Summary: Upgrades to Helsinki metro’s route management system will prevent it from running east of Lauttasaari over the weekend.

Eighty replacement buses will serve commuters as the Helsinki metro shuts down over the weekend for maintenance work to its inter-locking system. As a result, the metro won’t be operating during the weekend from Lauttasaari to the east.
 On Friday at 6pm the metro will stop running between Itäkeskus, Mellunmäki and Vuosaari stations. On Saturday and Sunday, the metro running east from Lauttasaari will be closed for upgrades.
 Replacement buses and trams ready
 ”The capacity is not quite on par with the metro, but the break is over the weekend when people likely have more choice regarding which form of transit they use and the route they take,” says  Petri Nissinen , public transport planner for the Helsinki Regional Transit Authority (HSL).
 The replacement buses will operate, depending on the time of day, every 5 to 10 minutes. Tickets for buses as well as trams should be purchased in advance.
 Back to normal on Monday
 The metro will operate normally again on Monday, 14 January.
 On Friday night the stretch from Itäkeskus to Mellunmäki metro station will be operated by bus 99MX and from Itäkeskus to Vuosaari station by bus 99VX, which will run from 5:30pm through midnight.
 On Saturday and Sunday, three bus lines will replace the metro: 99B, 99M, and 99V. The buses will stop at specially marked stops.
 In the city centre, tram 11 will replace the metro, running from Salmisaari to Paavalinkirkko church, serving all tram stops along the route.
 All of the replacement services schedules are available in the  HSL journey planner .
 New safety device will decrease traffic disturbances
 The new route management system tracks the location of metro trains.
 ”Passengers will be able to receive more accurate real-time information about metro trains and their exact location,” says  Artturi Lähdetie , a director at Helsinki City Transport.

100,000 travellers affected by weekend metro shutdown


Summary: The director of the highly-popular Helsinki attraction said that the museum's 2.5 million-euro loss was smaller than expected.

Kulttuuri- ja taidetapahtumat ja -näyttelyt

Museot, näyttelyt sekä historiallisten paikkojen ja rakennusten suojelu

Located in downtown Helsinki's Glass Palace ( Lasipalatsi ), the city's trendy new museum Amos Rex closed its first year of operations in the red -- to the tune of 2.5 million euros.
 The result is in spite of the sell-out popularity of a "totally immersive digital installation" by Japan-based art collective teamLab, which  drew long queues , including on the last day of the four-month exhibition on the Feast of the Epiphany, 6 January.
 The display itself attracted some 270,000 visitors and patrons reportedly waited in line for up to four hours for a chance to see the show.
 Director  Kai Kartio  said that the long queues and enthusiasm for the exhibition meant that the museum was able to record a smaller loss than expected in its first year of operation -- at 2.5 million euros instead of an anticipated three million euros.
 "Running an art museum is a special kind of business in the sense that is is very difficult -- in practice impossible -- to do it so that the result would be positive," Kartio said.
 Amos Rex is an annex of Helsinki's Amos Anderson Art Museum, Finland's largest privately-owned museum.
 Fixed costs, minors and museum cards
 The museum director attributed the loss-making outcome to fixed costs: premises and personnel, which he said were not covered by ticket sales, in spite of the popularity of the venue. Additionally, entry was free for minors and discounted for holders of museum cards.
 "Half of our paying customers had museum cards -- which is a great thing -- but compensation for the card doesn't come close to the full entry fee."
 Kartio noted that ticket sales still had the effect of reducing the loss the museum would have otherwise registered. However he said that the impact of the operation was seen in other ways.
 "It is an amazing feeling [to know] that we were able to provide people with this kind of experience. To know that what we do is so meaningful for our visitors. This is the reason we are here, it's our purpose," he concluded.

Helsinki's Amos Rex sees loss-making first year despite queues


Summary: As many as 5,000 books per day were checked out of Helsinki's Oodi library last month.

Workers at  Oodi, the country's newest  and very popular library in downtown Helsinki, have been unable to keep most of their books on the shelves because so many people are borrowing them.
 Around 66,000 books were borrowed from Oodi in December, but the library hadn't even officially opened until 5 December. Only about half of the borrowed items had been returned by the end of the month.
 Story continues after photo.
 Exterior of Library Oodi, (file). Antti Kolppo / Yle
 Now, roughly a month later, the library's bookshelves are largely bare, particularly in the children's literature section.
 Story continues after photo.
 Nearly-empty bookshelves at Library Oodi. Markku Pelkonen / Yle
 Like other libraries in Helsinki, Oodi is part of the capital region Helmet network, which includes libraries across the neighbouring cities of Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa.
 Jarko Jokinen , who's in charge of logistics at Helmet's centre in Helsinki's Pasila district, confirmed that Oodi is very popular.
 Story continues after photo.
 Worker processes books at Helmet library logistics centre in Helsinki. Markku Pelkonen / Yle
 He said that before Oodi opened, the centre processed about 15,000 borrowed books, CDs or other media from libraries across the region each day.
 Library patron  Matti Paso  said he visits Oodi quite a bit.
 "I live nearby; this is my reading corner. I come here many times a week," he said.
 The lack of available literature on the shelves likely won't curb visitor numbers, however.
 Story continues after photo.
 File photo. Henrietta Hassinen / Yle
 Unlike more traditional libraries, Oodi offers much more than the opportunity to borrow books.
 The sprawling facility in the city centre features things like 3D printing gear and sewing machines for creators, rehearsal rooms for musicians, a small cinema and spaces that can be reserved for a variety of uses. There's also a café as well as the possibility to try out VR technology.

Finland's flagship library so popular it's running out of books


Summary: The Agriculture Minister hopes the new official will be set up by next month and will be responsible for ensuring fair play in the local food industry.

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

Finland has established a new food market ombudsman's role. The position, an initiative of Agriculture Minister  Jari Leppä , formally came into being on 1 January. The ministry will begin advertising the new post this month with the hope of filling the position in February.
 The central role of the food market ombudsman will be to oversee the functioning of the domestic produce market and to ensure that players comply with good business practices.
 The ombudsman’s office will be supported with two staff members and will operate as part of the ministry’s Food Agency with an annual budget of 500,000 euros.
 Leppä noted that there is a serious imbalance in the local food chain, specifically pointing to the role of large groceries.
 "Stores are extremely strong players. This imbalance has resulted in unwholesome practices and we want to curb them," the minister added.
 A study published in December last year indicated that  retailers’ share of food prices has shrunk , while prices in the food processing industry have increased.
 However Leppä said that the research does not tell the whole truth about long-term developments in the sector.
 "The report was relatively narrow and does not reveal operations in the entire sector. The general trend has been for cash flows to go everywhere else but to farmers," he commented.
 Large chains have upper hand, minister says
 The minister said that he had been contacted on many occasions about unhealthy retailer practices. Citing a recent case that came to his attention, he claimed that producers were being held to ransom by large chains wanting to white-label products to be sold under their proprietary Pirkka (Kesko Group) and Rainbow (S-Group) brands.
 "When a store wants some version of a branded product made under its own label and if the producers don’t provide them as such, then no branded product will appear on the shelves," the minster stated.
 Leppä added that while this is not always the case, "there are many examples." The lobby group representing food retailers said that it is not familiar with the situation the minister described.
 "We have not encountered such a phenomenon. It doesn’t sound familiar," said Finnish Grocery Trade Association (PTY) CEO  Kari Luoto .
 Unnecessary, if not disruptive
 PTY said that the introduction of a food ombudsman will not change the industry since there is nothing wrong with current grocery practices. Rather, the group said that a new layer of oversight would be detrimental to the market.
 A new food market law introduced to regulate the work of the ombudsman calls for producers to have written agreements with all food processors and retailers.
 Luoto noted that producers do not want written agreements because of the red tape involved. He added that making them compulsory might jeopardise the status of small producers, although the goal is to strengthen their position.
 "Recent years have seen an increase in products from very small local food producers on store shelves. We now fear that bureaucracy will further complicate this relationship," he commented.
 The PTY said that the best way to resolve problems relating to grocers’ practices would be for a self-regulating industry body or board to rule on disputes. The new legislation requires the ombudsman to cooperate with the board and to request statements from it before making a decision on a case.
 The ombudsman can resolve disputes by way of negotiation and may also offer recommendations if needed as well as reprimands and public warnings. Ultimately, he or she may also send cases to the Market Court for resolution.
 A new provision also calls for the ombudsman to review agreements among food producers, processors and retailers, including prices and other terms and conditions agreed.
 "We know producer and consumer prices, but we don’t know what happens in the chain. That’s why the discussion has been a 'he-said, she-said debate'" Leppä noted.

Agri Minister: New food market ombudsman by February


Summary: Police in Finnish Lapland say that a Russian-registered car was passing a truck when it collided with another lorry.

Two people were killed and three others injured – two of them seriously – when a Russian car crashed into a postal lorry in Sodankylä on Monday morning.
 Story continues after map.
 The accident occurred near the Kakslauttanen holiday centre. Yle Uutisgrafiikka
 Police say that the two who died were the male driver of the car and a three-year-old child who was in the back seat. Both were foreign citizens.
 Three other people in the Russian vehicle were injured, two of them seriously.
 The Russian car was heading north when it struck a Posti truck head-on while attempting to pass another lorry, according to police.
 Story continues after photo.
 Cars were backed up for some 1.5km after the accident. Kaija Länsman / Yle
 At least some of the injured were taken to Oulu University Hospital, some 450 km to the south.
 The accident took place on the Ivalo road (Route 4) in north-eastern Finland, south of the Kakslauttanen resort, a popular tourist destination.
 Police say that the accident took place on a straight stretch of road with good visibility and normal winter driving conditions.
 Route 4 was closed until around 2pm, backing up traffic for about one-and-a-half kilometers. Two statements about the crash on the police website stated that the accident occurred at 13.30 (1.30pm). However local papers began reporting on the crash before 11am.
 Edited at 4:17 pm to reflect that three people were injured in the accident.

