Summary: Helsinki police have been criticized for their decision to ban a car and use tasers during a demonstration on Saturday.

Finland's Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  has called for the Helsinki Police to clarify their actions during a demonstration against the Turkish incursion into Syria that took place in the capital city on 19 October.
 "The duty of the police is to safeguard the basic rights of both the demonstrators and bystanders. Trust in the police must be kept strong, so a sense of security can grow. I have requested a report from the police based on the recent demonstrations," the minister tweeted.
 Decisions made by the Helsinki Police and their use of force during the protest have gathered considerable condemnation from the protest's organizers and participants, some of whom have accused the force of police provocation.
 During the protest, Helsinki Police blocked the departure of a car with a sound system that was being used by the demonstration's organizers. The incident took place at the departure point of the march, the Narinkkatori square in front of the Kamppi shopping complex in the city centre.
 The situation eventually led to law enforcement officers breaking the car window and removing the keys to prevent the car from passing. The police were also reported to have used a taser on at least one protester.
 The protest organizer, a group called  Yhdessä Rojavan puolesta  (Together for Rojava) claims that the police "ultimately attacked the demonstration".
 Police: Car ban prompted by safety concerns
 Chief Commissioner  Jere Roimu , who acted as the general director of the police situation centre during the march, said that a police decision had been made before the event not to allow the car with the sound system to join the march.
 "In a previous similar demonstration, the protestors had a car. That protest ended in the embassy area, where property damage occurred. The protesters were moving and running around the embassy area, causing the car to drive among the people," he said.
 Roimu said that the police also had reason to believe that the march might divert from its original, agreed-upon route and end up in the Kaivopuisto embassy area again.
 The commissioner said the decision to ban the car with the sound system on Saturday was not only prompted by the earlier event, but also by a concern for the safety of the demonstrators and others, as the march was to move along several main roads in Helsinki and many small children were about.
 Protest organizers say they were not informed
 The protest's organizers say the police did not inform them ahead of time that the car would not be allowed to join the march, saying it had not been a problem earlier. They also said that the police refused to give any kinds of grounds for the ban.
 Roimu says the police drove one of their cars in front of the sound system car to stop it, and then broke a window and took the keys. Several protesters began pushing the police at this point, he says, and so the officers were compelled to use tasers.
 "The police were being heavily resisted. Tasers were used to break up this opposition. The police always utilise the most lenient use of force," he said, in explanation for the decision.
 Previous demo resulted in property damage
 Roimu says that horses, police dogs and heavier equipment were employed because of what had happened in the Kaivopuisto area during the last protest.
 "The police raised preparedness levels because the previous demonstration did not follow the agreed-upon rules and did not proceed peacefully," he said.
 Helsinki Police suspect several individuals of violent resistance to the police, and suspect the protest organizers of violating Finland's rules of assembly. Roimu says the rules of assembly violation stems from the organizer's disregard for police orders and instructions with regard to using the car.
 One example of violent resistance to the police from the incident is that the car drove towards the police officers to force them to move.

Interior Minister requests report from police after use of force at protest march


Summary: Slowing economic growth, a ban clearcutting, and wartime assassination attempts featured in Monday’s newspapers.

Finland's largest circulation daily,  Helsingin Sanomat , writes that Finnish politicians and economists have a habit of praising Germany and Sweden as economic role models.
 The economic structure of those two countries is more diverse than Finland's and they have seen a longer period of economic growth.
 The situation started changing last spring, however, says Helsingin Sanomat. The German and Swedish economies began a downturn and are  no longer helping  Finland's economy.
 Germany is Finland's largest export market, and Sweden it its second largest.
 Together these two countries account for around 25 percent of Finland's exports. When they buy less, it almost certainly means an increase in unemployment here.
 The paper quotes  Meri Obstbaum , a senior adviser in the monetary policy and research department at the Bank of Finland as describing the current situation for German industry as "gloomy".
 The chief economist of the Confederation of Finnish Industries,  Sami Pakarinen , told Helsingin Sanomat that economic confidence in Finland's industrial sector declined during the summer and autumn months and that while Finnish industries have shown relatively good growth, a fall in orders for the export sector is evident.
 The paper concludes that German, Sweden and Finland are all suffering because of the same factors - the US trade war on China, uncertainties over Britain's exit from the EU, and structure stagnation at home.
 Clearcutting ban
 This week, parliament will begin debate on a citizens' initiative which if passed will in practice mean a total ban on forestry clearcutting on state-owned lands in Finland,  reports Turun Sanomat .
 The initiative, signed by more than 50,000 citizens has the backing of a wide range of nature conservation groups.
 The Finnish Forest Industries organization opposes the initiative, claiming that the proposed ban is too unconditional and that more research on forest re-growth projects is needed.
 Most clearcut forest harvesting on state lands is carried out in northern parts of the country.
 A comprehensive clearcutting ban would have a much broader impact. The state-owned enterprise reasonable for forest management on state-owned lands, Metsähallitus, clearcuts around 18,000 hectares of forest annually. When clearcutting on private and industry-owned land is added, that figure in 2018 was 170,000 hectares.
 Wartime assassination attempts
 The tabloid  Iltalehti  looks at a new history book that contains revelations about two planned, but failed, attempts on the life of Finland's wartime military leader, Marshal  CarlGustaf Mannerheim .
 During the war, Mannerheim was known for casual walks in the town of Mikkeli, where his general staff headquarters was located, and for his disregard for personal bodyguards. Even so, he was closely watched and guarded.
 A new book by  Mikko Karjalainen , an assistant professor at Finland's National Defence University, describes two planned assassination attempts targeting Mannerheim.
 In 1942, two Russian agents parachuted into the country were captured 16 kilometres north of Mikkeli. Their primary mission was to spy on train traffic in the area. Their secondary mission was to kill Mannerheim, if possible.
 In March of 1943, three Russian military agents were captured near Mikkeli. One of them, an Estonian named  Karl Vahteri , has been specifically assigned to assassinate the Finnish leader.
 The author says that with the large numbers of troops in the area, a foreign agent in Finnish uniform could have had a chance, at least in theory, to get into the city where Mannerheim took his daily strolls.
 Warm, wet week
 Looking ahead at the week's weather forecast, Jyväskylä's  Keskisuomalainen  reports that temperatures are expected to remain unseasonably high along the south coast, with the thermometer topping 10C on Tuesday and Wednesday.
 Nationwide, Monday should be mostly dry with periods of sunshine and temperatures ranging from 7C in the south to a few degrees below freezing in Finnish Lapland.
 But, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, a low pressure area moving in from the west on Tuesday will bring snow and sleet to the north and some rain to other parts of the country.
 The report quotes FMI meteorologist  Helena Laakso  as saying that Wednesday should be again fairly dry before rain, sleet and snow spread out across northern regions again on Thursday.

Monday's papers: Economic woes, clearcutting ban, hit on Mannerheim


Summary: Research suggests a clear hierarchy of applicants with white Finnish women at the top and Somali men at the bottom.

