Summary: Officials believe that a man who may have exposed cruise ship passengers to the disease may have also come into contact with 100 people in Porvoo.

Officials in southern Finland's town of Porvoo have been mapping possible contacts made by an adult believed to have contracted measles.
 On Tuesday, the National Institute of Health and Welfare, THL, announced that an infected person may have exposed other passengers to the disease  during a cruise between Helsinki and Stockholm .
 Jeff Westerlund , a physician specialising in infectious diseases at the Porvoo health centre, said that local officials had largely been able to map the individual’s movements.
 "On a general level, I can say it is mostly around the workplace. About 100 people in the Porvoo area may have been exposed," Westerlund added.
 Concern over risk groups
 Officials said that they had managed to contact some of the people potentially exposed to the disease on Wednesday, and were continuing their outreach to identify others who may have been in contact with the carrier.
 According to Westerlund, authorities are mainly concerned about whether or not people exposed to measles belong to any risk groups.
 "This applies to pregnant women who are not vaccinated or who have incomplete vaccinations, small children who have not yet been vaccinated or people with diseases or medications that might lower their resistance," Westerlund noted.
 The physician commented that some Porvoo residents had contacted the local health centre to express concern over the reported infection. "They included, for example, pregnant women who had not been in direct contact with the infected person or people wondering what to do if they are not entirely sure that their vaccinations are up to date."
 Good vaccination coverage in Porvoo
 Westerlund noted however that the vaccination coverage rate in the Helsinki and Uusimaa health district is on average 95 percent.
 He added that the national coverage rate has increased slightly and now stands at 96.1 percent for children born in 2016.
 In Porvoo, the rate is currently 95.7 for the same age group, a statistic that helps ensure herd immunity.
 He pointed out however that this does not provide iron-clad protection from measles.
 "Measles has become more common, for example in central Europe and the UK, and unvaccinated people travelling to these places can bring the infection to Finland. If we are unlucky, any unvaccinated person can then be infected here at home," Westerlund cautioned.

Porvoo authorities map vulnerable groups likely exposed to measles carrier


Summary: The government has promised new spending on oversight of senior care homes as well as legislative reforms following reports of gross negligence at care homes.

The  Juha Sipilä  government has promised to allocate additional resources for the purpose of providing oversight of elder care facilities in a supplementary budget proposal to be tabled on 26 February.
 Family Affairs and Social Services Minister  Annikka Saarikko  said her ministry will begin preparing new legislation on elder care services. The reform is expected to include provisions on nursing quotients, over which there has been much debate recently.
 Saarikko said however that it will not be possible to implement the 0.7 nurses per elder in care quotient proposed by opposition parties before elections in April. She noted that the measure would require 4,200 new care workers and would increase costs in the sector by 200 million euros.
 The government’s assurances came  during an opposition interpellation  on senior citizens’ care homes, which saw heated exchanges in parliament on Wednesday afternoon.
 Opposition parties took particular aim at the National Coalition Party, the only parliamentary group that resisted writing into law a minimum quotient of nurses per elderly person in care.
 Just one person conducting care home oversight
 NCP chair and Finance Minister  Petteri Orpo  attempted to explain the party’s position by saying that it supports reform of laws governing elder care. He added that the NCP also backs a binding number of nurses per senior patient, however the party does not support the proposal to introduce a fixed quotient of 0.7 nurses per elderly person in care.
 Left Alliance chair  Li Andersson  said that government’s flagship social and health care reform programme, "sote" would narrow discretion over which services should be outsourced to the private sector and which shouldn’t. "The government’s sote model would not solve the problems in senior care, but would increase them," she declared.
 Chair of Swedish Peoples’ Party  Anna-Maja Henriksson  raised what she described as an intriguing feature of elder care oversight in Finland. According to Henriksson, the national health supervisory authority Valvira employs just one person who is responsible for  supervising senior care homes . She asked whether or not government is ready to immediately boost resources in this area.
 PM on sick leave
 Christian Democratic Party MP  Sari Tanus  noted that improving elder care calls for one simple measure, "increasing the number of caring hands". "Our shadow budget proposes funding for hiring 1,000 new nurses to rapidly ease the situation," she added.
 Elder care in Finland became a radioactive issue following extensive reporting on irregularities and alleged negligence at the  privately-run chain of Esperi Care homes . Valvira also announced that it was suspending the firm’s operations over cases of gross negligence.
 The government faces a confidence vote on the issue on Friday. Prime Minister Juha Sipilä was absent, having gone on sick leave for two days. He will return to Parliament on Friday for the vote.

Govt pledges more resources for senior care after heated parliamentary debate


Summary: A state funeral for the colourful ski jumping champion would mark the first time Finland honours an athlete's passing in 30 years.

Henkilökohtaiset juhlat ja elämäntapahtumat

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

The Finnish government is considering a state funeral for ski jumping legend  Matti Nykänen , according to Yle Sports.
 Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports  Sampo Terho  said he is looking into the possibility of a state funeral for Nykänen and would consult government officials and the ministry.
 Nykänen died on  in the early hours of Monday morning  at the age of 55.
 Story continues after photo.
 Makeshift memorial for Matti Nykänen next to ski jump in Jyväskylä. Simo Pitkänen / Yle
 The quirky Finn first gained fame as a ski jumper in the beginning of the 1980s when he quickly climbed his way to the top of the sport. From 1981 until 1991 he won one silver and four gold Olympic medals, nine World Championship medals and a total of 22 Finnish Championship medals, 14 of which were gold.
 By the time he claimed three gold medals at the 1988 Olympic games in Calgary, Nykänen had become a household name in Finland.
 "I understand that many people think a [state funeral] would be appropriate for such a prominent athlete," Terho said.
 Story continues after photo.
 File photo of Matti Nykänen's Olympic and other medals. Jenni Uosukainen / Yle
 State funerals rare these days
 The last time Finland saw a state funeral for a top athlete was for skier  Tapani Niku , who died in 1989.
 Before the 1990s, state funerals for cultural and sports figures were much more common. However, a directive adopted in 1989 primarily reserved the honour for deceased presidents.
 However, state funerals are permitted for long-serving prime ministers, parliamentary spokespersons or particularly notable citizens such as Nobel laureates.
 Only eight people have been granted state funeral services in Finland since 1990. The most recent state funeral  honoured President  Mauno Koivisto  in 2017.

"Flying Finn" Nykänen may get state funeral, minister says


Summary: Concerns over a rash of job cuts, a minister plugs contentious government reforms, some shoplifters' cheesy choices and an Olympic hero's words of wisdom.

Daily Helsingin Sanomat  probes recent retrenchment figures  and concludes that there is no need for undue concern even if the new year has brought bad news for employees in many sectors. The paper cited payroll reduction announcements by a slew of firms including networks company Nokia (350), power systems firm Wärtsilä (150), construction firm Terrawise (100), retailer Hobby Hall (64) Valio (100), state betting firm Veikkaus (up to 400) and Fazer (83), as well as IT firm Tieto and meat producer HKScan, who will jointly slash more than 900 jobs.
 However  Simo Pinomaa , an economist with the private sector business lobby EK, had a reassuring take on the situation, saying that there is no sign of a sharp downturn ahead. "In the economic barometer, industrialists said that personnel numbers would not move in either direction at the beginning of the year. Staff are expected to continue growing in construction and services."
 He noted that the redundancy talks reported recently could be caused by structural changes in certain sectors and in their finances. "There is no data [to suggest] that the wider economy would somehow take a plunge. The growth of output has slowed but it is continuing nonetheless," he added.
 According to data collected by the blue-collar union confederation SAK, last year firms sent home 3,362 workers after co-determination talks. Those job cuts reflected the economic cycle at the time, however the situation has since improved and the employment rate stands at around 72 percent, HS noted.
 Circumstances were very different before the economic recovery began to kick in from 2017. According to SAK data, between 2012 and 2016 employers cut loose from 10,000 to 15,000 workers every year.
 Minister peddles reform package
 Meanwhile Turku regional  daily Turun Sanomat reports  that National Coalition Party chair and Finance Minister  Petteri Orpo  used an opposition interpellation on  the dire state of elder care in Finland  to lobby for the government’s ambitious social and health care reform package, colloquially known as  sote .
 During Wednesday’s debate, which was inspired by a raft of  reports about negligence and other shortcomings  at senior care homes, Orpo pointed out that municipalities are currently responsible for certain statutory services. He suggested that the reform programme – which would increase the role of private service providers in the system – could help address the problems recently highlighted.
 "Municipalities have failed, they are too weak, they have too little expertise, too little capacity in the current system to resist the need to outsource their operations. All of the parties here have done this," Orpo declared.
 He stressed that the country needs strong players with the power and know-how required for purchasing and oversight.
 "I dare anyone to say that the current system is good. Now is the time to finalise  sote  laws." The government  has missed its target for passing legislative changes  that would allow it to roll out the social and health care reform package, largely due to constitutional issues and disagreements. The raft of measures will likely have to be carried forward by the next administration.
 Pilferers with a penchant for parmesan
 Tabloid daily Ilta-Sanomat highlights  cheese-loving shoplifters  who have apparently indulged their craving for the dairy product by spiriting it away from some Lidl supermarkets in the capital area. IS spoke with a Helsinki mother who could find no parmesan cheese at Lidl’s Roihupelto outlet and later discovered that she had to ask for it at the cashier. The reason, she was told, was that thieves had been making off with the parmesan.
 A few days later the woman reported a similar situation at another Lidl grocery store, this time in Pakila. Lidl Finland’s communications head,  Pilvi-Sisko Riikonen , told IS that staff at the Roihupelto store had stocked limited amounts of certain items on shelves because they seemed to attract shoplifters. She added that there is usually a sign informing customers that they must ask for sales staff for the product.
 "The intention is to minimise the problems caused by theft and to ensure that the products are available to paying customers," she added.
 Riikonen said that the chain has had to implement the pilfer-proofing measure for other products and in other branches. She noted that apart from parmesan, shoplifters seem to warm to other types of cheese as well as peanuts.
 Nykänen's bon mots: "It's fifty-sixty"
 Coming off the press in Oulu, daily Kaleva remembers ski jumping legend  Matti Nykänen  for his  often-cryptic comments  which have since been immortalised in the Finnish lexicon.
 Nykänen  passed away early Monday morning  and was known as much for his exploits on the ski jump course as he was  for his misfortunes , latter-day singing career and his quotable quotes. Here’s a sample Kaleva borrowed from a compilation by the Lännen Media news consortium.
 Every chance is an opportunity ( Jokainen tsäänssi on mahdollisuus ) Life is life ( Elämä on laiffii ) Life is a person’s best time ( Elämä on ihmisen parasta aikaa ) It’s fifty-sixty ( Se on fifty-sixty ) Love is like a ball of wool – it begins and ends ( Rakkaus on kuin lankakerä – se alkaa ja loppuu ) Tomorrow is always [in] the future ( Huominen on aina tulevaisuutta )

Thursday's papers: Job-shedding fears, govt hype, gourmet shoplifters, Matti's gems


Summary: Support for Prime Minister Juha Sipilä's Centre Party fell to its lowest level in six years in Yle's latest political barometer.