Driver and child killed in head-on crash near Lapland resort


Summary: Finland's main automotive sector group, the AKL, says that a target of nearly a half million fully electric cars on the country's roads by 2030 is unrealistic.

Car sales went well during the first half of 2018 in Finland, but came to a near-standstill toward the end of the year, says  Pekka Rissa , managing director of the Finnish Central Organisation for Motor Trades and Repairs (AKL).
 "Consumers were confused by the debate over car taxes as well as by statements in a Transport Ministry climate report, among other issues," he says.
 Adding to consumer confusion, says Rissa, was the adoption of the new  Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure  (WLTP) for measuring emissions.
 According to Statistics Finland, just over 6,000 new private cars were registered in December, down by nearly 24 percent from a year earlier.
 "Sales were still good in October, but in November and December consumers became cautious. The business hit a wall in early December," says  Miikka Mustonen , head of the Koillismaan Auto car dealership in Kuusamo, north-eastern Finland.
 Mustonen says that news of diesel cars being banned in some European cities spurred some customers to think again about buying one – as did last year's rise in the price of diesel to about the same level as that of standard petrol.
 In mid-December, a European court ruled that the EU’s decision to relax diesel emission rules two years earlier was illegal, upholding a complaint brought by the cities of Brussels, Madrid and Paris over pollution concerns. Meanwhile diesel sales have tanked in Germany as the vehicles have been banned from some cities and motorways following the emissions-fixing scandal involving several of the country's carmakers.
 'No need to ban diesels'
 "Many car buyers in Finland also decided to wait for  lower new-car taxes  that took effect at the beginning of this year," says Mustonen, adding that he expects this to be a good year for the auto trade.
 Rissa seeks to reassure prospective car buyers by arguing that a variety of engine technologies will still be in use in Finland around 2025-2030. He does not believe that there will be a rapid shift toward electric vehicles, as there has been in neighbouring Norway – where nearly a third of new cars are now fully electric.
 "There are low-emission petrol cars on the market, very low-emission diesels, but also an increasing number of plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars, which will begin to play a stronger role after 2025," Rissa predicts.
 "Drivers may be worried about the future value of a diesel car, for instance. A car bought now will be middle-aged in 2030 and will certainly retain its trade-in value," he claims.
 In Rissa's view, there is no need to ban diesel cars in Finland.
 "For instance, they can use  biodiesel , which is practically carbon-free," he suggests.
 Car dealer Mustonen is also trying to encourage potential diesel buyers.
 "Especially in areas like this with long distances, diesel will be a viable alternative for years to come. There will be plenty of fuel," Mustonen says.
 Koillismaan Auto customer  Tauno Koski  does not believe that maintenance of fully electric or even hybrid cars will be fully operational in the next few years.
 "And how does the hybrid and electric car battery technology work in northerly conditions? Not necessarily well," says Koski.
 Ministry report raises questions
 Rissa of the auto sector lobby notes that a Transport Ministry report released in September made people wonder about the future of driving. Entitled ' Carbon-free transport by 2045 – Paths to an emission-free future ,' the white paper laid out alternative scenarios aimed at eliminating transport emissions, including a transition to the use of electric cars and shared transport.
 Rissa, who takes a critical view of the report, points out that it is a working group's proposal rather than government policy. He asserts that a target of nearly half a million fully electric cars in Finland by 2030, as suggested in the report, is not realistic. Last year fewer than 1,000 new electric cars were sold in Finland, according to the Transport and Communications Agency Traficom (formerly Trafi).
 Yle, Reuters, Autotie

Car sales slumped in late 2018 amid concerns over diesel, climate report


Summary: Authorities have confirmed the deaths of three Finns and a Swede who disappeared five days ago while skiing in Norway's Tamok valley.

Police in northern Norway on Monday announced the names of three Finns and one Swede who died under an avalanche on 2 January. They also released photos of the three Finnish men, with permission from their families.
 The Finnish victims were Mikael Sten (29), Niklas Nyman (36) and André Stenfors (32). The Swedish victim was Disa Bäckström, 29. The Finns were from Swedish-speaking areas of Ostrobothnia, on the west coast.
 Story continues after photo
 Mikael Sten, Niklas Nyman and André Stenfors Politiet.no / Yle Uutisgrafiikka
 The four have been missing since last Wednesday, when there was a large avalanche close to the summit of Blåbærfjellet mountain, a 1442m peak in the Tamok valley.
 On Friday, a helicopter detected signals from two transmitters under the avalanche. Rescuers saw ski tracks heading into, but not back out of the avalanche area.
 Search efforts have been hampered by difficult, windy weather and avalanche risk, which continued on Monday.

Norwegian police release names of skiers killed by avalanche


Summary: Employment Minister Jari Lindström made the announcement at a Blue Reform party meeting on Monday.

Finland's Minister of Employment  Jari Lindström  has announced that he is running for a seat in the European Parliament.
 Lindström is also planning to run in this spring's domestic parliamentary election, which will be the first election for the relatively new Blue Reform party.
 The Blue Reform has profiled itself as being sceptical on issues surrounding immigration. The party has said that it wants to work towards increasing resources for police and how such funding would be best distributed.
 The party has also raised the issue of personal consumer debt and has proposed making it possible to erase people's first payment default notices after the debt is fully paid.
 The Blue Reform's party chair, Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports  Sampo Terho , said he is hopeful about the future.
 "I am certain that we will create a parliamentary group. It is realistic to think that we will be as big as the Swedish People's Party or the Christian Democrats," Terho said. Those parties have had support of around 3-5 percent each in recent months.
 The Blue Reform, part of PM  Juha Sipilä 's tripartite centre-right government, was established by around 20 former Finns Party members who  broke off in 2017 , keeping their positions in government.
 However, the party has not received much support from the public.
 According to Yle's most recent political party support survey, the Blue Reform had the support of  1.5 percent of voters .
 Before he was elected MP on the Finns Party ticket in 2011, the now 53-year-old Lindström has previously worked at a papermill and is also a trained lab technician.

Finland's employment minister announces European Parliament candidacy


Summary: Smart devices, over-stimulation, large class sizes and personnel shortages are some of the factors inhibiting kids from concentrating in school, teachers said.

More than 80 percent of teachers surveyed in an Yle poll say that they have seen a decline in their students’ ability to concentrate during the past five years.
 Many of the 400 upper and lower primary school teachers who responded to the survey attributed the loss of concentration skills to the excessive use of smart devices as well as a constant flood of stimulation.
 Some respondents also felt the ability to concentrate has been affected by overly-large class sizes, a scarcity of staff or the fact that students have to change classrooms and the increasing need for independent work.
 The survey was conducted for Yle by the teachers’ union OAJ and polled teachers across the country.
 Calming environment helps kids focus
 At the Puistopolku School in eastern Helsinki, some second-year students are learning in an environment designed to help them focus. Some of the classrooms have been designed based on a calming stress-free concept that incorporates elements such as wall-to-wall carpeting and acoustic panels that help dampen sound. This eliminates the sound of chairs scraping the floor and there is no echo. The lighting is also as close as possible to natural light.
 Teacher  Kirsi Lakaniemi  said she occasionally plays calming music on to help provide a relaxing atmosphere. “It helps them concentrate on quiet work,” Lakaniemi added.
 However she said that she encourages the kids to play during break time, when there may also be supervised activities.
 Practice makes perfect
 Neuropsychologist  Liisa Klenberg  said that children’s’ and adults’ behaviour has gradually changed. She noted that children are not getting a lot of practice in reacting quickly and also in doing many things simultaneously, as a result of environmental stimulants as well as fast-paced games. At the same time, she noted that the ability to focus has not disappeared.
 “Children’s’ ability to focus has not diminished at all. But it requires practice,” she pointed out, adding that the ability to concentrate is still an important skill.
 “If we can be good at rapid multitasking as well as focus long-term on things then out flexibility and possibility for action will increase,” she noted.
 The specialist listed five key tactics for helping children to settle down and concentrate. They include creating a calming environment, preparing youngsters in advance for periods of focused work, outlining a clear structure for a particular assignment, ensuring that kids get enough sleep, exercise and nutrition and helping them to focus by practising on small tasks.

Poll: Smartphones, large classes affecting school kids' ability to concentrate


Summary: MPs get back to work, a Finnish man faces charges for selling drugs on the Dark Web and Finnair announces flight cancellations due to blizzards.

