in debate.

Politicians clash over school celebrations in churches


Summary: Research shows that housing and everyday expenses swallow up more than 1,000 euros monthly.

Many low wage workers in Finland struggle to make ends meet after forking out money every month for mandatory expenses such as rent, utilities, food and insurance.
 An Yle analysis of average earnings among the country’s lowest-paid professions found that single workers under the age of 45 are left with on average just 300 euros a month after setting aside money for housing and daily expenses.
 Average living expenses around 1.1K
 Yle compiled a list of some of the lowest-paid professions in municipal, state and private sectors, as well as their take-home pay, average monthly housing and daily expenses and average cash-in hand sums.
 Data from the national number crunchers at Statistics Finland indicate that last year, average monthly before-tax earnings by municipal workshop employees were 1,727 euros. The wages used in the analysis represent net monthly earnings after taxes and other statutory payments.
 The analysis is based on taxes paid in Tampere, where municipal taxes (19.75 percent) are close to the national average (19.88 percent). The calculations also include deductibles such as union membership dues and church fees.
 Housing and daily expenses are based on 2018 figures from Helsinki University’s Centre for Consumer Society Research. The centre has calculated that a reference budget for a single low-income earner under the age of 45 is about 1,150 euros. The sum includes rent, food, phone and internet bills, clothing, healthcare fees, electricity and insurance. It does not include the cost of transportation.
 Travel costs extra
 Low wage earners living in a municipality where taxes are around the national average, are therefore left to manage with about 300 euros a month after paying their most important bills. However if they live in areas with higher municipal taxes such as Haapajärvi in Oulu, they’ll likely be left with around 270 euros monthly for discretionary spending.
 The average low income earner will still have to spend from the remaining cash to pay to commute to and from work. For taxation purposes, employees must cover part of that cost themselves, while they can claim the rest in annual tax returns.
 Currently workers must cover 750 euros (62.50 monthly) annually out of pocket and can only claim amounts in excess of that on their income tax return forms. This means that the average single low wage earner is left with around 240 euros in hand.
 The table below shows average net monthly earnings for selected low-pay municipal, public and private sector jobs based on 2018 figures, as well as living expenses and cash left after footing essential bills.

Average low-wage worker left with just €300 after bare essentials


Summary: Finnish dads could take more leave, police say dashboard cams are OK, and Lapland needs more workers.

