Summary: The actor and director of film and stage delighted and united audiences in Finnish and Swedish for seven decades.

Finnish actor, director and theatre chief  Lasse Pöysti  has died at the age of 92.
 During his 70-year career, Pöysti emerged as one of the most important names in the Finnish theatre and film world. He spoke both of the country's official languages in his work - Finnish and Swedish - becoming a cherished fixture on stages and screens.
 His illustrious career spanned a world war, the advent of television, the downfall of the Soviet Union and the dawn of the internet age.
 Pöysti was born in the small eastern town of Sortavala in what used to be part of Finnish Karelia in 1929. The town was handed back to the Soviet Union following the armistice of 1944.
 His family was evacuated from the village during the war and eventually landed in Helsinki where the young Pöysti began his career as a child actor on the silver screen.
 Movie fame, then theatre
 After appearing in the movie  The Suominen Family  ( Suomisen perhe  in Finnish) in 1941, Pöysti became a household name.
 Actors Lasse Pöysti and Maire Suvanto in the 1941 film The Suominen Family, which helped to launch Pöysti's long career in show business. Suomen Elokuva-arkisto
 Thanks to a popular radio show based on the same characters, the fictional Suominens were already well-known to Finns, but until the movie version all of the characters were played by adults.
 When the movie version was created, with Pöysti in the role of the family's charming son Olli, his success was immediate.
 He returned to variations of the Olli role several times, not only in the film's sequels and radio shows but also in a series of similar variations on the role.
 Although he first came to broad attention of audiences as a film actor - and later director - he began working in theatre early on too.
 During his teen years he regularly performed at the Swedish-language theatre in downtown Helsinki,  Svenska Teatern . Later he appeared for Finnish speaking audiences at the now-defunct  Intimiteatteri  modern theatre in Helsinki.
 By the time he was 30 years old, Pöysti could look back on an exceptionally diverse career in the performing arts with many opportunities to expand upon in the future. But in his memoirs, Pöysti said he found himself at a crossroads when he was offered a new role at Helsinki's  Lilla Teatern  Swedish-language theatre in the mid-1950s and even considered leaving showbiz.
 United audiences
 However, he accepted the offer and ended up staying at the theatre for nearly two decades, seven of those years as  Lilla Teatern 's theatre director. During the twenty years he was at the theatre, the venue became known as a breath of fresh air in the small but thriving domestic theatre world.
 Pöysti and actor/theatre director Birgitta Ulfsson in 1966. Markku Vuorela
 Pöysti also worked as the director of films and theatre productions and led dramatic radio productions. When TV became more ubiquitous in Finnish homes, he found his way to theatrical productions on public broadcaster Yle's television airwaves.
 Pöysti often said his most important acting work was the title role in a Helsinki City Theatre production of  Bertolt Brecht 's play  Galileo  in 1987. He spent the final decades of his acting career at the city theatre, but continued acting there and elsewhere until he retired in 2012.
 Pöysti's boyish charm and likeability, as well as the ease with which he seemed to switch between Finnish and Swedish helped him become a national treasure to those who grew up - and then grew old - along with him.
 Pöysti arrives to the Independence Day reception at Helsinki's Presidential Palace in 2018, greeted by President Sauli Niinistö and wife Jenni Haukio. Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva

Finnish acting legend Lasse Pöysti dead at 92


Summary: Spring will come to a screeching halt after the weekend’s sunny weather, say Yle meteorologists.

A high pressure zone is bringing sunny skies to most of Finland this weekend.
 "This weekend we’ll see beautiful spring weather, but that doesn’t mean winter is over," said Yle meteorologist  Matti Huutonen .
 The sun will make an appearance across the country on Saturday, with temperatures crossing the 10-degree-Celsius mark in southern parts—at least for a moment. The weather is expected to cool nationwide as the weekend progresses.
 Winter returns
 A new snow front moving in up north is bringing more of the white stuff to Lapland. This means northern and western areas can expect April snow showers on Sunday.
 Sludge and summer speed limits make for a dangerous combination, warns Yle meteorologist Matt Huutonen. Risto Degerman / Yle
 By next week, central parts of Finland could see up to 30 centimetres of snow. Precipitation will mainly come down as rain in southern areas, according to Yle metrorologists Matti Huutonen and  Kerttu Kotakorpi.
 Huutonen pointed out that it is still too early to switch to summer tyres, although summer speed limits will be rolled out in most places next week.
 Chilly spell dials back spring
 While downpours will clear up after Wednesday, the weather will remain chilly.
 "Spring doesn’t seem to be inching forward next week, even if the weather does clear up," Huutonen said.
 Night-time lows toward the end of next week are likely to fall in the sub-zero range—even in southern Finland.

Spring shivers to a halt after sunny spell


Summary: The centre-right NCP is on shaky ground in the polls as APN continues its pre-election review of Finland's main parliamentary groups.

Finland's centre-right National Coalition Party will likely be asked to join in a coalition with the Social Democratic Party, if both parties win enough votes, according to political commentator  Sini Korpinen  and journalist  Sam Kingsley  who joined APN to talk about the NCP's prospects in the election and its potential role in a future government.
 NCP party chair  Petteri Orpo  recently beat the SDP chair in a public opinion poll as a more popular prime minister choice than SDP chair  Antti Rinne , proving he has greater appeal among the electorate.
 Yle's  latest voter survey  shows the NCP trailing the poll-topper Social Democrats, with 15.8 percent and 20.1 percent voter support respectively. SDP leaders have  made noises  about possibly asking the NCP to join them in the governing coalition, if the labour-friendly group comes out on top after 14 April.
 In the event that the third-place Finns Party wins big at the ballot box, Kingsley said he could also see the NCP being one of the few political parties willing to work with the nationalists, because both parties just came out of a four years of cooperation.
 Korpinen said she believes that the NCP has clearly taken a more conservative turn in response to the rising popularity of the Finns Party. Both she and Kingsley surmised that, for example, countryside billboards defending the use of private cars may end up being a misstep with eco-conscious urban voters, however.
 Korpinen also suggested that the NCP's role in the social and health care reform could also be construed as an attack on the welfare state, and this too may cost it votes on the upcoming parliamentary elections.
 Check out the Yle News election debate for more
 If you missed the live broadcast of the Yle News election debate, you can still catch the programme  on our website , on  Yle Areena  and  our Facebook page .
 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  Zena Iovino , with additional reporting byDenise.  Pamela Kaskinen  was the producer, and the sound engineer was  Pasi Ilkka .

All Points North #47: Platforms, promises and platitudes - National Coalition Party


Summary: Police said Friday that the suspect is not a foreign-background individual, despite reports circulating on social media.

Tampere police are investigating suspected offences against two minors in a wooded area of the city earlier this week. They are believed to have occurred shortly before 8.00am in the Kalkku district and at 3.30pm the same day in Tesomaa. The victims in both cases were underage girls, but police said it remains unclear what exactly took place in the first incident.
 Police are investigating the Tesomaa incident as a possible case of aggravated rape, while the Kalkku encounter is no longer being treated as rape.
 Lead investigator, detective chief inspector  Joni Länsipuro  said that the meetings between suspects and victims had been set up on social media. Police said that they disclosed this detail so that parents in the region would not worry about offenders on the loose.
 Suspect still at large
 Police said on Friday that they had not yet detained the main suspect in the cases. They are working with the theory that there is just one perpetrator and that he is an adult.
 Police said that because of the ability to conceal one’s identity on social media, they have not been able to narrow down a suspect. They also moved to counter rumours that the suspect had a foreign background.
 "Claims have been widely circulating on social media that foreign individuals are linked to the case. According to the information at hand there is no basis to these claims," Länsipuro declared.
 Rape suspicions dropped in second case
 A preliminary investigation has led police to dismiss suspicions of rape in the Kalkku incident. They are now considering whether or not it involves a suspected sexual crime or some other offence.
 "One line of investigation is also that no crime occurred. We are currently looking into this," Länsipuro continued.
 He also noted that the only factor connecting the two cases is that they occurred on the same day.
 Common identifying marks
 Police said that they were unable to zero in on any unique identifying factors the suspects might have, even after interviewing the victims. They added that they are so common that thousands of people would fit the description and that there would be so many tips from the public that they would complicate the investigation.
 Officers will continue speaking with the victims. They added that they have also asked bus and taxi drivers if they had noticed anything out of the ordinary, but have so far not been able to track down the suspect or suspects.

Police probe suspected aggravated child sex offence in Tampere


Summary: Two women came under suspicion of abuse when they revealed that they had given their children silver water.

Lääkealan turvallisuus- ja kehittämiskeskus

An Ostrobothnia prosecutor has decided not to press charges against two women who revealed in a television interview that they had given their children silver water, which is falsely believed to heal diseases and prevent illnesses.
 The women had made the claims on Yle’s investigative television show MOT at the end of 2017. At the time, the Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea,  had issued a warning to firms marketing the product , which is essentially water with a suspension of silver particles.
 The agency described as false advertising  marketing that hailed the substance  as a cure for ailments including acne, inflammations, burn wounds, fungus infections, herpes and hepatitis.
 Silver water under EU ban since 2010
 Following their disclosures on the Yle programme, the women came under suspicion for abuse. However the local prosecutor decided against pressing charges, saying that there was no evidence that the children’s health had been harmed or endangered.
 "This was a case of suspected abuse. We did not have any evidence that the children’s health would have been compromised or then there was such a risk," said Ostrobothnia district prosecutor  Peter Levlin .
 He said that it was not a difficult decision to reach.
 "It was really a relatively easy decision given the available material. There was no other alternative," he added.
 The district prosecutor’s decision is not final as it may be overturned by the state prosecutor.
 The EU has banned the use of silver water, also known as colloidal silver, for internal consumption since 2010.

"No evidence of risk": Prosecutor decides against abuse charges over silver water given to kids


Summary: A white nationalist conference is scheduled to take place at an unspecified location in Turku over the weekend.