Members of Finland's Parliament return to their duties on Tuesday, and  tabloid Ilta-Sanomat writes  that MPs will first tackle potential changes to the notice period for large political demonstrations.
 The main argument for  extending the minimum notice period  of organised protests from six hours to 24 hours is that police need enough time to assemble and safeguard the security of protesting citizens, said Minister of Justice  Antti Häkkänen .
 IS writes that the preliminary debate is meant to resolve which committee should handle the drafting of the bill.
 Government previously planned a three-day minimum notice period for large-scale demos, but scrapped the proposal after the Parliamentary ombudsman criticised the proposed time frame for being unnecessarily long. Even if Parliament approves the one-day change, smaller spontaneous demonstrations will still be allowed with less than a day's notice, IS writes.
 Another item still dangling on Parliament's to-do list is the social service and health care industry renovation, known as "sote". The Constitutional Law Committee continues its round of expert consultations on Tuesday, but no news is forthcoming yet on the committee's schedule or stance on the future of the nationwide reform, said the group's chair  Annika Lapintie .
 Webmaster's drug charges
 In a historic case in Finnish law, a Vantaa court on Tuesday begins hearing the case of a 45-year old man suspected of aggravated drug trafficking after maintaining a website in the off-the-grid Tor network that openly sold illegal narcotics.
 The case is the first one in Finland in which a court has brought drug trafficking charges against a website administrator.
 Local daily Aamulehti  writes that the man allegedly founded and maintained a clandestine website called Sipulikanava ("Onion channel") from 2014-2017, and trafficked illegal substances through the site.
 The Eastern Uusimaa District Court told AL that the accused has admitted to founding and maintaining the Dark Web page, but has denied the drug offense charges.
 Apart from being unique in its charges, the case is also unusually extensive, with a 17,000-page pretrial report and eight scheduled days of hearings, said prosecutor  Anna-Riikka Ruuth  in AL.
 "We need to determine if managing a website that users use to procure drugs is offense enough to warrant an aggravated drug charge," she said.
 Snow snarls runways and roads
 Meanwhile the weather is frightful in Southern Finland on Tuesday as daily  Helsingin Sanomat reports  that flag carrier Finnair has cancelled at least 14 flights due to severe snow conditions.
 A majority of the cancellations are domestic afternoon flights, with one Helsinki-Brussels connection also called off due to weather conditions slowing air traffic, Finnair announced.
 The Finnish Meteorological Institute also said in HS that driving conditions would also be poor in at least 11 regions in Satakunta, Central Finland and Southern Karelia.
 Some 10 cm of snow is expected across Finland on Tuesday and Wednesday, said meteorologist  Kaisa Solin .

Tuesday's papers: Parliament returns, Tor drug case begins, snow cancels flights


Summary: The Educa event organisers cancelled the attendance of the conservative "True Marriage" association, citing a value clash.

The Finnish Fair Corporation and the Trade Union of Education (OAJ) on Friday banned the Aito avioliitto association ("True Marriage") from participating in the annual Educa teachers' exposition in Helsinki.
 The reason for the group's cancelled attendance is the large number of complaints sent in by both OAJ members and other fair-goers.
 "Based on the extensive critique from members, active supporters and other attendees, it was clear that we had to rethink the situation," said OAJ chair  Olli Luukkainen  in a release. "We listened to the comments, assessed the scope of the event and concluded that Aito avioliitto ry will not attend the Educa fair."
 In 2016 the "True Marriage" bloc was removed from Helsinki's Book Fair because the organiser, the Finnish Fair Corporation, considered the association's behaviour to be inappropriate.
 The corporation along with OAJ said they wanted to ensure the success and equity of the Educa fair, which runs from 25 to 26 January. Luukkainen said that the teachers' union strives to create an atmosphere of parity and justice.
 "Tolerance, personal freedom and respecting human rights are part of the teacher's vocation as well as our event. These values are especially espoused as part of the official fair programme and in the platform the event offers various speakers."
 Luukkainen said that the "True Marriage" group was originally booked as an exhibitor at the fair, but that the association was never officially affiliated with the event programme.
 Heterocentric group defies curriculum
 The Aito avioliitto association defines its mission as promoting the status of heterosexual marriage and as ensuring that children grow up to be cis-gendered; that is, that boys should become men and girls should grow into women.
 However, Finland's latest national curriculum obliges schools to provide teaching without resorting to gender-based models. The comments received by OAJ about Aito avioliitto reflect many people's problems with this discrepancy.
 "The feedback has been overwhelmingly critical," said communications manager  Hanna Ottman  from OAJ. "The association's involvement was under discussion before the holidays, but at the time we did not object to their involvement."
 A total of 300 independent companies or associations are taking part in this year's Educa fair.
 Association cries foul
 Chair  Susanna Koivula  of the "True Marriage" association said she was disappointed with the fair organisers' decision to ban the group.
 "Aito avioliitto ry was already listed as an exhibitor and we had paid for our space," she told Yle via email.
 "We do not consider this decision to be in the spirit of equality, parity or tolerance."
 Koivula said she felt the Educa event fails to support a pluralism of values. She went on to wonder whether teachers, students or parents have the opportunity to express heterosexual norms.
 Koivula called it a shame that so-called "family-positive" values are not welcome at the Educa fair.

Anti-gay lobby group banned from teachers' expo after widespread critique


Summary: A government campaign warns Finnish voters of attempts to sway electoral trust online.

With two elections coming up this spring, Finland's government is launching a multimedia campaign to urge people to vote – and to identify and critically approach claims circulating on the internet.
 Parliamentary elections will be held on 14 April, and the European Parliament elections will take place 26 May. The campaign will broadcast over radio, TV and social media throughout the spring season leading up to the polls.
 "This is a wake-up call for citizens to be critical: whenever we come across information online, we should interpret it with a big grain of salt," said information chief  Jussi Toivanen  from the Prime Minister's Office.
 Toivanen said that people should think twice about sharing unverified content over the internet. 'Fake news' can be used to undermine elections and to erode trust in the political system, he explained.
 "It is often very difficult to determine who is behind such attempts to detrimentally affect society through false information."
 Toivanen said that the government campaign does not intend to curtail anybody's right to freedom of speech.
 "But freedom of speech is not unlimited. The thing to focus on is responsible speech: there are norms, laws and rules that should be followed when communicating with others. Hate speech, name-calling, slander and demonising groups of people are unacceptable forms of communication."

Government urges voters to avoid fake news ahead of springtime elections


Summary: Nordic telecoms firm Telia announced Tuesday it will stop offering landline services and plans to gradually convert wired subscriptions into mobile ones.

As making phone calls increasingly means using mobile devices and fast, wireless networks, old fashioned landlines will soon become a piece of history in Finland.
 Telia still maintains about 30,000 landline telephone subscriptions, a few thousand of which are used by private individuals.
 Affected customers will be contacted and offered alternatives to their hard-wired telephones, according to Telia's CTO  Jar Collin .
 "The number of landlines and customers who use the service has steadily decreased in recent years. Additionally, the technology behind landline telephones has become outdated," Collin said.
 Hard-wired phone lines currently account for just three percent of all telephone traffic in Finland.
 The number and duration of landline calls on Telia networks have declined by around 23 percent over the past decade, according to the company.

Telia cutting landline services in Finland


Summary: In the high season Lapland transports truckloads of mixed waste 800 kilometres across the border to Sweden for processing.

During the busy winter season the seasonal population in Kittilä quintuples and so does the trash left behind. Christmas wrapping paper, food packaging and biodegradable waste are usually thrown out unsorted.
 In the first week of January seven truckloads of mixed waste headed hundreds of kilometres south across the border to Sweden for incineration.
 ”Now the trash is going to Sundsvall, Sweden [800 km away] and next month we will transport it to Kiiruna, some 300 kilometres across the Swedish border. It travels quite a long way,”  Pertti Hettula  of Hettula Oy, a company collecting waste from Lapland’s holiday resorts in Levi and Ylläs, told Yle.
 Trash pick-up in Levi, Lapland. Annu Passoja / Yle
 With Oulu’s waste incineration plant too full to process any more trash, Lapland has no choice but to transport its waste to Sweden. Recycling would help minimise the heaps of mixed waste refuse, but collection points at ski resorts are few and far between.
 ”Tourists arrive by train, plane or bus, so they’re not going to take a taxi to recycle their garbage,” said waste entrepreneur Hettula.
 Tourists criticise poor recycling
 Trash bins in Levi's centre, built to resemble an idyllic chalet village, are overflowing, causing visitors to complain, according to  Yrjötapio Kivisaari  of Levi Tourist Office.
 With only four recycling points serving the entire Levi ski resort area, some municipal leaders and tourist operators worry that Lapland’s brand will suffer.
 ”One problem is that we have several companies collecting waste in the area. With so many actors, it is difficult to streamline collection,” said Kittilä’s Environmental Inspector  Piippa Wäli .
 Meanwhile Hettula said his waste management company will start picking up glass, metal, and possibly biowaste from Levi and Ylläs this year, provided resorts and cottage owners set up recycling bins.
 Lapland defends garbage burning
 Meanwhile Lapeco, a federation of Lapland municipalities, has two more years left on an agreement with Oulu’s waste incineration plant.
 ”The energy harnessed from the waste is 15-fold compared to the fuel spent transporting it to Oulu,” said Lapeco CEO  Osmo Aikio , though conceding that visitors' feedback is putting pressure on Lapland to improve its recycling capabilities.

Lapland struggles to contain growing garbage problem


Summary: Some areas in southern Finland could receive snow accumulations of more than 10 cm on Tuesday night.

Snow, freezing rain and cold temperatures in the south and southeast of Finland will make roads very slippery on Tuesday evening and Wednesday's morning commute.
 According to Yle meteorologist Matti Huutonen, driving conditions in the region will be bad or very bad due to the wintery mess.
 The southern snow will continue into Wednesday morning, which could cause problems for drivers.
 Daytime high temperatures will be below freezing on Wednesday in most southern areas. Around the southern coast it will be between zero and -4 degrees Celsius, and between zero and -2 degrees on the southwest coast.
 In southeast Finland, temperatures of -2 to -5 degrees are expected on Wednesday, while the high temperature in central areas will be around -6 degrees. It will be significantly colder farther north, in Finnish Lapland, which will feature temperatures ranging from -12 to -17 degrees Celsius.
 Chilling weather Thursday
 The southern half of the country will chill down quite a bit on Thursday, due to a low pressure system over Lapland, according to Huutonen.
 Daytime high temperatures of -8 degrees are expected in the south on Thursday, and around -10 degrees in central areas, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
 The far east of Finland will hover around -11 degrees.
 But up north in Finnish Lapland temperatures will likely get a bit milder on Thursday, compared to Wednesday's forecast, featuring daytime high temperatures between -7 to -11 degrees Celsius.