As parliamentary elections draw closer, a fresh Yle poll shines light on a political landscape in upheaval. The biggest loser in the survey conducted between 14 January and 5 February has been the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP), which saw voter approval slip to 17.3 percent, down 2.3 percentage points from the last poll.
 The last time voter backing for the NCP reached this level was back in 2016, when  Petteri Orpo  had just taken over the reins from ex-premier  Alexander Stubb  as party leader. Pollster Taloustutkimus speculated that the party has suffered as a result of heated debate over the quality of care at senior care homes, with the party  unable to articulate a clear position  on minimum nurse quotients per patient.
 Taloustutkimus research director  Tuomo Turja  said that declining approval for the party among women and the elderly in particular confirm the suspicion.
 Party leader's absence hurting SDP
 The NCP's adverse showing signals good news for the largest opposition group, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which will likely compete with the NCP to field a prime minister following April's general election, the pollster noted.
 The SDP did see a slight erosion in support of 1.1 percentage points to 20.1 percent, but still retained the top spot in the survey. At the same time, the NCP has not been able to continue narrowing the gap between the top two parties, as it had been doing late last year.
 Turja said that  the elder care debate and the discussion about nursing quotas  have been a boon for the SDP, with the party using its union roots to dominate the staffing debate in recent weeks. However with chair  Antti Rinne  on extended sick leave, the party currently has no de facto prime ministerial candidate. First deputy chair  Sanna Marin  has been filling in for Rinne in the interim.
 Faithful return to Finns Party fold, Greens attract others' voters
 The immigration-sceptic Finns Party posted the biggest gains in this poll, continuing a trend of gathering increased support from voters. With 12 percent voter approval, the party is closing in on its best performance among voters, which occurred back in 2015 when it grabbed 15 percent of the ballot in the general election.
 However as a government party, it saw voters abandon it as the number of asylum seekers arriving in Finland increased, the administration introduced austerity policies and workers' rights weakened. The party splintered in June 2017 when current chair  Jussi Halla-aho  ousted  Timo Soini  as party leader.
 Turja noted that the Finns Party was not leaching support from other parties, and speculated that the voters who had abandoned it and remained uncommitted to any party were now returning to the fold. Its performance may have also received a boost from  sustained reporting on suspicions  of child sexual abuse in Oulu, he added.
 The opposition Greens also saw voter support inch up by one percentage point to 14.6 in the latest survey, reinforcing their fourth-place status. The party's fortunes have improved since last autumn, when political veteran  Pekka Haavisto  took over from  Touko Aalto  as party chair.
 "With the Greens, we can clearly see that they are getting support from other parties, especially the SDP and the NCP," Turja commented.
 Centre backing lowest in years
 The Greens are nipping at the heels of Prime Minister  Juha Sipilä 's Centre Party in third place with 15.6 percent voter approval. The last time backing for the Centre was this low was during summer 2012, when Sipilä assumed the mantle of party chair.
 Its current level of support is also lower than its haul in the 2011 parliamentary elections, when just 15.8 percent of voters cast ballots for the Centre.
 The Left Alliance also slipped nearly a full percentage point to 8.6 percent voter backing. Turja said its supporters were likely also heading over to the Green camp.
 Among the small parties, the Swedish Peoples' Party posted four percent voter approval, while the Christian Democrats and government party the Blue Reform (which split off from the Finns Party) attracted 3.6 and 1.4 percent of voter support respectively.

Yle poll: NCP falling, Finns Party rising, SDP still on top


Summary: Aalto-2 incinerated as it re-entered the atmosphere but was intended to join other small satellites in measuring the thermosphere, where Northern Lights appear.

The first Finnish satellite ever launched, dubbed the Aalto-2, burned up late Wednesday or early Thursday Finnish time. The small device burned up as it entered Earth's atmosphere, becoming an artificial meteor.
 Weighing just two kilos, Aalto-2 was launched into space in April 2017. It was set into orbit from the International Space Station in the following month, but contact with the satellite was lost soon after that.
  Mission: Northern Lights layer
 The satellite was intended to join other small satellites in measuring the thermosphere, a layer in the Earth's atmosphere where the aurora borealis (Northern Lights) appear.
 The leader of the satellite project at Aalto University, Assistant Professor  Jaan Praks , tells Yle that it was possible to track the satellite's destruction with reasonable certainty based on orbit predictions by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad).
 "The last prediction was given with 15-minute precision, and it was around midnight. That was the only confirmation that we have at the moment," Praks said on Thursday.
 "It is possible that those organisations tracking space junk may at some point be able to provide more precise information about objects that have entered the atmosphere. Since this was a very small object that was completely destroyed on entry, there is no more accurate tracking," he explained.
 Norad continuously tracks all known space objects and their orbits using lasers and radars.
  Two other Finnish satellites still in orbit
 A companion device, the Aalto-1, which began its space voyage slightly later, has operated as planned. It has made many observations, including of a radiation storm emitted by the Sun in 2017. The Aalto-1 remains in orbit at altitude of about 515 kilometres.
 Another satellite designed at Aalto University, the  Suomi 100 , was  launched from California in early December  2018 after a long series of delays. It was originally to be launched to mark Finland's centennial in 2017.

First Finnish satellite burns up


Summary: One of Finland's richest men, Wahlroos has chaired Nordea's board for eight years – and aims to keep an eye on it after his departure.

Nordea Bank chair  Björn Wahlroos  will step down from the board at the bank's general meeting next month.  Torbjörn Magnusson , incoming CEO of the Sampo Group, has been nominated to replace him on the board. Created through the merger of several Nordic banks in 1997, Nordea is the region's biggest financial group.
 One of the  wealthiest Finns  in recent decades, the 66-year-old Wahlroos has been a member of Nordea's board since 2008 and its chair since 2011. Since 2009, he has also been chair of Sampo, a post he plans to retain. Sampo is Nordea's largest owner by far, with a stake of more than 20 percent.
  Clout over Finnish economy
 Wahlroos, who gained fame at the helm of the Union Bank of Finland (SYP) in the 1980s and Mandatum in the '90s and served as a professor of economics in Finland and the US, says he does not intend to leave Nordea to its own devices.
 "I will, of course, continue to oversee progress at Nordea from my position as chair of Sampo," he said in a statement on Thursday.
 Nordea moved its headquarters  from Stockholm to Helsinki  last October, citing Finland's membership in the European Banking Union
 "I am proud to have guided Nordea through the great change programs, but now I want to inject new energy into their execution," Wahlroos said.
 The tycoon and former  part-time farmer  will still wield considerable clout over the Finnish economy. He has been chair of forest products giant UPM since 2008, while also sitting on the board of the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA), the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA) and the Mannerheim Foundation.
  Income tops €22m
 He made a high-profile  move to Sweden  in 2014. That year, he had Finland’s fourth-highest income at around 18.7 million euros – nearly all of it in capital gains. By 2016 his income topped 22 million.
 Magnusson takes over as the head of the Sampo Group at the end of this year, when current CEO  Kari Stadigh  retires.
 After the announcements on Thursday morning, Nordea's share price dipped by nearly one percent while Sampo's rose by more than three percent.
 Nordea's annual general meeting will be held in Helsinki for the first time on 28 March.

Björn Wahlroos leaves Nordea Bank


Summary: The report said major reforms across the entire food industry are needed in order to significantly raise farmers’ incomes.

