Summary: Finland's press cover Helsinki track problems, looming cuts to EU agricultural aid, and confused cruise ship passengers.

The tabloid Iltalehti reports on  widespread delays to commuter and long-distance train traffic .
 A traffic control system malfunction on the track connecting Helsinki's Pasila and Huopalahti stations has led to the cancellation of all local A and P commuter trains, and K trains are observing N train stops.
 Delays to Helsinki-Turku and Helsinki-Imatra routes and several eastern routes have also been noted on the government-owned railway company VR's  traffic bulletins .
 IL says the fault has had the largest effect on rail traffic between the capital city and Leppävaara in the neighbouring city of Espoo, as only one track out of four is operational on this heavily-used route.
 Traffic management authorities predict delays and cancellations throughout the day. They say a crew is working to fix the fault as soon as possible, but it cannot predict when traffic will return to normal.
 Putting the squeeze on Finnish farmers
 Southwest daily Turun Sanomat looks at the  threat of a possible 420-million-euro cut in EU agricultural subsidies to Finland .
 The European Union's budget framework for 2021-2027 currently includes a seven percent decrease, or 60 million euros each year for six years, from its current annual average of 855 million euros in aid to the Finnish agricultural sector.
 Shortly after these plans were announced last summer, Finland's then-agriculture minister  Jari Leppä  promised to negotiate with the EU to reduce the planned cut, but with Brexit appearing imminent, there may not be much wiggle room, TS writes. After the  new government  took office in early June of this year, the Centre Party's Leppä – who will continue in his ministerial post – told the tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that Finnish farmers would not see a reduction in their subsidies under the new administration.
 If he means to keep good on his word, TS writes, the state will have to step in and make up the difference. The  government programme  states that "the aim is that the level of the agricultural budget in the EU’s financial frameworks will be about the same as now". It has promised some 278 million euros in non-recurring investments in agriculture, but is vague about the reimbursement of EU subsidies.
 The paper writes that even if the EU's final funding decision won't be made until next spring, Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's coalition will have to decide on agricultural subsidy levels in budget negotiations this autumn. If the economy slows down as forecast, money will be scarce. With the Centre Party's dwindling support in the polls, TS predicts the rest of left-leaning coalition will prefer to use what little money is available in other areas, and in-fighting will ensue.
 Where am I? Stockholm?
 Major newspaper Helsingin Sanomat has a story on  legions of tourists in Helsinki who don't seem to know where they are .
 Aleksi Järviniemi  works at the Royal Line archipelago cruise company that docks at the Helsinki Market Square. "People come up regularly and ask if they are in Stockholm. It happens on an almost daily basis," he told HS.
 He says that tourists have also enquired if they are in Oslo or St. Petersburg.
 Giant cruise ships  have brought some half a million tourists to Helsinki in recent years, allowing passengers a few hours to get to know the city – usually as part of a larger multi-destination stream of stops in northern Europe and the Baltics.
 Eetu Valmela  sells vendace from a stall at the square. He tells the paper that he has heard that a common question at the nearby info booth is "Where can I find the Little Mermaid?"
 HS reports that a recent survey conducted by the city of Helsinki found that residents of the metropolis aren't bothered by the tourists, as a rule. On the contrary, the paper writes, 70 percent of the respondents felt that the influx was a strictly positive development, as they felt the "internationalisation of the city was important".
 Just one quarter of survey participants felt the tourists had a negative effect – and several respondents commented that the Helsinki Market Square in particular had suffered for it. Even so, the paper notes, the general attitude in Finland towards tourism seems supportive, unlike in Amsterdam, say, where public opinion has turned against world travellers.
 "For the time being, the misconceptions and misunderstandings of the tourists seem to mostly amuse Market Square workers," the paper concludes.

Wednesday's papers: Train delays, at-risk farmer subsidies and clueless tourists


Summary: Angry Birds 2 opens in Finland on 9 August. It hopes to repeat the global breakaway success of the first 2016 movie.