Police in the Turku region in southwest Finland say they are bracing for the presence of right-wing extremists over the weekend.
 Sources online indicate that an international white nationalist conference called Awakening II is being held somewhere in the region either on Saturday or overnight from Saturday to Sunday. No exact location has been publicly specified. The first openly fascist Awakening event was held in April 2018.
 The aim of the event is said to be to provide an opportunity for Finnish and other European nationalists groups and individuals to network.
 Police say they are prepared to safeguard voter rights against possible harassment  during advance voting  for the parliamentary elections, which continues through to 9 April.  Election day proper  is 14 April nationwide.
 Police tight-lipped about event, preps
 Chief inspector  Mika Peltola  from the South-West Finland police had little to say on the details of the gathering, the possibility of right-wing agitation, or the number of officers to be mobilised.
 "Police are aware that this event is being organised. We have used this information and are prepared for the weekend," Peltola said.
 Peltola said that no reports of harassment have surfaced since advance voting began on Wednesday.
 "Police will monitor voting locations to make sure people can freely cast their votes. We are adequately prepared."
 The neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (PVL) most recently staged a march in downtown Turku on 16 March.  The Supreme Court placed a temporary ban  on the activities of the neo-Nazi organisation in late March, after a Pirkanmaa district court previously ruled that it should be proscribed.
 It also granted the group the right to appeal lower court ruling and said it will issue a final judgment later on permanently outlawing the group.

Police brace for far right gathering in Turku


Summary: One quarter of people in Finland invest in mutual funds, according to a financial interest group.

Financial sector lobby group Finance Finland (FFI) reports that 39 percent of mutual fund investors in Finland are blue collar workers or lower level clerical employees. The organisation said that this "people's capitalism" has developed rapidly in the last few years.
 About a quarter of people in Finland have invested in mutual funds, FFI's new study finds.
 CEO  Piia-Noora Kauppi  said that people are waking up to the need to shore up their finances for a rainy day.
 "Thankfully party leaders agree that we need more measures that encourage savings and investments to counterbalance debt," Kauppi said.
 Kauppi said she hopes that the taxation of various forms of investment will not be amended in the coming parliamentary term.

Blue collar workers most likely to invest in mutual funds


Summary: Demonstrators said that consumers should not bear sole responsibility for combatting climate change.

Police estimated that around 10,000 protesters descended on downtown Helsinki on Saturday to protest the government's inaction over combatting climate change.
 Protesters carried placards and chanted as they made their way through the centre of Helsinki from the Senate Square over to the steps of the Parliament House, starting at 2.00pm.
 Demonstrators called for drastic political measures and structural reforms to ensure that the global mean temperature does not rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius and that consumers do not end up bearing the brunt of the burden for effecting change.
 A crowd of thousands gathered at the Senate Square on Saturday. Timo Jaakonaho / Lehtikuva
 Organisers such as  Katja Hintikainen  said they originally expected between 5,000 and 10,000 protesters.
 "The next government has to make the right call," said fellow organiser  Matti Ikonen  from the "Irreplaceable" (Korvaamaton) campaign. "If we continue to do nothing for another four years I don't know what we'll be able to do."
 Concrete measures demanded by the march organisers include halting the sale of petrol-fuelled cars by 2027, defunding power plants that burn fossil fuels and encouraging more plant-oriented food production and consumption by introducing agricultural subsidies and taxes on meat products.
 The climate march was organised by the Korvaamaton campaign, which is backed by groups such as Greenpeace, Bird Life, WWF Finland and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation.
 The first climate march (Ilmastomarssi I) took place in October 2018, when 8,000 people protested decision-makers' inaction on climate issues.
 Change is possible
 Ikonen pointed to the lack of real suggestions for climate measures, despite the fact that Finland and nearly all of its political leaders backed ratification of the Paris Agreement along with the rest of the EU in 2015.
 "The faster we get some real decisions made, the faster and cheaper it will be to curb global warming," Ikonen said.
 Consumers should not be the ones to shoulder the burden of slowing global warming, Ikonen said and he called for legislation to help the public become accustomed to new ways of consuming.
 "Changes in consumer behaviour can sometimes turn out to be temporary, but it is clear now that people don't want to eat meat or fly in airplanes as much as they used to."
 He compared the change in attitude that the campaign represents to the way cigarettes were viewed in the past. In the 1990s smoking was still ubiquitous, but soon social pressure caused the number of smokers to plummet.
 "When society is ready for change, people often come to accept ideas that they previously resisted. Think about light bulbs: people resisted the EU directive banning incandescent bulbs, but now LED lighting – which uses 99 percent less energy – has become common."
 President Halonen stands with young strikers
 Organisers such as Ikonen say the large turnout for the protest represents hope, as does the global  Fridays for Future  campaign.  Schoolchildren around the world  are walking out of school once a week to  protest global climate change .
 On Friday, one day before the large-scale Helsinki demo, some 200 students turned up to protest global warming on the Parliament steps. They were joined by ex-president  Tarja Halonen , who spoke at the rally.
 "There is no time to stall on climate change. We have to do everything we can, right now," Halonen said.
 She also emphasised the meaning of lifelong learning and the importance of voting.
 "Finland will hold the chair of the European Union starting on 1 July. There are only 5.5 million people in Finland, but other countries will listen to us. It is important as the chairing country to express strong demands that people in Finland support."

10K marchers in Helsinki call for decisive climate action from next govt


Summary: The warmest springtime temperature of the year so far is 14.1 degrees Celsius, and fires are popping up around the country.

Warmer weather brought familiar springtime phenomena over the weekend, as emergency services have had their hands full with wildfires of varying intensity.
 The threat of grass fires is greatest in Uusimaa and Finland Proper, said Yle meteorologist  Matti Huutonen .
 Firefighters put out several fires on Saturday. One in Kirkkonummi in southern Finland started after a controlled bonfire of dry sticks spread into the surrounding terrain, burning up a hectare of land. In another case a garbage fire spread in Salo in the southwest, burning some 300 square metres across an open field.
 Other regions where flames broke out included Kustavi in the west, Kouvola in the southeast, Nurmijärvi some 37 kilometres north of Helsinki and Uusikaupunki, Parainen, Turku and Kaarina, all in the southwest.
 The mercury was also up in the southwestern city of Rauma, where a meteorological measuring station clocked 14.1 degrees Celsius, the hottest day of the year so far.
 As ice and snow melts, rising water levels are also beginning to trouble flood-prone areas. A flood warning is in effect for the Ostrobothnia region in western Finland.

Signs of spring: Record high (so far), grass fires, flood warning


Summary: A domestic passenger airplane arrived at the Helsinki Airport with a malfunction on Saturday.

The Safety Investigation Authority has begun a preliminary investigation into an airplane that landed at the Helsinki Airport on Saturday with a faulty tyre.
 The Airbus A319 flight from the western city of Vaasa to Helsinki landed on the runway on Saturday morning, carrying 86 passengers including the crew. No one was injured during the landing.
 The airplane was towed to a maintenance ramp, where the passengers disembarked, said information chief  Sakari Lauriala  from national carrier Finnair.
 "The outermost wheel of the main left-hand side landing gear was completely destroyed once we landed," he said. "Current information suggests that it was damaged during take-off. The point at which the tyre was damaged in Vaasa is still under investigation."

Probe begins into plane landing with broken tyre in Helsinki


Summary: Criminal justice professor Matti Tolvanen shot down the Security Intelligence Service's claim.

Chief  Antti Pelttari  of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) said in an interview on Saturday that the burden of proof for terrorism in Finland is too high. He also claimed that radicalised persons may be drawn to Finland from abroad due to the allegedly high standard of proof.
 Professor of criminal justice  Matti Tolvanen  from the University of Eastern Finland strongly opposed Pelttari's views.
 "The burden of proof under the law is the same for all crimes," Tolvanen told media group Lännen Media. "If a court finds there to be viable suspicion of a defendant's guilt, the charges must be dropped. It is very straightforward. We can't apply different standards of proof for different crimes."
 The professor also said he did not believe Pelttari's claim that Finland's burden of proof is higher than in other Nordic countries.
 Tolvanen said nonetheless that finding evidence for a terrorist crime is an especially difficult task.
 "How can we prove the guilt of someone who sends money to someone abroad who is planning an act of terror? Or if someone travels to another country to prepare or carry out such an act? Police have a hard time gathering enough evidence to convince a court."
 Many money-related terrorism cases have been dropped in Finland for the very reason that gathering proof of terrorism from a foreign and sometimes war-torn country can pose a serious bureaucratic challenge.
 Supo has investigated a total of 27 suspected terrorism cases in the last five years. About one hundred preliminary investigations into possible terrorist acts were also carried out, with only the  Turku stabbing case  of 2017  leading to a conviction .

Burden of proof for terrorism cases too high in Finland, says Supo chief


Summary: Voters in Jyväskylä were not shy about sharing their assessment of the outgoing government's performance.

With just one week to go before  a closely-watched general election  in Finland, voters in the Central Finland city of Jyväskylä were calling on their peers to exercise their franchise.
 "Of course I think it's important to vote, because otherwise what would be the point of the system?" asked  Antero .
 "What I personally don't like is if people then moan about getting a bad government or bad politicians, especially if you don't exercise your right," he pointed out.
 Mediocre middle managers
 With ballot day just around the corner, interviewees who spoke to Yle News for its voter pulse series were not shy of sharing their views on the performance of the outgoing government.
 "They haven't really been acting like leaders. They've been acting more like mediocre middle managers,"  Alistair  charged.
 "I am not very happy with the job they have done, personally," said  Anni . "They have really ignored the opinions of independent experts," she added.
 A majority of the interviewees cited climate change as one of the most important issues that they would be weighing as they cast their votes. However other election themes included education, the economy, business development and privatisation. The government's fruitless struggle to roll out social and health care reform also made the list.
 "[One of the most important issues is] probably the health care reform, which has been ongoing a long time and which they haven't quite managed to do yet," remarked Antero.
 You can watch the entire  voter pulse series on Yle Areena  and also  catch our election debate  featuring Finland's nine main parliamentary groups.