A report published Thursday by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said the income commercial farmers earn is continually declining, their position in the food industry has worsened and the possibility for increasing farmers’ profits is weak.
 The overall scenario of farmers in Finland does not look good, according to the ministry’s report, which was written by advisor  Reijo Karhinen , the former executive chair of OP, Finland’s biggest financial group.
 Karhinen said that Finland’s farming sector is in crisis and that the challenges it faces are not temporary, but structural ones.
 The report was requested by Prime Minister  Juha Sipilä  and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry  Jari Leppä , both from the historically agrarianCentre Party. They aimed to examine the possibilities of raising the incomes of commercial farming industry by half a billion euros. The industry has  seen earnings drop  since the beginning of the millennium.
 Karhinen wrote that in order to boost earnings in the farming sector, the entire food industry would need to undergo major changes and reforms.
 The main reason behind the industry’s weak profitability is Finland’s membership in the EU, a situation which carries challenges for the sector to adapt to an increasingly demanding world, according to the report. Finland joined the union in 1995.
 Report calls out retail sector
 However, Karhinen’s sharpest criticism in the report was directed at Finland’s food retail industry.
 The report said the farming sector needs assistance to adjust to major changes taking place across the industry, some of which are results from global climate change and new technologies.
 Karhinen said that in order to make those changes, farmers would need strong compensation-based support. One of the suggestions cited in the report was to establish a new support and resource centre in conjunction with the Natural Resources Institute (Luke).
 Another problem, according to the report, is the weak position food producers are in as they deal with the retail grocery sector. It said the poor internal workings of the commercial food chain has given the retail sector the upper hand.
 The report said Finland’s food chain needs a common vision for the future and a clearer “win-win” strategy, saying that the farming industry also needs to increase its financial management skills.
 Farmer’s group agrees
 Mats Nylund , an MP from Vaasa and chair of the Swedish-language farmer’s association SLC, said Karhinen’s report hit the nail on the head.
 He said the report should be the starting point for a renewal of Finland’s agricultural industry.
 “The most interesting part was Karhinen’s emphasis on consensus in the food chain. This applies particularly to the grocery trade, which must be included in a ‘win-win’ situation. The proposals to improve the flow of information - and the [proposal] that the two large retail chains with their dominant market positions should open their customer data to third parties - would really help competitiveness,” Nylund said in a press release issued by SLC on Thursday.
 Gaining access to the financial figures of the retail grocery trade would help improve the transparency of prices, and it would also strengthen confidence in the food chain in general, Nylund said.

Future of Finnish farms bleak without change, ministry report says


Summary: Authorities said they are trying to prevent the milk from reaching nearby waterways because it would be toxic to wildlife.

A milk truck slid off the motorway and crashed into a ditch on the Möykyntie road in the southern Ostrobothnian village of Päntäne on Thursday afternoon.
 The truck driver was unhurt in the incident, but the crash resulted in some 5000-7000 litres of milk pouring into the ditch. Rescue workers spent the afternoon trying to prevent the milk from spreading further, due to concerns that it could seep into waterways.
 A vacuum truck had been dispatched to the scene of the accident to clean the area and bring the spilled milk to a biowaste treatment facility.
 Jani Välimaa of southern Ostrobothnia’s rescue department said milk is harmful when it gets into lakes and rivers.
 “Even though we drink it every day, it can deplete oxygen levels in water, and consequently kills fish,” Välimaa said, noting that when milk spills into nature it becomes an environmental toxin.
 The accident occurred under normal winter conditions for this time of year, and the milk truck was travelling at a slow speed, according to Välimaa, who said work to pull the truck out of the ditch would last about two to three hours.

Truck crash spills up to 7000 litres of milk in western Finland


Summary: Soini is also scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Foreign Minister  Timo Soini  is in Washington DC, where he is meeting with US Secretary of State  Mike Pompeo  and took part in the National Prayer Breakfast, which President  Donald Trump  addressed on Thursday. Soini, who describes himself as a devout Catholic, has attended the predominantly conservative Christian event several times before.
 Last autumn, the founder and former chair of the nationalist Finns Party  survived a confidence vote  in Parliament over his repeated interventions on the topic of abortion rights while on working trips, in contradiction of Finland's official stance.
 On Wednesday, Soini addressed a foreign ministers' meeting on ISIS, chaired by Pompeo. On Friday Soini will meet with US National Security Adviser  John Bolton . The agenda includes European security and Afghanistan.
 Russia trip next week
 Soini is headed to Moscow next Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart  Sergey Lavrov .
 According to a Finnish Foreign Ministry handout, the two will discuss topics including regional security in Northern Europe, the situation in Ukraine, weapons control issues and the Council of Europe, whose ministerial committee Finland now chairs.
 The Council of Europe, which is not affiliated with the EU, is a 47-nation group intended to boost human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Finland joined in 1989 and Russia in 1996.
 Soini and Lavrov will also discuss bilateral issues and regional cooperation, including via the Arctic Council, which Finland also now chairs. The Finnish foreign minister also plans to meet with representatives of Russian NGOs in the Russian capital.

Foreign Minister Soini attends National Prayer Breakfast in Washington


Summary: The drug can cost 1,160 euros per month, if patients need a double dose, but many migraine sufferers in Finland will be able to get it for a fraction of that.

The cost of the recently-approved preventative migraine drug Aimovig will be heavily subsidised in Finland, according to a decision reached on Thursday by the country’s Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board (Hila).
 Aimovig, produced by Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis, is the brand name of the drug erenumab, a new class of preventative medication for migraine headaches.
 The medication was approved by regulators in the US last spring and by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the summer, and its pharmacy price in Finland is about 580 euros per monthly dose.
 The recommended dose of Aimovig is 70 mg every 4 weeks as a single injection, but some patients may benefit from a dose of 140 mg every 4 weeks, given as two injections of 70 mg, according to the EMA.
 Starting in April, qualifying patients can be reimbursemed for Aimovig, which means that they only pay a part of the price of around 580 euros, including VAT and pharmacy retailer margins, according to Hila.
 The maximum amount Finnish residents are required to pay out-of-pocket for medications is 592 euros per year, with the remainder being picked up the social services agency Kela.
 Patients taking Aimovig will reach that cap as they pick up their second monthly dose at the pharmacy.
 At that point going forward, patients will be able to get the drug for five euros per month.
 There are stipulations, however, on eligibility. Only patients who have at least eight days of migraines per month and who have tried at least two other preventative treatments without success will be eligible, according to the board.
 Finland’s pricing scheme on Aimovig goes into effect at the beginning of April.
 "Noise" surrounding new treatment
 Hila’s chair,  Lauri Pelkonen , told Yle that there was an exceptional amount of “noise” about the drug, saying the board had received numerous calls from the public and physicians who wanted to know what it would cost.
 Despite the noise, Pelkonen said the board’s decision was reached normally and that all criteria were met.
 The drug has been called revolutionary in some circles and has received widespread attention around the world.
 Last month migraine sufferers in the UK were faced with disappointment after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence tentatively rejected National Health Service funding for Aimovig, saying that it was not a cost-effective use of NHS resources.
 According to the EMA, Aimovig is effective at reducing the number of days chronic sufferers experience migraines. Out of 667 patients who had migraines an average of 18 days per month had seven fewer days with migraines when treated with Aimovig, while patients on a placebo had only four fewer days.
 About ten percent of Finland’s population regularly endure migraine headaches, or around half a million people. An estimated one quarter of that group suffer the condition chronically.
 Article edited on 8 February 2019 at 2:34 pm to reflect that the 1,160 euro price is for two doses of Aimovig.

Finland to heavily subsidise "revolutionary," expensive migraine drug


Summary: Experts say higher income taxes are inevitable if Finland adopts basic income, layoffs are in the air and Finland and Sweden cosy up on defence cooperation.

Initial findings from Finland’s  basic income trial  will be published on Friday, reports agricultural newspaper  Maaseudun Tulevaisuus .  Heikki Ervasti , a social policy professor at Turku University, told MT that the trial should have been broader and extended beyond two years for more accurate results.
 Social benefits agency Kela's experiment, which has drawn global interest, selected 2,000 unemployed people at random to receive 560 euros tax-free every month. Participants were able to work alongside receiving the money, or even start their own businesses.
 MT writes that adopting a basic income system would significantly increase income taxation. The 19-billion-euro expenditure would be covered by a 43 percent flat tax rate, according to  Minna Punakallio , chef economist with the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.
 Layoffs in the air this spring
 Several major Finnish companies have announced layoff talks in recent weeks.
 Sami Pakarinen , Chief Economic Policy Advisor with the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), told business magazine  Talouselämä  that businesses are reacting to a slowdown in global economic growth and weakened export prospects.
 Nokia Tyres and IT company Tieto have announced layoff talks affecting 500 and 700 employees respectively, while food company HKScan and technology firm Wärtsilä are both looking to slash 1,200 people from payroll.
 Cutbacks by Posti, Valio, Nokia and Atria will also affect hundreds of workers.
 Finland and Sweden intensify defence cooperation
 Swedish Defence Minister  Peter Hultqvist  said he will discuss security policy with Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö  on Friday in Helsinki, a sign of deepened defence cooperation between the countries since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, according to national daily  Helsingin Sanomat .
 Hultqvist has met one-on-one with his Finnish counterpart, Finnish Defence Minister  Jussi Niinistö , 49 times. As non-NATO members, good relations with the United States have formed the basis of the Nordic neighbours’ defence policy, writes HS. Hultqvist told the paper that Sweden's relations with the US are stronger now than they were four years ago, highlighting that the US has increased participation in military training exercises in northern Europe.
 In March, 1,550 Finnish troops will travel to Sweden for a military training exercise dubbed 'Nordic Wind'.

Friday’s papers: Basic income trial results, layoff season and Finnish-Swedish defence


Summary: Prospective students wanting to work with children and youth will be vetted in the future, the government says.

Aptitude tests will be reintroduced to vocational training programmes in the health and social care sector, the Ministry of Education and Culture said in a statement on Friday.
 ”People need to be able to trust that those studying in the social and healthcare fields are committed and competent. Vocational schools need to be able to screen against those who are unsuitable for caring for children or the elderly. We will correct this change, which was made by the last government, and reinstate aptitude tests,” said Minister of Education and Culture  Sanni Grahn-Laasonen  in a government press release.
 The amendment applies to degrees in the social and healthcare sector, dental technology, pharmacology, aeronautical installation, and maritime affairs.
 The government said the change may come into effect this spring at the earliest.

Aptitude tests to be reintroduced for vocational studies


Summary: Unearthed in the gold panning village of Tankavaara, the discovery of the far north's first diamond has been confirmed.

What is thought to be the first diamond discovered in Lapland has been confirmed as such.
 German geologist  Kasper von Wuthenau  found the diamond in August 2018, when he and two German goldsmiths were panning for gold at Tankavaara, Lapland. The gem, which measures about 0.7 millimetres in diametre, was recently confirmed to be a diamond at the University of Hamburg’s Mineralogical Museum.
 According to von Wuthenau, who has panned for gold in Lapland for the past 30 years, no diamonds have ever been found in the region.
 In Lapland, a few precious stones including rubies and sapphires have been discovered, mainly in the Lemmenjoki gold area.