What’s in a name?
 In practice, quite a lot. In Finland  Abdirashid Mohamed  finds it much more difficult to get hired than  Matti Hämäläinen , even when Abdirashid and Matti are equally suitable for the position.
 That’s the conclusion of research into  discrimination in the Finnish labour market .
 “This happens in Finland at grassroots level, in low-paid jobs,” says  Akhlaq Ahmad , a researcher at Helsinki University. “If a worker with a Finnish name is available, they will probably get the job.”
 The claim is supported by a large-scale experiment. In 2016 and 2017 Ahmad sent out some 5,000 fake job applications under Finnish and foreign names. The idea was to find out if a candidate’s name affected whether they were invited to an interview.
 The results were startling.
 Ahmad created five categories of applicant representing five different ethnic backgrounds: white Finnish, English, Russian, Iraqi and  Somali .
 Then he sent a thousand applications from each group via the Finnish Employment Office website. The jobs were in the restaurant, catering, retail, office, cleaning and, customer service sectors.
 The fake applicants were equally strong. They had the same training, the same amount of experience, all of them had been to school in Finland to indicate that they had lived their whole lives in Finland or at least had moved to Finland before they started school.
 All of them spoke excellent Finnish.
 If employment decisions were made only on competence, every group would have had an equal chance of being invited for an interview.
 The difference, however, was stark.
 Applicants with white Finnish names received by far the most invitations to interview, with 390 interviews from a thousand applications.
 The Iraqis got 134 interviews, the Somalis just 99.
 Story continues after graphic
 Yle
 Ahmad’s results are peer-reviewed and published, and he has considered in detail what the potential reasons might be for the discrepancy.
 Field in which the candidate is applying for work: no significant influence on whether or not the candidate is successful. Geographical location of the job: no significant influence. Employee’s gender: no significant influence. Time at which the application is sent: no significant influence.
 Applicant’s name and mother tongue: very significant influence.
 “What matters is the candidate’s name,” says Ahmad. “It’s not just a question of immigrants’ feelings.”
 Gender also had an impact on a candidate’s success, as women did slightly better than men in every applicant group. White Finnish women got 221 invitations to interview from 500 applications; Somali men got just 34.
 “Maybe women are regarded as more likely to follow the rules as employees?” suggests Ahmad. “Or maybe immigrant men are seen as a bigger threat than women.”
 Story continues after photo
 Getting that first job is more difficult if you don't have a Finnish name.  Ilmari Fabritius / Yle
 The jobs in question were low-paid positions like restaurant workers and cleaners’ roles, which are in Finland often filled by immigrants.
 That does not contradict the results of the study, according to Ahmad, but rather demonstrates just how little enthusiasm for those jobs there is among white Finns.
 “If a white Finnish worker is available, others are pushed aside,” says Ahmad. “A labour shortage is the immigrant’s best friend.”
 Would the results be different if the same study was conducted into jobs demanding highly qualified candidates?
 “It’s difficult to say before it has been researched,” says Ahmad. “But you could ask why those sectors would be immune to employment discrimination?”
 Study rooted in experience
 The results are in line with previous experiments  in Finland  and  elsewhere in Europe .
 Other studies include one in which 28 percent of respondents said that a white Finn should have the edge over a dark-skinned person in a hiring situation, if they were equally strong in experience and education. A slightly older survey found that 15 percent of Finns are more or less of the opinion that “black Africans mental capabilities are weaker than those of white people who live in the western world”. That statement found particular agreement among Finns Party voters.
 Even so, Ahmad was still a little surprised by the size of the differences.
 “I did not expect a candidate’s background to be such a big factor,” says Ahmad. “I thought that things would have improved in the last twenty years. They haven’t.”
 Before he began to study discrimination in Finland, he experienced it himself.
 20 years ago Ahmad was a student, just arrived in Finland from Pakistan. He was young, idealistic and broke.
 He thought that finding part-time work would be easy in a “Nordic country proud of its tolerance and human rights record”. He was wrong.
 “It was like finding a needle in a haystack,” says Ahmad. “It was the first time I understood what it was like to be a foreigner.”
 Second generation now the focus
 Ahmad was not alone in his experiences. Immigrants from outside Europe regard employment discrimination as a fact of life. For example, among Somali speakers around 90 percent  say  they have experienced discrimination in the labour market.
 Among white Finns the issue divides opinion. Claims of discrimination can be dismissed as isolated cases, or they can be blamed on the candidate himself.
 “It can always be claimed that they don’t speak the language, don’t know the local rules and customs,” says Ahmad.
 When Ahmad got the opportunity to bust these myths, he focused on the children of immigrants rather than immigrants themselves.
 That is, those who really should be on a level playing field with white Finns.
 “It’s time to think about this group’s future,” says Ahmad. “They are young people, they are just entering the labour market and there are lots of them.”
 Ethnic discrimination affects a rapidly growing group in Finnish society.
 In the last thirty years the number of people of foreign background has increased by some 1,000 percent. The children of those who arrived 15 years ago or more are now becoming adults. In other words Finland is for the first time entering a situation where a large group of non-white people, or people with foreign names, are entering the workforce.
 Ahmad is worried for their future.
 “It’s really sad if their background becomes a problem for them,” says Ahmad. “Their obstacle could be a ‘homeland’ they have not necessarily even visited.”
 Yle
 If a young person feels like their background is a problem their enthusiasm to study might dip, says Ahmad. Even if it doesn’t, repeated rejection in their job hunts could push them into sectors where there’s a labour shortage.
 That could mean the children of immigrants end up in the same low-paid professions as their parents. Ahmad has observed this phenomenon in his research and in practice, among his friends from Pakistan.
 “Newcomers end up in those sectors where their social networks are,” says Ahmad. “Like restaurants, even though they are capable of doing something else. It’s difficult to break out of that cycle.”
 Highly-educated immigrants can be satisfied with their lot as restaurant workers. Their children, however, expect more.
 “The children of immigrants are not going to accept these obstacles that their parents came up against,” says Ahmad. “If they are constantly reminded that their background is a problem, they will become bitter and frustrated.”
 If young people begin to feel that society is unjust, it can lead to them rejecting it.
 “It’s not healthy if an individual does not feel part of society and doesn’t want to be part of it,” says Ahmad. “That’s why discrimination in the workplace can lead to unrest in society.”
 Story continues after photo
 If they don't gain a foothold in the labour market, people can become disillusioned. Jari Pelkonen / Yle
 Ahmad hopes his research will increase Finns’ knowledge about structural discrimination. White Finns can find it difficult to see the scale of the problem because they themselves don’t face it.
 “You have to personally feel what it’s like to know that you are clearly not welcome,” says Ahmad. “Otherwise it is difficult to understand.”
 Ahmad hopes to kickstart a national debate about possible solutions to the problem. There has already been a lot of work on preventing discrimination in Finland, he says.
 For example, trials of anonymous recruitment have proliferated in recent years. These are schemes where an applicant’s names and possibly also age and gender are hidden, so that the information will not influence the hiring process. These trials have taken place in Espoo, Helsinki, Vaasa and Vantaa municipalities, as well as the S Group retail chain and the Justice Ministry.
 Anonymous recruitment levels the playing field in getting an interview, but can’t guarantee discrimination-free hiring decisions. It’s more of a sticking plaster when the underlying ailment, discriminatory attitudes, needs a different treatment.
 "There's an old Punjabi saying: if someone has a place in your heart they can also have a place in your home," says Ahmad.
 What do you think? Have you faced discrimination when applying for jobs in Finland?
 We'll open up the topic on this week’s  All Points North podcast : how can we fight discrimination in Finland's labour market? You can send comments or questions via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our  Facebook  or  Twitter  accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi.

Researcher: “If there’s a worker with a Finnish name, they'll probably be hired”


Summary: The authority wants Veikkaus' profits to be paid directly to state coffers, and slot machines removed from shops.

Kasinot, uhkapelit ja rahapeli- ja vedonlyöntipalvelut

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority has called on Finland's state-owned, non-profit monopoly Veikkaus to take the problems associated with gambling seriously, and has recommended the firm introduce a number of changes to its operating procedures.
 Kirsi Leivo , Director-General of the authority, told Yle's MOT programme that Veikkaus' profits should be paid directly to the state, as this would be the simplest way to break Veikkaus' links with the organisations and projects currently funded by revenue from gambling.
 "If the money went to the state budget, this would offer a clear solution for the beneficiaries," Leivo said in an interview with MOT.
 At present Veikkaus transfers the proceeds of gambling activities to three government ministries; the ministry of social affairs and health, the ministry of education and culture, and the ministry of agriculture and forestry; which then distributes them to the chosen beneficiaries.
 However if, as Leivo argues, Veikkaus' profits went directly to the state budget, the money paid out would not be explicitly from gambling and the beneficiaries would not be tied to Veikkaus.
 In its publicity material Veikkaus says it rakes in more than a billion euros in annual profits from gambling, which are distributed to thousands of good causes in the sporting, cultural and social fields. Veikkaus has been  heavily criticised recently for the nature of its marketing , which appeared to be encouraging problem gamblers to further indulge their habit.
 Slot machines out of sight
 Leivo also told MOT that she would like to see Veikkaus slot machines removed to more controlled environments, as the authority continues its investigation into how Veikkaus is working to reduce gambling harm in practice.
 "It is quite exceptional that they [slot machines] are so freely displayed. I think, of course, that one could seriously consider moving them to casinos," Leivo said.
 In September, Veikkaus announced that it  planned to remove up to 3,000 slot machines from shops and kiosks  as part of its response to growing calls for tighter restrictions on gambling in Finland.
 Leivo does not believe this goes far enough however, and further pointed out that Veikkaus' role as a gambling monopoly requires the firm to take gambling problems especially seriously.
 "State ownership and other regulations mean that Veikkaus must operate in such a way that gambling problems are taken seriously. Veikkaus' regulation is decentralized to a large number of players. It would make sense to have one supervisor with sufficient access to information and sufficient sanctions," Leivo proposed.

Competition authority: Veikkaus must take gambling problems seriously


Summary: Homicides in Finland typically occur during drunken arguments in private homes.

Kriminologian ja oikeuspolitiikan instituutti (Krimo)

There were 95 violent deaths in Finland last year classed as various types of criminal homicide. Over 70 homicides were recorded as of the beginning of October of this year.
 While a large increase over 2018 is not expected, expert projections are for 90–100 such crimes this year.
 The 2018 figure was close to a 30 percent rise over 2017. At first glance, that looks like a shocking escalation of violence, but can be explained by 2017 being exceptional - fewer homicides were committed in Finland that year than in any year since 1895.
 For this reason, says  Martti Lehti , a researcher at Helsinki University's Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, current levels do not represent any kind of "catastrophic situation".
 Booze, brawl, blade
 There is a direct link between drink and violent crime in Finland. Most people who commit homicide, as well as most of their victims, are inebriated at the time.
 An explanation for the resurgence of homicides has been sought in a recent easing of restrictions on alcohol sales. That doesn't hold up very well since no direct correlation between the level of the increase in  consumption  and the increase in violent crime has been found.
 On the other hand, total national consumption may not be a valid indicator of drinking habits among members of the groups most likely to be involved in homicides.
 Story continues after photo.
 Alcohol plays a major role in homicides in Finland, most clearly in Central Ostrobothnia where every criminal homicide since 2003 has been committed by someone who was drinking. Tiina Jutila / Yle
 The archetypal criminal homicide in this country has long been the same. Most victims are killed during a weekend brawl in a private residence. The killer and the victim are usually acquainted, middle-aged, and for one reason or another not employed. Both are most likely to have a drinking problem and are intoxicated at the time of the homicide. The most typical weapon used is a kitchen knife.
 Concerns about drugs
 Police are increasingly worried about further problems being created by  an increase in illicit drugs  and abuse of some prescription medications.
 Detective Chief Inspector  Anders Åfors , an officer with the police in Kokkola in the Central Ostrobothnia region, points to the growing availability of drugs bought online.
 "It appears that a mixture of drugs and alcohol has become a very common part of crimes committed by young adults, while the choice of older perpetrators is [only] alcohol," says Åfors.
 Last year was an especially dark one as concerned violent crime in Central Ostrobothnia and this year looks to be very much the same.
 Even so, since the demographic groups most likely to be involved in violent crime as either perpetrators or victims are relatively small, Åfors notes that general public safety in the region remains good.

Sharp 2018 rise in homicides levelling off


Summary: National vaccination registry data show 90 percent coverage in some areas, but less than 50 percent in other parts of Finland.