Watch: Don't moan if you don't vote, say Jyväskylä voters


Summary: The female national team beat Russia 4-0 on Saturday.

Finland secured its first women's ice hockey World Championship victory on Saturday by beating Russia's team 4–0.
 The Finnish team took the lead to 1–0 after just six minutes into the first period, when  Petra Nieminen  sank the puck into the upper corner of Russia's goal.
 After the first point keeper  Valeria Merkusheva  staunchly defended the Russian goal from a barrage of attempts by the lionesses. Merkusheva caught each puck until early in the third and final period, when  Sanni Hakala  gave Finland a 2–0 lead.
 Finland's game opened up after the second goal, filling in the scoreboard for the rest of the match. The game ended 4–0 after additional goals by  Viivi Vainikka  and  Elisa Holopainen .
 Goalkeeper  Noora Räty  kept the counter for away goals at zero during the whole of the match.
 The IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship 2019 is taking place in Espoo, with finals set for 13 April.

Finland's "lionesses" maul Russia in women's world ice hockey opener


Summary: Energy companies are making a valiant effort to end the use of fossil fuels, but have a long road to an emission-free future, writes the daily Helsingin Sanomat.

Helsinki Mayor  Jan Vapaavuori  recently announced  an offer of a million euros  to anyone who can develop a solution to replace coal burning in the heating of Helsinki in the most sustainable way possible, using the least biomass.
 On Monday, Helsingin Sanomat gave its readers  an in-depth look at projects  in the capital region by power companies aimed at eliminating fossil fuels and  cutting emissions .
 Looking at the emission figures for current power production, the paper says that the numbers are big and that the "big boys" are moving to change them. In the Helsinki region, district heating systems are responsible for around 40 percent of the total 4.9 million tonnes of annual carbon dioxide emissions.
 The paper points out that unlike electricity, the energy required for heating has to be generated locally. The electricity used by households, or to operate home heat pumps can be produced far away. Because of the Nordic electricity exchange, it can even be sourced from outside the country.
 Plants for heating have to be located close to consumers to avoid losses. For this reason, power companies operating in the capital region, Fortum, Vantaan Energia and Helen are implementing projects on the local level.
 Looking at the long term, the more creative solutions being pursued by these companies are all similar. They include using waste heat, investments in heat pumps, and exploiting heat drawn from the sea and waste water.
 In Espoo, waste heat is already being drawn from data centres, waste water and hospitals. According to Helsingin Sanomat, the Fortum power company is looking to cooperate with the municipalities of Espoo and Kirkkonummi to establish a new, large data centre in the area that could provide heat for up to 35 percent of Espoo's district heating system.
 One further example of the non-combustion technologies being considered is represented by a deep hole being bored in the bedrock in Espoo's Otaniemi. If the heat from the earth's crust there can be harnessed, it alone could provide for a tenth of Espoo's heating needs, writes Helsingin Sanomat.
 Return of the Estonian "booze rally"?
 The tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reports that Estonia is about to make an about-face in  alcohol taxation policy  that could lure Finns back into what was locally termed the "booze rally" - trips back and forth from Finland to Estonia to buy low-priced alcohol.
 Alcohol tax was one of the big issues in recent parliamentary elections in Estonia. A hefty increase in alcohol taxes in 2017 was intended to boost state revenues. That didn't happen. Instead, retail sales dropped and many Estonians, and Finns who had previously shopped in Estonia, turned to Latvia for cheaper bottles.
 Ilta-Sanomat notes a report by the Estonian public broadcaster ERR which said that if a coalition announced on Friday takes office as planned, alcohol taxes will be cut.
 For readers with a special interest in the subject, Ilta-Sanomat provides a very long listing of the comparative retail prices of alcoholic drinks in Finland, Estonia, and Latvia as of last summer.
 Most popular social media
 Tampere's Aamulehti today carries a review of  a survey of social media use  by over 6,000 Finns between the ages of 13-29.
 The survey found that the single most used social media channel in this age group is the messaging service WhatsApp. The next most popular is YouTube, followed by Instagram and Snapchat.
 Facebook was ranked sixth, with its use in decline. A similar survey in 2013 found 92 percent of 13-29 year-olds in Finland were users. In 2016, that figure had declined to 81 percent. In this latest survey, only 57 percent said they actively use Facebook. Among 24-25 year-olds, however, Facebook ranked in second place after WhatsApp.
 According to this survey, young people in Finland on average spend 15-20 hours a week on social media, with peak times being between 6pm and 9pm.
 Just slightly fewer than a quarter of users in this age group reported that they have been subjected to some degree of  bullying via social media.  That represents an increase of around 10 percent since 2016.
 Advance voting brisk
 The freesheet HS  Metro  reports that as of the close of polling stations Sunday evening, 22 percent of the nation's eligible voters had cast an advance ballot for next weekend's parliamentary elections.
 Sunday was the fifth day of advanced voting. The final day is Tuesday the 9th.
 The most active advance voting has been in Lapland, where 26.6 percent of votes have already been cast.
 In the last parliamentary election in 2015, advance votes accounted for 32.3 percent of all votes.
 The popularity of advance voting is a usually a good indicator of final voter turnout. Turnout in 2015 elections topped 70 percent while in last year's presidential election was 69.9 percent.

Monday's papers: Replacing fossil fuels, Estonian booze comeback, most popular social media


Summary: Higher summer speed limits are set to come into force on Finnish roads this week even as wintry conditions return to much of the country.

Summer speed limits are scheduled to come into force nationwide this week, according to the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. The top permissible speed on highways will go back up to 120km/h and on other main roads to 100km/h.
 On some roads, and under good driving conditions, the higher summer speed limits have been in force since the beginning of March.
 Authorities in Finland review road conditions before rolling out summer speed limits. Lower limits may remain posted on sections of roads where the surface has suffered significant damage during the winter months.
 The Finnish Meteorological Institute reports that  snow, sleet and snow flurries  will make driving conditions hazardous on Monday in central parts of the country, as well as in North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu. Winds are expected to reach storm levels in many areas.
 "From Monday through Wednesday it will be miserable and rainy. Then it will get colder," predicts Yle meteorologist  Matti Huutonen .

Return of summer speed limits--and winter weather


Summary: The woman who made the winning bid said she came to the auction prepared to pay 10,000 euros for the unique mug.

An auction for what some believe to be the world's rarest ceramic Moomin mug was held at Auction Centre Turenki in southern Finland on Sunday.
 Moomin mugs, manufactured by the ceramic design firm Arabia for decades now, feature illustrations of the myriad characters in children's books created by  Tove Jansson .
 Many people collect Moomin mugs casually, usually buying them new for around 20 euros apiece at department stores and gift shops. But others are much more serious collectors and the resale market is brisk.
 The mug that went to the auction block on Sunday was defective. The illustration of the female character  Fillyjonk  was mistakenly printed twice and normally would have ended up in the assembly line's rejects pile.
 Official mug
 However, the mug received the manufacturer's stamp on the bottom despite the defect, qualifying it - among hardcore collectors, at least - as an official and very rare Moomin mug. The starting price for the piece was 4,500 euros.
 The collector who made the winning bid of 6,100 is a woman from the south-western municipality of Masku. After the auction she said she came prepared to pay up to 10,000 euros for the mug.
 She said that she plans to put the mug in a display case, alongside her collection of more than 500 others.
 She added that her new acquisition isn't even the most she's paid for a Moomin mug.
 The highest price a Moomin mug has fetched at auction is believed to be about 8,240 euros for an item that features a Christmas theme, and which was sold in Sweden in 2016.
 UPDATE 9.4.2019:
 On the day after the auction, the purchaser of the rare Moomin-themed mug cancelled the deal and received her money back. She contacted the auction house to say she suspected that the mug's handle had been broken off and glued back on sometime before she bought it.
 An examination by the auction house verified a hairline crack in the handle.
 The auction house agreed that the mug should have been in pristine condition at the time of sale, as advertised. A representative of the auction house was unable to tell Yle if and when the rare collector’s item will be put up for sale again.

Defective ceramic Moomin mug fetches €6,100 at auction


Summary: A growing number of remote communities in Finland are providing low-cost telecommuting facilities aimed at luring new residents.

Heli Siirilä  had long dreamed of living in the countryside. Now she does.
 A project chief living in the west-coast city of Vaasa, Siirilä was drawn to Kaustinen, a rural municipality of 4,000 inhabitants in the Central Ostrobothnia region. Finding free office space there where she could work and telecommute made the decision to move an easy one.
 "At first, the free office space was the clincher. If I would have had to pay for it, without knowing how I'd adjust to telecommuting, the trial would have ended there and then," Siirilä explains.
 Siirilä works as a project chief for the Levón Institute at the University of Vaasa. Her tools of the trade are a laptop and smartphone, email and teleconferencing. She is a prime example of an increasingly common type of professional who can basically work from anywhere.
 In 2017, a Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment working life study found that 34 percent of Finnish employees telecommute, at least occasionally. Five years before, that figure was 21 percent. Telecommuting is most popular in the public sector.
 A new chance for small towns
 Maria Timo-Huhtala  is heading up a project to encourage more telecommuting in the Central Ostrobothnia region. She came up with the idea after noting the number of empty business premises in the small municipality of Veteli. A couple of years ago, Timo-Huhtala renovated one for use by her own business, and had work space left over for more small entrepreneurs.
 "We could become a telecommuting town! The idea can be sold to people who want to return to rural areas with low-cost offices for telecommuting, good communications connections, and peaceful residential surroundings," says Timo-Huhtala.
 She believes that it would also be worthwhile trying to lure people who would want to occasionally telecommute from the area.
 ”It [telecommuting] gives small communities anywhere the opportunity to provide work spaces. Then people can live where they want and work at a distance from urban growth centres," Timo-Huhtala adds.
 Social elements
 Working spaces for telecommuters have become  increasingly common over the past few years . They are usually available either long or short term.
 Timo-Huhtala lists various kinds of experts, IT employees, and freelancers as some of the people who can work just about anywhere. There is also demand from former locals who have moved elsewhere and need a place to work for a day or two while visiting.
 There has been growing demand for work spaces for telecommuters in Central Ostrobothnia. In addition to offices provided by local governments, private businesses have set up rentals in disused commercial properties.
 Story continues after photo.
 High-speed connections have made telecommuting more attractive even in rural areas. AOP
 For people who want a social aspect included in their working day, there are shared spaces, often open-plan offices where they can rent a desk and a chair. In some cases, this has opened new vistas, as well.
 "Meeting people, some company over coffee, new perspectives, but also this has led to the creation of new businesses, finding new business partners," says Timo-Huhtala.
 For Siirilä, this kind of telecommuting also provides a chance to get out of the house.
 "This way I don't get stuck at home. Going somewhere else, I meet other people during my day. And, there are better data connections here."
 Siirilä says that the key factor in her move to the countryside was the quality of life.
 "Basic services are close by – a shop, a library, and a working community. The cultural offerings are great, and that's where I discovered an important community. The peace of the countryside and the opportunities to take up outdoor hobbies are a magnificent plus," says Siirilä.