Tuesday night's snow and sleet may cause havoc on southern roads


Summary: School lunchrooms in Porvoo offer vegetarian options every day and, in a trial this spring, offer youngsters a vegan lunch once a week.

The city of Porvoo is trying to get young people to eat more vegetarian and vegan foods by offering them at schools and day care centres.
 Porvoo is a city and municipality on the southern coast of Finland, about 50 km east of Helsinki with a population of about 50,000. The city's food services chief  Harriet Ekholm  said mitigating global climate change is one of the chief reasons for encouraging young people to eat more vegetables, rather than meat.
 "The city of Porvoo's strategy includes taking climate change into consideration. Vegan food is a climate-smart alternative," Ekholm said.
 While schools and day care centres offer vegetarian meals every day, youngsters are able to decide for themselves whether they eat vegetarian or meat-based meals. Or they can eat both.
 "We hope that we can spark the students' interest and give them the courage to try [new] foods. If the vegetarian food is good, they can have another helping," she said.
 Story continues after photo.
 File photo of Ströhö school lunchroom in Porvoo. yle/Daniela Ilvonen
 Ekholm is about to retire from her job, but her incoming replacement  Sanna Nyman  said she thinks the vegetarian strategy is a good thing.
 "We're forerunners in Finland. It's good that Porvoo is taking a step forward with this [initiative]," Nyman said.
 Vegan debut
 A root vegetable soup was the first official vegan menu item at schools and day cares offered on Monday.
 "It's a soup that's been well-liked anyway. It gets eaten up. But the hummus which was served alongside it was a bit unusual [for the students]," Ekholm said, adding that it will likely take a few tries for youngsters to get used to the chick pea and ground sesame-based dip.
 So far, the planned vegan menus do not appear to involve any extra costs, according to Nyman.
 City schools and day care centres will be serving the once-a-week vegan options throughout the remainder of the school year. At the beginning of summer the city will decide whether to continue with the programme.

Porvoo schools trial vegan lunches once a week


Summary: Finland international Riku Riski has refused to join a training camp in Qatar citing ethical concerns.

A Finnish footballer has declined the opportunity to join a warm-weather training camp in Qatar because he is concerned about the host country’s human rights record.
 Riku Riski , an attacking midfielder who plays for HJK Helsinki, told Helsingin Sanomat that he felt he could not play in Qatar.
 "I got the call and after that I discussed the issue with the team’s fixer and head coach," HS quoted Riski as saying. "The reasons for my decision were ethical ones, and the values to which I want to stay true. In my opinion that was important."
 He added that the national team coach  Markku Kanerva  and the team’s fixer  Lennart Rangel  understood his decision, but disagreed with it.
 Qatar has been criticised for the way it uses migrant labour for construction projects, including the eight stadia expected to be built for the 2022 World Cup tournament.
 In September last year Amnesty  said  that the country’s 'kafala' system of permits for migrant workers left them beholden to unscrupulous employers who withheld wages, charged fees for placing workers and illegally retained workers' passports.
 NGOs have  criticised  Qatari authorities for failing to properly investigate and record the deaths of construction workers during the building of World Cup facilities.
 The Finnish FA faced a deluge of criticism over the training camp after news of Riski’s decision broke. The FA confirmed on Twitter that it paid all its expenses for the training camp, and was not subsidised by Qatar for the trip.
 Story continues after photo
 FA Chair Ari Lahti AOP
 FA chair  Ari Lahti , who also chairs Kuopio-based KuPS and led the ill-fated effort to bring the Guggenheim franchise to Finland, said he felt Riski’s decision was 'silly'.
 "It is of course his decision," Lahti added. "National team activities are voluntary, nobody can be compelled [to play]. But from an ethical perspective it feels strange that I am here with Nordic union leaders and football association chairs drawing attention to the same issue as Riku. In that sense Riku’s decision seems silly."
 Finland’s national team is in Qatar for warm weather training, taking a squad of players from clubs in Nordic leagues that are currently on a winter break. They beat Sweden 1-0 on Tuesday night thanks to a goal from  Eero Markkanen  and will play Estonia on Friday.
 Riski started out at TPS Turku and has previously represented Widzew Lodz in Poland, Rosenborg in Norway and IFK Gothenburg in Sweden, among others. He has 26 caps for Finland.

Finland football star cites ethical stand, refuses to play in Qatar


Summary: Weekend service breaks on the eastern end of the Helsinki metro, adult men seeking out minors on social apps and a city stymied by a homeless elder.

Metro services in eastern Helsinki  will grind to a halt for two days starting Friday  to facilitate the installation of interlocking systems, reports tabloid daily Iltalehti. The shutdown on the eastern portion of the line will last throughout the weekend and commuters will have to resort to using buses, the paper wrote. Helsinki Regional Transport HSL,  has warned commuters on its website  that they would need to exercise additional patience over the weekend and to prepare for delays.
 The service noted that replacement buses might be overcrowded as a result of the disruption, although it plans to provide extra bus services on certain routes. The upgrade work will disrupt services between Itäkeskus and Mellunmäki and Vuosaari from Friday evening, while the service break will be on a longer stretch from Lauttasaari to the eastern end of the line on Saturday and Sunday. Trains will continue to run westwards to Espoo, however.
 12-year-old received messages, shut down conversation
 Helsinki police are calling on parents  to monitor their children's online activity  to prevent them from becoming targets of sex crimes, according to Helsingin Sanomat. On Monday the department issued a warning on Facebook, telling parents that both boys and girls could be lured into performing sex acts by way of social apps and games.
 "At the moment the most current are WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Kik Messenger, but the world of social media changes rapidly," it said.
 Police cautioned that children might be cajoled into sexual intercourse or may be asked to provide explicit photos that might be later used for extortion. Police linked the warning to cases of suspected sexual abuse in the Oulu region, where  social media was believed to have played a role  in the alleged offences.
 HS noted that police receive hundreds of reports annually about suspected or attempted sex crimes involving minors targeted on social media. The paper cited the recent case of a Hyvinkää mother who learned last week that a strange man had struck up a WhatsApp conversation with her 12-year-old daughter, while another wrote to the child that he was "aroused".
 Still another, seemingly an adult, sent heart emojis and asked the girl whether they could get to know each other -- and requested she send selfies -- in poor Finnish. The mother learned of the messages from the parent of a friend to whom the 12-year-old had sent the messages. The girl had already terminated the conversations herself, however.
 Sleeping rough in Finland for 15 years
 Tampere-based daily Aamulehti runs the story of  city officials stymied by the case of rough sleeper  "Bag lady Leena" (Laukku Leena), who has been sleeping under the stars -- with only a tattered tarpaulin for shelter -- in the Jämsä municipality for a year.  Leena Kiviharju  told local reporters that she turned 71 on Monday and has been homeless in various parts of the country for some 15 years.
 While much has been written about Leena over the years, she rarely gives interviews and on at least two occasions social media declared her dead. In spite of her reticence, AL writes, Leena is well-known by police departments and rescue service officials throughout the country, since many concerned individuals have called in reports about her situation.
 Jämsä technical director  Tarja Kuisman  told the paper that the city had done everything in its power to help Leena, but she has steadfastly refused assistance. "The only thing that the city's amenities services can do is to expel her but it won't help at all. The problem will go to some other part of Jämsä or to another municipality. It would be pulling the blanket to the other end [of the bed]," she noted.
 Local police said that they cannot use coercive measures against someone who chooses to sleep rough. A meeting of local officials left the ball in the municipality's court and police said they could provide support to other authorities if their presence is required.

Wednesday's papers: Metro disruption, minors targeted on social apps and sleeping rough


Summary: Tampere's traffic centre reported vehicles veering off roads and minor accidents on Wednesday morning as more snow is set to sweep across the country Thursday.

Tuesday night saw a weather system dump heavy snow over much of Finland. While conditions had cleared in many areas Wednesday morning, motorists in the south and southeast still had to contend with local snow flurries and freezing drizzles, which  created dangerous driving conditions .
 Yle meteorologist  Seija Paasonen  said that Tuesday night had seen heavy snowfall in many parts of Helsinki. "In 12 hours the biggest deposits were in Helsinki's Kaisaniemi district. By 7.00 this morning there had been 13 centimetres," she added.
 Paasonen noted that there had been about 10 cm of snowfall throughout the Uusimaa region in southern Finland, while places such as Southwest Finland, Kymenlaakso in the southeast and southern Karelia in the east had seen between four and six centimetres of precipitation overnight. However there was considerably less snowfall in the region north of the Salpausselkä ridge.
 Meanwhile traffic officials in Tampere said that the heavy snowfall had snarled traffic during morning drive time. The local traffic centre reported a number of fender benders and cars running off roads, especially on Highway Three, the main artery into the area. Many lorries also reportedly got stuck in the heavy snow.
 Story continues after graphic.
 Yle Weather
 Paasonen said that conditions in the days ahead will be variable, with temperatures sinking below zero, even in the south.
 "The next low pressure zone will arrive in Finland on Thursday and on Friday we can expect a mild period, after which it will be much colder."
 The Finnish Meteorological Institute, FMI has issued warnings for poor driving conditions throughout the south of the country.
 Edited at 13:50, 9 January 2019 to reflect there were road accidents on Highway Three.

Fender benders as snow, freezing rain cause road chaos


Summary: The Finns Party youth wing's ethno-centric view of 'Finnishness,' language skills prove a challenge for citizenship and a win for the domestic meat industry.