First diamond found in Lapland


Summary: Finland’s basic income trial increased participants’ sense of happiness but didn’t improve employment, the government said on Friday.

The basic income experiment did not increase participants’ employment levels in the first year (2017) of the two-year experiment. But by the end of the trial, basic income recipients’ perceived wellbeing was better than that of those in the control group.
 The randomised field experiment implemented by Finland's benefits agency Kela selected 2,000 unemployed people at random to receive 560 euros tax-free every month. Participants were able to work alongside receiving the money, or even start their own businesses. Selected participants could, however, not opt out of the trial.
 "We can say that during the first year of the experiment the recipients of basic income were no better or worse off than the control group at finding employment in the open labour market," said  Ohto Kanninen , Research Coordinator at the Labour Institute for Economic Research, in a government statement.
 Less bureaucracy, more happiness
 People receiving basic income over the past two years said the tax-exempt benefit made it easier to set up a business and that they were pleased with the reduction in red tape.
 "The basic income may have a positive effect on the wellbeing of the recipient even though it does not in the short term improve the person’s employment prospects," said  Minna Ylikännö , lead researcher at Kela.
 Fifty-five percent of basic income participants and 46 percent of the control group surveyed at the end of last year perceived their health as good or very good. Meanwhile 17 percent of basic income recipients and 25 percent of the control group said they experienced quite a high degree or very high degree of stress over the past two years. The response rate for the survey was 23 percent.
 The social experiment, launched by prime minister  Juha Sipilä ’s government, aims to explore how Finland's welfare system could adopt to changes in working life.
 The experiment began on 1 January 2017 and ended on 31 December 2018.

Finland's basic income findings: More happiness, but no effect on employment


Summary: Despite a recent uptick, Finland's industrial output remains significantly lower than before the financial crisis of 2008.

The number of new industrial orders grew in December, while for 2018 growth remained at a minus, according to Statistics Finland.
 Industrial output grew by 3.7 percent in 2018 compared with 2017. Industrial output has increased for three years in a row now. December 2018 output grew by 3.3 percent compared with December 2017, whereas November 2018 output rose by 1.3 percent.
 The official statistics agency pointed out that despite the increase, total industrial output is still 9 percent below what it was the year before the financial crisis of 2008.
 New industrial orders grew in December 2018 by 6.1 percent over the previous December, while overall growth for 2018 remained negative as orders for the entire year decreased by 1.8 percent.
 In December, metal sector companies received the most new orders. Growth was also reported in the paper and carton products sector.
 Statistics Finland said that the new industrial order statistics for the year feature typical monthly fluctuations. Last year new orders rose in August by 25 percent whereas in November they decreased by 37.4 percent.

Industrial output up in December, but down in 2018


Summary: After the opposition challenge over senior care, government parties now back stricter rules on minimum staffing in the sector.

The Finnish government, in its final months in office, has received a vote of confidence in Parliament by a margin of 99-88. The vote was along party lines, with 12 MPs absent. The vote followed an interpellation accusing the cabinet of failing to ensure sufficient staffing at old age homes amid  widespread reports of neglect .
 In a rare move, all the opposition parties and groups joined in the formal challenge spearheaded by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which has been leading public opinion polls ahead of elections in April.
 The interpellation also questioned whether the government's planned overhaul of the social and health care system, known as sote, would guarantee residents equal access to services.
 The vote was the strongest challenge to Prime Minister  Juha Sipilä 's centre-right cabinet since took office in May 2015.
 The three government parties have just 102 MPs in the 200-seat chamber, not counting Speaker of Parliament – and former social services minister –  Paula Risikko  of the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP), who only votes in case of a tie.
 The dozen absent representatives included two SDP leaders who are on sick leave, chair  Antti Rinne  and deputy chair  Maarit Feldt-Ranta , as well as three MPs from government parties. No MPs broke party ranks.
 Government parties change their tune
 Earlier in the week, SDP delegation leader  Antti Lindtman  noted triumphantly that just after the  interpellation was announced , two of the coalition partners, the Centre and Blue Reform parties, changed their position on whether a minimum caregiver ratio at elder facilities should be mandated by law. On Tuesday the NCP also said it was ready to consider whether such a requirement should be written into law.
 The same day, Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services  Annika Saarikko  from Sipilä's Centre Party said that the government would begin preparations to do so. However it remains unclear whether Parliament will have time to pass the legislation before its term ends on 15 March. Advance voting for the next Parliament begins on 3 April.
 The opposition demanded that senior facilities be required to have at least seven caregivers per 10 residents. At present there is merely a recommendation that there be at least five per 10 residents. There is also some debate over whether only nurses or also other staff members should be included in this calculation.
 The issue was thrust back into the national political debate when the health and welfare watchdog Valvira suspended the operations of a company in the west-coast town of Kristiinankaupunki due to serious neglect of elders in its care. That was followed by reports from Yle and other outlets uncovering widespread problems in the sector throughout the country.

Government survives vote of confidence over elder care, 99-88


Summary: Fishing through a hole in the ice joins the list of unusual competitions that include the world championships of swamp soccer, wife carrying and kick sledding.

In  Sami  and  Tanja Niemimuukko ’s field in the countryside near Lappeenranta close to the Russia border lies the spot on a frozen lake where the first-ever world ice fishing championships will be held on 16 February.
 "We've received a lot of support on social media, and it looks as though a group will be coming from Russia to compete," says Sami Niemimuukko.
 He says that the championship of ice fishing will be organised and sponsored by local businesses and organizations, as well as individuals.
 Joining in series of unusual competitions
 Sami Niemimuukko believes ice fishing will take its place among the other unusual and original Finnish sporting events that raise interest around the world. These include the world championships in  swamp soccer ,  wife carrying , kick sledding,  ice swimming , and rubber boot throwing.
 The idea of a new sporting event started with a conversation between friends around the coffee table.
 "We were sitting and thinking of all the events that have been organised and the idea of ice fishing came up," says Sami Niemimuukko. "It fits in well with (the tradition of) swamp soccer and wife carrying," he says.
 According to the organiser's website, the two and a half hour competition ends with weighing each ice fisher’s catch. The jury then meets and decides who the top six ice fishers are. The main prize is a car, and, of course, the title of first-ever world’s best ice fisher.

Finland’s latest odd sporting event: Ice fishing World Championships


Summary: A small number of activists have been staging weekly demonstrations urging MPs to adopt more ambitious climate measures.

So far this year, weekly demonstrations demanding faster action to slow climate change have attracted tens of thousands of young people in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and other European countries. Most are inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist  Greta Thunberg , who has been skipping school each Friday since August to demonstrate in front of the Swedish Parliament – except when she addressed the UN Climate Conference in Poland in December and the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last month. The movement has since spread to at least 30 countries, mostly in Europe.
 So far there has been a low-key response in Finland. A few hundred  high school students protested  on the steps in front of Parliament in January. Other Fridays have brought a few dozen activists with banners and signs, mostly adults. A larger event is planned for 15 March.
 Stopping by to support this week's demonstration were fourth graders from the Helsinki suburb of Kulosaari, who were on a field trip to Parliament House. Also on hand was someone in a polar bear suit offering hugs to passers-by and inviting them to join in.
 Small-scale events around Finland
 Demonstrations have been held since late last September in Helsinki, Tampere, Joensuu and smaller towns such as Jokioinen. Besides the January student event, the largest demonstration was in late November, attracting over 100 people, according to demonstrators  Heta-Elena Heiskanen , a Tampere University researcher and board member at the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, and  Elina Perttola , a theatre instructor.
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 Heta-Elena Heiskanen (left) and Elina Perttola Juho Takkunen / Yle
 “For us researchers, societal interaction is part of our work,” says Heiskanen. "For me this is also a way to meet young people and plan other events.”
 Asked how Finland could become an example of better climate policy for other countries, Perttola replied: "I hope we can achieve a ban on the use of coal throughout Finland. We should widely adopt renewable forms of energy, and Finland could serve as an example in this during its EU presidency term," which begins on 1 July.
 "No political affiliation"
 Heiskanen told Yle that some MPs, particularly from the Left Alliance and Green parties, have stopped by to express support for the demonstrators. However Climate Parents Finland, an NGO that helps coordinate the weekly gatherings, says that they take place on an informal grassroots basis and are not affiliated with any political party.
 The association's website lists regular weekly sit-ins in Oulu, Salo, Vaasa and Pietarsaari as well as Helsinki and Tampere. It also calls for people to join in the international Global Climate Strike for Future Friday 15 March. That morning an event called Dance for the Climate is also scheduled for the Parliament steps.

Fridays bring climate demonstrators to chilly Parliament steps


Summary: Why it is so hard for foreigners to find jobs in Finland when many business sectors need workers desperately? Our podcast guests say a change in attitude is due.