Telecommuting may keep small towns viable


Oulu city councillor  Junes Lokka  was served with charges of ethnic agitation on Friday. The charges involve two suspected offences, according to the Oulu prosecutor’s office.
 Lokka is accused of uploading a recording of anti-immigrant and Islamophobic speech from a Helsinki demonstration on Facebook and YouTube.
 The city official is also an anti-immigration activist and has a previous conviction for ethnic agitation, for which he was fined.
 Journalist convicted for calling Lokka "racist", "Nazi"
 Also on Friday, an Oulu court convicted and fined journalist  Johanna Vehkoo  for defamation, after she called Lokka a "racist" and "Nazi clown," among other things.
 The court found that Vehkoo’s comments constituted a personal attack on Lokka and that she did not focus her criticism on his politics. It sentenced Vehkoo to pay a 15-day fine in its ruling.
 Vehkoo was also ordered to pay Lokka 200 euros for the suffering he experienced. She was also told to pay the complainant’s legal fees, which amounted to 6,000 euros.
 Vehkoo is a co-founder of the Finnish investigative journalism site, Longplay and also received a freedom of speech award from the Finnish chapter of the international journalists’ organisation PEN in February.
 Vehkoo’s lawyer  Martina Kronström  told Yle that her client was stunned by the outcome and intended to appeal the verdict.
 Vehkoo had previously said that she considered Lokka’s criminal complaint to be a form of harassment against her due to her job as a journalist. Vehkoo is a contributor to Yle’s " Lie detector " ( Valheenpaljastaja ) series, which largely deals with fake news.
 Lokka’s spokesperson  Teemu Lamberg  said that he did not know whether or not Lokka also intended to appeal the sentence.

Oulu city official wins defamation case against journalist, gets slapped with ethnic agitation charges


Summary: Driving conditions are becoming extremely hazardous as up to 10cm of new snow is forecast for parts of central Finland.

Most of Finland on Monday was experiencing a return of wintry weather with high winds, rain, sleet and snow.
 Southern areas, where temperatures continue to be well above freezing, will get off easier. Daytime rain and sleet in the south are, however, expected to turn to light snow overnight.
 In central regions, snow accumulation could reach as much as 10cm by Tuesday morning, according to Yle Meteorologist  Anniina Valtonen .
 Tuesday night may well bring a further 5cm of snow to central Finland. At the same time, storms are in the forecast over western sea areas.
 Power companies have made preparations to deal with heavy snowfall, though it is unlikely that this week's weather will lead to major outages.
 This past weekend, daytime temperatures were over 10C in large parts of the country, but have now dropped to just a few degrees above freezing in most areas.
 Even though there have been major temperature variations seen, this is not unusual for the time of year, according to Valtonen.
 "This is normally a part of the arrival of spring," she says.
 Meanwhile the Finnish Meteorological Institute advises motorists not to switch to summer tyres just yet.

Winter encore makes for hazardous driving


Summary: A snowy winter has offered ideal breeding conditions for the endangered ringed seals of eastern Finland.

Researchers tracking the endangered Saimaa seal population of the Finnish lake district say that conditions are good for the  current breeding season  – but not for those trying to estimate the number of pups born this spring.
 Ice on the sprawling Saimaa lake system – the only place where the seal subspecies is found – will soon be too thin for researchers and volunteers to carry out a full lair count on skis or snowmobiles.
 As a result, this year's tally will be less accurate than usual.
 "This week we'll still be able to move across the ice," says  Tero Sipilä , a senior advisor at Parks & Wildlife Finland, part of the state forest agency Metsähallitus. Later on, he says, census-takers will have to use hovercrafts and other vessels specially designed to operate on partially-frozen lakes.
 There is still plenty of snow on Lake Saimaa, so only about half of the seal lairs have collapsed.
 On track for record number of pups
 "From the standpoint of breeding, this winter has been excellent. The seals have been able to make their lairs in snowbanks and the lairs have been durable," says Sipilä. In milder recent winters with little snow, volunteers have helped the seals by making snowbanks so they could make their dens.
 Sipilä estimates that at least 80 young have been born this spring.
 "Hopefully the number is closer to 90," he adds. Officials hope to have the census completed by the end of April.
 Last year 86 cubs were born, the highest number since lair counts began.
 Fishing nets still a hazard
 The pups, who are usually born in February and March, weigh 4-5 kilos at birth. By the time they venture out of their lairs, they weigh over 10 kg after nursing on their mother's rich milk.
 According to Parks & Wildlife Finland, the Saimaa ringed seal is one of the world's most endangered and rarest subspecies, with an estimated population of  just under 400 . Thanks to conservation efforts, the population is slowly recovering after falling to just 100-150 in the early 1980s. However, despite stricter regulations, several seals still die each year in fishing nets.
 Finland’s only endemic mammal, the subspecies was cut off from other seals when the land rose following the last Ice Age, over nine millennia ago.

Thin ice hampers survey of rare Saimaa seal dens


Summary: The chamber called for a raft of reforms including easing collective bargaining and redundancy protection agreements and revamping the benefits system.

Elinkeinoelämän järjestöt, työnantaja- ja ammattialajärjestöt

In a newly-published forecast, the Finland Chamber of Commerce said the country should implement further labour market reforms and other measures to safeguard the economy from the risks a new recession could pose.
 In its outlook the Chamber offered several proposals to improve the labour market and help to cut unemployment, particularly among younger people, as well as for the long-term jobless and immigrants.
 The lobby group's chief economist,  Mauri Kotamäki , said Finland needs more reforms of collective bargaining and redundancy protection agreements as well as an overhaul of the social welfare system.
 Mauri Kotamäki Roni Rekomaa
 "Now dark clouds have appeared on the horizon. There are many worrying concerns in the global economy and overall economic forecasts have been downgraded," Kotamäki said.
 Kotamäki noted the proposed measures are not easy or pleasant, but rather politically weighty ones.
 He said Finland needs to consider making changes to "local agreements, reforms to collective agreements redundancy protection measures, a reduction in tax gaps and a renewal of the social welfare system."
 Germany, Denmark as role models
 Kotamäki called for a more pro-active employment policy, as well. He noted that he would like to see the country's labour market develop along the lines of Germany or Denmark, whose governments have been actively tackling unemployment problems for years.
 The outgoing administration of Prime Minister  Juha Sipilä  implemented several reform measures to boost employment over the past four years.
 They included a so-called " competitiveness pact " which rolled back certain worker benefits such as vacation pay and lengthened the working year and covered an estimated 87 percent of workers in Finland.
 Government also implemented  a highly-controversial activation mode l aimed at getting unemployed jobseekers off the unemployment record and into work, training or entrepreneurship. At the end of last year, statistics showed that government had indeed  reached its 72 percent employment target .
 Unemployment still relatively high
 But even so, Kotamäki said the employment rate is not what it should be, adding that labour market organisations haven't fulfilled their promises.
 "If Finland was hit with a new recession, we'd be in trouble. There's not much wiggle room in the public finances and many structural reforms have not been carried out," he remarked.
 However, some positive economic progress has been achieved in recent years, which in turn has helped to reduce unemployment. But in its forecast, the Chamber said that Finland's jobless rate is still high compared to international levels.
 "The average unemployment rate over the past three decades has far exceeded nine percent, in other words unbelievably high in international comparisons. This statistical fact shows that the domestic job market is not working properly," Kotamäki said.
 He said Finland's recent economic development has been favourable but that it was largely due to global improvements.
 Last week the finance ministry upgraded its GDP growth forecast to 1.7 percent this year, saying economic activity would be driven by domestic demand. But the ministry's  outlook  was not as bright further down the line; the projection is for annual growth of less than 1.5 percent next year. In three or four years, the ministry said it expected that economic growth would drop below one percent per year.

Finland needs more labour market reforms, says chamber of commerce


Summary: Last year, Finland's biggest energy firm, Fortum, became the largest owner of a heavily-polluting German company.