Finnish mobile game company Rovio Entertainment's team of angry birds and their nemeses green piggies hit the big screen again in a sequel, Angry Birds 2. The movie opens on 2 August in UK cinemas, 9 August in Finland, and the following week in the US.
 "In the first Angry Birds movie, we brought the games to life. The sequel allowed us to move things in a new direction, and gave us the opportunity to create a brand new villain, the character Zeta, voiced by  Leslie Jones ," said the film's producer  John Cohen  from Sony Pictures Animation at the film's Cannes showing.
 In the second film, the feathered and porcine opponents combine forces against their new common foe.
 Story continues after photo .
 "Frenemies" unite. Sony Pictures Entertainment
 In addition to Jones, the second film features several other A-list actors in voice roles, with  Jason Sudeikis  as Red,  Josh Gad  as Chuck,  Danny McBride  as Bomb, and Game of Throne's  Peter Dinklage  as the Mighty Eagle.
 Cohen says his team has cooperated closely with the Rovio team during development of the movie.
 "I've been to Helsinki countless times, even in the dead of winter," he says. "I love the Rovio gang's sense of humour and their willingness to let us steer the story down a new path."
 Productisation to the max
 The first Angry Birds mobile app game was released in 2009. By July 2015, the game had been downloaded more than three billion times collectively, making Rovio one of the world's top game developers.
 Plush toys, magazines, soda and many other forms of merchandise associated with the franchise soon followed.
 Seven years ago, a decision was made to try the concept's wings in Hollywood, and the Finnish company invested 65 million euros in the hopes of hitting box office gold. The gamble paid off, as the  first Angry Birds film  grossed over 300 million euros in ticket sales worldwide.

Rovio reprises agitated avians in sequel to blockbuster film


Summary: The largest groups of children placed in shelters include infants (13 percent), followed by one-year-olds (11 percent).

In 2018, just over 5,000 people fled to Finland’s 28 shelters in  a bid to escape domestic violence  according to the latest data available from the National Institute for Health and Welfare THL.
 According to the public health watchdog, that figure is up 17 percent from the previous year, 2017. Nearly half of that number included children who had to be placed outside the home. In addition, one of the largest groups seeking a safe haven from domestic violence was families with at least one child under the age of three.
 The Federation of Mother and Child Homes said that among children placed in shelters the largest age groups include infants (13 percent), followed by one-year-olds (11 percent).
 The growth in families with young children seeking refuge from violence in the home is an indication that the phenomenon is being recognised earlier and that people know better where to turn for help, the organisation noted.
 Violence often begins during pregnancy
 Psychotherapist  Jaana Wikgren  works with families in the Kanta-Häme region of south-central Finland. She said that domestic violence often begins as early as during a pregnancy. The impending birth of a child may create pressure and a partner’s changing shape may precipitate violence, she noted. The sleeplessness that comes with caring for a young baby and the pressure of providing for a growing family may further aggravate the situation.
 "Families with babies also separate surprisingly often. Violence is often behind the threat of a break-up,” she added.
 Although adults are usually the ones subjected to physical violence such as kicking or punching, babies may also become victims of violence before and after birth, Wikgren pointed out.
 "Violence may be concealed from a baby from time to time, perhaps during naps or sleep time. Babies are often in their mothers’ arms and can quickly sense if the mother is agitated or scared," she said.
 Mothers with children are most often subjected to violence, but men also seek refuge from violence in the home and occasionally, so do older partners.
 "In such cases the aggressor is your own child or partner," Wikgren explained.
 Sometimes a mother’s own childhood experiences may return to haunt her when she in turn becomes a parent and she may subject her partner and later her own children to violence.
 Children adapt to violence at home
 Children react to violence in many ways. Common symptoms include loss of appetite, insomnia and outbursts of rage. Children may also be high-strung or apathetic.  Hilla Härkönen  of a recently-established shelter in Hämeenlinna said that her works provides insights into children’s relationships.
 If there has been even one "safe" adult in a child’s life, it makes it easier for them to trust staff in the shelter. However if that is not the case, it shows in the way they interact with new adults. According to Härkönen a child can easily become attached to shelter workers or remain especially distant.
 "In the doll house the dolls may fight and hit each other. The game does not move forward, it just becomes stuck in the same loop. This can indicate trauma being played out," she noted.
 Children who are not protected from violence or are not able to otherwise escape it will adapt to the family situation. Apathy can indicate a child who is being subjected to violence, Härkönen noted.
 "Surprisingly small children will try to comfort a sad parent. He or she may offer their pacifier to a mother in tears," Wikgren added.
 Children who live in violent families may react by sleeping a lot and may seem like "easy" infants in their parents’ eyes. Babies who live with violence learn to settle for less, Wikgren added.
 Need to wean families off violence
 The Hämeenlinna shelter opened its doors on Midsummer last year. Since then, roughly 200 people have sought refuge there, half of them first-timers in the shelter system. Residents stay from a few days to many months.
 One-third of residents return home, but the rest do not. Wikgren said that Kanta-Häme family workers hope would like to see more long-term efforts to wean families off violence, as the time spent in a shelter is not long enough.
 "A life of violence is a perfectly normal state for many people. Understanding that there are other ways to live takes time and affected families need long-term support," she concluded.