There are significant regional discrepancies in the number of young girls receiving vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV), according to the latest official data released by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
 The HPV vaccine was introduced into the national vaccination programme in 2013, and the shot is currently only administered to girls born in 2006.
 Coverage is especially weak in the Swedish-speaking coastal area of Ostrobothnia, where less than half of girls eligible to receive the vaccine in the cities of Raahe, Pori and Jakobstad have done so.
 This contrasts greatly with the situation in other parts of the country, with a number of areas reporting that nine out of ten girls have received the HPV vaccine, including the municipalities of Naantali and Hanko in the south-west, Siilinjärvi in the east, and Inari in the north.
 Nationally the average is 70 percent of 12-13 year old girls that have been vaccinated against HPV.
 "Not advisable to postpone"
 In a press release,  Tuija Leino , Chief Medical Officer of THL, expressed surprise that the vaccination rate was comparatively low in certain areas.
 “In Sweden, the coverage of HPV vaccination is 85 percent nationwide. It is therefore difficult to understand why almost one third of Finnish girls do not take the vaccine. According to research, the vaccine is safe and provides the best and longest protection against cancer when taken early enough. Therefore, it is not advisable to postpone taking it, ” Leino said.
 Within the larger urban areas, vaccination coverage is highest in Vantaa, at 75 percent, with Helsinki very close behind on 74 percent. Of the bigger cities, Oulu had the lowest vaccination coverage with about 65 percent of girls in the age group receiving the shot.
 The Ministry of Finance included a proposal in the 2020 budget that young boys would also be vaccinated against HPV, starting from autumn next year. Parliament will decide on the new budget in December.
 HPV is known to cause cancer of the cervix, penis, anus, head and neck area.

Less than half of all girls in some Finnish towns get HPV vaccine


Summary: On Tuesday one paper considers how to reduce ethnic discrimination in employment.

Yesterday Yle reported on research showing that  having a foreign name is a disadvantage in the job market . For some ethnic backgrounds, such as Somali, it’s a big disadvantage.
 Helsingin Sanomat publishes  an editorial  on the topic on Tuesday, outlining the issues reported by Yle on Monday and suggesting that anonymised applications would help to fight discrimination at the interview stage.
 “Prejudice is often based on insufficient information, but is also human,” says the paper, arguing that applications from which gender, ethnicity and age are removed would help employers overcome their discriminatory instincts.
 The paper cites experiments in five Finnish municipalities and at the high-end loudspeaker manufacturer  Genelec  as being a productive way to bring in candidates who might not otherwise get a chance.
 These measures could be adopted more broadly, argues HS.
 Fine by us
 Aamulehti  looks  at an old chestnut: motoring fines left unpaid by foreign drivers. The paper finds that the worst offenders are Estonians, who paid just 38 percent of the fines issued in Finland.
 Russians are much more diligent in paying their debts to the traffic police, paying the fine in some 84 percent of cases in 2018.
 The reason, suggests AL, is that Russians need a visa to enter the country and if they don’t pay their fines they lose their visas.
 Estonians face no such restrictions and are much less likely to pay up. Estonia is also the first country to which Finnish police now send speeding fines.
 Up to the middle of August, Finland had sent more than 300 notifications of fines to Estonia for cars registered there. The offender is asked to provide an address in Finland for the fine to be sent to, or to attend a police station in Finland to deal with the matter there.
 Football investments
 Ari Lahti  is known as an investment banker, the driving force behind the failed bid to construct a Guggenheim museum on the Helsinki waterfront, and one of Finnish football’s biggest movers and shakers as FA chairman and owner of KuPS Kuopio.
 It’s in the final capacity that Iltalehti  interviews  him on Tuesday, asking how it felt to see the club into which he’s ploughed 6-7 million euros over the last couple of decades  win the title .
 It was not a bad investment, said Lahti, even though he’s not expecting to get the money back.
 “You get the dividends that you’d get in a normal investment, in a slightly different way,” Lahti tells IL. “They come in the emotional highs, the ups and downs that you get to experience.”
 Lahti describes his journey from the VIP stand to pitch side at Turku’s Veritas Stadium, as he was due to hand out the medals in his capacity as FA chairman.
 If KuPS had lost, he would have had to place the medals around Inter Turku players’ necks, something he was not keen to do.
 IL notes that this isn’t the end of Lahti’s footballing autumn: the Finnish national team are set to clinch their spot at the European Championships next month if they beat lowly Liechtenstein.
 That would be the first time Finland have qualified for a major tournament. There are likely to be more emotional highs, followed by ups and downs, for the FA chairman.

Tuesday’s papers: Anonymous recruitment, Estonians leaving fines unpaid, and a football dividend


Summary: New national guidelines on exercise say every minute counts.

Finland’s freshly-minted guidance on exercise levels recognise that even small amounts of exercise have health benefits, removing a previous recommendation that exercise lasts at least ten minutes.
 The guidelines, produced by the state-funded Urho Kekkonen Institute, now emphasise that every minute of movement is important.
 “All exercise counts, whether it lasts a minute or ten minutes, said the Institute’s Director  Tommi Vasankari .
 The new recommendations include provisions for lighter forms of exercise, such as houswork, going to the shops or other everyday activities.
 “For one reason or another, for example health reasons, not all of us can manage strenuous exercise,” said Vasankari. “That’s why we emphasised that based on research and facts, light exercise has positive health effects.”
 New guidance:
 Story continues after photo
 Lasse Isokangas / Yle
 Recommendations for working-age people are based on the need for sufficient sleep, which helps the body recover from stresses and strains to which its subjected.
 There’s also a recommendation that sedentary spells should be broken up. Many adults now spend long periods sitting at their desks, on the sofa or in a car, and that time should be minimised.
 More precise guidance isn’t offered in the guidelines, but the rule of thumb is that people should take a break from sitting down whenever they can.
 “You should lift your bum out out of the chair a few times an hour,” said Vasankari. “Breaks activate the muscles and reduce the load on the body.”
 The guidance on lighter forms of exercise is to undertake it ‘as often as possible’. Research shows that those who don’t exercise that much will get significant benefits from lighter forms of movement.
 “Starting from improvements in mood to improvements in blood sugar and fat levels, lower blood pressure and so on,” said Vasankari.
 Those capable of sweatier workouts have similar advice to before:
 Moderate exercise counts as when performing the activity your breathing is faster but you can still talk. Those capable of it should get at least two and a half hours of such movement each week.
 If the activity is so taxing that talking is difficult, that counts as strenuous exercise. An hour and fifteen minutes of that each week is enough.
 In addition to aerobic exercise, it is good to exercise specific muscles and movements. That can be done through strenuous gardening or yard work, lifting weights, ball games or group exercise classes.
 The new pyramid-like guidance replaces the previous ‘exercise pie’, which had been in use for a decade.
 The new recommendations are based on research and adjustments to  guidance in the US  which emphasised that even small amounts of exercise have health benefits.
 The just-published Finnish recommendations are intended for people aged 18-64, but the institute intends to write new guidance for other groups as well.
 According to Vasankari exercise habits among working-age Finns have changed over the years. They now exercise slightly more than they used to outside work, but move less at work and on their journeys to and from work than they did before.
 “If everything is counted together, then probably the total amount of exercise has declined,” said Vasankari. “But we can change directions with this new guidance.”

Finland revamps exercise guidelines to recognise health benefits of housework


Summary: Research team advocates annual fuel quotas as the most effective way to halve traffic emissions in Finland.

Finland needs to introduce a cap on carbon emissions from petrol and diesel to help fight climate change, according to a report out on Tuesday.
 A team of economists at Helsinki’s Aalto University has recommended the introduction of an annual cap on CO2 emissions from fossil fuels if Finland wants to achieve its ambitious goal of halving traffic emissions by 2030. The quota would gradually decrease every year up to 2030, thereby reducing the emissions in line with the Finnish government's targets.
 In practice, the research team’s proposal would see the Finnish state set an annual quota for the consumption of fossil fuels.
 Fuel distributors in Finland - such as ABC, Neste and Teboil - would then be required to obtain an emission permit for every litre of petrol or diesel they sell, which must be purchased from the state via an auction.
 The motorist would then pay for the new emission permit on top of taxes when refueling, which means that petrol and diesel will cost more if the research team's proposal is brought into force.
 A radical goal
 Matti Liski , professor of economics at Aalto University, who led the research, told Yle that this method would provide an effective means as well as a clear incentive to reduce emissions in an appropriate manner.
 “Our proposal is not radical, but the goal set by the decision makers is radical. We're just telling you how to get there,” Liski said.
 Liski's team's research was commissioned by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to examine how the Finnish government can meet the 2030 emissions target. Traffic emissions in Finland have fallen only very slightly over the last 30 years, but the target demands that they be halved in ten years.
 Story continues after graphic
 Finland has a legally binding EU target to reduce emissions from the so-called burden-sharing sector. The biggest potential for reducing emissions is in traffic, which accounts for about one fifth of Finland's total emissions. Mikko Airikka / Yle
 Liski believes the new quota system could be successfully introduced within a year and a half as Finland's  Energy Authority  has experience of organising permit auctions, and both Finland and the EU have the necessary experience to build such a system.
 The biggest question therefore, according to Liski, is whether the political decision makers stick to the objectives they have set. The target of  carbon neutrality by 2035 brought plaudits worldwide , but initial measures in support of the target have been sparse.
 The government announced a small increase in fuel taxes in its first budget, but also retained subsidies for the carbon-intensive burning of peat for energy.
 Liski says that these measures from Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's government have not, so far, not had a huge impact.
 "Do the decision-makers understand what was agreed," Liski asked. "We have not yet had any very concrete solutions. This would now be a way for politicians to be proactive in keeping the goals alive."

Report: Finland needs to raise the cost of petrol to fight climate change


Summary: Incoming European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen and Finnish PM Antti Rinne discussed Brexit in Helsinki.