Finland's biggest energy company, the majority-state-owned Fortum, is one of the EU's worst emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, asserts a report backed by major European environmental groups.
 The finding is mostly based on Fortum's ownership of the  coal-heavy German energy company Uniper . Fortum is Uniper's largest owner. As of last year, it the holds a 49.99-percent stake in Uniper, and has expressed an interest in buying the remainder of the firm's shares.
 A study by Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe claims that due to its stake in Uniper, Fortum is involved in energy production that is linked to hundreds of premature deaths annually in Europe and sets back efforts to slow climate change. The study is part of Europe Beyond Coal, an initiative backed by various NGOs including CAN, Greenpeace, the WWF, Friends of the Earth and the European Environmental Bureau.
 Uniper has more than 11 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired assets in Europe and Russia. Within the EU, it owns hard coal plants in Germany, the UK, France and the Netherlands, as well as a higher-polluting lignite (brown coal) plant in Germany.
 The study adds Uniper's emissions to Fortum's proportionally, based on the Finnish firm's ownership stake. The data is from EU registries from 2016 and 2017. Since then the companies have sold off or converted some facilities.
 For instance in 2017 Fortum closed its idle Inkoo coal plant and last year converted two old coal plants in Poland into the new Zabrze combined heat and power (CHP) plant, which burns coal and waste, and could also run on biomass.
 Fortum: Uniper an independent company
 Fortum, which describes itself as "a leading clean-energy company," says that "the focus on reducing CO2 emissions has been in Fortum’s DNA for decades" and that its "carbon exposure is already one of the lowest within the European power generation industry."
 Fortum says that 96 percent of its power generation in the EU is "CO2-free". This does not however include its heat production (which relies partly on coal), its operations in Russia, India and Norway, or its share of Uniper's energy production. Roughly one third of that is generated with coal with a quarter of that from high-emission brown coal.
 Fortum says it does not include Uniper's emissions in its own figures since it is an independent company.
 "We do not hold a controlling stake over this company. Therefore we do not combine their financial and production figures [with ours],"  Pauliina Vuosio , Fortum's VP, Executive Communications, told Yle.
 German, Czech firms the biggest polluters
 According to CAN Europe research, the 10 European electricity producers that emitted the most GHG emissions in 2017 were heavily coal-driven.
 The report blames the top 10 companies for two-thirds of the health damage caused by coal power plants. That includes an estimated 7,600 premature deaths annually, based on World Health Organization health impact assessments for air pollution.
 Together the firms churned out nearly 10 times as much GHG as Finland's entire economy annually. The combined Fortum/Uniper entity comes in tenth on the list, producing nearly half as much as all of Finland each year.
 The highest-polluting company, Germany's RWE Group, pumped 136 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere that year, followed by the Czech Republic's EPH Group at 77 bn. The rest of the list includes Italian, Polish, French and Greek companies, as well as another Czech firm, followed by Sweden's Vattenfall at 27 bn and Fortum/Uniper at 23 bn.
 Four of the 10 highest-polluting electricity producers have their main coal plants in Germany, including RWE and Uniper. Vattenfall also owns coal-fired power plants in Germany.
 Comparing the CO2 output of all firms subject to EU emissions trading, Fortum/Uniper is 12th on the list, as the top 10 electricity producers are then joined by a French steel company and an Italian oil and gas firm.
 Coal drove emissions rise in 2018
 According to Beyond Coal, 103 companies operate coal power plants in the EU. It calculates that 26 plants have closed since early 2016, with 32 more scheduled to retire and 263 still operating – as well as 60 planned new projects.
 The International Energy Agency, meanwhile, says burning coal is the largest source of global temperature increase. It estimates that CO2 from coal has been responsible for nearly a third of the 1°C increase in global average annual surface temperatures above pre-industrial levels.
 Coal plants were the biggest contributor to the growth in global emissions last year, says the IEA, rising nearly three percent from 2017 levels and exceeding 10 gigatons for the first time.

Fortum/Uniper among Europe's worst polluters, say NGOs


Summary: It's estimated half a million people in Finland suffer from tinnitus, an imagined, constant cacophony that sufferers "hear," even in total silence.

A recent patient trial and research carried out at south-west Finland's Turku University Hospital may provide a glimpse of hope for sufferers of tinnitus.
 Last month ear, nose and throat specialist  Hanna Sahlsten  published a doctoral thesis about a small-scale trial carried out at the hospital which aimed to see whether transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technology could be used to treat tinnitus symptoms. The trial's results were promising, according to Sahlsten.
 "The treatment works best for people with severe tinnitus, and can make their lives much better," she said.
 There is no known cure for tinnitus - often caused by noise-induced hearing loss, damage from ear infections and heart disease. Tinnitus isn't a disease in itself, but rather a symptom. Until recently, little progress has been made in curbing its ill effects.
 It's estimated about 10-15 percent of the world's population has tinnitus to varying degrees. In its most severe form, sufferers can face with sleeping difficulties and psychological problems.
 Promising trial
 TMS is a painless, non-invasive form of brain stimulation that uses pinpointed magnetic fields to create electrical currents.
 When used to combat tinnitus, the TMS is targeted to the part of the brain in an effort to make it stop "hearing" the sounds created by damaged hearing nerves.
 The 13 patients who underwent TMS therapy in the trial showed positive results. Ten of the patients said their symptoms decreased by an average of 39-45 percent.
 Sahlsten said that more research is needed before any conclusions can be drawn, but said it is already clear that many patients were greatly helped by the therapy.
 TMS has also been used for the treatment of depression in patients who are unresponsive to anti-depressant medication and to treat neuropathic pain, according to Professor  Satu Jääskeläinen  from Turku University's clinical neurophysiology department.
 In her doctoral summary, Sahlsten noted there's a chance that the depressive symptoms that tinnitus sufferers often also have may be alleviated by the TMS therapy as well.

Finnish research looks to magnetic stimulation tech in fight against tinnitus


Summary: A new Helsingin Sanomat election poll shows a narrowing lead for the Social Democratic Party, growing support for populist Finns Party.

According to  the HS poll  published by Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday morning, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) continues to lead in popularity among voters, followed by the conservative National Coalition Party and the Finns Party.
 Based on this poll, it is possible that for the first time in history, no one single party will win more than 20 percent of the vote, says the paper.
 Now standing at 19.5 percent, support for the SDP declined 1.5 percentage points since the last HS poll carried out in late March. Backing for the National Coalition Party also fell slightly (0.6 percentage points) to 17.5 percent.
 The most significant change seen is the climb by the populist Finns Party from fifth place to third, supported by 15 percent of the voters polled.
 Backing for the Greens has gone down from 14 to 12 percent and the Left Alliance edged up from 8.9 to 9.6 percent. There were no major shifts in backing for other parties.
 Sakari Nurmela , head of research for the pollster Kantar TNS, told the paper that there are still a lot of factors that could impact the final outcome in the elections.
 One that he noted is whether or not the parties can actually translate support into votes. He said that this close to the election one in three voters is possibly ready to switch parties.
 In addition, for example, one fifth of backing for the Finns Party right now is from people who did not vote in the last municipal elections at all.
 Tuesday is the final day of advanced voting in the parliamentary election. According to Helsingin Sanomat, as of Monday evening 28.3 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots.
 Election day is this coming Sunday, April 14.
 Niinistö in St Petersburg
 Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö  is in St Petersburg, Russia for a two-day International Arctic Forum, and is  scheduled to meet with his Russian counterpart   Vladimir Putin  on Tuesday.
 Commenting on prospects for the forum,  Mika Aaltola  of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told the newspaper  Iltalehti  that environmental and military security are major concerns and the expansion of those concerns into the Arctic region is clearly not in Finland's interest.
 According to Iltalehti, it is of major importance to Finland who attends this week’s forum in St Petersburg. Among those expected are the president of Iceland, the prime ministers of Norway and Sweden, and Denmark's foreign minister.
 Aaltola explained that while during its presidency of the Arctic Council Finland has stressed dialogue over power politics, great power interests in the Arctic region have come to the fore.
 Even so, Finland's promotion of dialogue has borne some fruit. As an example the paper notes that on Tuesday the top political leadership of Norway and Sweden will meet with Russian leaders for the first time in years.
 Fresh snow, slippery roads
 The tabloid  Ilta-Sanomat cautions drivers  in central parts of the country over hazardous driving conditions and those in eastern areas of the possibility of extremely hazardous conditions.
 Most of the country will continue to see rain, sleet or snow through Wednesday.
 Areas where warnings to motorists are in effect up until 6 PM on Tuesday include Central Finland, South Savo, North Savo and North Karelia.
 The paper reports that according to forecasts, some parts of the central region may get an accumulation of 15-30cm of fresh snow.
 Moomin mug sale cancelled
 Turku's  Turun Sanomat  reports that the woman who  bought a rare Moomin-themed mug  at auction for 6,100 euros last weekend has cancelled the deal and taken her money back.
 The auction for what some believe to be the world's rarest ceramic Moomin mug was held at Auction Centre Turenki in southern Finland on Sunday, arousing widespread media interest.
 Initially, the woman who made the winning bid was pleased with her purchase and said she planned to put the mug in a display case, alongside her collection of more than 500 others.
 On Monday, however, she contacted the auction house to say she suspected that the mug's handle had been broken off and glued back on sometime before she bought it. An examination by the auction house verified a hairline crack in the base of the handle.
 Although the fracture is barely visible without a magnifying glass, the auction house agreed that for the kind of money that was paid for it, it should have been in pristine condition at the time of sale, as advertised.
 The buyer's money has been returned. A representative of the auction house was unable to tell Turun Sanomat if and when the rare collector’s item will be put up for sale again.

Tuesday's papers: Fresh poll, fresh snow, Moomin mug sale cancelled


Summary: The deal, which transfers 54 percent of DNA's shares to Telenor Group, is worth 1.5 billion euros.

Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor has announced that it is buying 54 percent of Finnish telecoms company DNA.
 The deal is worth some 1.5 billion euros, but the transaction still needs final approval from the firms' boards as well as regulatory approval.
 Telenor said it made separate agreements with DNA's two largest shareholders, Finda Telecoms and PHP Holding, which hold 28.3 percent and 25.8 percent of the shares in the company, respectively.
 The Helsinki-based DNA provides mobile and fixed telecom service and is the third largest operator in Finland with 2.9 million subscribers and a 28 percent market share, according to a Telenor press release.
 DNA is also Finland's largest cable TV and fixed broadband provider, and reported 912 million euros in revenue last year. Telenor said that it aims to expand and strengthen DNA's market position.
 "Telenor sees solid potential for DNA to continue to grow and develop, from continuing to offer more advanced products and upselling existing customers, strengthening its position in the business segment, and leveraging on Telenor's global scale and strong position in the Nordic region," the firm stated in the release.
 Telenor said it expects the deal to be completed during Q3 of this year.

€1.5bn: Norway’s Telenor takes controlling interest in Finland's DNA


Summary: Finland's President Sauli Niinistö is in St Petersburg, Russia attending an Arctic Forum where he will meet with Russian President Vladmir Putin on Tuesday.