The unemployment rate among foreign-language groups in Helsinki is double (24 percent) that of the local population (11 percent), yet employers in many sectors frequently complain of a lack of qualified job applicants. APN discussed the mismatch with private sector lobby group EK's  Taina Susiluoto  and  Eve Kyntäjä , a specialist in immigration and integration issues with SAK, the country's largest union confederation.
 The main reason many potential employers say they are not hiring foreigners is a lack of Finnish or Swedish skills, but our conversation considered whether there might be other factors behind their reluctance to hire non-Finns. SAK's Eve Kyntäjä said many companies worry that newcomers do not understand Finnish workplace norms, while employer representative Taina Susiluoto said one big problem is that foreign-earned qualifications aren't seen as valid in Finland - a worrying trend that must be rectified.
 Kyntäjä said that immigrants in Finland are most likely to hold jobs in the service and construction sectors. But she noted that these are also the industries where migrants who don't know their rights are more exposed to employers offering sub-par employment contracts or lower wages than their Finnish counterparts.
 We also heard from  Trevor Baylis  and  Raghunath Koduvayur , two migrants with completely different experiences in the Finnish job market. Baylis,who's been in Finland for nine years, recounted how he worked on chained "work practice" gigs before landing a position with a salary that was lower than his colleagues', something the SAK's Kyntäjä said is illegal. Koduvayur meanwhile, has lived in Finland for 11 years. He said he has never had a shortage of opportunities and has thrived in the system by networking, being proactive and promoting his personal brand.
 Migrants in Finland can find out more about their rights (and responsibilities) as workers from the SAK's  online employee rights advisory service  or by calling 0800 414 004 for information in English.
 International House Helsinki also provides information for newcomers in the Helsinki region.  Visit them online  to find out more about their services.
 Finns in Britain, Darude and daylight saving time top the week's news
 The most popular stories this week were about Brexit, song contests and daylight saving. Readers were drawn to Yle News'  Egan Richardson 's  report from the UK on how Brexit is affecting some of the roughly 20 thousand Finnish citizens living in Britain . The report found that Finns, like their 3 million European counterparts in the country, are dealing with a quite different atmosphere to the one many of them first experienced when they relocated.
 Our second most-read post was about the Finnish electronic music star  Darude  being chosen to  represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv  next May. The DJ musician is best known for his trance instrumental earworm "Sandstorm," which was released nearly 20 years ago.
 And finally, readers lit up over our story on daylight saving policy. Last Friday a committee of the  Finnish government said it supports scrapping seasonal daylight saving for permanent standard time . Citing public health and other benefits, the government said that it supported adopting the permanent use of "winter" rather than "summer time". But Finland cannot decide to abolish daylight savings time on its own, as any change on the matter requires a unanimous decision at the EU level.
 If you have any questions, or would like to share something on your mind, just contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter account, 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 podcast episode was presented by  Denise Wall  and  Mark Odom , with additional reporting by Denise. Our producer was  Pamela Kaskinen  and this week's sound engineer was  Laura Koso , who is also responsible for the show's sound design.

All Points North #39: Breaking into the Finnish job market with Taina Susiluoto and Eve Kyntäjä


Summary: Some of the most iconic stereotypes of Finland and the Finns trace ancient roots.

In November 2018, while surveying damage from wildfires in California, US President  Donald Trump   sang the praises  of Finnish forestry management.
 "You look at other countries where they do things differently, and it’s a whole different story. I was with the president of Finland and he said, 'we have a forest nation'. They spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and they don’t have any problems," Trump told reporters.
 While the office of President  Sauli Niinistö  issued a clear-cut denial that raking did not enter his discussions with Trump not long before the incident,  social media response was swift and mocking .
 Instantly, an entire pseudo-myth of Finns and their rakes was created and the hashtag #rakefinlandgreatagain had a moment of global internet glory.
 Story continues after photo
 Laugh if you will, but raking  does  actually have a place in genuine Finnish myth and fable.
 An ancient tale of the creation of the world in the national epic, the  Kalevala , contains a passage about water sprites, in the form of young maidens, raking the forest floor to make room for the first sacred oak tree to grow. The god-like smith  Ilmarinen  forged a magic rake for the mother of the tragic hero  Lemminkäinen  she used to dredge her son's body from the river of the underworld before raising him from the dead.
 Is this not evidence of the cultural significance of raking in the land of the Finns?
 No. Despite these ancient tales, raking the forest really is not a national pastime.
 But, there certainly are folk memories, some surprising vestiges of the past, embedded in the Finnish cultural matrix that still have an unconscious influence on the present.
 Luck and golden silence
 The list of adjectives often used to describe the stereotypical Finn includes terms like "shy", "quiet", "reserved", "reticent" or "introverted".
 For a taste of this, observe a group of Finns waiting at a bus stop. They will queue up, keeping a good metre or more (often much more) distance from the next in line. Get on a Helsinki bus at rush hour and observe how people make a real, but usually futile effort to avoid sitting next to a stranger. If by chance eye contact is made, it's furtive. It was not by chance that the German playwright  Bertolt Brecht  once famously said the Finns were the only people in the world who are "silent in two languages".
 Story continues after photo
 Viivi Sihvonen / Yle
 While the image of the taciturn Finns is a cliché, there is a proverb which roughly translates as "Talk is silver, silence is golden", a thought well embedded in the national psyche.  Small talk is such an arcane art  that there are people who actually take classes in an attempt to master it before taking a professional posting abroad.
 The flip side of this stereotypical coin is that many outsiders see the Finns as honest and straightforward, a people who tend to say what they mean and mean what they say.
 There are social historians who chalk it up to "luck".
 To see where this is coming from, one has to understand first of all that the word for luck and for happiness is the same -  onni .
 In the worldview that reigned here during pagan times, and for a long after the Finns gained a veneer of Christianity, the concept of luck play a crucial role in daily life. It was luck that determined the outcome of a hunt or a fishing expedition. It was luck that made your crops grow. It was luck that made your cow give milk, kept you and your family healthy and fed.
 A crucial part of this concept was that there only a limited, finite amount of luck in the world.
 "If you managed to get some of the luck, it meant someone else didn't have luck because there was only so much to go around. So it was very important to protect your own luck and your own resources to make sure somebody else didn't take them away from you," explains  Tuukka Karlsson , a folklorist and researcher at Helsinki University's Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies.
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 The bear was a sacred animal to the ancient Finns and speaking its name aloud could bring bad luck. For this reason Finnish still has dozens of words and euphemisms to refer to bears without actually saying the word “karhu”. Ismo Pekkarinen / AOP
 "Let's say you were going fishing. You needed luck and your luck was vulnerable, so you had to be quiet about it, and sneak onto the lake. If you met your neighbour on the way, it could spoil your luck. Still nowadays you shouldn't say 'good luck' to a fisherman."
 There was even a whole class of powerful witches and wizards called "kade" who were out to steal luck from the unwary. The word has survived and is used colloquially to mean "envy".
 "I think you can see this nowadays. There's a proverb in Finnish, ' Kell' onni on, se onnen kätkeköön' , meaning that one who has happiness or luck should hide it. It is dangerous to boast. So, if you win the lottery, don't show it. Maybe you can buy a new car, but don't tell anyone where the money came from. I think this has very deep roots," says Karlsson.
 It's been argued that this is still reflected in the cautious social engagement of many Finns, especially with strangers.
 "People don't walk around today consciously believing that luck is limited and they need to protect it," points out  Siria Kohonen , a Helsinki doctoral candidate with a special interest in folk medicine, spells and rituals. "But, the modest, even shy behaviour that went along with that idea developed into a set of cultural norms that are more or less still in place today."
 Sauna as ritual
 "The sauna is a special space that demands a certain solemnity, and serious state of mind," in the words of Tuukka Karlsson. "You don't go to sauna to party. You can speak about very important, serious things in the sauna. It has an aura of reverence."
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 Anna Sirén / Yle
 It is hard to overstate the importance of the sauna in Finnish culture. The sheer number of saunas, estimated at over two million for a population of 5.5 million, gives some indication of how deeply embedded it is. Stripping bare and sweating is not just about practical routine, for most Finns it also reflects a state of mind.
 The sauna has always been a place to bathe, cleanse and  stay healthy . For centuries it was also a sacred space. Once upon a time, it was a place where people were born, the bodies of the dead were washed. It was a place of physical and spiritual healing. Fire was a gift from the gods and the sauna was like a temple.
 In Finnish, the term for the cloud of heat and steam that engulfs you in the sauna when water is poured on the hot stones is  löyly . The word has a broader meaning that is difficult to translate – it refers to the condition, the sense, the feeling of the sauna experience. Originally, it meant "spirit" or "life".
 Löyly once encompassed questions of life and death, very basic concepts.
 "Sauna is a place to bathe and get clean, yes, but it's also a place for purification," notes Siria Kohonen. "It is also somehow connected to celebrations of transition, washing away the past, starting the future cleansed."
 "The sauna is physically stimulating. It is a sensory experience – dimly lit, hot. The most memorable rituals are usually associated with some kind of physical stimulation. People today may not think that they are engaging in ritual behaviour when they go to the sauna and their conversations change, but the physical conditions affect the social atmosphere."
 Nature's children
 If you spend much time around Finns, it probably won't take long until someone mentions "our special relationship with nature". It's a common claim and clearly a source of pride.
 There is no arguing against the fact that there's plenty of nature to have a relationship with.
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 Jyrävä Rapids in the River Kitkajoki.  Ismo Pekkarinen / AOP
 Forests cover more of Finland than in any other European country. Three-quarters of the land area is forested and there are close to 200,000 lakes. Then there are the rugged coasts and the vast fell regions of Lapland.
 Finnish law enshrines" everyman's right " meaning that anyone and everyone to roam, to gather mushrooms and berries, to wander  even on privately-owned land .
 The natural world has always been some kind of special presence.
 According to Tuukka Karlsson, whose work focuses on the Kalevala-meter poetry, ancient lyrics pictured the forest as a place of beauty. The old poems speak of it being imbued with golden light and populated by trees of silver. People still talk about the forests as Finland's "green gold", seeing it to some extent as the as the source of economic and cultural wealth. On the other hand, the forest was untamed, outside of culture, supernatural, a dangerous place harbouring threats.
 Today, even urban dwellers like Siria Kohonen hold fast to some of these thoughts, even though she says that they have changed, developed and altered quite a lot.
 "Hundreds of years ago, it was special, but very different from what it is now. Unlike my ancestors, I have never lived off nature, never hunted, and I'm not very good at fishing. It hasn't been a part of my day to day life. In Helsinki, I've got three grocery stores before there's the first small patch of forest. I think that I have a special relationship with nature, but I also know that it is very different from the relationship my ancestors had. For me, it is a privilege to be in nature, to be by myself, to find inner calmness," she says.
 While there is no doubt that the deep past has and does influence the way the Finns live their lives and view their world, how unique is it really?
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 Henrietta Hassinen / Yle
 "A culture can never be isolated from its surroundings. That's the way it is. Cultures are never isolated from their neighbours. Eastern, Baltic, Scandinavian cultures have always influenced Finnish culture and there's always been a lot of interaction. Some things that we think of being so very, very Finnish may in fact have roots somewhere else," Siria Kohonen notes.
 "Many mythic concepts still live in us, but maybe not in a conscious way. But, it is just as obvious that there is not one Finnish people, there are many different perspectives and identities within this 'one' people," Tuukka Karlsson adds.