Ethno-nationalism is growing within the youth arm of the Finns Party, writes Swedish-language daily  Hufvudstadsbladet . The paper argues that the youth wing of the populist party adopted a harder line following the election of a new board last autumn.
 In a drift towards xenophobic populism, the youth arm now claims ’real’ Finns trace their ancestry to prehistoric settlers of [what is now] Finland, a view shared by extreme nationalist group  Suomen Sisu .
 The youth wing said it wants to draw a line between Finnish citizens and Finns, with the vice-chair of the youth arm in Lapland floating a theory of ’ancient Finnish clans,’ a narrative which would strip Finland’s Swedish-speakers (whose roots date back to the 1100s) and Tatar Muslims in the country of any claims to ’Finnishness’.
  Road to citizenship
 Meanwhile between January and November last year 8,131 people gained Finnish citizenship, with 85 percent of applications accepted in 2017, reports business magazine  Talouselämä .
 Rejected citizenship applications were usually due to candidates’ inability to prove sufficient Finnish or Swedish language skills, according to the Finnish Immigration Service.
 Most newly-minted Finnish citizens hailed from Russia, Somalia and Iraq.
 In 2017, the number of new Finnish citizens reached 12,219, a new record. The number of new Finnish passport holders has been  rising each year for the past two decades .
 Buy Finnish movement
 As of this spring, EU rules will oblige Finnish restaurants, canteens, and fast food eateries to inform customers of the origin of their meat products. The move follows Finland's lobbying on the issue, writes agricultural newspaper  Maaseudun Tulevaisuus .
 The meat labelling scheme originated in Finland and the country leaned on the EU to push it through. Finland's case before the EU Commission argued that aspects such as animal welfare and antibiotic use affected meat quality.
 As a consequence of mad cow disease (BSE), EU member states have since 2002 had to label the origin of beef products, but the new decree extends labelling in Finland to pork, goat, lamb and fowl. The Commission did not, however, include fish in the scheme, to Finland’s consternation.

Monday’s papers: Claims on Finnishness, citizenship obstacles and 'Buy Finland


Summary: Presenting perception as fact is very damaging to responsible journalism, says Yle editor-in-chief Jouko Jokinen.

Ulkoasiain hallinto, maanpuolustus ja järjestystoimi

Yle head of news and current affairs  Jouko Jokinen  has rejected claims that the Defence Forces have influenced the organisation's news reporting.
 Jokinen was responding to debate that arose over assertions made in a book by a senior crime reporter,  Päivi Happonen , who said that she felt the Defence Forces attempted to influence her reporting on  secret guidelines on hiring Finnish-Russian dual citizens  in the service.
 Media coverage of the book seemed to suggest that apart from Happonen, the Force had influenced another Yle journalist during Happonen's reporting on the secret directive.
 In a review of " Front page crimes ", a collection of chapters by crime reporters gathered by their professional association, Helsingin Sanomat suggested that an Yle reporter had been used as part of a campaign by the Defence Forces to influence Yle's reporting, a claim that Yle said it had previously denied.
 In an article published on Tuesday, Helsingin Sanomat said that Happenon had been interviewed for background before the review was published, and even read the review before publication.
 According to Jokinen, Yle has also communicated its position directly to Helsingin Sanomat, but the paper refused to retract its reporting.
 "The claim is serious and wrong. Yle categorically denies that has been any reporter controlled by the Defence Forces working in the department," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
 The editor-in-chief said that presenting perception as fact is extremely damaging from the perspective of responsible journalism.
 Newspaper review raises questions
 On Tuesday HS wrote that in her book, Happonen recounted receiving a phone call from the Defence Forces, in which she was asked "How long Yle planned to go on with this." The paper said she wrote that she got the impression that an attempt was being made to scare her into doubting the veracity of her reporting.
 Happonen's impression was reportedly further compounded by the fact that unbeknownst to her, another colleague had been assigned to get a response from the defence forces for a follow-up story. The other journalist sent the results of her work to Happonen via email and phoned the duty editor to point out aspects of Happonen's story that conflicted with her information, and ask that the story not run in television broadcasts that evening.
 On Monday, Happonen took to Twitter to issue an apology for opening up internal editorial procedures in the book, which social media users apparently interpreted as attempt to backtrack on her claims of feeling pressured during her reporting.
 "In hindsight, opening up internal matters in the book was a mistake. I am sincerely sorry for any consternation caused by what I wrote," she tweeted.
 However she also tweeted that she stands by the assertions in the book that she felt pressured.  Riikka Venäläinen , interim editor-in-chief at the time of Happonen's reporting on the Defence Forces, told the weekly Suomen Kuvalehti that there had been a lapse in internal communications, which led to Happonen not being aware of her colleague's assignment and caused her to express confusion over her colleague's actions in the book.

Yle denies claims of Defence Forces influence over journalists


Summary: The proposal is being met with surprise and worry by several opposition MPs.

On Wednesday MPs are scheduled to discuss government's proposal to give private health care companies increased possibilities to carry out non-urgent operations, within the current health care districts.
 The proposal would override previous provisions that aims to restrict many types of surgery to 12 central hospitals with a broad-range of services and an accident and emergency department.
 Many opposition lawmakers, including Greens MP  Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto , responded to the unexpected proposal with surprise and worry.
 "Private hospitals and health care companies would receive the right to carry out operations, but [any] eventual complications would then be taken care of by the public health care sector," said Alanko-Kahiluoto, who has a seat on the parliamentary social and health care committe.
 She said she is both surprised and worried, saying that if government's proposal is approved, it would come into force this spring.
 The proposal is formulated in a way that it affects the current health care system, regardless of whether  Sote  ( government's broad social and health care reforms proposal ) is approved or not, according to Alanko-Kahiluoto. That reform aims to remove responsibility for healthcare from municipalities, passing it to new regional authorities, and expanding private provision of healthcare services.
 Exception to freshly-written rule
 The long-proposed  Sote  reforms include a stipulation that only 12 large, central hospitals offering 24-hour emergency services would be able to carry out surgeries which require operating rooms and anaesthetics. That decision was strongly criticised by the Swedish People's Party and politicians from the west-coast city of Vaasa, which was left without an accident and emergency department and provision of certain services.
 Now, government has proposed an exception that would permit non-urgent surgeries to be performed at hospitals or health care centres without 24-hour emergency room services - but only at facilities which can respond to possible post-surgery complications.
 If the new proposal goes through, administrators in Finland's health care districts will be able to purchase surgical services from private companies more broadly than they could before.
 The proposal was drafted by officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, who made the assessment that private health care firms would receive "comprehensive opportunities" to offer surgical services - without increasing costs - in communities with 24 hour central hospital facilities.
 Swedish People's Party MP  Veronica Rehn-Kivi  said there's a risk that a significant proportion of surgeries will be taken over by private health care firms.
 "Then there may not be adequate resources on the public [health care] side anymore," she said.
 Changes will save money, ministry says
 The proposal states that public hospitals would make agreements with private health care companies regarding such support hospital services. In cases of eventual complications or problems, patients would have to be able to reach these support hospitals - equipped with intensive care facilities and adequate gear to perform on-call operations 24 hours a day.
 The ministerial authors of the proposal said its benefits and aim is to use health care funding more effectively, saying that central hospitals would save money by not having to invest in new surgical equipment and facilities.
 Government is also proposing two other law changes linked to health care reforms, specifically new customer fees within the social and health care system as well as adjustments to emergency care services.
 Opposition MP  Li Andersson  from the Left Alliance party Tweeted on Monday that the law proposal is part of a well-known pattern, saying that government wants to open the health care market to private firms in as broad a manner as possible.

Gov't proposes broadening private health firms' abilities to perform non-urgent surgeries


Seniors over the age of 65 accounted for a growing number of payment defaulters in 2018, says credit scoring firm Asiakastieto.
 The company said Wednesday that although the overall number of payment defaults declined by five percent last year compared to 2017, the number of individuals missing payments on bills and debt had increased to a record 382,000 and had racked up a total of 1.6 million euros in new payment defaults.
 Asiakastieto said that pensioners appear to be playing a growing role in the increase in defaults. Nearly 34,500 over-65-year-olds had long-overdue outstanding bills in 2018, nine percent more than in 2017.
 "They are becoming more indebted and had credit before they turned 65. However at that age their earnings level also drops and is no longer enough to service all of their debt. On the other hand the number of payment defaults is increasing across all age groups except among young people," said Asiakastieto business director  Jouni Muhonen .
 Among young people under the age of 20, however the number with overdue payments fell by nine percent between 2017 and 2018 and in the 20-24-year age group the number with past-due bills also declined.
 The credit-check firm attributed this development to stiffer lending practices from consumer credit lenders.
 "We know that after 2011 young people were not getting credit at the same pace as before, so no defaults arose. We also harbour a small hope that some sort of information got through," Muhonen added.

Growing number of over-65s in Finland burdened with past-due bills


Summary: People in Finland need to change their dietary habits, according to the country's health institute.

Adults in Finland eat too much meat and not enough vegetables. According to a fresh report from the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), men in Finland should eat significantly less meat, and increase their daily intake of fruits and vegetables.
 Nearly 80percent of men exceeded the weekly recommendation of 500 grams of meats and processed meat (like sausages and preserved meat products) while 26 percent of women consume too much animal protein - particularly red meat.
 THL's research specialist  Niina Kaartinen  said people who want to eat healthier can choose to put fish, poultry or even legumes on their plates rather than red meat.
 Story continues after graph.
 Yle
 Additionally, a large proportion of both men and women do not appear to be getting enough vegetables into their diets.
 According to nutritional guidelines, people should eat at least 500 grams of vegetables, fruit and berries every day. However, only 22 percent of women eat morethan the recommended amounts and just 14 percent of men do the same.
 Story continues after graph.
 Yle
 Nearly everyone eats too much fat and salt
 The vast majority of adults - some 95 percent - eat too much saturated fat, which is found in copious amounts in delicacies like butter, cheese and sausage.
 The report said that when cooking, it is best to choose vegetable-based fats like olive, canola or rapeseed oils. Also, vegetable-based spreads are healthier alternatives to butter on things like sandwiches, according to THL.
 People in Finland also eat far too much salt. Dietary guidelines recommend that a person consumes a maximum of one teaspoon of table salt per day.
 But 90 percent of adults in Finland eat more than that.
 There was some good news in the report, however. Adults in Finland do appear to be getting adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals in their diets.
 THL's  FinRavinto  study was carried out in 2017 in 50 communities across Finland, and examined the dietary habits of around 3,100 people aged between 18-74.