The gathering on Tuesday and Wednesday in St Petersburg is the fifth Russian state-backed international forum of its kind being held with aim of promoting cooperation and sustainable development in the Arctic Region. The theme of this year’s Forum is "The Arctic: An Ocean of Opportunities".
 Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö  was expected to deliver a speech at the plenary session and to hold bilateral talks with President  Vladimir Putin  in connection with the forum on Tuesday.
 Other participants in the gathering in St Petersburg are the president of Iceland and the prime ministers of Norway and Sweden.
 Finland currently holds the chairmanship of the Arctic Council, which is an inter-governmental organisation for cooperation and coordination among the Arctic States, Arctic indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants.
 Concerned about new Cold War
 In a meeting with the press while travelling to Russia on Monday, Niinistö said that he expected to discuss bilateral relations, as he normally does, with his Russian counterpart.
 "Of course  I'll ask about Ukraine . Also the Kerch Strait incident, and above all what is happening to the prisoners, the Ukrainian sailors, that is," said Niinistö.
 Story continues after photo.
  Russian Federation Vladimir Putin (right) and President of Finland Sauli Niinistö at a press conference during their meeting in Sochi, Russia on Wednesday, 22nd August, 2018. Markku Ulander / Lehtikuva
 In November, Russian forces fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels that were passing through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov, detaining 24 Ukrainian sailors.
 Niinistö went on to say that he is concerned that the international order may disintegrate, causing a return to a situation like that of the Cold War.
 "That is the way we are headed. I am a little concerned that we last lived through a Cold War in the 1960s. The Cold War came to a complete end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now we are moving in the direction of even the old agreements being scrapped."
 Tuesday's discussions are also expected to touch upon Russia's involvement in the Council of Europe and whether it may withdraw from the organisation.
 Finland is currently chairing the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers. Russia, which is one of the council's biggest financial supporters, has withheld membership payments after its voting rights were suspended over the conflict in Ukraine.
 "It is now a question of whether or not Russia can do something so that it can resume participation in the work there [in the Council of Europe]," Niinistö told the media. "If Russia withdraws from that, too, its dialogue with Europe will approach zero."
 Updated 9.4.2019 at 12:246to include further background on the International Arctic Forum.

Niinistö and Putin meet in Russia


Summary: Police said on Tuesday that it was investigating campaign material used by the Finnish Nation First political party over suspicions of ethnic agitation.

Helsinki police announced Tuesday that it had launched an investigation into election advertising used by the nationalist political party Finnish Nation First (Suomen Kansa Ensin) in downtown Helsinki.
 The suspicions centre on political adverts posted at the busy Narinkkatori plaza in front of the Kamppi shopping centre in the heart of the city. According to police, a campaign event hosted by the party displayed ads bearing text that police believe bear the hallmarks of a criminal offence.
 Investigators described the campaign material as hateful and targeting immigrants and sexual minorities in a discriminatory fashion. Police said they are considering the potential offence of ethnic agitation.
 The investigation was said to be focusing on two of the party’s election candidates, one of whom is party chair  Marco de Wit .
 Police: Difference between campaign material and online posts
 Lead investigator detective chief inspector  Pekka Hätönen  said that police are reviewing the material to determine whether or not it complies with the freedom of speech guaranteed during an election. However he said he suspects that it may have crossed the line.
 Hätönen said that it is difficult to determine at this stage what kind of penalty would result if a prosecutor deemed that a crime had been committed. Similar offences committed online typically mean a 20-to-50-day fine, but in some cases, offenders have received suspended prison sentences, he noted.
 "However this occurred in a public place during a campaign event, so the situation is a little different from online," he remarked.
 The party has its roots in the "Finland first" (Suomi ensin)  grassroots movement that set up an anti-immigration protest camp  in the city centre in 2017. It advocates measures such as political independence by way of a "Fixit" or departure from the European Union, economic independence by reverting to the Finnish mark instead of the euro and closing the border to illegal immigration.
 Police eventually shut down the group's protest camp,  citing security concerns .

Police probe suspected ethnic agitation in nationalist party campaign


Summary: Fresh snow accumulation of up to 20cm in some areas has made roads hazardous.

On Monday morning the Finnish Meteorological Institute reported a dusting of snow cover at its Tikkakoski weather station in Jyväskylä. By the next morning however, the reading was 18cm of snow cover at the same location.
 Story continues after photo.
 An indication of how much new snow Jyväskylä received in less than 24 hours. Outi Parikka / Yle
 The heaviest snowfall was early Monday evening, over 4mm of precipitation an hour. A general meteorology rule of thumb is that one millimetre of measured precipitation equals one centimetre of snow.
 Road conditions in the region are expected to remain hazardous until at least early evening on Tuesday. One person died Tuesday morning in a collision between a car and a delivery lorry in Jyväskylä.
 An air dome at Jyväskylä's Vehkalampi sports venue was taken down when the weight of snow began to raise safety concerns.
 "This is the first time we've had to do this. These conditions are impossible. Of course we're not open," commented Jarmo Korhonen who supervises the facility for the city of Jyväskylä.
 Story continues after photo.
 Collapsed air dome in Jyväskylä. Petri Aaltonen / Yle
 There have been rolling power outages caused by wet snow downing trees and power lines. Starting in the southwest of the country and moving eastwards, at their peak Tuesday morning, the power cuts left around 8,000 households without electricity.
 According to the current forecast, lighter snowfall is expected to continue in central regions. Road clearing crews and equipment are out in full force.
 Story continues after photo.
 Tenho Tornberg / Yle
 In the Pirkanmaa region, heavy vehicles met with problems, getting stuck in snow and slush at crossroads and on ramps, especially on highway 3 north of Tampere.
 Around 20cm of new snowfall was recorded in the region overnight causing power outages, with the municipalities of Ylöjärvi, Ikaalinen ja Ruovesi most affected.

Snowfall causing problems for motorists in central Finland


Summary: The 60-year-old "Queen of Pop" will be paid more than one million euros to perform two songs next month.

American pop star  Madonna  has signed a 1.3 million-euro deal to perform two songs at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) finals next month, according to the Times of Israel.
 The ESC is being held in Tel Aviv, Israel from May 14-18, and the 60-year-old Madonna will perform two songs - including a familiar hit and a track from a forthcoming album - during a 15-minute set.
 The multi-day event is being held in Israel after the country won the contest last year. The event's location prompted calls from pro-Palestinian activists to boycott the show, according to Reuters news service.
 At the beginning of this year 50 British celebrities wrote an open letter to UK public broadcaster the BBC calling for the ESC to be relocated.
 Darude from Finland
 Finland's entry in this year's Eurovision is  Darude , who's best known for his trance instrumental hit " Sandstorm " released 20 years ago.
 The 43-year-old electronic music producer, whose real name is  Ville Virtanen , will perform the track " Look Away"  with vocalist  Sebastian Rejman .
 Story continues after photo.
 Darude performs alongside vocalist Sebastian Rejman. Miikka Varila / Yle
 According to entertainment news outlet Variety, the ESC will be viewed by around 200 million viewers around the world.

Madonna gets €1.3m to perform at Eurovision in Israel


Summary: Nearly 80 drivers fined for illegally operating taxis are claiming that Finland's new taxi laws mean that their actions are no longer unlawful.

The Helsinki Appeal Court ruled on Tuesday that it will not grant 77 Uber drivers permission to appeal verdicts handed down by a lower court, which found them  guilty of illegally operating taxis .
 The drivers had been previously slapped with day fines for plying taxis for hire without the required taxi licenses. A district court had also ordered them to hand over the proceeds of the then-illegal activity to the state.
 The drivers then applied to the higher court for permission to appeal their convictions and sentencing and also called on the appellate court to exercise moderation in terms of the earnings they would have to hand over to the state. Some complainants also called for their convictions to be overturned.
 Before Tuesday's decision, the Helsinki Appeal Court had had in its docket appeals from 109 Uber drivers. They all came before the court last year, with several of them filed after  taxi laws were liberalised  last June.
 Dozens of Uber driver cases in court
 In arriving at its decision, the appeal court cited a precedent ruling handed down by the Supreme Court in 2017.
 At the time the highest court ruled in a case involving an Uber driver who had been operating without a taxi license, sentencing the driver to a fine and also ordering him to hand over his commercial proceeds to the state.
 Since then, the Supreme Court ruling has served as a legal precedent for similar cases.
 Last December,  the Supreme Court rejected applications filed by five Uber drivers  in the capital area for leave to appeal sentencing. In Tuesday's ruling, the appeal court said that the case dealt with the same issues that it had been considering with respect to the 77 Uber drivers.
 In December, the Uber drivers had called on the Supreme Court to overturn the fines imposed on them, arguing that a district court had sentenced them for illegal taxi operations after new taxi laws had already entered into force. However the illegal taxi activity had occurred before the new laws had taken effect.
 The drivers sought permission from the Supreme Court to contest the district court's decision by way of a so-called preliminary ruling appeal.

Court denies 77 Uber drivers leave to appeal convictions for illegal taxi ops


Summary: President Sauli Niinistö and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Russia-backed Arctic Forum in St Petersburg.