Luck, sauna, and those magical Finnish rakes


Summary: Last year, courts overturned some 330 decisions on asylum applications rejected by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) said the ten-fold growth in asylum seekers in the 2015 to 2016 period contributed to mistakes being made, although the agency hired hundreds of new staffers to deal with a glut of asylum applications.In 2018, Finland’s administrative courts sent 330 asylum decisions of the 6,800 they reviewed back to Migri, bringing the agency's error rate up to 4.9 percent from 0.2 percent in 2015. The Interior Ministry has set a 5 percent upper limit on incorrect asylum decisions, meaning the agency has no room left for procedural errors.
 In the overturned cases, the courts ruled that Migri had not adequately assessed the applicants’ need for asylum or the agency had misinterpreted the law.
 ”The year 2016 was definitely one when mistakes happened,” Migri's asylum unit director,  Esko Repo ,told Yle.
 To avoid mistakes, Repo said processors now have more time to conduct interviews with applicants.
 Most appeal negative outcome
 Many of those receiving a negative asylum decision appeal their case in the courts. Last week,  Ilkka Pere , a former administrative court judge, told tabloid Iltalehti that he feared Migri is granting refugee status to applicants not meeting the requirements for international protection.
 But Repo of Migri pushed back against this claim, saying that if his agency demanded indisputable evidence of persecution, hardly anyone would be granted asylum.
 ”Their story has to be consistent, believable and in line with information we have on the country in question. If we don’t have evidence proving their story wrong, their account will do. In what other way could we possibly evaluate an applicant’s merit, if not based on what they say?" asked Repo.

Courts overturned hundreds of asylum decisions in 2018


Summary: In 1941-43, a total of 1,408 Finnish volunteers served in the Waffen-SS, finds a probe prompted by an international Jewish human rights group.

An  independent investigation  confirmed several cases in which Finnish SS-volunteers of the Waffen-SS Wiking Division engaged in violent acts against civilians and Jews in Ukraine and the Caucasus during WWII. However, the documentation, including old diaries was considered vague and could not entirely be confirmed, according to the report.
 "As the documentation on these events only occasionally mentions the number of civilians killed by Finnish volunteers, the real numbers are likely to be higher, perhaps at least a few dozen," the report stated.
 Historical documents lacked exact times and dates of atrocities, making it impossible to determine who issued kill orders and who carried them out.
 Jussi Nuorteva , Director-General of the National Archives of Finland, said that once back home, Finnish SS soldiers smoothed over events or just kept quiet.
 "Active efforts were made to project that the Finnish SS soldiers were mainly on the front line, unaware of the bigger picture," explained Nuorteva.
 He said the starting point for Finns' involvement with Nazi forces was to provide the country’s troops with military training to fight the Soviet Union.
 None of the eight surviving Finnish SS veterans were interviewed for the report, partly because of their advanced age and because their engagement with the Nazis has already been well documented.
 State Secretary  Paula Lehtomäki  said it was important to conduct more research on difficult and significant historical events. "We share the responsibility for ensuring that such atrocities will never be repeated."
 Probe prompted by call from "Nazi hunter"
 The decision to investigate the matter was prompted by an appeal made by  Efraim Zuroff  of the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.
 Zuroff, whom the office described as the centre's "chief Nazi hunter," reached out to Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö  last year to launch an investigation regarding whether Finnish soldiers took part in war crimes during WWII.

Report: Finnish SS soldiers carried out atrocities against Jews and civilians during WWII


Summary: Palta, the group representing air traffic controller employers, said it will stage an employee lockout at eight Finnish airports in two weeks’ time.

Elinkeinoelämän järjestöt, työnantaja- ja ammattialajärjestöt

The lockout is to start in two weeks, extending from the evening of 23 February through the morning of 25 February.
 The employers' association, Palta, said the measure is aimed at speeding up stalled contract talks with the Finnish Air Traffic Controllers Association (SLJY), the union which represents employees.
 Palta on Saturday notified the National Conciliator of the temporary work stoppage, which bars employees from entering the workplace. The employers' association said management will ensure flight safety services during the lockout.
 SLJY and Palta have been negotiating the terms of new job contracts since autumn 2017, which is when air traffic controllers’ collective agreement expired.

Air traffic controllers face lockout


Summary: Throwing candy from the back of trucks while in fancy dress is an important rite of passage in Finland.

New to Finland and puzzled about the sight of truckloads of young people gussied up in sometimes outrageous costumes throwing sweets at passers-by? What you're seeing is a decades-old tradition known as " penkkarit " when upper secondary school seniors enjoy their last hurrah – the end of formal classes – before they take a break to prepare for their matriculation exams.
 "It’s one of the greatest things to happen for upper secondary school students and the kids look forward to it. It’s a time when you can be with friends and feel free, take time to celebrate before you start thinking about your final exams,"  Roosa Pajunen  told Yle News.
 Pajunen is chair of Finland's Union of Upper Secondary School Students and not too long ago, she too could be seen riding around in a flat-bed lorry draped with a witty banner and distributing candy to onlookers.
 Pop culture gets a tongue-in-cheek treatment as these Mikkeli students reference their impending liberation from high school in a nod to the film “Fifty Shades Freed”.  Riina Kasurinen/Yle
 The  penkkarit  celebrations took off after 1919, when the first set of matriculation exams were held at the University of Helsinki. Back then, students from all over the country travelled to the capital for the exam. However in the 1920s local schools began to administer the exams, with students cloistering themselves away to prepare for the tests.
 The Lord of the Rings’ Gandalf, Batman’s nemesis the Joker and Winnie the Pooh rub shoulders in Lappeenranta. Tommi Parkkinen / Yle
 After starting out as sleigh rides in the early years of the tradition, the milestone has morphed into today’s high-spirited processions. Typically, the graduating students – known as " abiturientit " in Finnish or more commonly " abit " – select a theme for their costumes and banners, which range from witty one-liners to more serious social or political commentary.
 More fun, less booze
 According to Pajunen, the tradition has held strong over the years, although it's possible to observe some changes in how young people today celebrate the occasion.
 "I have heard that in the past some of the kids used alcohol. When I had my  penkkarit  we didn’t have alcohol but I’ve heard stories about others who have. At the end of the day they decide what to do, but I’d like it to be a safe space for everyone," she noted
 .
 Students from Sipoo run with a clever take on the hit Daft Punk-Pharrell Williams collaboration, “Get Lucky”. “Lakki” refers to the white cap that students receive when they graduate. Yle / Lone Widestam
 Pajunen's comments jibe with findings reported by the public health watchdog THL, which showed that  young people in Finland are increasingly corking the bottle . Meanwhile some school officials were said to taking extra precautions to ensure no disruptions during the day.
 Last week taboid Iltalehti reported that one school in Vaasa had cautioned seniors against using ski masks or balaclavas or carrying toy guns during the festivities. The school said the measure was a safety precaution. In Porvoo, upper secondary school students told Yle News about security checks that included an airport-style "pat down" on Thursday morning.
 The day’s events include other high jinks such as parodying teachers and other members of staff, producing films and sketches about them, handing out outrageous awards to students and staff, and of course throwing, tossing or pelting sweets at younger students and passers-by.
 However, like their predecessors of a century ago, once the high-spirited activities are over they then retreat for a month-long period of preparation for the rigours of their matriculation exams. Up to last year, the " penkkarit " took to city streets across the country more or less on the same day, however  new education reforms that took effect this year  mean that schools can decide independently when their seniors will hold their pre-matriculation parades.
 Seniors’ ball ushers in new guard
 As the graduating seniors exit the school stage, second-year pupils begin gearing up to assume their role as the school’s oldest students at the top of the food chain.
 Elvis and an astronaut in Lappeenranta. Tommi Parkkinen / Yle
 They mark this rite of passage with  a formal performance of traditional ballroom dances . In upper secondary schools across the country, these seniors-in-waiting don ball gowns and tuxedos for the evening of dance performances, with the effort, expense and overall look of the participants becoming increasingly reminiscent of American proms.
 It can be a costly affair for many, although recent years have seen many enterprising and consumption-conscious young people renting or re-purposing clothing for the occasion.
 Petri Aaltonen / Yle
 Nowadays, the dance routine includes an " oma tanssi " or independently-choreographed segment that incorporates a medley of contemporary dance moves set to current popular music.
 The tradition of the seniors' ball apparently emerged in Helsinki in between 1920 and 1930, when students hatched the idea themselves.

Yle News explains "penkkarit": Why costumed Finnish teens toss sweets from lorries


Summary: Studies suggest that more than seven percent of adults in Finland annually suffer from clinical depression, with up to one in five experiencing at least mild symptoms.