Call for long-term support as more families grapple with domestic violence


Summary: Police in Helsinki and Kuopio are on guard as Serbian and Polish football fans arrive to support their teams this week.

Finnish football will get a fillip of international interest this week as teams from Serbia and Poland arrive to challenge local clubs in regional tournaments.
 Helsinki club HJK will face off against Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) at 7.00pm on Wednesday evening at the Töölö stadium as they duel in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.
 Meanwhile Kuopio outfit KuPS will challenge Poland’s Legia Warsaw at the same time on Thursday at the Kuopio football stadium in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
 Police said that they are taking precautions as they expect both teams to be followed by hundreds of supporters from their home countries, including so-called "ultra fans".
 Two weeks of prep
 Chief inspector  Seppo Kujala  of Helsinki police department said that he has a fair idea of what to expect at the Töölö stadium on Wednesday. He noted that the department began to prepare for the match as soon as it received information about the opponent two weeks ago. Officials have also received background about Red Star fans, who have a reputation of being troublesome.
 "Red Star supporters are a rather fanatical lot. There have sometimes been some disruptions. We have to pay attention to that," Kujala noted.
 Police will be working with the Helsinki club to secure the game. The department’s role is to have a public presence before and after the match and to provide back-up if something unexpected happens.
 "The starting point and set up are in good shape. The majority of supporters are just regular people," he stressed.
 Kujala added that there were no extraordinary arrangements in place for Wednesday’s game, given previous experience with similar events.
 "We’ve had fanatical supporters before, and there hasn’t always been over the top behaviour," he explained.
 UEFA-appointed head of security
 HJK vice president  Kari Haapiainen  is also responsible for organising Wednesday’s fixture. He said that the club has reserved 500 seats for Red Star fans in the stadium. Officials estimate that around 200 supporters will come from Serbia for the match, in addition to football enthusiasts from other countries such as Sweden.
 According to Haapiainen, HJK has received assistance from UEFA and Serbia to host the game. He added that spectators can expect to see somewhat heightened security compared to a game featuring local clubs.
 "Everyone seated in the Red Star fan section will be required to present a passport. Serbian police have also sent personnel to help control the situation on site. This is also the first time that UEFA has named a head of security for the event," Haapiainen revealed.
 Security arrangements will also be evident post-match: Serbian fans will be allowed to leave the stadium a bit later than other patrons to help avoid potential hooliganism.
 "It’s a perfectly normal practice. They will be asked to linger a bit longer after the game. Red Star fans will hear an announcement in their own language," he added.
 Kuopio also on its toes
 Meanwhile, police in Kuopio in eastern Finland are also getting ready for an international fixture that will pit Poland’s Legia Warsaw against the home team KuPS. Police inspector  Markus Taskinen  stressed that only a portion of the visitors’ fans come with a bad rep.
 "Of course this will affect our preparations. However the majority of people are decent fans. There are also some ultra supporters among them who may cause some trouble."
 In similar fashion to the Helsinki game, police officers from the visiting club’s homeland will be on hand to safeguard the event.
 "They will help us identify [people] if something happens. They can assist with interpreting if needed. In a worst case scenario there may be violence and vandalism," he outlined.
 Like their Helsinki counterparts, Kuopio police have looked into Legia Warsaw fans’ backgrounds. In addition officers will be visible at the stadium and on the streets.
 "There are no threats or risks. We have been cooperating with international agencies and anyone can attend the match with confidence," he concluded.