Speaking during a press briefing following  bilateral discussions  with Russian President  Vladimir Putin , Finnish President  Sauli Niinistö  said that the pair had discussed the  regime of sanctions  imposed against Russia following its annexation of Crimea nearly five years ago.
 "The Russians understand that the sanctions will remain as long as the reasons for them do not go way," Niinistö said Tuesday evening.
 Niinistö said that he and his Russian counterpart also touched on the issue of  Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe . Putin had in the past told Niinistö that Russia was willing to retain membership of the body, but only on condition that it would acquire full membership rights.
 Russia suspended payment of membership fees after the Council’s Parliamentary Assembly (Pace) imposed sanctions against it for military aggression in Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea annexation in 2014. Finland’s chairmanship of the Council began in November last year and will end in May.
 Geopolitics over dinner
 Niinistö also said that the issue of GPS signal-jamming had come up during the bilateral talks. He was referring to claims by Norwegian authorities late last year that Russia was believed to have  orchestrated GPS signal disruptions  during Nato exercises taking place last year. The disturbances also affected northern parts of Finland. However the Finnish head of state declined to expand on the nature of those discussions.
 Niinistö told reporters that although his discussions with Putin lasted the better part of an hour, they did not get a chance to discuss international geopolitical issues. He said that he would have liked to raise matters such as Venezuela and the current global arms situation. The president said he would likely have a chance to discuss them later on Tuesday during a dinner engagement with Putin.
 Niinistö did say that it was important for Arctic issues to take centre stage at this time. He noted that cooperation would strengthen efforts to mitigate climate change.
 The Finnish president said that there were no differences between Finland and other Nordic states in their approach to Russia. He remarked that the leaders of Finland and Russia meet often but that the Russian president also meets with leaders of other countries.
 Niinistö noted that Nordic heads were visiting Russia of their own volition and said that the presence of the Norwegian and Swedish prime ministers was significant. The president of Iceland joined Niinistö, Putin and the prime ministers of Norway and Sweden at the two-day Arctic Forum in St Petersburg.
 Russia planning more commercial activity in Arctic
 Speaking briefly to reporters ahead of the meeting with Niinistö, Putin said his country plans to build new harbours in the Arctic region.
 He added that Russia wants to expand its fleet of icebreakers to 13 vessels. According to AP news agency, Putin said that Russia plans to significantly increase haulage across the Arctic area.
 Putin also commented on bilateral relations with Finland, saying that ties between the two countries are developing well.
 During a panel discussion later in the forum, the two heads of state commented on warming in the Arctic region.
 Niinistö said that the Arctic region is warming twice as rapidly as the rest of the world. Putin later corrected Niinistö and said that according to Russia’s understanding, warming in the region is four times as fast as the rest of the globe.
 Meanwhile during her address, Norwegian premier  Erna Solberg  called for respect for international law in the Arctic area.
 "Respect for international law and regional cooperation are key to preserving peace and stability across borders," Solberg commented, according to AP.

Sanctions, GPS jamming on agenda during bilateral talks between Finnish, Russian presidents


Summary: Lapland police also that there was no indication that the fire had been caused by negligence.

Police in Lapland said on Sunday they do not suspect any foul play in the case of  three minors who perished in a log cabin fire  early Friday morning in Levi, Finnish Lapland. Lapland police also said that there was so far no indication that the fire had been caused by negligence.
 The deceased all occupied the top floor of the two-storey structure. However, one other occupant of the cabin who slept on the ground floor was able to escape the blaze.
 The survivor was reportedly the elder sibling of the three younger children who perished in the fire, and almost an adult. An adult who had been part of the holiday group was not in the cabin at the time of the fire.
 The youngsters were said to be students from Pyhtää, a small municipality in southeast Finland. One other minor who had been sleeping on the ground floor of the two-storey log cabin escaped the blaze.
 They were students of Huutjärvi School, which said that crisis counselling will be available on Monday for other school children in need. Members of the local parish and youth workers will also be on hand to assist.
 "The youngsters’ relatives have given permission for the flag to be flown as half-mast," said Pyhtää mayor  Jouni Eho .
 On Tuesday a memorial service in remembrance of the victims will be held at the Pyhtää church from 6.00pm.
 "This kind of tragedy touches the entire community of Pyhtää. My heart goes out to the children who were lost and [I offer] my condolences to their loved ones," he added.

Police: No foul play suspected in Levi fire that claimed lives of three siblings


Summary: It’s polling day in one of Finland’s most closely-watched parliamentary elections in recent times. The polls opened at 9am on Sunday and will close at 8pm.

9am:  Polls open. If you have yet to decide on a candidate, Yle has an  election compass  in English. If you’re heading to the polls on Sunday, be sure to check out our  handy guide  to casting your ballot in the election. The Ministry of Justice which oversees elections in Finland, will begin  releasing preliminary results  from 8pm on Sunday night.
 Advance voting in Finland took place between 3 and 9 April. According to the Justice Ministry more than 1.5 million people or 36 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots during the early voting period.
 Finland parliamentary election is attracting worldwide attention with media organisations such as the New York Times, Politico and Bloomberg covering the vote.

Finland Votes: Live updates


Summary: Morning papers have news of delayed publication of a report criticising the Sipilä government’s handling of health and social care reforms.

The tabloid Ilta-Sanomat  carries a summary of a feature  by its sister publication, Helsingin Sanomat, saying that the government has held back a report on the reasons for the failure of the  "sote"  social and health care reform package that led to  the Sipilä cabinet's resignation .
 A draft of the report accessed by HS was commissioned by the prime minister's office and drawn up by a group of consultants and Emeritus Professor of Legislative Studies Jyrki Tala. It largely attributes the failure to complete the reform on political wrangling and an overly-optimistic deadline for implementation.
 The main reason cited was a deal made between the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Under that compromise, the Centre got through its plan to shift responsibility for services to 18 elected regional authorities, while the National Coalition Party pushed through its concept of allowing freedom of choice in selecting public or private service providers.
 Publication of the report has been delayed until after this coming weekend's parliamentary elections. According to Päivi Nerg, who coordinated the government's reform project, publication was put off because of a lack of time to carry out a thorough review of the report.
 Advance voting ends
 Advance voting in Finland's parliamentary elections ended Tuesday evening. Many papers, including  Iltalehti  reported that a good 1.5 million Finns cast advance votes.
 That works out as 36 percent of eligible voters. It was even higher in several parts of the country. In the capital, Helsinki, advance voter turnout was 34.8 percent.
 Nationwide, in the 2015 parliamentary elections, the figure stood at 32.3 percent.
 The highest turnout was on Monday and Tuesday. Iltalehti reports that there were such long queues at some polling stations that many people turned away without casting their votes.
 Elections for parliament are being held this coming Sunday, April 14.
 National interest
 Election campaigns are lacking in debate about international policies, according to  an expert interview  in Turku's Turun Sanomat.
 Mika Aaltola, the director of the global security research programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told the paper that present and future geopolitical issues affecting Finland are not being discussed by candidates.
 By this, he does not necessarily mean international armed conflicts, but rather the battle among great powers for control in the global economy of such things as energy, finance and communications.
 Aaltola called on Finland's decision-makers to wake up to the fact that they should be promoting national interests.
 "The world is not full of pleasant things. Democracy is being challenged. We have special interests. These should be brought into focus with an eye to asserting them," says Aaltola.
 He presented the view that part of promoting those interests for Finland is having as much room for maneuvering as possible. According to Aaltola, in this respect Finland has done well, possible better than at any time in its history. He gave credit to  President Sauli Niinistö  for his work in making it so.
 Aaltola added that in practice this "room for maneuvering" means that Finland maintains the best possible relations with Russia while at the same time keeping open  the option of joining Nato . Economically, it is in Finland's interest to keep trade as free and stable as possible.
 Norwegian buying spree
 Helsingin Sanomat  looks at an announcement Tuesday by the Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor that it  is buying 54 percent of Finnish telecoms company DNA .
 "And again one piece of Finnish business gets transferred to the Norwegians," HS writes.
 The paper points to an old russophobic saying that loosely translates as "A cossack will take anything not nailed down", and gives it a new twist applied to Norwegian companies, saying that "A Viking will take anything not nailed down".
 Following a listing of some other major corporate purchases by Norwegian firms in Finland, the paper continues, "Finns also spend nights in Norwegian-owned hotels, enrich their fields with Norwegian fertilizer, take their children to Norwegian-owned daycare centres, protect themselves with Norwegian security services, and pull on Norwegian underpants and tights".
 As critical as that may sound, HS goes on to note that about a fifth of the volume of business in Finland is generated by foreign firms. By international standards, this is not a particularly high percentage.
 "And so, Finland has not been drained by foreign investors," it states.
 In fact, writes Helsingin Sanomat, Finnish companies are more active abroad than are foreign companies in Finland. Figures show that Finnish companies invest more abroad than foreign companies invest here.

Wednesday's papers: Hushing govt failure, election issues, Norwegian raiders


Summary: The 200 members of Finland's parliament elected in 2015 gather for their final session on Wednesday.

Ceremonies marking the final session of the outgoing parliament begin with a traditional church service at Helsinki's Lutheran Cathedral.
 MPs will gather in session in the early afternoon to hear an address by Speaker of Parliament Paula Risikko, followed by a formal declaration of the dismissal of the current legislature by President Sauli Niinistö.
 The event is being broadcast live on Parliament's  webpages  and on Yle TV1 starting at 1:30 PM.
 Voting to elect a new parliament takes place this coming Sunday, April 14.

Parliament meets for final session


Summary: Finland's Labour Institute for Economic Research has trimmed its 2019 growth forecast for the nation's economy.

The Labour Institute for Economic Research (PT) is now forecasting 1.4 percent growth in the Finnish economy this year, down from an estimate of 2.3 percent published last autumn.
 PT attributes the slowdown in economic expansion largely to uncertainty in the global economy.
 In its evaluation, the Institute notes the growing possibility of an out-of-control Brexit and the shadow cast over international economic prospects by U.S. trade policy.
 If the worst case scenario does not play out, PT researchers expect exports and private consumption to pick up and boost growth just slightly, to 1.5 percent, in 2020.

Researchers: Uncertainty curbing economic growth


Summary: A seat that went to the Social Democrats in western Finland's Satakunta district could go to the Centre following a recount.