Kansainväliset organisaatiot ja sopimukset

Saksan kristillisdemokraattinen unioni (CDU)

Brexit was high on the agenda as incoming European Commission head  Ursula von der Leyen  held talks with Finland's Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  in Helsinki on Thursday.
 Von der Leyen said London must propose a candidate for a seat in the next European Commission if it stays in the EU after October 31. That could further delay the inauguration of her executive, which was supposed to take office just over a week from now.
 It remains unclear just when Britain would leave the EU. Last weekend Prime Minister Boris Johnson reluctantly asked for a three-month extension of the 31 October deadline.
 Although Finland now chairs the European Council, Rinne said he had not yet directly discussed a possible Brexit extension with Council President  Donald Tusk .
 Asked if another EU summit in Brussels will be necessary to decide on the issue, Rinne said he believed a decision could be reached through a written procedure.
 "If the extension means that we can avoid a hard Brexit, it suits me," said Rinne, adding that "a majority or maybe all member states are behind an extension".
 At least three commissioners still missing
 The inauguration of the new Commission, which was to take place on 1 November, will also likely be delayed.
 It is now expected to begin its five-year term a month later. The executive is still missing commissioners from France, Hungary, Romania – and possibly the UK.
 While the final line-up is not yet certain, von der Leyen said "it is already clear that this Commission will include the largest proportion of women ever".
 Another piece appeared to fall into place earlier on Thursday as President  Emmanuel Macron  named a new French candidate for a major Commission portfolio covering industrial policy, defence spending, high-tech and space.
 Macron proposed former economy minister  Thierry Breton  to replace previous French candidate  Sylvie Goulard , who was rejected by the European Parliament. In a statement, Macron indicated that von der Leyen had already approved Breton as the new candidate.
 With the long-term European budget framework looming as the Commission's biggest challenge besides Brexit, von der Leyen said that "the European Green Deal is priority number one, along with digitalisation".
 She said the Commission will work to advance green financing and other measures to show that "climate-neutral production is possible in a fair way".
 Climate talks in Sweden next week
 The climate crisis will also top the agenda in Stockholm next week. Additionally on Thursday, the government announced that Rinne will lead a ministerial delegation to the Nordic Council meeting that begins there on Tuesday.
 Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  and four other cabinet ministers will accompany the PM for two days of talks in the Swedish capital, where the main theme will be efforts to slow climate change.
 Meanwhile Rinne also announced that the five government parties will convene for a conference on the same theme in January.
 The centre-left government has placed the climate as a key priority for both its legislative term and for Finland's six-month presidency of the European Council, which wraps up in just over two months from now – but environmental groups say there has so far been little concrete progress on either agenda.

Van der Leyen: UK must pick new Commissioner if it remains in EU after October


Summary: Postal workers are dissatisfied with a proposal for new terms and conditions.

Postal workers’ representatives have announced a possible strike from 11-24 November. According to the PAU union they plan to stop all deliveries, sorting and transport services for the duration of the strike.
 PAU says the strike won’t happen if they reach agreement with Posti, the government-owned postal monopoly, on a new deal covering wages, terms and conditions in the sector.
 Some 9,000 workers would be affected by the strike if it goes ahead. PAU says it is ready for more strikes if needed, and has asked other unions in the blue-collar SAK confederation for actions supporting the strike.
 The unions say that the employer wants to bring in lower-paid labour, lengthen working times and change shift patterns.
 “Posti and Palta (the employers’ confederation) are seeking such drastic weakening of terms and conditions that there is not really any other option but to answer with industrial action and try to get a reasonable contract on time,” PAU chair  Heidi Nieminen  told Yle.
 In a statement the company denied it wants to reduce pay for existing employees, and accuses the union of creating fear and uncertainty among the Posti workforce.
 Negotiations are scheduled to continue on Tuesday at the national labour conciliator’s office.
 Posti  hit the headlines  earlier in the autumn when the company tried to switch workers from one sectoral agreement to another with worse terms and conditions.
 The company was forced to  delay the planned shift  after a wildcat strike and a public outcry, and then-CEO  Heikki Malinen   eventually resigned .

Finland’s postal workers call strike in November


Summary: According to fresh figures, flying Finns are responsible for more CO2 per person than any other nation except Singapore.

People resident in Finland  cause more carbon dioxide emissions by flying  than those resident in any other country in the world except Singapore, according to  new figures from the International Council on Clean Transportation .
 CO2 emissions caused by international flights to and from Finland are around the same as emissions from private cars in the country.
 Third in the ranking is Iceland, fourth is Australia and in fifth spot comes Britain.
 Story continues after graphic
 Leena Luotio / Yle,  Source ICCT
 The figures include passengers whose journeys start or end in Finland, but not transit passengers heading through Finland on their way to other countries.
 Singaporeans were responsible for some 1.2 tonnes of CO2 from flights, while Finns and Icelanders were the cause of around a tonne each.
 A tonne of carbon dioxide is emitted by, for example, driving the  average new car sold  in 2019 for around 6,000 kilometres.
 The data also stripped out foreign tourists by adjusting the dataset using data from the World Bank. If those visitors were included, the countries with the highest emissions would be the Domincan Republic, Croatia and Portugal.
 The biggest emissions in absolute terms, that is not divided by population, come from American, Chinese, British, Japanese and German flights.

Residents of Finland emit more CO2 by flying than those of every other nation bar Singapore


Summary: Papers mull the coming Posti strike, elementary schools shutting down and 100 million euros in environmental aid.

The PAU logistics union  announced Tuesday  that a two-week postal strike would begin on 11 November unless they can agree a new sectoral deal on pay and conditions with national mail carrier Posti.  Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat featured a piece  in its Taloussanomat supplement on Wednesday on what to expect if the strike does go ahead.
 Posti itself has made no announcements as to the nature of the problems that a strike would cause, saying that PAU has yet to file an official strike notice. 'Head of Exception Management' at Posti,  Jarmo Ainasoja  said that international packages would not be lost or returned, and that their customers' needs would be taken care of – he did not specify how in the IS story.
 "We have personnel focusing on critical services even when there's industrial action," Ainasoja said. "But there will definitely be delays."
 Posti's official stance is that the strike represents a  force majeure  situation, which would mean that the postal service would not be liable for any lost or broken packages.
 Senior adviser  Juha Jokinen  from the Finnish Consumer and Competition Authority (KKV) holds an opposing view in IS, saying that Posti could in fact affect the circumstances surrounding the strike by bowing to PAU's demands.
 "Even if the company says their hands are tied by a strike, these things are always speculative," Jokinen said.
 School closures risk child health
 The health of Finland's younger generations could be seriously at risk due to the high rate of school closures in remote regions as well as metropolitan regions. Daily  Helsingin Sanomat wrote on a trend  that is worrying experts and teachers.
 Statistics Finland reports that municipalities have shuttered more than 2,500 elementary schools since 1990. The HS graph demonstrates that as half of Finland's schools have vanished, class sizes have exploded.
 Inspector general  Kari Lehtola  from the Regional State Administrative Agency of Eastern Finland said in no uncertain terms that the "biggest upheaval in the history of Finnish education" is well underway.
 "The recession in the 1990s and started a school closure boom that is still ongoing. Most have been closed due to savings targets and dwindling numbers of students. Municipalities have been chipping away this education system, once called the best in the world, by closing a hundred schools a year without any evidence of it being beneficial."
 Statistics Finland reports that in 1995-2017 the real costs of Finland's school system have increased by nine percent, and costs per student have risen by 18 percent, HS wrote.
 Environment minister promises millions
 The planet's natural diversity is rapidly dwindling, and something must be done, said Environment Minister  Krista Mikkonen  in  Turun Sanomat . She also promised government money would to be used as early as next year to curb the destruction of natural species.
 "We want to focus on improving the state of various habitats," Mikkonen said in TS. "Preservation alone is not enough; we need to reconstruct, rehabilitate and care for our environment. This is a growing trend worldwide."
 Mikkonen also said that efforts to preserve numerous wetlands and bird nesting areas have stalled because of the previous government's round of budget cuts.
 The government's large-scale natural diversity programme, called Helmi, is investing significant sums to protect the natural world. Helmi will receive 42 million euros in funding, but that is not the whole story. Together with another programme to revitalise Southern Finland's forests, the overall government budget for increasing natural diversity runs up to some 100 million euros.
 The plans are ambitious, TS wrote: the government aims to rehabilitate 80 marshlands with diverse bird populations, 15,000 hectares of newly protected meadows and fields and 20,000 hectares of wetlands.

Wednesday's papers: Looming strike, vanishing schools, natural diversity boost


Summary: A new study finds that conscripts are using more snus than before.