Police brace for "ultra fans" as Finnish footballers take on Serbian, Polish clubs


Summary: Finland's teachers' union estimates that its proposal to reduce teacher-pupil ratios would cost the state an additional 13 million euros.

Finland's trade union for teachers, OAJ, has drawn up a wish list for Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's government to consider. Among other things, the instructors propose reducing teacher-pupil ratios in Finland's education system to 1:18 for the first two years of primary school, and 1:20 for classes thereafter.
 The group argues smaller class sizes would improve school safety and increase the kind of interaction that enhances learning. It estimates that the reform would cost the state an additional 13 million euros in funding.
 Gradual approach to reforms
 The union also floats the idea of extending compulsory schooling to the age of 19 instead of the current age of 16. The government coalition that took shape in June announced that it would seek to  change Finland's compulsory school age cut-off to 18  to curb increasing youth marginalisation.
 The OAJ says that imposing an 18-year age limit risks cutting many pupils' studies off before they are finished, as many participants in upper secondary and vocational education take four years to finish all of their required curriculum requirements and examinations.
 The union warns authorities to take it slow in transitioning to the new age requirements.
 "The transition to our modern comprehensive school system back in the 1970s began in the north and was implemented gradually throughout the rest of the nation, over a period of several years. Perhaps this time, we could start in the south and spread north," OAJ chair  Olli Luukkainen  said in a press release.
 Salary increases also make the list
 OAJ presented the education sector's goals for the coming autumn to the media on 31 July in Helsinki. Luukkainen said that the teaching profession should be made more attractive by increasing starting salaries.
 The union seeks a gradual salary increase that would eventually reach a level of over 3,000 euros monthly. Minimum monthly salaries for starting primary teachers in Finland are currently 2,661 euros, while teachers of specific subjects in higher grades earn 2,873 euros.
 "The teaching profession is still very popular, but dwindling numbers of applicants indicate that jobs in teaching and education are losing their appeal. This could be interpreted to mean that salary levels, working conditions and career development opportunities aren't drawing young people to the field like they used to," Luukkainen said.

Finnish teachers demand smaller class sizes, extended compulsory education


Summary: The quartet was stopped on Helsinki's busy Esplanade and said it was their first time using the e-scooters

Four young men were unfortunate enough to catch the eye of police officers in downtown Helsinki and get slapped with 40-euro spot fines for riding e-scooters on the pavement.
 According to Helsinki police, the quartet was fined for using the sidewalk on the northern side of downtown Helsinki’s Esplanade.
 "We just issued 4 x 40-euro spot fines for riding e-scooters on the pavement on the crowded Esplanade. #Helsinki," Chief Inspector  Dennis Pasterstein  tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
 Pasterstein said it was likely the first time that police issued a fine for using e-scooters on the sidewalk.
 "We have received a great deal of feedback that people are riding bikes and e-scooters on the pavements. We monitored traffic in downtown Helsinki today and we fined four young men," Pasterstein said.
 The police top brass said that the quartet hailed from Helsinki. They reportedly said it was their first time using the electric kickboards and that they were unaware that they could not be used on sidewalks.
 "They were unlucky in that money they could have spent on treats were used on fines. It’s not the most heinous crime but police also have to prevent it," Pasterstein added.
 Companies looking to expand e-scooter rentals across Finland are reportedly facing some hesitancy among  municipalities concerned about the safety  of the mini two-wheelers, with some citing the need for proper infrastructure such as dedicated lanes before rolling out the service.

Unlucky foursome slapped with first e-scooter fines in Finland


Summary: Finland's press examines rising air travel, restless youth, unclear tax refund payments and a new defence chief.