Looking at a newly released study,  Helsingin Sanomat reports  Finnish fathers on average take only 11 percent of the paid paternity leave they are entitled to after the birth of a child. While the figure is close to the same in Denmark, in Norway it is around 20 percent and in Sweden and Iceland nearly 30 percent.
 The paper notes that according to Finland's social insurance institution Kela some 70 percent of Finnish fathers do take time off right after the birth of a child, but  fewer than half take advantage of full benefits . Around a quarter don't take paternity leave at all.
 While noting that attitudes have changed, making it more acceptable for fathers to take a break from their careers to look after their children, HS says that we are still far from an equal division of child care between men and women.
 This new study shows that women in all the Nordic countries still spend more time at home and more time with their children than do men.
 The study claims that the determining factor in how much paternity leave is taken does not depend so much on personal choice or the employer's attitude, but more on social policy. The more weeks of childcare leave that are specifically reserved for fathers, not split between parents, the more time they take off.
 In Finland, where paternity leave levels are low, nine weeks of leave are available specifically for fathers and a further 26 can be taken by either parent. In contrast, in Sweden both the father and mother can each take their own 13 weeks off work and then divide up a further 43 as they see fit.
 The study, carried out by the Nordic Council of Ministers, indicates that fathers who take longer paternity leaves are on average happier with their relationships with both their partners and their children, and more satisfied with life in general.
 Postal strike and "scab labour"
 Several papers, including  Tampere's Aamulehti , report that the government's minister in charge of state ownership steering,  Sirpa Paatero , has issued a demand for the Posti postal services company to put an end to the use of temporary agency-supplied personnel for the duration of the ongoing  postal workers' strike .
 In a statement to the STT news agency, Paatero said that state-owned companies, under no circumstances, should use what she described as "scab labour".
 "The position of the state as an owner is extremely clear. For this reason I have instructed Posti management, in order to avoid any ambiguity and to promote a settlement, to end the use of temporary workers for the duration of the strike," she said.
 Paatero added that she will have talks with Posti directors on Thursday about how her demand is to be met.
 Since the start of labour action on Monday, Posti has replaced some striking employees by contracting temporary workers from employment agencies.
 Dashboard cam caveat
 The Oulu-based  Kaleva writes  that increasing numbers of dashboard-mounted digital cameras are to be found in cars here in Finland.
 "Dashboard cameras have clearly become more common in vehicles, and the police have nothing against this, if they are used correctly," Oulu police inspector  Pasi Rissanen  told the paper. "They can be a help in determining what has happened during an accident, as generally the parties to an accident have very different views of what happened."
 According to Rissanen, nowadays when investigating accidents police patrols always check to see if any of the vehicles involved have dashboard cameras. However, he noted that it is not yet common that a party to an accident immediately offers up a video recording.
 However there are some legal issues that need to be considered regarding these devices. Posting recordings online may, in some cases, violate privacy laws.
 "Here we move from traffic laws to a different type of legislation. One should consider if it offends someone or alleges guilt. Also, defamation laws may come into play in such cases," says Inspector Rissanen.
 Workers for Lapland
 Rovaniemi's  Lapin Kansa  writes that the region of Finnish Lapland is likely to soon see the creation of thousands of new jobs, but it asks the question, where new workers will be found to take up these jobs.
 The paper points to the likely opening of two new mines and two new wood processing plants in Lapland within the next few years.
 According to Lapin Kansa, the impact of these projects will be dramatically positive for the region's economy, creating perhaps more than 3,000 new jobs and pushing up employment by 5 percent.
 This could boost the population by 3 percent, bringing more people to live in Lapland than move away. Regional services should improve. Regional and local governments should take in more tax revenues.
 The paper admits that "the big bears have yet to be shot", meaning that none of projects are 100 percent certain, but they all look very likely.
 The problem is that even as early as during the construction phase, these projects will need thousands of workers who are not to be found in Lapland. Additionally, some of the mining operations will be in remote areas, far from anywhere, and it will be hard to recruit professionals, especially those with families.
 Lapin Kansa concludes that the search for workers will have to be extended abroad, which the paper says will not be easy since competition globally for skilled professionals is fierce. This has already become evident in  Lapland's tourism sector , another field with bright prospects for further growth.

Thursday's papers: Unused paternity leave, dashboard cams, and jobs go begging in Lapland


Summary: The decision is the first time Finland has been found in breach of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Finland has been found guilty of violating Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of  Ali , an Iraqi man who was  denied asylum in 2017, deported to Iraq and killed a few weeks later .
 The Finnish authorities repatriated Ali even though he had produced evidence he had been the target of assassination attempts in his home country before fleeing to Finland.
 For this reason, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Finland violated Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to life. This decision marks the first time Finland has been found guilty of breaching Article 2.
 The court also found that Finland had violated Article 3, which prohibits torture and inhumane treatment.
 Story continues after photo.
 According to Ali's death certificate, he was killed in Iraq on December 17, 2017, of three gunshot wounds to the head and body. His personal details have been hidden in order to protect the identity of relatives.  Lähde: kuolintodistuksen toimittivat Ylelle Alin lähiomaiset
 The complaint to the court was made by Ali's daughter  Noor , who also received a negative asylum decision from Finland in 2016. Finland's Immigration Service, Migri, justified the decision to return Noor to Iraq on the grounds that both her mother and father would form a safety net for Noor and her daughters in their native country.
 The court ordered Finland to pay 20,000 euros to Noor in compensation for the treatment of her father.

Court rules Finland violated human rights of murdered asylum seeker


Summary: An independent five-person commission will be chosen to investigate claims of oppression of the Sámi people.