Election officials began a vote recount in the electoral district of Satakunta in western Finland on Monday, following  Sunday's general election . The review, which was due to take place at a local police station, means that an official result for the parliamentary seat may not be available until Tuesday. The results of Sunday's election is scheduled to be confirmed by the Justice Ministry on Wednesday.
 Antti Rinne ’s SDP won three seats in the Satakunta district by razor thin margins. If just additional 100 votes are awarded to  Juha Sipilä ’s Centre Party in the recount, it could win an additional in the district and the SDP’s elected MPs in the region would fall to two.
 Losing one seat would mean that the Finns Party and the SDP would draw level with 39 seats each overall, although the centre-left party garnered a slightly larger share of the vote than the populists. The Centre meanwhile, would see its parliamentary seat count rise to 32. That outcome could upend the calculus  with regard to government formation talks .
 Lapland district also closely contested
 Chair of the electoral district,  Vappu Laukkanen  said that it is very rare for recounts to yield any major surprises. She noted that they generally involve a few votes that have either been miscounted due to negligence, or assigned to the wrong candidate.
 Justice Ministry election director,  Arto Jääskeläinen , said that it is extremely uncommon for seats to be re-assigned from one party to another following a recount. However he noted that it is more likely for the votes counted in favour of different candidates from the same party to change.
 In addition to Satakunta, the situation in the Lapland electoral district is also close. In that case the Greens would need fewer than ten additional votes to sweep one seat from the Centre Party. Based on Sunday night’s results, the Centre Party won three seats in Lapland, followed by the Finns Party, the National Coalition Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Left Alliance, all with one seat each.
 Sunday's election saw government parties with the exception of the National Coalition Party  suffer heavy losses , while opposition parties gained additional seats or hold their ground in the parliament..

Vote recount in Finland could see populist Finns Party draw level with SDP


Summary: Finland's official election results service was the target of a denial-of-service attack over the weekend.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) says that the weekend cyber attack targeted a Justice Ministry web service set up to provide election results, but not any systems related to actual voting or vote counts.
 "The authorities are prepared for cyber crimes of this kind in connection with elections," said NBI Cyber Crime Centre Detective Chief Inspector  Marko Leponen  in a press release on Wednesday. "In general, attacks on public services are rather common, and services of current interest or those that get publicity are often tempting targets."
 As of Wednesday, the NBI had no information on the origin of the attack or who may have launched it.
 Director of Electoral Administration at the Ministry of Justice  Arto Jääskeläinen  told Yle that the denial-of-service attack took place in the early hours of Sunday morning. He described it as "brief" and "weak". Jääskeläinen added that the attack did not cause any serious problems.
 Jääskeläinen declined to speculate on the source of the attack. It was first noted by routine monitoring by the government ICT centre.
 "This kind of interference with government systems takes place from time to time," he pointed out.
 Arto Jääskeläinen further told Yle that the Justice Ministry has no plans to upgrade system monitoring because of the incident.

NBI investigating cyber attack on election results service


Summary: Office clerks and salespeople will have the least job prospects in the future, says senior researcher Terhi Maczulskij.

The need for sales clerks will decrease as online shopping grows and work in industrial sectors decreases owing to robotics, according to  Terhi Maczulskij ,a senior researcher at the Labour Institute for Economic Research.
 Speaking on Yle's morning show on Wednesday, she outlined the occupations that are disappearing in the market place. They include office clerks, salespeople, installers and repairmen, customer service representatives, mechanical engineering workers, industrial assemblers, handicraft manufacturers and those who work in the field of printing.
 According to the institute, software and application developers, payroll and accounting roles, secretaries, support services, telephone and customer service representatives are among the jobs that will likely face outsourcing to Asia.
 Re-employment varies from sector to sector, says Maczulskij. "People living in Finland have been quite successful in staying employed despite disappearing occupations by retraining or upgrading their skills."

Admin and retail sales jobs disappearing


Summary: Up to 210 of those at risk of losing their jobs at Tieto are in Finland.

Finnish IT software and services giant Tieto has announced it plans to shed as many as 700 jobs globally, in an effort to save 30-35 million euros annually.
 The firm said it expects the job cuts to impact up to 210 of its workers in Finland, 160 in Sweden, 250 in Czech Republic as well as "tens of other roles" in other countries in which it operates.
 Tieto said it began redundancy negotiations with employer groups in Finland, Sweden and Czech Republic on Wednesday and that most of the planned job cuts would be completed by the end of this year.
 The job cuts are anticipated to affect all of the firm's business units apart from its product development department, according to Tieto's CEO  Kimmo Alkio .
 The restructuring is part of the company's new strategy which it revealed earlier this year, when it simultaneously announced plans to hire up to 3,000 new employees.
 "We have renewed Tieto during the past years and are now entering the next phase of transformation. Unfortunately, this also means personnel reductions - which [are] never easy. However, these measures are necessary to ensure our long-term competitiveness and we will do our utmost to support our employees through this change," Alkio said in a company release on the matter.
 Based in the southern Finnish city of Espoo, Tieto employs some 15,000 people in more than 20 countries, 3,700 of which in Finland. The company was founded in 1968.

Finnish IT firm Tieto looks to cut 700 jobs worldwide


Summary: This special edition of the All Points North podcast features the audio version of Yle News' election debate, just ahead of parliamentary elections 14 April.

This April Finland elects a new parliament and ahead of that poll Yle News hosted an election debate featuring all of the major parties to grill them - in English - about their plans for Finland’s future.
 The debate has already been streamed on Yle Areena nearly 10,000 times and seen by almost 7,000 others on Facebook since it was broadcast live on 25 March.
 Take a moment to listen to the debate, especially if you're concerned about the climate, worried about your wages or enthusiastic about education issues in Finland.
 The debate participants were:
 Elina Lepomäki , National Coalition Party MP Laura Huhtasaari , Finns Party MP Kimmo Tiilikainen , Centre Party Minister of the Environment Tiina Ahva , Blue Reform third VP Anders Adlercreutz , Swedish People’s Party MP Veronika Honkasalo , Left Alliance MP Olli-Poika Parviainen , Greens MP Aki Ruotsala , Christian Democrats candidate Party secretary  Antton Rönnholm , Social Democratic Party (not running in election)
 The debate hosts and moderators were Yle News’  Denise Wall  and  Zena Iovino .
 Our general election coverage includes a really simple guide, the ‘election compass’ that shows you which candidates most closely reflect your views, a series of in-depth podcasts on each of the nine largest parties, and of course up-to-the-minute results on election night itself, 14 April. The video version of the programme can be found  here .
 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 email us at yle.news@yle.fi.

All Points North #48: Yle News Election Debate 2019


Summary: Over the course of a decade, the average amount of unpaid debt among women in Finland has grown from 9,000 euros to more than 14,000 euros.

The number of women who are in payment default has steadily grown over the past decade, according to figures released by Statistics Finland on Wednesday.
 The statistics agency began tracking debt recovery statistics in 2008, when the effects of a global financial crisis hit Finland.
 At the time, female payment defaulters accounted for 34 percent of all debtors, while at the end of last year that ratio grew to 39 percent.
 Debt piles up
 The average amount of debt for women has expanded over the past ten years from 9,000 euros to more than 14,000 euros. The average amount of overdue debt among men is higher, but has remained steady, at around 17,000 euros.
 The number of those in payment default has grown steadily, every year since Statistics Finland began compiling data on the matter.
 Last year, 580,000 Finnish residents were enroled in debt recovery programmes, around 80,000 more people than ten years ago.
 The general profile of people in debt recovery are individuals of working age, with limited educations and live in single-person households, according to the statistics agency.

Number of women in payment default continues to grow


Summary: Finland's health watchdog says that the marketing of gambling should be regulated the way ads for harmful products like tobacco and alcohol are.

Kasinot, uhkapelit ja rahapeli- ja vedonlyöntipalvelut

The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is calling for tighter regulations on gambling adverts and for its marketing to be restricted.
 The state-owned gaming monopoly Veikkaus is the only legal gambling firm in Finland and has no competition within its borders. Foreign online casinos are prohibited from marketing their gambling services in Finland.
 Residents, however, are permitted to play on foreign gambling sites - and, increasingly, they do. At the beginning of this year Veikkaus announced it was planning job cuts, due to  intensifying online competition .
 ”The advertising slogans of Veikkaus are at odds with public health communication. Veikkaus’ marketing sends very different messages than those about the dangers of gambling. They should be consistent and in keeping with the way that other harmful products are marketed,” THL’s senior researcher  Jani Selin  said.
 Finland banned tobacco advertising in 1976, and in 2015, Finland  further adjusted  its already-strict laws on alcohol adverts.
 ”It would be good to consider lessons learned from cigarette and alcohol marketing,” Selin said. "Marketing increases gambling. Consequently, it has a direct correlation to the adverse affects of gambling,” he added.
 In addition, THL said the volume of Veikkaus’ marketing should be critically examined, saying it is one of Finland’s biggest advertisers, with an annual marketing budget of nearly 50 million euros.
 Veikkaus' profits are distributed through government ministries and channeled to various public organisations and charities.
 In 2017, horse betting outfit Fintoto and casino and fruit-machine firm RAY were merged with Veikkaus - which at the time only handled the national lottery. There were hopes in some circles that the  merger  would help to limit the  damaging effects  of gambling.
 Last month a report by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health found that the difficulties of serious problem gamblers appear to have  worsened  after the merger.
 Veikkaus: No problem with marketing
 A citizen’s initiative was started on 23 March calling for slot machines to be removed from stores, kiosks, restaurants and gas stations.
 The initiative’s goal is to ensure that gaming would only take place at casinos and in special, supervised gaming halls.
 As of Wednesday, the initiative had gathered more than 10,500 signatures. For it to proceed to parliament, the initiative needs at least 50,000 signatures, which is roughly 1.2 percent of eligible voters in the country.
 Veikkaus' managing director  Velipekka Nummikoski  said he doesn’t see an issue with the company's advertising practices, saying that its marketing is already regulated.
 ”In Finland, we're only allowed to market 'green games,' which is the opposite of foreign gaming companies and their marketing and advertising (in other countries) that is very aggressive,” he says.
 "Green games" refer to ones that are considered less harmful which carry a lower risk of gambling addiction.
 Nummikoski said he does not agree with initiative's effort to get rid of gambing machines, saying that doing so would would raise other issues in rural areas.
 ”If gaming machines were removed from smaller, remote municipalities, customers wouldn’t have the opportunity to play at all,” he said.

Gambling adverts in Finland should be regulated, health institute says