Finns eat too much red meat, study says


Summary: An Ostrobothnian nurse was sentenced to 60 day-fines after a patient died of a morphine overdose.

A nurse has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a patient died when she attached a morphine pump set up to deliver twenty times the recommended dose.
 The man was being treated in a health centre’s ward and was suffering from severe pain, and died a short time after he was hooked up to the medication.
 The nurse pleaded guilty and said that she was not familiar with the model of pump, which she had not used for some nine months at the time of the man’s death.
 The woman had prepared the morphine pump for use with other nurses, who also went through the guidelines for its usage numerous times. Nobody, however, went through the separate process for dosage on the machine.
 Overdose
 At around 12:30pm the nurse attached the pump to the patient, but did not notice that it was set to deliver five millilitres of morphine per hour rather than the five milligrammes the patient should have received.
 The man was pronounced dead of a morphine overdose shortly before 2pm.
 The Ostrobothnia District Court ruled that the nurse had been careless, but also that there were deficiencies in workplace training on the ward. However she should have been able to use the pump based on her professional training, and that if she was unsure she should have asked for assistance.
 The National Supervisory Authority for Health and Welfare, Valvira, released a statement saying that nurses’ training is lacking in the use of medication delivery pumps, and that responsibility for this training lies with their employers.
 The 52-year-old nurse was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and given 60 income-related day fines.

Nurse fined over fatal morphine pump mistake


Some 60 percent of Finnish refuse is burnt at incinerators.
 New figures from Statistics Finland show that just one percent of Finnish rubbish collected by municipal authorities now ends up at landfill sites.
 The figures, which were published on Wednesday, relate to waste disposed in 2017. They show a sharp increase in incineration, to 60 percent of total garbage. That is mostly used to power district heating systems.
 The uptick in incineration comes in part from a reduction in recycling, but that still accounts for 39 percent of Finland’s total waste. This leaves one percent heading to landfill sites, a reduction from three percent in 2016.
 In all households in Finland produce some 2.8 million tonnes of waste each year, which works out at around 500 kilograms per inhabitant.

Just one percent of Finnish waste now goes to landfill


Summary: Students missing school for climate protest, extreme weather causing more avalanches in Lapland and the regulation of liquorice pipes are among Thursday's headlines.

Dozens of upper secondary school students in the capital region are likely to be absent from school on Friday, writes daily  Helsingin Sanomat , as many of them head to central Helsinki to demonstrate about climate change.
 For example, a group of students at a Kauniainen school will participate in the so-called climate strike to demand more action from decision-makers and business leaders.
 “I’m not allowed to vote, so I’m trying to make a difference in this way,” says 17-year-old  Cecilia Andersin  from Gymnasiet Grankulla samskolan – a Swedish-language upper secondary school in Kauniainen.
 A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published late last year says immediate and major action will be needed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C.
 ”The report makes for a discouraging reading, but we cannot become despondent. We need to act for our future and the future of our grandchildren,” says student  Emilia Hanhirova , 19.
 A protest, which will take place in front of Parliament, has attracted a fair amount of interest on Facebook, says HS.
 The Kauniainen school does not support the strike. “It’s good that young people are active, but a strike is not the right means to have an impact. A strike will have a negative effect on school work, which is not the students’ intention either,” says  Niklas Wahlström , principal at the Kauniainen school.
 “Attending the protest on Friday will be considered an unauthorised absence,” he adds.
 ”Climate and environment are issues that apply to everyone. Having interest in them should not make one an activist,” says Hanhirova, who participated in the climate march in Helsinki at the end of October.
 The climate strike is inspired by a similar event that has been going on each Friday in front of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm since last autumn. It was started by 15-year-old  Greta Thunberg , who addressed the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, last month.
 Avalanche risk
 In other environmental news, tabloid  Iltalehti  writes that climate change has increased the risk of avalanches in Finland.
 “There used to be between one and three avalanches in the Ylläs region per year. But their number has risen in the past years. What’s more, tourism has really picked up so more people are at risk, especially those who do off-piste skiing,” says  Tuomo Poukkanen , Ski Resort Director at Ylläs in Kolari, 160 km north of Rovaniemi.
 Climate change is to blame for this increase, says climate researcher  Markku Kulmala , but not just rising temperatures but also more extreme weather conditions.
 "The amount of precipitation has increased and rains are more intense. A large quantity of snow may fall in a short period of time, which increases the risk of avalanches," he says.
 Poukkanen agrees. ”As weather and temperature change suddenly, layers develop within snow. Some of these layers are weak, and will remain there for the whole winter season.”
 Nevertheless, the risk of an avalanche remains much smaller in Finland than in Norway, for example, because of the different terrain, Iltalehti says.
 Last week, four off-piste skiers, three of them Finnish, went missing in northern Norway and  are now presumed dead , buried under an avalanche.
 Liquorice pipe rules
 The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health believes that regulating pipe-shaped liquorice sweets will have a positive effect on Finns’ health, reports daily  Maaseudun Tulevaisuus .
 “According to the WHO, items resembling tobacco products should be regulated in a way that does not further the sale of tobacco products,” says ministerial adviser  Meri Paavola  from the ministry.
 Timo Nisula  – the owner of liquorice factory Kouvolan Lakritsi –  said on Monday  he’s appalled that grocery stores are banned from paying bonuses to customers who buy liquorice pipes, similarly to real tobacco products, MT reports.
 “Nobody in the ministry can seriously believe that selling liquorice pipes increases pipe smoking among young people. Finland has a few war veterans who still smoke a pipe. If the ministry bans our liquorice pipes, we will start to call them saxophones or sea horses. That will make the ministry happy,” Nisula said.
 Paavola says liquorice pipes fall into the same category as flavoured e-cigarettes. “I believe that regulating imitation tobacco products truly makes a difference,” she said.

Thursday's papers: Climate strike, avalanche risk and liquorice pipes


Summary: Three months before Finland's parliamentary election, an Yle poll suggests the Social Democrats are poised to become the largest party in the legislature.

The nationalist Finns Party scored the biggest gains in the latest Yle/Taloustutkimus party poll. The party's support has risen by more than two percentage points to 10.2 percent since the last survey.
 This is the first time the populist party’s support has passed 10 percent since last June – but still far below its peak of 19.1 percent in the  2011 election . And they would still apparently lose seats in Parliament if the election were held now, due to a  party split  since the last election.
 According to pollster Taloustutkimus research director  Tuomo Turja , Finns Party support clearly rose immediately after recent news of crimes attributed to immigrants  in Oulu  and  Helsinki .
 SDP and NCP neck-and-neck
 Meanwhile the rivalry between the two most popular parties, the Social Democrats (SDP) and the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP), is heating up. The SDP again emerged in the top spot, but its backing dipped to 21.2 percent – as the NCP was breathing down its neck, rising to 19.6 percent.
 Prime Minister  Juha Sipilä ’s Centre Party saw voter approval slide to 16.1 percent, its lowest level in nearly a year and a half. Turja notes that the biggest losses in Centre support were among men and residents of the Oulu region – Sipilä’s home district.
 Greens' rise levels off
 Two months ago, the opposition Greens chose former chair, government minister and presidential contender  Pekka Haavisto  as their new leader after the previous chair stepped down for health reasons.
 That sparked a  sharp rise in party support  in November, which has now dropped off. Party support edged down slightly to 13.6 percent, still enough to keep them within shouting distance of the traditional ‘big three’ parties.
 Turja points out that if the Greens’ electoral result is between 13.5 and 14 percent, that would be a major gain since the last parliamentary and municipal elections.
 The Left Alliance’s popularity was up by one percentage point to 9.5 percent. Turja says the opposition party is gaining popularity among women as well as white-collar workers.
 The other parties – including junior government partners the Blue Reform – all garnered well below five percent support.
 Red-Greens could gain 26 seats in Parliament
 With less than three months to go before advance voting begins on April 3, Taloustutkimus has made preliminary projections as to how the parties might fare in terms of seats in Parliament, based on the last six monthly polls.
 Parties now in opposition stand to gain the most seats, says the pollster.
 The SDP could pick up 13 more seats to give them a bloc of 47 MPs in the 200-seat legislature, raising them from the third-largest to the biggest party in the chamber.
 The Greens would gain 10 seats for a total of 25, while the Left Alliance might add three for a 15-member delegation.
 Of the three current government parties, the NCP is poised to add six seats for a total of 43 MPs. The premier’s Centre, meanwhile, looks likely to drop seven seats, falling behind the NCP with one seat less at 42.
 The number-crunchers compared the latest data with figures from the spring 2015 parliamentary election.
 They predict that based on current polling, the Finns Party are on track to gain lose seats from their current 17, giving them a 15-seat bloc, on par with the Left. That would be a precipitous drop of 23 seats from the 2015 election – as the party split in mid-2017.
 A splinter group left to establish the Blue Reform party, which despite ministerial posts has failed to excite voters’ interest so far – attracting support of just one percent in this poll.
 Taloustutkimus interviewed 2,443 people between 10 December and 8 January. It puts the margin of error at +/- 2.1 percentage points for the larger parties.
 Correction, 2:51 pm: despite higher support, the Finns Party are on track to lose two seats, headline corrected accordingly.