After years of negotiations and planning in the Sámi Parliament, the Finnish government has agreed to the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for Sámi peoples in Finland.
 When formed, the independent five-member commission will closely investigate the historical background of what the indigenous inhabitants of Lapland consider the decades-long oppression of the Sámi peoples at the hands of the Finnish government.
 On Wednesday the government held an evening meeting to discuss the mandate prepared for the coming commission. The government concluded that the designation process for the commission could now begin.
 The Finnish government has prepared the commission's mandate throughout 2019 together with the Sámi Parliament and the Skolt Sámi village meetings. The TRC designation and strategy process will begin once the mandate has been reviewed by both Sámi assemblies in December, the government announced.
 Years of work pay off
 Sámi Parliament chair  Tiina Sanila-Aikio  said she considers the government's decision to be a significant step in the formation of the commission, after waiting a long time for a concrete response.
 Story continues after photo.
 Sámi Parliament chair Tiina Sanila-Aikio said the final report is years away. Vesa Toppari / Yle
 "We started work on the commission almost four years ago, when the formation of the TRC was first logged in our Parliament's strategy," said Sanila-Aikio. "After many hearings and meetings, this is the first official step."
 Skolt Sámi representative  Veikko Feodoroff  echoed the sentiment.
 "This is an important issue. We've worked very hard to get the commission off the ground in Finland."
 After government adjourned on Wednesday Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  went on social media to say she was pleased that the TRC process has taken a step forward.
 She said that Finland must take responsibility for the wrongs of the past.
 Story continues after photo.
 Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo said the Sámi Parliament's work has been "invaluable". Laura Kotila/valtioneuvoston kanslia
 "Sámi people have had a weak status in Finland in many ways. The government has not respected Sámi land rights, and Sámi people were forced to integrate into Finnish culture all the way up to the 1970s. Finland has been scorned by international groups concerning its treatment of the Sámi, even in recent years," Ohisalo said.
 The goal of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to investigate the extent of the Finnish government's responsibility in committing historical atrocities, and to find a way to reconcile those wrongs by dealing with the facts of the past.
 "The Sámi Parliament and many Sámi activists have had to work very hard to make this commission a reality. Their work has been invaluable."
 Psychological support an ethical prerequisite
 The Finnish government held a total of 29 TRC hearings across the Sámi region and in various Finnish cities in 2018. A total of 300 Sámi people took part in these talks in person or via email, representing some 2.5 percent of Finland's Sámi minority.
 Sanila-Aikio said that the commission's work will take years before completion.
 "It's hard to know in advance how long the proper hearings and interviews will last. The commission must gather all relevant information and listen to Sámi people's experiences. We also need to scrutinise the part that the government and the authorities have played in Sámi history. It will be a couple of years at least until we have a final report," Sanila-Aikio said.
 The TRC will likely deal with sensitive issues and traumatic experiences among Europe's northernmost indigenous peoples. That is why organising a psychological and social support structure has been one of the conditions of the commission's founding.
 "We do not have culturally sensitive Sámi-language mental health services in Finland. The experts we have spoken to have strongly emphasised that psycho-social support must be guaranteed for the process to be ethical," Sanila-Aikio said.

First official step in Sámi reconciliation commission


Summary: The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman has informed the owner the sign could be considered unlawful harassment.

A member of the Jewish community complained to the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman on Thursday over a Nazi sign that was found installed above the doorway of a small-town bar.
 Juha Koskinen , the owner of a military-themed pub in Kärkölä, Southern Finland installed a metallic sign with the German inscription " Arbeit macht frei"  above the entrance to his bar.
 The German phrase, meaning "work makes you free", was written on the gates to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
 On Tuesday the Auschwitz Museum wrote on Twitter that " Arbeit macht frei  was a false, cynical illusion the SS gave to prisoners of the  #Auschwitz  camp. Those words became one of the icons of human hatred. It's painful to see the symbol misused this way."
 The person behind the complaint held the text to be ethnic agitation against Jews and demanded the Ombudsman take decisive action.
 The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman's office contacted Koskinen and informed him that the sign is considered to be a clear case of harassment under the Non-Discrimination Act.
 Koskinen said on Wednesday that he put up the sign "for fun" and had no ideological motive for the stunt. He also said he knew there would be backlash.
 "I'm no Nazi. The sign stays for now. Maybe I'll change it later to a sign about rehabilitative work programmes," Koskinen responded. His sarcastic reference is to the Finnish government's  so-called activation model .
 There is no word yet on when the sign is likely to be removed.
 More than one million Jews and other minorities were murdered at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in the 1940s.

Ombudsman receives complaint over Nazi sign above town bar


Summary: Finland is on the verge of a footballing celebration, and this week's All Points North joined in the fun.