Daily Helsingin Sanomat reports that  people in Finland are flying more than ever , while occupants of neighbouring countries are increasingly choosing to avoid air travel because of its destructive carbon footprint. Calculations have shown that flying accounts for about 2-3 percent of a person's carbon emissions on average.
 "I am aware of the emissions, but I can't say they have had any impact on my travel plans. Once my holiday finally arrives, I want to get away from it all,"  Suvi Vekki , a passenger at Helsinki Airport, told the paper.
 Finnish airport operator Finavia announced in 2018 that air travel had grown by 11.9 percent on the previous year, and so far this year the trend has continued, with 4.3 percent growth on the year prior.
 In comparison, ticket sales at Swedish airports grew by under a percentage point last year – a clear and sudden slowdown on previous years. Swedish airport operator Swedavia tells the paper that the drop can be attributed to a new air travel tax and the ongoing climate change discussion. The Swedes have even created a new word to explain their feelings on the subject: "flygskam" or flight shame, HS writes.
 A poll conducted by HS last year found that over half of Finnish residents would approve of a sin tax on flying for environmental reasons.  Few of the respondents indicated that they would be willing to cut back on their air travel , however.
 Trouble in Vuosaari
 HS also reports this Thursday on  unrest in the eastern Vuosaari district of Helsinki . In the past week, a group with members as young as 10 years old reportedly acted aggressively by threatening passersby, climbing onto strangers' balconies and leaving shopping trolleys and broken glass on walkways and streets.
 Eastern Helsinki's youth services director  Katri Kairimo  says foot patrols of youth outreach workers have been dispatched to the area in force this summer. She tells the paper that the kids often know the youth counsellors in the patrols, and feel comfortable talking to them.
 "The young people tend to mind our youth service representatives. It is all down to years of work in this area," she tells the paper.
 The local Kallahti Youth House in Vuosaari has been closed until the start of the school year, and the paper speculates that this may be one reason more underage locals have congregated at the Aurinkolahti swimming area and spent their idle days hanging out at the Columbus shopping centre.
 The paper visited the area to interview locals, and most seemed confident that the unrest would settle down once the school year started up again, in little over a week.
 Where's my money?
 The tabloid Iltalehti contains a short article about  recent tax refund confusion . Apparently, several taxpayers have been calling the taxman to complain that they haven't received their  refund , or that it was a different amount than they expected.
 The tax administration's senior inspector  Tarja Tapio  explains that the returns have been scheduled in intervals.
 "The refund date could have been moved without the customer noticing. Or if people are receiving different amounts from what they imagined, it is often because some of the returned money was used to pay advance taxes, for example," she says.
 She clarifies that about 800 million euros will be returned to 1.7 million taxpayers on 6 August; while a further 1.3 billion euros will be returned to another 1.3 million taxpayers in September.
 New chief of defence
 And the newspaper Etelä-Suomen Sanomat reports that  Timo Kivinen   begins his first day as Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces today .
 Kivinen was sworn in to the position on Tuesday at the Finnish President's Kesäranta summer residence in Naantali, where he was also promoted to the rank of General. A change of command ceremony took place at Helsinki's Santahamina base yesterday afternoon, featuring a review of troops from the Defence Command, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the National Defence University. The Air Force honoured the event with a flypast.
 Kivinen follows General  Jarmo Lindberg , who served as the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces for the last five years. Lindberg will now officially retire and transfer into the reserves, ESS writes.
 The Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces is the country's chief of defence. In terms of the military chain of command, he is directly subordinate to the President of the Republic.

Thursday's papers: Frequently flying Finns, 10-year-old vandals, tax refund confusion and a new defence commander


Summary: Last year police confiscated 3.5 million euros of the company's cash in a sting prompted by money laundering suspicions.