Ulkoasiain hallinto, maanpuolustus ja järjestystoimi

The Finnish Defence Forces are beefing up their campaign to bring down the use of nicotine products among conscripts, according to a study conducted with lung health organisation Filha over 2014-16.
 Smoking was discouraged among conscripts and staff during that period. In early 2019 a new campaign,  Irti nuuskasta  or "Lose the snus", kicked off in two brigades; the programme is meant to extend to the rest of Finland's barracks in 2020.
 The survey interviewed nearly 5,000 conscripts and shows that young people in Finland – civilians and conscripts alike – are using snus, a form of powdered smokeless tobacco, more commonly than before, even while the popularity of smoking cigarettes is falling.
 Snus is illegal to sell, but legal to import and use in small quantities. Rosa Huuska / Yle
 The Defence Forces figures show that more than 30 percent of conscripts consume snus, some of them using the nicotine pouches daily. The number of users tends to climb during military service.
 Occupational safety director  Pasi Huomo  from the Karelia Brigade at Vekaranjärvi said that snus is very common in the barracks, and that cultural phenomena are part of the lives of military trainees and personnel, as well.
 "I believe our situation is exactly the same as elsewhere in society, that snus is clearly becoming more common," Huomo said.
 The anti-nicotine campaign affects new conscripts and staff alike.
 "The most important questions concern nicotine addiction and coping in work and service. We support our staff by helping them pay for replacement products, and our conscripts through information."
 Soldiers downplay dangers of snus
 Snus users are statistically less likely to want to quit their habit, in the military as well. Users also consider snus to be healthier than smoking.
 The head doctor at the Defence Forces General Headquarters,  Maria Danielsson , debunked this myth.
 "When a smoker takes a hit, he or she gets a brief dose of nicotine. But snus sachets may be kept between the gums for hours on end," she said.
 No precise research data yet exists on how much snus is usually consumed at a time, but more information is forthcoming. Danielsson said that frequent users are exposed to nicotine for long periods of time.
 "More than six hours a day on average," said Danielsson, who is heading a research paper of her own on the subject.
 Nicotine substitute products are available at the Karelia Brigade tuck shop. Kari Saastamoinen/Yle
 Snus is illegal to sell in Finland (and all other EU countries besides Sweden) but legal to import up to one kilo at a time for personal use. It contains about 2,500 different chemicals, including more than 20 carcinogenic substances. All of these, as well as the nicotine, are absorbed into the user's bloodstream for the full amount of time the sachet is in their mouth.
 Abstinence teaching should be prefaced with education on how to fight nicotine addiction, Danielsson said.
 "It's an issue of the maintaining and improving the readiness of fighters in the Defence Forces, which also carries significance for public health," she said.
 Danielsson added that a nicotine-free life begins with education well before the army.
 "It is worrying that snus users seem to think the product is quite harmless," she said.
 Cigarettes are still slightly more common, with one in four conscripts being habitual smokers. The number of smoking outposts in the Karelia Brigade grounds fell from 20 to five, meaning one outpost per 400 conscripts.
 "To each his own"
 Huomo said that the Defence Forces wants to tackle nicotine addiction effectively, but realistically.
 "Conscripts are adults who are allowed to make their own decisions," Huomo said.
 Many conscripts who use snus now started the habit years before, as early as elementary school. Huomo said that schools should do more to address the dangers of nicotine reliance.
 One way to curb smoking and snusing in the Defence Forces is for the sergeants, captains, majors and other staff to lead by example, said the Karelia Brigade's chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel  Juhana Skyttä .
 "Team coaches, teachers and other youth workers in society [also have a responsibility]," he said.
 The Conscript Committee is also dedicated to providing conscripts with activities and education opportunities – such as security guard training, hunting license courses and sporting events – to help the young men and women kick their habit.
 The Defence Forces campaign has reportedly hit home with some. Danielsson said that a number of conscripts have approached health professionals in the Brigade on their own to express their desire to quit. Cutting down is also part of the process of sending conscripts home after service is over.

Defence Forces crack down on nicotine addiction


Summary: Finland has separate pathways for dealing with gender and ethnic discrimination.

What can you do if you suspect you  didn’t get a job because an employer discriminated against you ?
 If you think an employer has a problem with your gender, it’s fairly clear. You call up the gender equality ombudsman, ask the employer for an explanation of their decision, and take it from there.
 If you believe you didn’t get the job because you have a foreign name, it’s different. You have no right to demand an explanation from the employer and the non-discrimination ombudsman, who is charged with fighting discrimination based on ethnicity, cannot help you.
 Instead that falls to the occupational health and safety authority. It’s not a simple or obvious procedure.
 "It’s not always easy for people to know whom to contact about suspected discrimination cases," admits  Jenny Rintala , senior inspector responsible for occupational health and safety at the Southern-Finland Regional Administrative Agency.
 Citing  an agency report released earlier this year , Rintala said that in 2018 the organisation fielded 500 calls from individuals and organisations, about 200 of which dealt with discrimination.
 "The number of complaints shows that a large portion of discrimination remains hidden. It’s not easy for people to contact an authority. They may not know how to or may fear reprisals," she says, adding that people may also worry about having to fork out money if a case goes to court.
 According to Rintala, 150 of the cases brought to the agency’s attention later went to court. She noted that discrimination is a highly subjective issue on both the part of an individual and an employer, and added that the law may not be very clear either.
 "The definition of discrimination is complicated and is based on EU directives. Therefore it is hard for employers to understand what action constitutes illegal discrimination. For instance the concept of indirect discrimination is often hard to identify . In addition, the employers’ duty to promote equality and draft an equality plan needs to be clarified so employers know what the obligation means in practice."
 Employers not bound to justify themselves to ethnic minorities
 In addition to employers’ apparent unease with non-discrimination legislation, there is currently no law compelling recruiters to disclose why they rejected a job applicant.
 Non-Discrimination Ombudsman  Kirsi Pimiä  told Yle that it is very difficult for officials to intervene when they suspect ethnic discrimination in hiring because in Finland, an employer does not need to rationalise its choice to candidates who suspect ethnic discrimination.
 "A rejected applicant has no information about why another candidate is better. A report to parliament last year proposed that people should have the right to receive an explanation of recruitment decisions, in the same way that it is now possible to get one on the basis of disability or gender. It would then be better to deal with these cases once the reasoning is known," Pimiä said.
 Pimiä said that the office has called for a broader mandate that would allow it to pursue ethnic discrimination cases reported by individuals.
 "We are ready to propose an expansion of our mandate so that we as well as other European colleagues would have a mandate to deal with workplace discrimination, and where hiring bias would be one area where we could ensure compliance with occupational health and safety laws better than occupational health and safety officials currently do," she added.
 Growing number of discrimination reports
 A 2018 report from the ombudsman's office  pointed to increasing discrimination reports based on origin, nationality, language and other factors. According to  Michaela Moua , a senior officer working on discrimination issues at the ombudsman’s office, in 2018, 194 individuals reached out to the organisation regarding alleged employment discrimination. These cases are referred to occupational health authorities as the ombudsman has no power to intervene.
 Moua says that with broader powers, the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman would be able to intervene in individual cases of employment discrimination.
 "We would then be able to better guarantee the rights of individuals in employment with regard to the Non-Discrimination law and this would lower the threshold for people to come forward."
 She notes, however that the office where work-related bias affects individuals, the office is "able to give recommendations on how to prevent discrimination and to promote non-discrimination. We can also support mediation in some cases."
 On Monday, Yle reported on Helsinki University research indicating a bias among employers toward granting interviews to white Finnish job applicants, while Somali applicants received few invitations to interviews.
 Employment minister  Timo Harakka  weighed in on the debate, declaring on Twitter that the new Antti Rinne-led government would be moving to tackle biased hiring practices.
 There is guidance on what to do if you suspect discrimination on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website.
 Michaela Moua joins us on the  All Points North podcast  this Thursday to discuss the issue of discrimination in hiring practices. Tell us what you think. How big is the problem? What can be done to fight it? You can send comments or questions via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or to yle.news@yle.fi.

APN this week: Suspect you didn't get the job because of your foreign name? In Finland, it's not clear who can help


Summary: The Competition and Consumer Authority wants retroactive relief over costly consumer loans.

The consumer ombudsman plans to put a stop to the  prohibitive costs associated with payday loans  by gathering names for a possible class action suit against two quick loan firms.
 The ombudsman wants more reasonable terms for loans that are not covered by new rules aimed at capping prohibitively high interest rates on consumer credit. If the lawsuit proceeds to court, it will be the first time the authority pursues such action against quick loan firms.
 The Competition and Consumer Authority, KKV, is currently preparing legal action against two payday loan companies. The suit calls on the Lahti-based J.W.-Yhtiöt and Euro24 Finance from Turku to void customer agreements or alternatively, to halve the annual interest costs generated by their loans.
 Both Euro24 Finance and J.W. Yhtiöt, the firm behind the Suomilimiitti payday loan provider, have been on the market for about three years. The authority is initially seeking an out-of-court settlement. However if the lenders don’t agree to its demands, it will become the first class action suit to be tried in Finland.
 The consumer ombudsman can take the matter to court on behalf of customers if enough of them indicate that they are dissatisfied with the terms of their agreements and would like to change them. Class action legislation does not define the number of plaintiffs required for a class action lawsuit.
 One month to gather plaintiffs
 The authority said that it is taking the matter to court based on the number of people who come forward within one month to say that they are dissatisfied with their current payday loans. The lawsuit could focus on either one of the companies and any collectors to whom bad debts were sold could also find themselves embroiled in the case.
 If the payday firms bow to the ombudsman’s first demand, consumers will only have to pay back the capital that they borrowed, without interest or other costs. However if the parties don’t reach an out-of-court settlement, and the ombudsman and other plaintiffs win the lawsuit, consumers will have to pay the equivalent of a maximum 50 percent of the real annual interest rate on their loans.
 The case will lower costs that plaintiffs pay on their loans by hundreds of euros. Officials do not know how many people have borrowed money from the firms named in the suit. It is also unclear how much consumers in Finland have borrowed from payday firms overall, a situation confirmed by analysis conducted this autumn by the authority.
 A spring review by Finnish banks indicated that consumers had drawn down around 660 million euros in quick loans in 2017. However they accounted for only a small portion of the rapidly-growing consumer debt stock.
 Legal reforms aim to protect consumers
 The authority pointed out that there have been dozens of operators similar to the two firms it identified offering credit at exorbitant interest rates, although there were variations in their loan terms and conditions.
 Finland first introduced the option of class action lawsuits about 10 years ago. Last week the government tabled a proposal to allow consumer protection officials to address extortionate interest rates by imposing substantial financial penalties against offenders. Authorities hope such sanctions would persuade the industry to comply with consumer protection laws in a business that the Bank of Finland has described as very profitable.
 Legislative reforms designed to afford consumers greater protection came into force this autumn. The changes mean that new consumer loans – including payday loans – cannot charge more than 20 percent interest and loan administration fees have also been capped. In addition, firms that do not comply with  the interest rate ceiling  will no longer be allowed to charge interest or any other fees.
 Before the reforms took effect, interest rates were only regulated on loans with a value of less than 2,000 euros. As a result, loan firms have been offering credit valued at 2,000 euros and above with real annual interest rates of over 1,000 percent annually.