Finland's male  footballers are set to qualify for their first-ever major tournament , with only Liechtenstein standing in the way of a historic progression to the final stages of the European Championships.
 It's almost a foregone conclusion.  Teemu Pukki  discarded the usual Finnish reserve on Monday and promised a victory, so APN skipped on to consider the implications of a market-square based national celebration that is, for once, focused on football.
 "It’s going to give a little bit more popularity," said  Elmo Lehti  features editor  Topias Kauhala  on this week's podcast. "People will be more interested in football. We are one of only two European countries where football is not the number one sport--Lithuania and basketball being the obvious second country."
 "It’s not only ice hockey, it can be basketball when they’re doing well or it can be volleyball when they’re in a major tournament with the national team and it could be about skiing and track and field," said Kauhala.
 Why now?
 There have been famous Finland teams before. In the early 2000s a team including  Jari Litmanen  and  Sami Hyypiä  came close to getting to a major tournament but always failed at the final hurdle.
 Kauhala says that’s probably down to the tactical and organisational level of the national team at the time.
 "That was probably the main reason why they as a generation under-performed," said Kauhala. "They actually did really well towards the end of this golden generation period, the qualification for the 2008 euros under  Roy Hodgson ."
 The current team can be viewed as building on the foundation laid by Hodgson in terms of professionalism and tactical sophistication around the national team.
 "You could see what the potential could have been, they were left behind by Portugal which is not really a bad result. You can kind of see it in the tactics and the mentality, the continuity from what was then with Hodgson and what we have now with [current Finland coach]  Markku Kanerva ."
 Fortune favours the Huuhkajat
 Finland have been a little bit lucky along the way, according to Kauhala.
 Their group includes Greece, Bosnia, Armenia and Liechtenstein, alongside table-toppers Italy. The other sides have under-performed while the tight-knit Finnish squad has outperformed expectations.
 "At the national team level the level is not that high so they meet up every now and then and train a couple of days, so you don’t have the possibility to work on certain things, but Finland is actually maximizing that time," said Kauhala.
 "So it helps that you’re playing against a team like Greece, they’ve changed their coaches every now and then and Bosnia have not gotten the most out of that group of players so definitely there was some luck that Finland ended up playing in a group that was quite good for them."
 "In a different group it could have been a completely different story, even if the basic level had been the same but the results could have been different."
 Internationalisation process
 This team differs from its predecessors in that many of its key players moved abroad at a young age. Kauhala believes that's a crucial part of the squad's transition to one capable of mixing it with Europe's elite.
 Historically Finnish players have stayed in Finland for longer, with the bad pitches, short season, low salaries and less professional set-up that has been common in Veikkausliiga.
 That domestic league has improved in recent years, but players have also utilised their right to freedom of movement under the EU treaties--and that's helped them improve.
 "There are about 6 or 7 players in this national team who left before the age of 18 and quite a lot more who left before the age of 20," noted Kauhala.
 "So you can see that, if you look at them as footballers of course they are Finnish but if you look at their professionalism there is a kind of mix of their Finnish background and stuff that they’ve learnt playing all around Europe."
 Join the conversation
 If you have any questions or comments or would like to participate in the discussion, just contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi.
 The All Points North podcast is a weekly look at what's going on in Finland. Subscribe via iTunes (and leave a review!), listen on Spotify and Yle Areena or find it on your favourite podcatching app or via our RSS feed.
 This week's show was presented by  Egan Richardson  and our reporter and producer was  Denise Wall . Our audio engineer was  Joonatan Kotila .

How high can the Huuhkajat fly?


Summary: Rangers star Glen Kamara tells Yle News he is focused on Finland as speculation about his future gathers steam in Scotland.

As Finland prepare to meet Liechtenstein and potentially qualify for their first major tournament in 80 years, midfielder Glen Kamara was his usual cool, calm and collected self.
 With Friday night’s match possibly the biggest in Finnish football history, he told Yle News he no longer gets nervous when he joins up with the national team.
 "When I was younger yeah but not any more," Kamara said. "I wouldn’t say I’m an old veteran but I kind of got used to it. I feel fine, I’m just excited for the game as usual. I feel like we can just go out there and do what we can do, and do our best, and hopefully we can go and get a result."
 Kamara grew up in Finland before moving to London as a teenager. His current success has helped him reconnect with some old friends.
 "I’ve got a few childhood friends coming to see the game tomorrow who I haven’t seen in years upon years, so that’s going to be exciting," the young midfielder said. "Everyone’s been really good, supportive, messaging me and that."
 Happy, for now
 At the Finnish team’s waterfront hotel in Helsinki, Kamara was happy to ponder the impact of uprooting again when he moved from Arsenal to Dundee in 2017.
 "Going up to Scotland’s been good for me, for my career," Kamara said. "You have everything there, nutrition, the coaches, you’ve got your team-mates, better players who make you better yourself, so it’s been great."
 In January Kamara moved on to Glasgow giants Rangers, and has excelled again in his new environment.
 There has been  speculation linking him with a move back down south , but Kamara declared that nothing would distract him from the task at hand--beating Liechtenstein.
 "You know what, I’m a Rangers player until told otherwise, I have no relevance to anything else so I’m focused on Rangers and Finland at the moment," the diminutive midfield dynamo hedged.
 Once Liechtenstein are out of the way he can make plans for next summer--and maybe after that as well.