The real estate firm Airiston Helmi is liquidating its properties in Finland and the company's millionaire Russian owner  Pavel Melnikov  is also planning to offload assets he owns, the firm's lawyer  Kari Uoti  told STT news agency.
 Uoti reports that the company owns about a dozen properties in Finland, valued between hundreds of thousands and a million euros. He says advertisements will be released shortly. He says the decision to sell the assets originated with Melnikov.
 The company is at the centre of a joint investigation, as it is  believed to have laundered millions of euros  and used off-the-books labour to build several properties in the southwest Finland archipelago. The National Board of Investigation and the police conducted a sweeping search of 20 locations owned by Airiston Helmi in September 2018.
 345,000-euro loss in 2018
 The financial weekly Talouselämä reported on Wednesday that Airiston Helmi had filed for liquidation, a development that was revealed in the company's latest financial statements submitted to the Trade Register. Airiston Helmi reported a loss of approximately 345,000 euros last year.
 Uoti told Talouselämä that it had become impossible for the company to run its business, as its previous bank had closed its accounts while other institutions refused to do business with the firm.
 Airiston Helmi's manager  Dan Högström  told public broadcaster Yle last November that the company was looking to rent out its vacation spots in the archipelago off Turku to tourists in the spring.
 Yle reported in January that authorities will likely hold on to the close to  3.5 million euros  that the police seized in concert with last autumn's raid until next year, as the investigation of the case is expected to take a long time.

Airiston Helmi starts liquidation after banks shun shadowy firm


Summary: Environmental concerns have spurred complaints in Helsinki, while Espoo has been boosting its conservation efforts.

Construction of the  Raide-Jokeri light rail line  connecting the cities of Helsinki and Espoo has been suspended due to concerns that the work could damage the diverse natural habitat of the Siberian flying squirrel and other wildlife.
 The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland (KHO) ordered the felling of trees in the suburb of Pajamäki to be stopped after the court upheld a complaint made by the Helsinki Nature Conservation Society (Helsy) in July.
 Helsy and the local suburb association of Pajamäki said that the felling project – which calls for at least 400 trees to be cut down to make way for a Raide-Jokeri tunnel – violates Finland's Nature Conservation Act.
 Story continues after graphic.
 The light rail line is on track to connect Helsinki with neighbouring Espoo in 2021. Uutisgrafiikka, Jyrki Lyytikkä / Yle
 "It's a shame they're building the tunnel right next to the Patterimäki hill," said local  Pirjo Laiho , adding that an alternate route should be possible that wouldn't disturb the natural ecosystem.
 Helsinki's zoning board chief  Tuomas Hakala  responded to the criticism by saying that an environmental survey has deemed the tunnel to be the best solution.
 Construction of the tunnel is set to resume in spring 2020, when KHO will make a final ruling on the conservationists' complaints.
 The new light rail service from Itäkeskus in eastern Helsinki to Keilaniemi in Espoo  is set to cost 275 million euros  upon completion in 2021. The costs will be split between the two cities and the Finnish government.
 Expert: Conservation to increasingly hamper construction
 The Pajamäki area is home to a variety of animal species such as foxes, weasels, birds – and the rare flying squirrel. The small mammal is constantly making new inroads into Helsinki's lush suburbs.
 Helsy spokesperson  Laura Kuivalainen  said that razing the old trees in which the squirrels build their nests is irresponsible.
 "The city views hundred-year-old forests as little more than worthless building sites," she said. "Maybe we should consider following Sweden's example. Construction work in Stockholm avoids natural locales."
 Kuivalainen said that efforts to conserve the flying squirrel's home turf are increasingly likely to conflict with the city's zoning plans in the future.  Ilpo Huolman  from the local Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (Ely-keskus) agrees.
 Story continues after photo.
 The Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) has made itself at home in Helsinki's woods. AOP
 "There are several Helsinki zoning plans in the works that will need to be reconciled with the needs of the environment. The natural value of potential construction sites must be evaluated much more carefully."
 But even with more rigorous assessments, Huolman said, flora and fauna may develop in surprising ways that could require building crews to change their tactics.
 While flying squirrels are a relatively new concern in the capital, the city of Espoo has taken steps to better understand the creature and its habits some five years ago.
 Environmental specialist  Laura Ahopelto  said that existing data on flying squirrels is always consulted when designating construction zones, and that radio collars will next be used to gather more accurate information. Ten squirrels are soon to be tagged.
 "We will gain great insight into the routes and territories used by the flying squirrels, and how they choose to cross large highways," Ahopelto said.