Poll: Finns Party gain, NCP close behind SDP


Summary: Anyone who fancies the idea of a fairy-tale wedding in the frosty house of worship will have to hurry. By March the sun’s rays will start melting the structure.

Henkilökohtaiset juhlat ja elämäntapahtumat

Locals in Lappeenranta in southeast Finland formally opened the city's snow church, otherwise known as the Church of St. Lawrence on Sunday, 13 January. It will offer services three times a week.
 "'Snowflake' devotions will last 20 minutes on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. We have sometimes had mass in the snow church," said local vicar  Juha Eklund .
 So far no one has exchanged wedding vows in the chapel, although it is possible to do so and the parish has offered the service. However anyone who fancies the idea of a fairy-tale wedding in the frosty house of worship will have to hurry. By March the sun’s rays will render the structure unusable.
 An eight-year tradition
 This winter marks the eighth year that members of the community have volunteered to build the church. In that time they have honed their skills using snow as construction material.
 As a result two of the walls are about 60 centimetres thick, while the other two walls are ten centimetres thinner.
 "This way the January sun is not a problem, but in March it will warm and melt the walls more on those sides, that’s why we make them thicker," Eklund explained.
 Story continues after photo.
 Installing the metre-high windows. Petri Kivimäki / Yle
 Clean, dry frosty snow works best for building as its quality is uniform and it has no lumps. Two tractors are used to bring fresh snow to the building site from an ice skating rink at Lappeenranta’s Vanha field a few kilometres away.
 The construction team comprised a core team of 10 people who have put the church together each year. They managed to erect the walls – just shy of three metres tall – in about four hours.
 Interior work focused on elements such as a large snow altar. Windows are made of ice that comes from an ice machine to ensure there are no bubbles or impurities. The window elements are one metre high, half-a-metre wide and 25 centimetres thick.
 Story continues after photo.
 Vesa Toivanen checks his handiwork with a spirit level. Petri Kivimäki / Yle
 “We saw them in half so each window is about 12 centimetres thick,” said ice craftsman  Kimmo Frosti.
 The church is located in the centre of Lappeenranta next to an historic fort. Centuries ago another church occupied the site, but was prone to lightning strikes because of the high ground.
 In fact a lightning strike in 1790 caused the old church to burn to the ground, after which the site was abandoned. The snow church can be said to be a memorial to the original that was destroyed by the forces of nature.

You can get married in this snow church in Southeast Finland – but you better hurry


Summary: Papers on Tuesday go into grim police statistics on sexual assault against minors in Finland, and president Sauli Niinistö visiting Beijing on Monday.

Finland's news media all carry distressing statistics this Tuesday, following police reports of aggravated sexual offenses allegedly committed by asylum seekers and recent migrants against minors in Oulu.
 Amid the growing concern,  daily Helsingin Sanomat  publishes detailed figures from the National Police Board and Statistics Finland that show an increase in sexual attacks against minors since the year 2000. The number of cases reported that year was some 500, compared to nearly 1,700 in the worst year of 2011, many years before the steep rise in immigration.
 HS writes that the number of sexual offenses against minors grew last year, from some 1,200 to 1,400 reported cases. The severity of the charges has also risen; in 2000 some 15 percent of all sexual assault cases against minors were considered aggravated, whereas last year about a third of cases were prosecuted as aggravated.
 Risk factors
 The majority of the perpetrators in all cases of sexual assault and rape that took place in Finland were Finnish natives, according to the paper.
 However, last year one-fifth of suspected perpetrators in cases against minors were foreign citizens and about one-third of suspects in all cases of rape were non-Finnish, according to HS.
 Police figures show that foreign suspects in cases of child abuse in Finland hailed mainly from Iraq, Afghanistan, Estonia and Iran.
 A large proportion of asylum seekers from Iraq and Afghanistan are young men, and 20-34-year-old people from Iraq were found to be some 10 times more likely in 2017 to commit sexual offenses of some kind than Finnish citizens of the same age. Accurate comparisons were not possible on Monday due to a lack of fresh information on the age of asylum seekers.
 HS cites a Norwegian report that shows the reason for migration plays a crucial part in the likelihood that an immigrant might commit crimes in the foreign country they are in. Immigrants who arrive because of work, studies or family are equally or even less likely than Finnish-born people to commit illegal acts, the study found.
 Researcher  Martti Lehti  from the University of Helsinki says in HS that asylum seekers are the most challenging group of people to help integrate into Finnish society. People seeking asylum are generally fleeing some form of violence or persecution.
 "Asylum seekers tend to have less schooling than other groups, leading to a smaller chance of employment," Lehti says. "Slow employment, again, feeds crime."
 Human rights discussed
 Meanwhile,  tabloid Ilta-Sanomat  writes that president  Sauli Niinistö  used his time with Chinese president  Xi Jinping  on Monday to cover numerous issues face to face with China's leader. Among the issues discussed were China's human rights track record and ongoing controversial policy moves.
 Amid inspections of China's military and reminiscences about the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Niinistö told IS he got in questions about the dozen or so Canadian nationals being held in custody by Beijing as well as the fate of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Uighurs, who are being actively oppressed and monitored by the Chinese government in the western Xinjiang region according to human rights advocacy groups.
 Niinistö was tight-lipped about the nature of his conversations with president Xi.
 "We talked through all of it. We spoke for about an hour and the subject matter did not upset the host at all," Niinistö said.
 Niinistö also said in IS that he spoke with Xi about the relationship between the three major world powers – the US, China and Russia – and about Korean tensions. As for the inflamed trade dispute between America and China, Niinistö's take was brief and nonchalant.
 "There's some sense of hope in the air, I suppose – at least nothing dark on the economic horizon. But let's not affect the stock market, now," Niinistö told the tabloid.

Tuesday's papers: Finland's sexual abuse statistics, sports and human rights talk in China


Summary: The top-three products sold by state alcohol monopoly Alko in 2018 were all vodkas, two of which are produced by state-owned alcohol firm Altia.

Alcohol sales by state-owned liquor retailer Alko fell considerably last year, likely driven by more relaxed booze laws that permitted regular shops to sell strong beers, ciders and pre-mixed cocktails.
 The revised Alcohol Act that came into effect last January raised the limit on alcohol content of drinks that supermarkets, kiosks and petrol stations are allowed to sell from 4.7 to 5.5 percent.
 New figures from Alko show that sales by volume declined by 8.5 percent and - when converted into pure alcohol - by 5.4 percent last year, compared to 2017.
 According to statistics, long drinks, beers and ciders saw the most significant drops in sales, falling 49, 31 and 19 percent, respectively, in terms of volume. The only alcoholic drink where sales increased was rosé wine, with demand up by a third.
 Alko's top three most popular products last year were vodkas:  Leijona Viina  and  Koskenkorva Viina  (products from the Finnish state-owned alcohol firm Altia) and  Suomi Viina  (from French subsidiary Pernod Ricard Finland) which each sold more than 2 million litres last year.
 Meanwhile, Finns prefer Chilean wines, with Gato Negro Cabernet Sauvignon and Gato Negro Sauvignon Blanc the most sold red and white wines last year, products which are among the most affordable traditional wines available from the retailer, according to its website.

Alko sales tumble as consumers turn elsewhere for strong beer and long drinks


Summary: The number of Chinese tourists surged by one third within a year, but the overall foreign visits remained flat.

Despite some bad press, Finland remained a magnet for British tourists in November, according to Statistics Finland data released on Thursday.
 The number of overnight stays by British travellers was up by 14 percent from a year earlier, pushing the UK narrowly past Sweden as the third largest source of visitors, behind Russia and Germany.
 The number of Britons visiting Lapland in northern Finland grew even more briskly in November – 27 percent year-on-year – despite  gloomy headlines  in some British papers about snowless Lapland and reports of charter flight cancellations. Full data on the Christmas season will come out later with the December figures. Some British Christmas visits to Finnish Lapland were scuppered due to the  closure of Gatwick Airport .
 However there was little or no growth overall in the hospitality sector, based on commercial lodgings with 20 beds or more.
 According to the state statistics office, foreign travellers spent nearly 435,000 nights at larger accommodation sites in Finland during November 2018 – just four-tenths of a percent more than the previous November.
 Russians still biggest group by far
 Visitors from neighbouring Russia remained by far the largest contingent of those making overnight stays, more than 60,000 nights in total. Germans were second with some 34,000 stays, followed by UK visitors at around 33,500 and Swedes at 33,000.
 The liveliest growth was among Chinese tourists, whose total overnight stays jumped by one third compared to the previous November. The number of Japanese stays meanwhile perked up by more than 18 percent after declines earlier in the year.
 Domestic travellers clocked up more than a million overnight stays. That was an increase of around two percent, pushing the overall year-on-year growth in accommodation to around 1.5 percent.
 Statistics Finland gathered the November data from lodging facilities with 20 or more beds.

More Britons than Swedes visited Finland in November – but Russians still #1


Summary: Housing rental costs in Finland have increased more than property and other consumer prices during this decade.