Kamara tight-lipped on future as Premier League clubs circle


Summary: Passenger traffic between Oulu and Helsinki has shot up, but the focus is still on rail services in the south.

The fastest passenger rail connection between Oulu and Helsinki takes 5 hours and 24 minutes, too long for many travelers. As a consequence, air links between the two cities are the most heavily traveled in the country, with more than a million passengers annually.
 Even though the journey is not fast, north-south travel by train is showing a sharp upward trend. In October of this year, the number of passengers was 43 percent higher than during the same month of 2018. That is the biggest increase on any rail route.
 Not only do more than 1.1 million people travel by rail between the two cities annually, there is a large volume of freight traffic on rail lines in and out of Oulu.
 Residents of Oulu, as well as local business and industry, have pushed for faster connections to Tampere and Helsinki for years. It is hoped that improved connections could trim travel time to Tampere down to three hours and to Helsinki down to four.
 A four hour city-centre to city-centre connection between Oulu and Helsinki would be a solid alternative time-wise to air travel. In addition, it would help cut the nation's fossil fuel emissions.
 Sweden on the wish list, too
 According to  Juho Hannukainen , the planning director for the state railways VR, bringing travel time between Oulu and Helsinki down to under 5 hours is not possible on the present tracks.
 "Cutting a half-hour from travel time would require rather large increased investment in straightening out some sections of track," says Hannukainen.
 It has been estimated that the rail improvements needed to increase speeds on the route between Oulu and Tampere would cost 1.1 to 1.2 billion euros.
 There have also long been calls to start regular passenger traffic between Oulu and the Swedish city of Luleå. The problem is a stretch of track from about 100 km north of Oulu to Tornio on the Finnish-Sweden border is not electrified.
 The electrification of this section of track is contained in the programme of the present coalition government, but so far no decision on the project has yet been made.
 Funds from privatisation?
 Proponents of northern rail improvements were disappointed by the lack of project funds in the government's latest state budget.
 "There is talk of this being a climate government, of climate change, carbon-neutral transport, and yet there is no fast action on northern rail projects," says  Janne Heikkinen , opposition National Coalition Party MP from Oulu.
 Story continues after photo.
 The state railways VR will be increasing the number of daily departures on the route between Oulu and Helsinki in December. Paulus Markkula / Yle
 Heikkinen believes that the money needed for these projects could be taken from funds from the privatisation of state assets.
 "Since the government is selling three billion euros worth of state assets, a large share of that should be used for transport projects," he argues.
 Jenni Pitko , a Green League MP from Oulu, filed a formal written question to the government about the absence of funding for northern rail line improvements. She believes that the importance of these projects is not understood down south.
 The focus has been on cutting rail travel time between Helsinki and Turku to one hour, even though passenger volume between Oulu and Helsinki is nearly the same.
 "The  one-hour trains  have taken over the narrative. A lot has been invested in lobbying, and the money has spoken," says Pitko.
 In her reply to Pitko's question, Minister for Transport and Communications  Sanna Marin  stated that the need for main track development is a part of a 12-year transportation system plan that Finland is just starting to formulate. Pitko was not satisfied with the answer, as she hoped for some concrete pledge for the financing of planning work.
 Left Alliance MP  Merja Kyllönen , who is also a former minister of transport, notes that decision makers in Turku and Tampere have been under a lot of pressure to get rail projects serving those cities moving ahead. She adds that any "leftover" funding tends to go to the home districts of government ministers.
 The Kainuu region would also be keen on seeing faster trains on north-south routes in hope of, for example, a 5-hour rail connection between Kajaani and Helsinki.
 Finland should be in a hurry to implement its new 12-year transport system planning process, if it wants to be able to tap into EU rail project funding.
 The next funding period covers the years 2021–2027 and could cover 15-30 percent of rail project costs.
 However, according to Kyllönen, Finland itself must quickly decide what it wants to use the money for.

Why no fast north-south trains?


Summary: High and low earners favour cannabis decriminalisation, grocer price competition and the carbon cost of mail.