Finland’s consumer watchdog mulls class action suit against payday loan firms


Summary: Police are under fire for delays of up to two years in handling complaints involving minors.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman has criticised police in the northern city of Oulu for delays in investigating criminal complaints involving minors as plaintiffs or suspects.
 By law, a preliminary investigation must be carried out on an urgent basis regarding any suspected crime involving anyone under the age of 15. The Parliamentary Ombudsman is responsible for the oversight of legality in the country.
 Parliamentary Ombudsman  Petri Jääskeläinen  urged the police department to look into delays in such cases. He was responding to complaints filed with his office regarding two cases. In one, both the suspect and plaintiff were 14 years old, while in the second a school assistant was suspected of assaulting an eight-year-old.
 In the first case the plaintiff was not interviewed until nine months after the alleged crime, and the suspect a year and a half after the complaint was filed. In the second case, the preliminary investigation lasted more than two years.
 "Extremely difficult working situation"
 According to Jääskeläinen, neither of the preliminary investigations was wide-ranging or difficult to resolve. Rather the delays stemmed from "an extremely difficult working situation" at the Oulu Police Department, as determined by an inspection carried out by the Ombudsman's office last spring.
 Juha Haapamäki , a senior legal advisor at the Ombudsman's office, says that the situations were a result of the police department's prioritisation of its operations.
 "The Oulu Police Department has launched corrective measures and increased staffing on the investigative side," he told Yle.
 The National Police Board will carry out an inspection of the Oulu Police Department next month, which will include discussion of processing times for preliminary investigations involving minors.
 Oulu Police did not respond to an Yle request to comment on the Ombudsman's statement.

Oulu police rebuked for slow handling of cases involving minors


Summary: As one of the bloc's wealthier member states, Finland has been a net payer into the EU since 2001.

Last year EU membership cost Finland about 105 euros per capita. The country paid 580 million euros more into the EU budget than it received out of it in direct compensations.
 As one of the bloc's more affluent member states, Finland has been a net payer into the EU since 2001, six years after it joined.
 According to figures released by the Finnish Finance Ministry on Wednesday, net payment into EU coffers per Finn came to 105 euros last year, up from 50 euros in 2017.
 That year the nation made net payments of 275 million euros to the bloc. However the ministry notes that the 2017 figure was historically low, and that last year's payments marked a return to around the long-term average.
 Last year's payments corresponded to a quarter of a percent of Finland's GDP, whereas 2017 the figure was 0.12 percent.
 Sixth-highest net contributions per person
 Ministry officials say that EU membership generates considerable benefits that cannot be calculated in terms of absolute euros.
 "As a rich EU country, Finland is clearly a net payer. However according to recent studies, EU membership has benefited Finland in many different ways. It has supported economic growth, creating thousands of new jobs. Foreign trade has grown thanks to the expanded internal markets, which have enabled specialisation, spurred competition and improved productivity," Senior Ministerial Adviser  Panu Kukkonen  said in a statement.
 Last year Finland's payments of just over two billion euros accounted for 1.65 percent of the whole EU budget, while it claimed 1.13 percent of payments to member states.
 Last year Denmark was the biggest per-capita net contributor to the EU, with the average citizen paying 207 euros, or nearly twice as much as the average Finn. It was followed by Germany (€162), Austria (€152), then Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland.
 The largest per-capita net beneficiaries were Lithuania (€609), Hungary (€533) and Latvia (€503), the ministry said.

Finland’s per-capita net payments to EU nearly doubled last year to €105


Summary: Reports of trouble accessing pharmaceuticals have grown tenfold in less than a decade.

Lääkealan turvallisuus- ja kehittämiskeskus

Problems with the accessibility and availability of pharmaceuticals have increased in recent years, according to Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea.
 In 2011 less than 100 reports of poor medicine availability were filed. Last year a total of 1,213 reports were filed. Fimea is dealing with 867 unresolved availability tickets at time of writing, out of a total of 1,366 reports since January.
 The growth rate of the problems is very rapid, though senior Fimea pharmaceutical inspector  Johanna Linnolahti  said that year-on-year comparisons should take into account the fact that Fimea began receiving availability reports based on packaging size in early October.
 In the past individual reports also included a lack of availability for a drug in all of its package sizes, making it difficult to narrow down batches.
 Fimea announced it would launch a search engine for the availability disruptions of medicines next year. Linnolahti expects that distribution problems will continue to increase.
 "More reports have already come in this year compared to all of 2018. It looks like the problems aren't going away," she said.
 Problems with the availability of a breast cancer medication called letrozole caused alarm earlier in the autumn. The situation improved in late September, and Fimea announced on Wednesday that the amount of medicine available now once again meets the needs of breast cancer patients.

Drug availability problems still on the rise


Summary: This weekend's storm will mark the end of autumn in Finland, predicts Yle meteorologist Kerttu Kotakorpi.

This week is the last chance to enjoy the autumn foliage, as cold wintry weather are in store next week, says Yle meteorologist  Kerttu Kotakorpi .
 Ushering in the change of season will be a storm this weekend, packing gusty winds that may topple trees and disrupt transport.
 After a relatively mild autumn, temperatures are set to plunge by around 10 degrees Celsius in many areas this weekend.
 That will bring readings around the freezing point in southern Finland, and well below zero in the rest of the country.
 Northern Finland may get 20-30 cm of snow on Saturday.
 Autumn colours near Saana Fell in Kilpisjärvi, Finnish Lapland. Ismo Pekkarinen / AOP
 "Autumn has been beautiful this year, but it will be over soon," says Kotakorpi.
 She recommends that motorists switch to winter tyres by early next week, if temperatures drop as expected.
 The  Finnish Road Safety Council  notes that by law studded winter tyres may be used beginning on 1 November, but may be used earlier if required by road conditions. Winter tyres are required from 1 December until the end of February.
 Potential wind hazard in western Finland
 No significant snow is in the forecast for southern and central Finland just yet, but high winds are forecast for this weekend. At this point, a large low-pressure area is on track to move across Finland on Friday night and early Saturday.
 The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has issued  severe wind warnings  for land areas in Satakunta, Pirkanmaa and parts of Ostrobothnia from Friday evening until Saturday morning.
 It predicts strong southwesterly winds with gusts of more than 20 metres per second, potentially causing "wind damage in numerous areas...a need for significant debris clearance, long-lasting electricity outages and disruptions in telecommunication networks".
 In northern Finland, the FMI warns of poor road conditions due to snow on Friday afternoon and overnight.
 Those considering nautical trips this weekend should be aware there is a warning potentially dangerous gale-force winds with significant wave height exceeding 2.5 meters on most sea areas on Friday and into Saturday.

Meteorologist urges switch to winter tyres as cold weather blows in


Summary: State alcohol monopoly retailer Alko has organised up to 200 of the wine sampling sessions annually.

State-owned alcohol monopoly retailer Alko has indefinitely suspended its public wine tasting courses. The decision follows a probe into the sessions by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, Valvira, earlier this autumn.
 Etiketti is an Alko club that offers paying members the opportunity to learn about fine wines. According to restaurant industry publication Viisi Tähteä (Five Stars), Alko organises as many as 200 sessions annually.
 In September Alko announced that it would temporarily suspend the events until the end of October, when Valvira indicated it wanted to test the practice against the provisions of alcohol legislation.
 On Wednesday, the state monopoly retailer said that with the entry into force of new alcohol legislation, it would have to review practices related to the tasting sessions jointly with the authorities and that it would no longer host the events.
 Grog should first be purchased from Alko
 Alko said that its beverage tasting events are based on its statutory retail rights and the fact that course participants have a right to sample the liquor featured in its events.
 However according to the new legislation, Alko cannot transport alcoholic beverages to the training events. Rather, participants must purchase them from Alko outlets.
 Alko has said that this method would be impractical to implement.
 The Etiketti events date back to 1998, when it was introduced as a result of consumer demand. Last year roughly 4,400 people participated in the wine tasting sessions.
 Alko offered samples without a bar licence
 Alko first came under the health watchdog’s scrutiny earlier this autumn when Viisi Tähteä reported on a private wine expert who was organising paid tasting sessions. The publication said at the time that police suspected the entrepreneur of violating alcohol laws for not acquiring a bar licence for the events.
 The publication also said that it had reached out to Alko and Valvira to determine if there was any similarity with Alko’s events.
 The query revealed that Alko’s practice of organising wine tasting courses at different outlets was an infringement of regulations governing the retail sale of alcohol.

Alko runs afoul of law, ends wine tasting courses


Summary: Newspapers on Thursday chew over a political poll, suspicious-sounding salesmen and how to fight food waste.

Helsingin Sanomat  publishes  the latest iteration of its party support polling on Thursday, with the Finns Party still in first position with 20.5 percent of respondents saying they’d vote for the party.
 The party is up 0.7 of a percentage point on the last monthly poll HS conducted, although the difference remains within the poll’s 2.1 percentage point margin of error.
 The Centre Party, meanwhile, has seen only a small shift in its support numbers since Katri Kulmuni  took over as leader  in September, with this month’s number up 0.3 of a percentage point.
 The combined total of support for parties in  Antti Rinne’s  government now stands at some 55.6 percent, down 0.4 percent since last month.
 Pori problem
 Finnish is a notoriously difficult language to learn as a foreigner, but surely it must be easier if you’re born and raised in the country? Not necessarily, as one case covered in Ilta-Sanomat  reveals .
 The tabloid reports on a mysterious case in Kangasniemi, North Savo, where people reported suspicious-sounding men in a white van.
 Rumours spread on Facebook that the men’s Finnish sounded so strange they must have foreign roots, and the police eventually investigated.
 It turned out the men had indeed come a long way--all the way from Pori on the west coast.
 The strong Pori accent had so confused many locals they were apparently unable to decipher what was going on, but IS tracked down some satisfied customers who reported that the men were only selling meat, cheese and preserved vegetables.
 The pulled pork was delicious, reported the Kangasniemi locals, but the 6.7 kilo packs were perhaps a little too big for their small household.
 Food waste on agenda
 Buffet breakfasts caused a stir on social media this week after a chef at a hotel in Ikaalinen  posted pictures  of the food left over after hungry visitors turned out not to be quite as hungry as they thought.
 Some 43 kilos of food were left over after breakfast, and the pictures caused a storm on social media. Yle and other media including Ilta-Sanomat  reported  the pictures, and outrage duly followed.
 One possible solution did emerge, however: charging customers for their leftovers. Sprinter Noora Toivo  suggested  on Twitter that a British innovation of weighing the leftover food and charging people for leaving it could nip the problem in the bud.
 If things don’t change soon, that might help people estimate their appetites more realistically.