The Pellervo Economic Research (PTT) think tank forecasts that pay growth will soon lag behind the rise in rents. In a report published on Thursday the research institute said that free market rents have increased more than property prices and other consumer prices over the past decade.
 Last year, rents within the non-subsidised sector rose by 1.6 percent and are expected to grow by another 1.8 percent in 2019. Relative to incomes the amount that people pay in rent has also risen substantially, PTT added.
 In Helsinki, Tampere and Jyväskylä, renters in the free market now spend more than a third of their income on rent. Meanwhile, rents in government-subsidised ARA buildings are essentially lower only in Helsinki.
 According to PTT, the number of households living in rented properties has increased considerably faster than households living in owner-occupied homes in the past 10 years.
 This trend is expected to continue, as renting is becoming increasingly common in big cities. In Helsinki, the number of households that rent exceeded owner-occupied properties in 2012, and the same will occur in Tampere and Turku in the next few years, according to PTT's forecast.
 No interest in home buying
 PTT listed several reasons for the increased popularity of renting. First, there is a fairly large supply of rental properties available because the construction of apartment buildings escalated after 2010. In addition, more and more new apartments are being bought by investors, who then rent them out.
 Second, urbanisation has made renting more popular and many want to live close to cafés and restaurants in city centres. Renting a home is an easy, safe and flexible choice for those moving to Finland’s growth centres, according to PTT.
 “In the capital region and in Tampere, people prefer to live centrally, even if their jobs are located further away,” PTT's economist  Lauri Vuori  said.
 The report said that attitudes have also changed. For the younger generation, owning a home is not as important as it appears to be for older people.
 Finally, the fact that property prices are very high in the most attractive areas has meant that not everyone can afford to buy a home of their own. For example, in the Tampere and Helsinki areas, property prices have grown markedly faster than incomes – a development that is set to continue, according to the think tank.
 A majority of tenants are under 35 and live in low-income households either alone or with another young person. Single parents also make up a large share of renters, the think tank noted.
 PTT is backed by the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), which has traditionally been aligned with the Centre Party.

Think tank: Rise in rents to outpace pay growth


Summary: A student in eastern Finland has been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. Fifty people the student had been in contact with have been called in for checkups.

A roughly 30-year-old student who attends Saimaa University of Applied Sciences in eastern Finland's region of South Karelia has been diagnosed with contagious pulmonary tuberculosis, also known as TB.
 The institution has facilities in the cities of Imatra and Lappeenranta and health officials have mapped out everyone who may have been in contact with the student from the beginning of September through 11 December of last year.
 Those individuals have been asked to undergo medical checkups, to determine whether or not they have been infected.
 The roughly 50 people include students as well as staff at the school. Other students and personnel at the institution have also been informed about the situation.
 Contagious form of TB rare in Finland
 Tuberculosis is a contagious disease and spreads when individuals with active TB in their lungs cough, spit, speak or sneeze.
 TB is not common in Finland. The country began vaccinating children against the illness in 2006.
 Some 200 new cases of TB are detected in Finland every year, but less than one-third of them are the contagious form of the disease.
 Mycobacterium, which causes tuberculosis usually attack the lungs, but can also damage other parts of the body, but these days is relatively easy to treat.
 The disease's main symptom is a persistent cough which can last more than three weeks. Other symptoms include tiredness, sweating, loss of appetite and body weight, bloody phlegm, shortness of breath and fever.
 Less than a century ago TB was a serious, life-threatening disease. As recently as the 1930s some 10,000 people died of tuberculosis every year.

Student in Finland diagnosed with contagious tuberculosis


Summary: Municipalities typically charge a maximum 62 euros for three doctor visits per year, while the rest are free. Government wants to raise the limit to 683 euros.

Terveyden- ja sairaanhoidon kustannukset

Finnish lawmakers tore into plans by government to raise customer health care costs during a parliamentary debate on Wednesday. MPs have begun discussing a new law proposal which government said would make patient health care costs fairer to everyone across the country.
 However, several opposition lawmakers said that the plans would make visits to health care clinics more expensive for society's most vulnerable populations.
 The subsidised fees people in Finland pay to go to public health care clinics vary quite a bit across the country's hundreds of municipalities. Now, in new draft legislation, government aims to unify those costs across the board.
 The pending bill states that a visit to a health care centre should not cost more than €20.60 and that the cost for a visit to a specialist physician should be a maximum of €41.20.
 Minister: Harmonised fees throughout
 Centre Party vice chair and Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services  Annika Saarikko  said the reform would make the health care system more equal for everyone in different parts of Finland.
 "For example, it would become much clearer for older people who [often find themselves] in a jungle of fees. Especially when you look at locations, we'll get clear rules on what it will cost and what criteria are used to determine the prices," Saarikko said.
 One of the specific aims of government's proposal stipulates that customers' health clinic fees should not rise due to government's long-pending reforms on the social and health care system, colloquially known as ' Sote '.
 That reform aims to remove responsibility for healthcare from municipalities, passing it to new regional authorities, and expanding private provision of healthcare services.
 "Customer fees will be written into law so that individual regions can't introduce unreasonable fees as a way to solve their financial emergencies," Saarikko said.
 Government has also proposed that virtually all health care services for children should be free-of-charge. The bill states that people under the age of 18 would only be charged for health care services in exceptional cases, for example if a patient misses a booked appointment.
 Opposition: More expensive health care overall
 Opposition MPs roundly criticised the proposal, saying it would make health care services more expensive, particularly for those who require a lot of care.
 Left Alliance MP  Li Andersson  said a change to the current system would most affect people on limited incomes who require a lot of health care services.
 "The big problem is covering improvement costs by raising fees for basic health care services. That means people would pay more for each visit, for example when they see a doctor at a health care centre,"Andersson said.
 The reason there's a risk that the proposed law change could effectively raise consumer health care costs is due to the fact that individual patients currently only pay for a maximum of three visits per year, which amounts to an annual maximum of 61.80 euros. Alternatively, municipalities can also charge a yearly fee of 41.20 euros.
 Government's proposal includes a provision that patients would end up paying a maximum of 683 euros per year for health care, including dental services.
 Opposition MP from the Swedish People's Party (SPP)  Veronica Rehn-Kivi  echoed Andersson's sentiments, saying the proposed law would hit those who are at most risk in society.
 "In other words if you go to the doctor once a month the sum would be €247.20 per year. That's a huge price increase," Rehn-Kivi said in a press release.
 "At the same time government is raising yearly health care fee [ceilings] there are more than 300,000 [unpaid personal] health care bills that go to collection agencies. It is people who are most vulnerable in our society who will have an even more difficult time," Rehn-Kivi said.
 Minister: Fees will not rise
 However, Minister Saarikko defended the criticism by saying that on the whole, fees would not go up.
 "The overall fees that municipalities and the state receive from customers are roughly the same. This is an [overall] total in which individual fees can go up for individual customers, but other fees for others can go down," Saarikko said.
 She said the proposed law would give less well-off customers a right to lower health clinic fees.
 "It will become clearer for those on low incomes that they have the right to lower health care fees. The [health care] regions will have to inform [low income customers] about their right to discounts," Saarikko said.
 Saarikko also defended on Wednesday the controversial proposal to permit smaller private hospitals to carry out the same kind of surgeries which were revoked from smaller public hospitals about a year ago. That decision was strongly criticised by the SPP and politicians from the west-coast city of Vaasa, which was left without an accident and emergency department and provision of certain services.
 Saarikko also stood by government's proposal to expand the capability of public hospitals to  outsource non-urgent surgeries  to private health care providers.
 She said the reasoning behind the proposal is to set up common ground rules for private and public health care providers and to secure peoples' access to those services.
 "We need the laws so that the national health care guarantee also works when facilities are busy and public hospitals are unable to carry out all of the needed operations," Saarikko said.
 When asked why surgeries could not be carried out by the public hospitals which have previously done them, Saarikko said it was a matter of resources.
 "Yes, it's a matter of nothaving enough expertise personnel, patient security and the need to cut the costs of health care," Saarikko said.

Opposition slams plan for tenfold hike in health care fee cap


Summary: Politicos come under fire for a 600,000-euro summer junket, drugged driving surpasses drunk driving and home-owners may profit from housing benefits.

National daily Helsingin Sanomat dives into the  600,000-euro tab  picked up by taxpayers for Suomi Areena, an annual summer event drawing political top brass and business leaders to the south-western city of Pori.
 Public records show that hotel accommodation alone cost government organisations some 140,000 euros, with state-owned gambling monopoly Veikkaus and the Defence Forces spending the most on the multi-day networking extravaganza.
 HS found that some keynote speakers were paid thousands of euros per hour while a battle simulation show carried a 70,000-euro price tag. Participants defended their spending to HS, saying the exposure gained at Suomi Areena outweighed the costs.
 Drugged driving surpasses drunk driving
 An increasing number of motorists caught driving under the influence are  testing positive for narcotics , reports Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet.
 In 2018, police in Helsinki caught 1,076 drug-impaired motorists and 857 drunk drivers, marking a 20 percent year-on-year increase in drugged driving. A police spokesman told the paper that the uptick is partly due to young people’s increasingly relaxed attitudes towards drugs.
 At the moment laws pertaining to drug-impaired driving are ambiguous, hindering prosecution in some cases, according to police.
 Housing benefits aid home-owners
 While most housing benefit recipients in Finland live in rented accommodation,  home owners in 2017 drew on the benefit to the tune of 41 million euros  to cover living expenses, according to Kela.
 Business magazine Talouselämä writes that in the past few years an increasing number of residents have qualified for Kela’s low-income housing benefits, and fresh figures from the social insurer indicate that the state’s spending on the grant will continue to grow.
 The social insurer doesn’t cover mortgage payments, but it may reimburse property maintenance fees to owners. These fees often cover building repairs by the housing company that significantly contribute to an apartment’s value.
 Property bubble?
 In other real estate news, business daily Kauppalehti asks whether a  real estate bubble is forming  in the capital area, with one in seven listed apartments in the downtown area fetching more than their asking price in the past two years. To illustrate the point the paper highlights a 67m2 apartment in Helsinki’s traditionally blue-collar Kallio neighbourhood on the market for 12,000 euros per square metre, which if realized, would break the area's price records.

Friday’s papers: Gov PR junkets under fire, drugged driving and millions paid to home-owners claiming housing benefit