Last week Minister for Social Affairs and Health  Aino-Kaisa Pekonen  came out in favour of  decriminalising cannabis use , but agricultural newspaper  Maaseudun Tulevaisuus  reports that 60 percent of Finns do not support decriminalisation, citing a poll by Kantar TNS Agri that surveyed over 1,000 residents.
 Rural dwellers took a stricter line on cannabis than urban residents. In the capital region a third would be open to legalisation.
 Middle-class earners were the least in favour of decriminalisation, whereas people on the polar ends of the wage spectrum want to make cannabis legal.
 Overall, men took a more favourable view of decriminalisation than women.
 Competition in Finland's grocery market
 German discount supermarket Lidl remains Finland’s cheapest grocer, finds a triannual survey commissioned by business daily  Kauppalehti .
 In September pollster Analyse2 examined the prices of 46 brand-name goods across 56 stores belonging to six chains in the country.
 It was most expensive to shop at K-market, where a basket of popular items averaged 90.69 euros, as compared to 72.55 euros at no-frills Lidl, which carried the lowest prices among stores surveyed.
 The study, however, found that Lidl’s low-cost advantage is narrowing, with Prisma outlets becoming very close competitors to Lidl.
 The Finnish Grocery Trade Association reports that food prices rose 1.6 percent between January and September compared to the same period in 2018.
 No more tax mail
 Amid the  national postal strike , Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet  reports  that state agencies want to stop sending hard mail altogether.
 HBL reports that letters sent by Finland’s tax administration resulted in 1,500 tons of CO2 emissions last year.
 Going digital would also save the taxpayer 15 million euros annually, according to the tax office.
 To minimise the paper load, the tax administration and the Population Register Centre have launched a campaign to encourage people to use the messaging function in the  suomi.fi  web portal, a platform covering some 250 state agencies.

Friday’s papers: Cannabis legalisation, Finland's cheapest groceries and the end of tax mail


Prosecutors have charged a 32-year-old man in connection with a shooting incident in Helsinki's Kamppi district in July.
 In addition to three counts of attempted murder, the defendant is also facing traffic endangerment charges, a firearms offense and a violation for possessing a dangerous object.
 The suspect has been held in police custody since the incident last summer, which occurred at the intersection of Hietalahdenkatu and Porkkalankatu. Police have said that the Kosovar-background suspect and victims knew each other, although authorities have not released further details on the shooter’s motive.
 Prosecutors said the defendant’s actions showed premeditation. He fired several shots, targeting three people. The case is unusual in Finland as public acts of violence are relatively rare.
 Information obtained by Yle showed that the Vantaa-based defendant managed a construction company that turned over a million euros last year.
 The defendant has no previous criminal history. Police earlier reported that the defendant was battered in the capital region on three different occasions ahead of the shooting incident. The court will handle these battery charges brought by the defendant as part of the case.
 The case will go to trial at the end of November.

Kamppi shooting suspect faces three counts of attempted murder


Summary: This year more than 32,000 jobs, or two-thirds of vacancies, are considered difficult to fill.

Employers in Finland say some jobs remain difficult to fill despite improved employment levels.
 As in recent years, the sectors with the biggest numbers of open positions were retail, transport and storage, accommodation and food services, says  Minna Wallenius , a senior actuary at Statistics Finland. The biggest declines in vacancies were in manufacturing and other heavy industry as well as mining and quarrying.
 In late summer and early autumn, there were 48,500 vacancies, about 1,500 more than a year earlier, according to the central statistics office.
 More than 32,000 of these, or just over two-thirds, were classed by employers as being difficult to fill – but researchers don't know of any clear single reason for this.
 That number was up by more than 5,000 compared to July-September 2018. Its share rose by 10 percentage points, from 57 percent in the third quarter of last year.
 Construction, wholesale and retail were the sectors with the largest volume of hard-to-fill vacancies.
 The proportion of jobs considered tough to fill was the highest since the statistics office began tracking this metric in 2013.
 No clear reason
 Before the current 67 percent level, the highest ever rate was 60 percent, says Wallenius.
 "That share has risen in the past few years, while as the overall number of open positions has also grown," she tells Yle.
 Wallenius said there is no clear reason why so many positions are now difficult to fill.
 The figures are based on a survey of employers at some 2,500 workplaces around Finland.
 "We don't ask employers exactly what kinds of difficulties they're having, or what they see as the reasons – whether it's because they haven't received applications, whether the applicants' know-how has not met their expectations, or whether it's related to other issues," she says.
 Municipal openings double
 The number of recruitment ads posted by municipalities almost doubled to 6,000.
 The number of unfilled spots rose in Uusimaa, which includes the capital region, but dipped elsewhere in southern and western Finland. There was a slight increase in eastern and northern areas.
 In the third quarter of this year, more than eight out of 10 job vacancies were at private companies, up slightly from a year earlier. Meanwhile the number of unfilled jobs declined at small workplaces with less than 10 employees but rose at larger ones. Nearly a quarter of open jobs were fixed-term positions, about the same as last year, while 18 percent were part-time jobs.