Thursday's papers: Poll numbers, Pori suspicions and food waste


Summary: Next year Finland will host an exhibition of works from Vincent van Gogh.

Kulttuuri- ja taidetapahtumat ja -näyttelyt

Länsimaiset taidesuuntaukset ennen 1900-lukua

Museot, näyttelyt sekä historiallisten paikkojen ja rakennusten suojelu

After years of waiting to sign the contract to borrow them, Didrichsen Museum in Helsinki will next year host an exhibition of works by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh.
 It is the museum's 'most costly' exhibition ever, according to Maria Didrichsen, but she did not expand on how much the museum paid.
 "I can only say that this is our biggest investment ever," said Didrichsen.
 Van Gogh works have been on show in Finland before, but next autumn’s exhibition will be the first van Gogh-specific exhibition featuring a broad range of his output.
 The museum has been working to secure the loans for six years, once they identified the Kröller-Müller museum in Holland as their preferred partner. The Dutch institution has the world’s second-largest collection of van Gogh’s art.
 Story continues after picture
 This self-portrait will be in Helsinki in 2020. Didrichsenin taidemuseo
 "The works are constantly in demand all over the world," said Didrichsen. "Museums of course want to put on show their own rare works, so we had to wait for quite a few years before we got the art."
 Among other considerations, the Didrichsen Museum had to agree strict security arrangements with the works' owners before the contract was agreed.
 Mainly sketches on show
 The works heading to Helsinki will try to show how van Gogh became an artist, as well as displaying some of his lesser-known works.
 Those looking for his world-famous sunflower paintings will be disappointed. The Finnish exhibition will comprise 39 sketches and two oil paintings.
 The artist's self-portrait, on the other hand, will be coming to Finland.
 "The show is mainly based on sketches," said Didrichsen. "Many of them are quite large. This is a chance to see the artist’s handiwork up close."
 The only van Gogh currently in Finland is owned by the Ateneum Museum, and is named ' Street, Auvers-sur Oise '.
 The van Gogh exhibition opens at the Didrichsen Art Museum on 5 September 2020.

First-ever van Gogh exhibition planned for Finland


Summary: The network company also said it aims to increase its cash reserves and to boost its enterprise and software divisions.

Finnish mobile networking firm Nokia is temporarily suspending dividend payouts to investors for the third and fourth quarters of 2018, the company announced on Thursday.
 The firm said Nokia's board decided not to pay dividends in order to boost investments in its next-generation 5G cellular networks, to continue investment in its enterprise and software divisions and to boost its cash position.
 Nokia began distributing dividends on a quarterly basis in 2018.
 The firm made the announcement in its third quarter report, which lowered its financial outlooks for this and next year. However, Nokia CEO  Rajeev Suri , said the company had a "solid third quarter," citing strong performance in its enterprise, software and IP divisions, adding that the firm had also made "good progress" in meeting its  cost reduction goals  this year.
 The company announced that its available cash had decreased by about 150 million euros during the third quarter (July-September), and said it expected to see an 8.5 percent decrease in net sales this year, a downgrade from previous estimates.
 5G networks begin to emerge
 Suri said Nokia had launched 15 5G live networks with various mobile operators around the world, including in the US, Italy, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
 "Many of our businesses are performing well and we expect Q4 to be strong, with a robust operating margin and an increase in net cash of approximately 1.2 billion euros. At the same time, some of the risks that we flagged previously related to the initial phase of 5G are now materializing," Suri said in a statement issued Thursday.
 The CEO said the firm's third quarter had been hit by high costs of rolling out the first generation of 5G products, "profitability challenges in China," uncertainty surrounding operator mergers in North American markets and "pricing pressure in early 5G deals."
 "We expect that we will be able to progressively mitigate these issues over the course of next year. To do so, we will increase investment in 5G in order to accelerate product roadmaps and product cost reductions, and in the digitalization of internal processes to improve overall productivity," Suri said.

Nokia suspends dividend payouts to boost 5G development


Summary: Incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish PM Antti Rinne discussed Brexit in Helsinki.

Brexit was high on the agenda as incoming European Commission head  Ursula von der Leyen  held talks with Finland's Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  in Helsinki on Thursday.
 Von der Leyen said London must propose a candidate for a seat in the next European Commission if it stays in the EU after October 31. That could further delay the inauguration of her executive, which was supposed to take office just over a week from now.
 It remains unclear just when Britain would leave the EU. Last weekend Prime Minister Boris Johnson reluctantly asked for a three-month extension of the 31 October deadline.
 Although Finland now chairs the European Council, Rinne said he had not yet directly discussed a possible Brexit extension with Council President  Donald Tusk .
 Asked if another EU summit in Brussels will be necessary to decide on the issue, Rinne said he believed a decision could be reached through a written procedure.
 "If the extension means that we can avoid a hard Brexit, it suits me," said Rinne, adding that "a majority or maybe all member states are behind an extension".
 At least three commissioners still missing
 The inauguration of the new Commission, which was to take place on 1 November, will also likely be delayed.
 It is now expected to begin its five-year term a month later. The executive is still missing commissioners from France, Hungary, Romania – and possibly the UK.
 While the final line-up is not yet certain, von der Leyen said "it is already clear that this Commission will include the largest proportion of women ever".
 Another piece appeared to fall into place earlier on Thursday as President  Emmanuel Macron  named a new French candidate for a major Commission portfolio covering industrial policy, defence spending, high-tech and space.
 Macron proposed former economy minister  Thierry Breton  to replace previous French candidate  Sylvie Goulard , who was rejected by the European Parliament. In a statement, Macron indicated that von der Leyen had already approved Breton as the new candidate.
 With the long-term European budget framework looming as the Commission's biggest challenge besides Brexit, von der Leyen said that "the European Green Deal is priority number one, along with digitalisation".
 She said the Commission will work to advance green financing and other measures to show that "climate-neutral production is possible in a fair way".
 Climate talks in Sweden next week
 The climate crisis will also top the agenda in Stockholm next week. Additionally on Thursday, the government announced that Rinne will lead a ministerial delegation to the Nordic Council meeting that begins there on Tuesday.
 Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  and four other cabinet ministers will accompany the PM for two days of talks in the Swedish capital, where the main theme will be efforts to slow climate change.
 Meanwhile Rinne also announced that the five government parties will convene for a conference on the same theme in January.
 The centre-left government has placed the climate as a key priority for both its legislative term and for Finland's six-month presidency of the European Council, which wraps up in just over two months from now – but environmental groups say there has so far been little concrete progress on either agenda.
 11:20 Corrected spelling of name in headline

Von der Leyen: UK must pick new Commissioner if it remains in EU after October


Summary: Helsinki Region Transport wants to entice people in outer suburbs to switch from cars to mass transit.

Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) plans to lower train and bus fares for residents of outer suburbs to encourage them to opt for public transportation instead of driving.
 The price cut would take effect at the beginning of next year. It must still be approved by the HSL board.
 "We particularly want to encourage those making long journeys to use public transport, as switching from driving to mass transit for three- and four-zone trips is most beneficial in terms of meeting emissions reduction targets and smooth functioning of the transportation system," CEO  Suvi Rihtniemi  said in an HSL statement. Meanwhile the government intends to introduce  congestion fees  for motorists driving into Helsinki.
 Revenues exceed expectations
 The authority says that it can afford to trim prices because ticket sales have been better than expected lately.
 HSL is a joint local authority that includes the capital and eight surrounding municipalities, making up roughly a third of the Uusimaa region. As of this year, HSL has divided the region into four zones, designated A to D based on their distance from central Helsinki and cutting across municipal boundaries.
 Under the proposal, prices would drop by 2.4 percent for tickets categorised as ABC, BCD, CD and ABCD.
 Zone C includes parts of Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, as well as the easternmost corner of Helsinki. Zone D encompasses Kerava, Sipoo and Tuusula to the east, plus Kirkkonummi and Siuntio to the west.
 HSL says the biggest benefit would be to those living in the C and D zones. There would be no change to the cost of AB, BC or internal D tickets. The price cut would not apparently affect tickets for any tram, Metro or ferry routes.
 The HSL board is to make a final decision on the fare cut next Tuesday.

HSL aims to lower fares for long-distance commuters


Summary: The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman wants the right to help people who suspect bias in employment, but reform is slow.