More than 400,000 people per year in Finland receive compensation from the Social Insurance Institution (Kela) for anti-depressant medications. Some 50-70 percent of users take the drugs to treat depression.
 Others take them to treat anxiety, chronic pain or sleep disorders, explains  Esa Leinonen , professor emeritus of psychiatry from Tampere University.
 "Anti-depressants often become appropriate at the point when depression clearly begins to affect someone’s ability to function, to manage day-to-day life and look after his or her work and social responsibilities,” Leinonen says.
 Pharmacological treatment is not always used even in cases of moderately severe or serious depression, though. According to Helsinki University psychiatry professor  Erkki Isometsä , the most common reason for this decision is the patient’s refusal to take medication.
 "There are many reasons for refusal. Some people have at some point tried pharmacological treatment and suffered from unpleasant side effects. Some have heard or read about how much harm drugs may cause,” Isometsä tells Yle.
 Research indicates that 7.4 percent of adults in Finland – a nation of 5.5 million – annually experience depression that meets the diagnostic criteria for the illness. Isometsä estimates that as much as 10-20 percent of the population may suffer from at least mild symptoms of depression.
 Many take pills for years on end
 Jaana Suvisaari , a research professor at the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), points out that many take anti-depressants continuously for years.
 "Long-term pharmacological treatment usually follows a number of bouts of serious depression. Maintenance treatment is prescribed in an effort to prevent its recurrence. Maintenance treatment means a period of medication aimed at ensuring that symptoms do not return.
 Leinonen says that there is a 50-80 percent likelihood of depression reappearing later in life. After a second period of depression, patients typically need at least a year of maintenance treatment, he says. Those who have suffered three or more bouts of depression require long-term, sometimes even permanent maintenance treatment, Leinonen adds.

More than 400,000 people in Finland take anti-depressants


Summary: Reception centres now teach asylum seekers about Finnish norms and regulations, but the minister says they should be tested to ensure that the lessons are learned.

Interior Minister  Kai Mykkänen  is calling for asylum seekers to be tested after attending compulsory courses on Finnish society. Each asylum seeker over age 16 is now required to take a basic civics course on societal rules and norms. At the end of the course, each must sign an affidavit promising to follow these ground rules.
 “It is not enough to simply take part in a course, but rather there is also a need to ascertain that the lessons have been taken on board,” Mykkänen said in a statement on Sunday.
 “This will not of course solve everything, but by ensuring that the instruction has truly been understood, we will have a better basis for targeting serious measures against those individuals who do not follow the rules,” he added.
  Govt plans moves to prevent sex crimes
 Mykkänen says that the Interior Ministry’s supplementary budget proposal should include funding for a programme to pilot computer-based testing after the civics classes.
 He notes that the cabinet plans to soon unveil “other measures aimed at preventing sex crimes and crimes committed by those of foreign background,” and that the ministry is preparing a revision of the Citizenship Act, which it expects to take effect next year.
 In January, Mykkänen and other ministers were briefed by National Police Commissioner  Seppo Kolehmainen  on sexual crimes targeting minors and recent cases in  Oulu  and  Helsinki . In a statement afterwards, the government said that “he problem is very extensive, and especially the numbers of children and young people contacted via the internet are growing,” adding that ministers had “examined the situation of asylum seekers who have received a negative decision on their asylum application”.
 Election looms
 The centre-right government is in the final months of its four-year legislative term. A new cabinet is to be formed following parliamentary elections in April.
 Mykkänen, a first-term MP from the conservative National Coalition Party, took over the interior ministry portfolio a year ago. Before that, he served as minister for foreign trade and development. He succeeded Paula Risikko, who left the cabinet to become Speaker of Parliament.

Interior minister: Asylum seekers must be tested on civic awareness


Summary: Sauli Niinistö took part for a second time in an ice hockey tournament aimed at raising funds for climate projects.

President  Sauli Niinistö  says he will undergo hip surgery in a couple of weeks. The 70-year-old president made the announcement a Facebook post after taking part in an informal ice hockey game in Helsinki on Saturday – making it clear that the operation was previously scheduled and not a result of any game injury.
 The match was part of a light-hearted tournament with a serious aim: raising funds for local climate projects. Niinistö, once known as an avid rollerblader, also took part in the annual hockey event last year. This year marked the fifth such event at the Brahe ice rink in the Kallio district.
 This year’s event, skated under a light drizzle, featured veteran NHL stars such as  Jari Kurri ,  Teppo Numminen  and  Viacheslav ‘Slava’ Fetisov , as well as  Tiia Reima  and  Emma Terho  of the Olympic-medal-winning Finnish women’s ice hockey team. The ‘Lady Lions’ captured bronze medals at the 1998, 2010 and  2018 Winter Olympic Games .
 Arctic hockey game planned for 2020
 This year’s tournament attracted a record 32 teams with more than 250 players.
 Retired Russian defenceman Fetisov is arranging a UN-backed event billed as  the Last Hockey Game  on the Arctic ice in April 2020. It is intended to raise awareness of the region’s shrinking ice cover.
 The event was organised by a group called  Save Pond Hockey , which says it aims to “unite and mobilise the global hockey community against climate change”. It is arranging similar tournaments in February and March in Mikkeli, Tampere and Oulu.

Finnish president hits the ice with NHL stars – then announces hip surgery


Summary: Finland's booming areas not attracting people, health care profits and the biggest-ever lottery jackpot are among Monday's headlines.

Despite an economic boom in southwest Finland, the population in the region has not grown significantly, writes daily  Turun Sanomat .
 Last year, only about 1,000 people moved to southwest Finland, the current engine of Finland’s economy thanks in part to the Turku shipyard and the car manufacturing plant in Uusikaupunki. At the same time, jobless figures have improved considerably, with 20,000 more people now at work than three years ago, TS says.
 "This contrast between a positive structural change in the economy and a negative change in population size is quite new," said population researcher  Timo Aro . "Turku and the neighbouring towns around it are growing, others are not."
 People have become more demanding in terms of where they want to live, TS writes. "Four-fifths of those moving to a new location are under 35-year-olds. For them, having a job or a school is not enough. They also want to have interesting things to do in their leisure time," Aro said.
 Cities in Finland are engaged in fierce competition for young people and professionals, and not all of them will to succeed, TS writes. What’s more, moving to booming areas may be easier said than done.
 "With the money a person gets for selling a house in the countryside, they will not be able to buy even a half of one in the city," noted  Kari Häkämies , head of the Southwest Finland Regional Council.
 According to Häkämies, more migrants are needed. "There is a lot of potential out there, but it’s not an easy task to lure people to Finland," he said.
 Health care profits
 The Finnish founders of MedOne – a predecessor to private healthcare company Attendo now at the center of allegations of poor senior care – have netted tens of millions of euros, writes daily  Helsingin Sanomat .
 Four doctors established temporary work agency MedOne in 2000 to lease medical professionals to rural municipalities suffering from a shortage of physicians. Later the company also started to offer outsourced care services, HS says.
 When the Swedish health care group Attendo bought the company in 2007, one of MedOne’s founders,  Pertti Karjalainen , made a profit of 30 million euros. He now heads Attendo Finland, which along with Esperi Care has been accused of failing to ensure sufficient staffing at old age homes amid  widespread reports of neglect .
 Another founder,  Antti Ylikorkala , earned 17.5 million euros by selling some of his shares in Attendo in 2017.
 Last week Attendo’s care facility in Alavus, western Finland, was shut down after  HS reported  that six people had died there in less than a month. This is not the first time Attendo has found itself under scrutiny, HS said. In 2012 the company was criticised for trying to attract doctors by offering them personal tax planning, a tactic in which doctors are paid via  tax-free dividends rather than taxable salaries .
 Jackpot winner
 Meanwhile, Finland also has a new multimillionaire, reports  Iltalehti , after a single punter won the country’s biggest-ever lottery jackpot of 15.5 million euros on Saturday evening.
 The winning ticket was purchased at MK Market Routionmäki in Lohja, southern Finland. Store manager  Mustafa Kosar  said he was excited to find out the lucky coupon came from his shop.
 "I’d very much like to know who the winner is. I bet it’s one of the locals as we don’t get many visitors here," Kosar said. "I’ll certainly offer the winner a coffee and a cognac if they come back," he added.
 Kosar also said news about the jackpot attracted more customers to the store on Sunday. He served coffee, cookies and sweets to shoppers all day long, Iltalehti writes.
 State-owned betting agency Veikkaus will also organise an event at the store at a later stage, the tabloid adds.

Monday's papers: Population bust, health care payoffs and a new millionaire


Summary: Men and voters over 45 are most likely to believe that outside forces are trying to sway voting in the upcoming Finnish and European parliamentary elections.

More than one third of people surveyed in a recent pool -- 36 percent -- said they believe that outside forces are trying to influence voting in the upcoming Finnish Parliamentary elections and the European Parliament elections.
 Men and respondents over 45 years of age are most likely to believe that outside forces are trying to influence voters, according to a survey carried out by the Finnish Newspapers Association.
 Meanwhile 62 percent of respondents said they were confident in their ability to spot attempts to sway their vote.
 Newspapers a major source of information
 Printed or digital newspapers are one of the main sources of information for voters in the Finnish parliamentary elections, with 69 percent of survey respondents citing them as their main source. Television followed closely, with 63 percent of respondents saying it was their main source of information regarding who to vote for.
 Third was radio, with 27 percent of respondents reporting that they use it to make decisions regarding the elections. Printed or digital regional newspapers came in fourth, with 23 percent of respondents citing them as a valuable source.
 One thousand people were interviewed for the survey, which was carried out by market research firm IRO Research Oy. The margin of error is at most 3.2 percentage points.

Survey: More than one-third believe outside forces trying to influence voting


Summary: A major business lobby says two-thirds of workers don't want to reveal their earnings - but blue-collar union group SAK says salaries should be transparent.