Steep rise in hard-to-fill job openings


Summary: The popular entertainer was convicted on narcotics charges last year.

Two churches have announced the cancellation of proposed concerts by former tango star  Jari Sillanpää  over child sexual abuse charges.
 On Friday, best-selling Finnish solo artistSillanpää was charged with child sex abuse and disseminating indecent images of children.
 The suspected abuse is believed to have taken place in August 2017, while the distribution of the indecent material was alleged to have occurred in September 2017. The offences were alleged to have taken place in Helsinki.
 On Friday, the Jyväskylä parish of the Lutheran Evangelical Church announced that a concert scheduled for 4 December at the Taulumäki church had been called off.
 "As soon as we received the information we began to think of the next steps. We don't want to assume the role of a judge, but these are very serious charges. After due consideration we decided that we would not have the concert," Jyväskylä vicar  Arto Viitala  said.
 He added that other parishes were considering pulling Sillanpää concerts from their Christmas calendars. "It's not certain but it's in the air," Viitala continued.
 Another event due to take place at the Ristinkirkko church in Lahti was also cancelled. "You cannot come to sing in a church with these kinds of allegations," Keski-Lahti vicar  Miika Hämäläinen  commented.
 Allegations surfaced last August
 Yle first reported on  the suspicions of child sexual abuse  involving the solo artist in August 2018. Prosecutor  Nina Keskinen  told Yle that the charges filed are related to the previously reported case. However the charge sheet outlines a more serious offence than originally considered.
 According to previous reports, Sillanpää was suspected of being in possession of indecent images. However current charges involve alleged child sexual abuse as well as disseminating indecent photo material.
 The case will be heard in the Helsinki district court at the end of February next year. According to the prosecutor, the charges are not related to any other larger cluster of cases.
 "It [the case] will likely be heard behind closed doors and the documents will be sealed," Keskinen said.
 Singer denies charges
 In late summer last year, Sillanpää took to Facebook to say that police had questioned him because devices seized at his home suggested that he was in possession of illegal material. At the time, he said that officers had been able to retrieve from his computer images and videos that he denied having ever seen.
 Sillanpää then added that anyone attending the same parties he had participated in could have used his computer.
 "I have not had in my possession any offensive material about children," he wrote.
 The singer’s lawyer  Riitta Leppiniemi  told news agency STT that her client denied both charges. She added that the child sexual abuse charges relate to suspicions not linked to physical contact.
 "The charges do not contend that Sillanpää had physical contact or physical intercourse with a minor. According to the charge, it [the alleged offence] was about something besides physical contact," Leppiniemi told the agency.
 "I can say that Sillanpää denies the charges. Whether or not the act that the prosecutor is alleging meets the criteria for abuse, will be determined in court," she continued.
 Child sexual abuse may also be suspected in cases that do not involve touching or sexual contact. For example, sexual messages with someone who is 16 or younger can meet the criterion.
 Prosecutor Nina Keskinen told STT that Sillanpää’s charges relate to one victim.
 "I can also confirm that the charge has to do with something other than physical contact," she commented.
 Autumn concerts planned
 The charges have cast a shadow over the fate of other concerts the entertainer has planned this autumn. His calendar includes church concerts in locations such as Fuengirola in Spain as well as Vihti and Helsinki in Finland.
 Sillanpää’s concert producer told daily Helsingin Sanomat that a concert scheduled for Saturday in Joensuu as well as the autumn tour will take place as scheduled.
 In August last year the Helsinki district court convicted Sillanpää on two narcotics charges and sentenced him to  a 10-month suspended prison sentence . The court ruled that the singer had acquired 108 grams of amphetamine and that he had brought another half-gram of methamphetamine to Finland from Thailand.
 Sillanpää admitted to using drugs himself and to giving them to his friends for free.