Finland's Non-Discrimination Act may seem complicated because the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman only has a mandate to promote equality in employment but the office does not have the authority to intervene in individual cases of discrimination. In the current system, it's the  occupational health and safety authorities that can examine individual cases  of suspected bias. That's according to  Michaela Moua , a senior officer from the ombudsman's office who spoke with APN on Thursday.
 "The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman has for quite some time now stated that the Non-Discrimination Act should be changed or the mandate should be changed to where we would also have 100 percent of the mandate of [overseeing] employment. Meaning that we would also look into individual cases of discrimination," she said.
 Moua added that an expanded mandate would increase the judicial rights of individuals and ensure that the ombudsman's office is a low-threshold authority that people can call when they experience discrimination.
 She pointed out that Finland appears to be an outlier in Europe in terms of how it has implemented EU directives on non-discrimination, adding that typically equality bodies in Europe have the full mandate to both promote non-discrimination and to act when people report suspected cases of unequal treatment in employment situations.
 "We are definitely in the minority when it comes to not having the full mandate for employment life," she commented.
 "Shift in understanding" needed
 Discrimination in working life happens not only  during the hiring process . It can also be in relation to pay, career advancement or even if an employee becomes pregnant. Whatever the circumstances, bias in recruitment can be difficult to prove, because employers are not bound to provide specific reasons why a candidate was or was not hired.
 Moua said that one way to address suspected recruitment discrimination would be to require employers to inform applicants of the grounds for non-selection. She added that tactics such as anonymous recruitment and employment quotas would help bring fairness to recruitment processes, but said that ultimately, they are just band-aids.
 She called for a fundamental "shift in understanding" about the issue and said that people and firms need to trust research that shows the value that diversity can bring, in terms of efficiency, success and profitability:
 "I feel like the organisations who have understood this and are already trying to ensure they have diverse people working for their organisations are the ones who are already doing well and the ones who are refusing to get on board are the ones who will fall short," she declared.
 Join the conversation
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 The All Points North podcast is a weekly look at what's going on in Finland. Subscribe via  iTunes  (and leave a review!), listen  on Spotify  and  Yle Areena  or find it on your favourite podcatching app or via our  RSS feed .
 This week's show was presented by  Ronan Browne.  Reporters were  Egan Richardson  and  Denise Wall  and Denise also produced the show. Our sound designer and audio engineer was  Laura Koso.

APN #65: Who do you call when you suspect biased hiring practices?


Summary: The majority-state-owned former Talvivaara mine is turning a profit after years of losses and environmental disasters.

Kulta ja arvometallit sekä niiden louhinta

Metals company Terrafame announced record-high turnover and profits during the third quarter of this year, making up for losses earlier in 2018.
 The firm produces nickel, zinc, cobalt and copper, and plans to open a facility producing chemicals for electric car batteries in 2021.
 Terrafame was set up four years ago to take over the Talvivaara mining operation in Sotkamo, near Kajaani after a series of  environmental disasters . The wholly state-owned Finnish Minerals Group owns 77 percent of Terrafame. The name is Latin for "Land of Hunger" ("Nälkämaa"), a traditional name for the hardscrabble Kainuu region.
 Profits from July through September rose to 19.6 million euros, more than four times as large as the 4.7 million euros reaped during the same period of last year. Turnover was up more modestly, by about one fifth to over 100 million euros.
 EVs spur global rise in nickel sales
 Terrafame CEO  Joni Lukkaroinen  concedes that the rise in profits was mainly due to external factors, noting that the price of nickel in US dollars increased sharply in the third quarter, partly based on rising demand for nickel in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The average price was 17 percent higher than in the corresponding period in 2018 and nearly 27 percent higher than this past spring.
 "Supported by good production levels and the rise in the price of nickel in July–September 2019, the net sales in Q3 hit a record 102.4 million euros. The net sales in Q3 were nearly enough to compensate for the decrease in net sales in the first half of the year," Lukkaroinen said in a statement, calling it "an excellent result for an individual quarter".
 Lukkaroinen says that the firm's key strategic goal is to be one of the world’s most cost-effective nickel producers.
 Last autumn, the firm decided to build a battery chemicals plant, due to begin operations in 2021.
 According to Lukkaroinen, construction work on the first production buildings is "proceeding well".
 "Our new plant will be one of world’s largest production units for nickel and cobalt sulphates that are used in EV batteries," he said. The company applied for an environmental permit for the new facility last April with the Northern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency, which has been involved in tracking the environmental damage caused by Terrafame's predecessor, Talvivaara.
 Last year former Talvivaara CEO  Pekka Perä  was found  guilty of aggravated environmental degradation  following a series of major toxic leaks between 2006 and 2013. Two other former Talvivaara executives were also convicted of environmental crimes.

Terrafame quadruples profit, moves into car battery business


Summary: The newspapers in Finland cover a new biography of the Prime Minister, problems for Nokia and a reputation problem for Helsinki.

Prime Minister  Antti Rinne’s  sartorial habits, health, policy opinions and backroom manoeuvres are all in the news this week after a new authorised biography was published.
 The book is by journalists  Lauri Nurmi  and  Matti Mörttinen  and covers  Rinne’s journey  to lead the government from childhood to the present day.
 One  story to emerge  is that Rinne is positive about allowing Muslim congregations the same right to tax their members as Finland’s established religious denominations, as they have raised the issue in discussions with him.
 "It shows that they want to integrate into society by themselves gathering resources to fund their operations," said Rinne in the book, adding that such a model could also prevent foreign funding of Islamic communities in Finland.
 Helsingin Sanomat  reports  that the book also notes that while he was recovering from pneumonia and a heart attack earlier this year, Rinne asked an advisor if he might attend election debates in a wheelchair as former US President Woodrow Wilson did.
 "Antti, you are not Wilson," he was told, and given a deadline to recover or the party would need to choose a successor to fight  April’s election .
 That ultimatum gave him additional motivation to recover, according to the book, and he was better in time to fight and  win the election .
 Ilta-Sanomat also has  a story  on his habit of buying his suits from fairly downmarket outlets near his home in the Päijät-Häme region, right up until he was Prime Minister and got marched to a swankier Helsinki outlet to purchase five near-identical blue suits and one black one.
 "When I have clothes I like, I keep them so long they wear out," said Rinne.
 Nokia shares tumble
 It was a  bad day for Nokia on Thursday , as they announced their third quarter results and said that they would not be paying a dividend this - or next - quarter.
 The company’s share price tumbled on the Helsinki stock exchange, and that prompted Taloussanomat to  wonder  how much money individual, well-known shareholders had lost on what the paper termed 'Black Thursday'.
 Nokia is of course a very popular share in Finland that enriched large numbers of people in the 1990s, so the paper’s list of MPs and celebrities is pretty long.
 Some suggest that the price has fallen so it might be time for (other people) to buy the stock, but it remains to be seen if that will happen.
 Business daily Kauppalehti took a  different tack , wondering just how the company could have done so badly. The paper suggests that somebody might be willing to supply 5g networks at any price, undercutting Nokia and Swedish rival Ericsson.
 That only leaves one company in the same market who might be the lower-cost provider: Chinese state-owned Huawei.
 How dull is Helsinki?
 Ilta-Sanomat  picks up a story  from Russian outlet Ria Novosti detailing the results of a poll of Russian tourists.
 The somewhat surprising result? Helsinki is the dullest town in Europe, according to 30 percent of respondents.
 The biggest problems for the Finnish capital were the weather and the lack of sights to see, according to the pollsters.
 In second spot was Bratislava, and the third snoozefest vacation spot was the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary.
 IS notes that the provocative results did draw a reaction on social media from Saint Petersburg residents, who share a very similar climate at least with Helsinki.
 “It’s not boring, just peaceful,” said one quoted in IS.

Friday’s papers: Rinne revelations, Nokia nosedive, and the dullest town in Europe


Summary: Most of the initiative's supporters came forward at the last minute.

A citizens' initiative calling for the decriminalisation of cannabis use is headed to parliament for consideration by MPs.
 The initiative received the required 50,000 signatures on Thursday evening, which means the document can now be handed to Finnish MPs for consideration.
 The initiative calls for the decriminalisation of possession, use and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis.
 Most of the support came in the final days of the initiative, which was started at the beginning of May. At the beginning of October the initiative had less than half of the needed signatures, but support surged over the past week in the run-up to the initiative's deadline, 1 November.
 The main sponsor of the initiative, activist  Janne Karvinen , said he was not surprised about the last-minute boost in support.
 "People usually leave things to the last minute. We've been promoting this recently and getting our message out on social media. There's certainly more than 50,000 - or even more than 100,000 - people in Finland who support this issue," Karvinen told Yle on Wednesday evening as the initiative still only had garnered around 41,000 signatures.
 Karvinen said decriminalising cannabis is warranted because prohibition of the drug hasn't worked.
 "Primarily, punishing [the use of cannabis] does more harm than good. It promotes social exclusion and [convictions for cannabis possession] can hinder a person's access to jobs or study spots," he explained.
 Changing attitudes
 Oulu-based newspaper Kaleva  reported  in July that people convicted of minor drug offences are barred from the ability to study or work across more than 60 sectors. According to the paper, the chief physician of substance abuse centre A-Clinic as well as a research professor from the National Institute for Health and Welfare both suggested that the country should decriminalise drug use.
 Earlier this month Finland’s Supreme Court ruled that motorists will likely  not be charged  for driving under the influence days after using cannabis.
 Karvinen said he thinks it is possible that Finnish Parliament would pass the measures called for in the citizens' initiative.
 "I believe that MPs do not want to oppose the benefits [decriminalisation] would bring," he said, noting that Prime Minister's government programme also mentioned substance abuse policy reforms.
 Several European countries have already decriminalised cannabis use and it is legal in many states in the US. On Thursday, one of the Democratic front-runners in the US Presidential race, Senator Bernie Sanders, unveiled his own plans to legalise cannabis nationwide, calling for an end to the "destructive war on drugs."
 Canada legalised the use, possession and cultivation of cannabis last year
 However a Finnish researcher on drug policy from the University of Lapland, Mika Luoma-aho, said he thinks Finnish lawmakers will reject the initiative.
 "I don't think Parliament is ready to accept it. But it will force a debate on the issue. I want to hear the discussion that quashes the initiative and then continue the dialogue on that basis," Luoma-aho said.

Finland's parliament to consider cannabis decriminalisation