Two-thirds of people in Finland do not want to make their salaries public. According to a report by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), 66 percent of those surveyed said they would not like their salary information to be disclosed to colleagues without prior consent.
 EK’s survey is a response to a plan by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to combat pay discrimination between the sexes by making salaries transparent.
 EK labour market expert,  Katja Leppänen , said salaries are confidential information that fall under employees’ privacy protections, saying that requiring salary transparency would lead to restrictions of basic rights. "The message is clear. Employees do not want their salaries to become a subject of office gossip," Leppänen said.
 "Restricting basic rights is foreign to the Finnish justice system," she added.
 Blue-collar confederation demands transparency
 In stark contrast, Finland’s largest trade union federation SAK wants pay transparency to be written into law during the next parliamentary term. SAK said two-thirds of its worker representatives favour the proposal.
 "In our view, salary is not private or confidential information. There is no law that says so," said SAK’s  Annika Rönni-Sällinen , who argues that publicly available pay information would make it easier to intervene in discrimination.
 "The pay gap between men and women is narrowing much too slowly. It’s difficult to suspect discrimination if salaries are kept secret," she said.
 While pay discrimination is illegal, Leppänen from EK said, the law already provides workers with enough recourse to fight alleged wrongdoing. For example, in cases of suspected discrimination, the employer is required to investigate the matter, and the employee can ask a shop steward or the Equality Ombudsman for support.
 Both EK and SAK however agree that employers should do a better job informing staff about how they determine salaries. This would help workers to understand how to aim for higher pay.
 The EK-commissioned survey of 1,525 working-age people in Finland was carried out by polling firm Taloustutkimus at the end of January.

Most workers don't want salaries public, says business group


Summary: A competing insurance firm complained that OP's so-called bonus points scheme gave the cooperative bank an unfair advantage.

The Competition and Consumer Authority has found that a customer bonus system offered by OP Financial Group did not adversely affect competition on the insurance market.
 For the past three years, the authority has been investigating allegations raised by competing insurance firm If that OP had abused its dominant position in the housing market by using its customer-owner bonus system.
 On Monday the authority announced it could not find evidence of market abuse.
 OP's customers receive so-called bonus points for taking out housing loans. Those bonus points can be used as discounts towards other OP services, like insurance.
 For example, OP customers receive about 500 euros in bonus points when they take out a 200,000-euro housing loan.
 OP: Customer-owners deserve benefits
 The If insurance company, which is owned by OP's competitor Sampo, claimed that the system gave OP an unfair advantage and allowed it to sell its insurance packages too cheaply and below market rates, claiming that the scheme gave OP an unjust competitive advantage.
 OP's response to the accusations was that a cooperative bank should be giving benefits to its customer-owners.
 OP Financial Group is one Finland's biggest financial firms, made up of some 180 cooperative banks, and serves around 1.9 million customer-owners who received a total of about 226 million euros in bonus points - or about 120 euros per customer - last year.
 While the Competition and Consumer Authority's investigation did not find evidence that OP abused its market position, the agency's general manager  Kirsi Leivo  said that the tax-free status of its bonus points system should be examined.
 OP Financial Group controls around 40 percent of Finland's housing loan market, with its closest competitor Nordea Bank holding around 29 percent and Danske Bank with 11 percent of the market.

No market abuse in OP's bonus points system, watchdog says


Summary: Starting in March, child protection social workers will receive a salary of 3,495 euros a month.

Helsinki will increase salaries paid to home care and social workers, practical nurses, doctors and dentists to the tune of 4 million euros.
 Helsinki's public sector employees such as home care and social workers, and other healthcare workers such as practical nurses, doctors and dentists are set to see a pay rise totaling four million euros annually.
 The salary increases will be implemented in three different phases. Some pay hikes will be decided in various municipal and general collective agreements, whereas details regarding increases to be granted by the City of Helsinki in the autumn will be decided at a later date in the spring.
 According to  Juha Jolkkonen , head of Helsinki's social and healthcare department, employer and employee representatives have negotiated increases on the basis of a collective agreement for certain occupational groups.
 “It’s been a long time since something comparable has happened where a nationally-negotiated collective agreement is then locally implemented,” said Jolkkonen.
 For example, hospital doctors will see their annual salary increase by about one percent and health centre doctors as well as dentists will see their salaries increase by 2.1 percent.
 Unjustified pay differences to be corrected
 According to a press release from the City, the goal is to correct unwarranted salary differences that have occurred, following reorganisations in different departments of a hospital or health care centre, for example.
 The increases that came into effect at the start of the year are part of the municipal collective agreement. For example, social and health care workers will receive their salary increases by March, while the increase for January and February will be retroactive.
 After the raises, home care workers and practical nurses will receive 2,271 euros per month and nurses will receive 2,660 euros a month, for example.
 Those with official posts such as adult social workers will receive a new salary of 3, 175 euro a month and child protection social workers will receive a salary of 3,495 euros a month.

Helsinki to hike wages for home care and social workers


Summary: The possible effects of failure to pass sote laws, hazardous level crossings still in use and a 60-year-high in February temperatures.

Daily  Helsingin Sanomat  writes about the difficulties that the government’s flagship reform on social and health care services (sote) is facing and the possible effects that a failure to pass the laws may cause.
 The Constitutional Law Committee is dealing with the reform now, but time is running out, HS says, as the current parliamentary term will end in four weeks. It is therefore increasingly looking like the laws will not passed during this government and that the reform will “fall forward.” That means that the processes that have been initiated on regional level to introduce sote will continue even without a wholesale law reform, HS writes.
 While on the administrative side municipalities may change the way they provide services, the visible effects on patients and clients are likely to remain minor.
 Tarja Myllärinen  from the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities says municipalities are likely to cooperate more. “All regions have discussed the different options, even though they may not have been very vocal about it.”
 Regardless of what happens to sote, the peripheral regions of Finland will suffer as the population ages while big cities will survive, says  Markus Sovala  from Uusimaa Regional Council. “When the money runs out, it will be difficult to make decisions.”
 Nonetheless, any disorder that may result from the postponement of sote will mostly impact administration. “This is not Naples where rubbish piles up on the streets for half a year,” Sovala adds.
 Risky level crossings
 Meanwhile, some level crossings in Finland are so dangerous that going across them is like playing Russian roulette, says  tabloid Ilta-Sanomat . Despite  a fatal crash in Raseborg  in 2017, there are multiple level crossings still in use where visibility remains very poor but safety has not been improved, IS writes. One of them is the Simonen crossing near Seinäjoki in Western Finland.
 “Even if they do everything right, people venturing to these crossings do not have total certainty that they are not going to be hit by a train. And they don't even know they are playing with their lives,” says  Hannamari Helke  from the Safety Investigation Authority.
 Dangerous crossings are a remnant from the past, when trains were slower and the conductors had more time to react to drivers, IS writes. As speed limits for trains have risen, so have problems in the level crossings. “It’s not legal to build level crossings like this anymore, but for some reason, Finnish law does not require the existing ones to be fixed,” Helke says.
 According to her, people in Finland are used to society taking care of their safety, which makes these risky crossings even more dangerous. “Closing the crossings would mean that drivers must take a detour. But that is better than dying," Helke adds.
 Spring's on its way
 Tabloid Iltalehti  reports that Finland is experiencing a February heat wave. On Thursday night, temperature in Rauma, southwestern Finland, climbed to 8.4 degrees – a 60-year record for this time of the year.
 Weather for the weekend is looking to be balmy, with plenty of sunshine across the country and temperatures between four and seven degrees in southern and central Finland. The tip of Lapland may see some snowfall though, IL’s weather map shows.
 For comparison’s sake, IL reports that temperature in Enontekiö, Lapland, hovered around eight degrees at midsummer last year.  Nevertheless, IL doubts that bars in Rauma are ready to open their outdoor patios quite yet.

Friday's papers: Sote troubles, dangerous level crossings and February heat wave


Summary: A Finnish-Norwegian report showed that anticipated volumes on the railway would not cover maintenance costs.

A Finnish-Norwegian working group commissioned to investigate  the potential of an Arctic Ocean Railway  has found that the project would not be commercially viable.
 As a result, said it would not promote the rail connection at this point, Finland’s Ministry of Transport and Communications said on Monday.
 According to the report, annual freight volumes on the rail line between Rovaniemi and Kirkenes in Norway would have to be around 2.5 million tonnes to cover annual maintenance costs.
 Without significant changes to business in the area or to the costs of different modes of transportation, such volumes cannot be considered realistic, the working group said.
 Finland to bear two-thirds of railway cost
 Based on previous studies, the railway would mainly be used for transportation of minerals, fish, lumber and forest industry products.
 No decision on the construction of the railway, or the exact route, has been made in Finland or Norway. Both countries would have to make a political decision to build the line before any planning could start, the report said.
 A study on the rail connection released by the ministry last year showed the cost of the link would amount to about three billion euros, with Finland bearing two-thirds of the expenses.
 The indigenous Sámi people have opposed the rail link, fearing it could hurt reindeer herding and ruin their cultural landscape.

Report: Arctic Ocean Railway plan a commercial non-starter


Summary: The man was found guilty of having maintained a website on the Tor network which enabled the trade of illegal drugs.

A man who was found guilty by Eastern Uusimaa District Court of facilitating the sale of illegal drugs on a site he established and maintained on the dark web was handed a three-year and four month jail sentence on Monday.
 Before his sentencing, prosecutors demanded that the man receive at least seven years behind bars. However the court found that while the defendant had maintained the website, he was not directly involved in selling drugs.
 News outlets late last year  reported  the man allegedly founded and maintained a secret website named  Sipulikanava  (Onion channel) from 2014-2017, which sold illegal substances to individuals anonymously.
 Unique case
 The case marked the first time a Finnish court brought drug trafficking charges against a website administrator.
 The case was also unusually extensive. The pre-trial report was contained in 17,000 pages of documents and eight days of hearings, according to news reports earlier this year.
 The dark web refers to sites on the internet that require special software or configurations to reach and cannot be accessed with ordinary web browsers.

Finnish dark web drugs site admin gets 40 months in jail