Churches cancel concerts over ex-tango star's child sexual abuse charges


Summary: The former deputy head of the Police Special Intervention Unit was found guilty of cheating his own department.

Helsinki District Court has sentenced  Timo Olavi Lillqvist , former deputy director of the Helsinki Police Special Intervention Unit, to two and a half years in prison on a variety of counts.
 The charges included aggravated fraud and aggravated misuse of an official position. He bilked his own department out of money in collaboration with the director of a firm selling security products.
 Now-retired police sergeant Lillqvist, 60, was among the top brass at the Police Special Intervention Unit, a SWAT team known as the 'Bear Squad' ( Karhuryhmä ).
 Also sent to prison was  Olli Tapio Salo , 60, CEO and owner of a Helsinki security equipment company called Finnrappel. Likewise convicted on fraud charges, Salo received a prison sentence two months shorter than Lillqvist's.
 The company, established in 1994, sold products to police departments, the Border Guard, Customs and private individuals.
 Lillqvist provided Salo with insider information about competing companies' bids to supply the Bear Squad with equipment, giving Finnrappel a competitive advantage.
 When the sales were processed, the two together concocted invoices through which Helsinki Police overpaid the firm by more than 150,000 euros. The bills included items that were not delivered and others at marked-up prices, to the financial benefit of the police sergeant.
 Sniper targets and body bags
 According to its website, which was last updated in mid-2018, Finnrappel sold a wide variety of military and police-style gear ranging from rifle scopes and human sniper targets to body bags, eavesdropping detection devices and portable toilets. The site includes a link to an group honouring the White side of the 1918 Finnish Civil War, as well as US gun-rights memes.
 The court found that Lillqvist had a central, independent role in the Bear Squad's equipment procurement, including the bidding process. At the same time, he served as the liaison between his unit and Finnrappel.
 Evidence included emails between him and Salo, in which the officer dictated product volumes, prices and invoicing. The court ruled that the messages included euphemistic discussions about transferring the ill-gotten gains to bank accounts controlled by Lillqvist, and to him directly in cash.
 Both deny breaking any laws. They have the right to appeal the rulings.

Ex-leader of police 'Bear Squad' jailed for aggravated fraud


Summary: Finland’s postal strike is in its second week.

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

The minister responsible for state ownership steering was not asked for approval by bosses at the state-owned postal firm Posti when they weakened the terms and conditions for around 700 workers in parcel sorting offices.
 The minister,  Sirpa Paatero , told MTV that she was not at any point asked for her approval of the move.
 The company transferred the workers, who were previously employed directly by Posti, to its subsidiary Posti Palvelut.
 At the same time, their terms and conditions of employment were dramatically weakened as they were covered by a different collective agreement not negotiated by the postal workers’ union PAU.
 Paatero says that this was an internal company decision, and she was only informed after it had been made.
 PAU’s strike started on 11 November and negotiations remain deadlocked. The union has  rejected a compromise proposal  for the delivery workers, which would have left their pay and conditions unchanged.
 The sticking point is the 700 workers transferred to a different agreement. Palta, which negotiates for the employer, said that they had no jurisdiction over the matter.
 No talks planned
 "It looks like the problem is these 700 parcel sorting workers, for whom no resolution has been found," said national labour conciliator  Vuokko Piekkala  on Wednesday evening.
 "The rest of the texts have been discussed and moved forward constructively. Now we wait to see how the situation develops."
 No new talks are currently planned, with the employer refusing to look at the 700 workers’ situation and the union sticking by its demands.
 PAU says it cannot agree to end the strike until the 700 are back in their collective agreement, and has sharply criticised 'collective agreement shopping'.
 That phrase refers to the practice of employers unilaterally switching workers from one collective agreement to another, usually with worse terms and conditions.
 Collective agreements rule labour market
 Finland has broad collective agreements covering more than 90 percent of the workforce, with employers in those sectors obliged to pay the minimum wage for that sector and all the salary supplements that apply.
 Those agreements usually run for two years at a time, with unions obliged to avoid industrial action when negotiations are not underway.
 With talks between postal workers and their employer deadlocked, sympathy strikes are spreading across the Finnish economy.
 Maritime unions began refusing to load cargo on passenger ferries’ card decks from 6am on Thursday, while aviation workers have refused to handle post at airports.
 Truck drivers are also on an overtime ban and are refusing to swap shifts until the postal workers’ dispute is resolved.

Minister: I wasn’t asked about pay cut for 700 postal workers