Flying squirrel habitat stalls inter-city tram line construction


Summary: Investigators aim to determine why the 50-year-old trainee pilot was flying without an instructor.

Finland's Safety Investigation Authority, Otkes, has begun looking into a light airplane crash that claimed the life of a 50-year-old trainee pilot on Wednesday evening. No one else was on board the aircraft and no one was reported injured on the ground. Police are also investigating the incident.
 The accident took place at the local Pirkanmaa-Tampere airfield around 9 pm on Wednesday. Initial reports suggest that the aircraft crash-landed shortly after takeoff. Otkes lead investigator  Ismo Aaltonen  said that the organisation had obtained a video recording of the incident.
 "At this stage we know that immediately after takeoff the plane banked left and almost completed an entire loop while climbing to a few dozen metres before crashing nose-down alongside the runway," Aaltonen told Yle on Thursday.
 Trainee was flying solo
 Aaltonen said that the trainee was alone on the flight.
 "Usually there is an instructor present, but we haven't yet unravelled the details," he added.
 The is no legal obligation for Otkes to investigate accidents involving ultra-light airplanes. However Aaltonen said the organisation is probing the crash because a trainee was involved. The investigation will seek to examine oversight in training situations. Learners typically fly with an instructor in the early phases of their training.
 "This is the first accident involving a trainee since 2010," Aaltonen noted.
 Detective inspector Pasi Nieminen of the Central Finland police department said that the cause of the fatal crash is not yet known. However police do not believe that it put bystanders in danger.
 Aaltonen described the craft as an ultra-light two-seater Eurostar plane. He said that nothing appeared to obstruct the plane as it ascended, and went on to declare that suggestions that the plane had encountered a hot air balloon were mere "hearsay". He added that initial information indicates that the weather was fair at the time of the accident.
 Flights to Tampere diverted, cancelled
 Local emergency services in Pirkanmaa received a call about a major aviation accident on Wednesday evening shortly before 9 pm. Some 19 rescue units responded to the call and completed their work around 11 pm.
 Finnish news agency STT reported Wednesday evening that two eyewitnesses said that the plane dropped sharply nose-down. Meanwhile tabloid daily Ilta-Sanomat said that the accident occurred during takeoff.
 Airport manager  Mari Nurminen  said on Wednesday that the entire airfield remained closed until midnight.
 A Ryanair flight from Budapest was due to land at the airport at 9:40 pm but was re-directed to Turku. Nurminen said that national flag carrier Finnair had also cancelled a flight from Helsinki to Tampere, while an Air Baltic flight from Riga was delayed to later the same night.
 On Sunday  another light airplane crashed  in Vuolijoki in Kajaani, eastern Finland, killing the 68-year-old pilot. According to data from the Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, during the last decade there were 38 accidents involving ultra-light airplanes, resulting in 11 fatalities.

Investigators probe death of trainee pilot in Tampere ultra-light airplane crash


Summary: The new defence forces commander will be responsible for a multi-billion-euro overhaul of Finland's ageing fighter jet fleet.

Ulkoasiain hallinto, maanpuolustus ja järjestystoimi

New Defence Forces Commander  Timo Kivinen  began his stewardship of Finland's defence forces on Thursday after being formally appointed to the position by President  Sauli Niinistö  on Wednesday.
 During his first press conference as defence chief on Thursday, the 59-year-old said that  international defence cooperation  should be cost-effective while serving the advancement of national defence capability.
 Kivinen said that Finland would likely scale back participation in international exercises in the future.
 "We have had more exercises in recent years. We have identified the exercises that best serve us, so the number of drills will not increase, but will likely go in the other direction," Kivinen declared.
 The former chief of defence command noted that there had been an increase in military activity near Finland, which began following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. He said that many Baltic States had reacted to the development by increasing their defence budgets.
 "It's important that Finland continues to have a strong defence capability and an understanding of the development of military technology," Kivinen commented.
 Praise for Finnish-Swedish partnership
 According to Kivinen, Finland's defence forces must be prepared to combat different hybrid threats that could also target non-military sectors, such as public administration.
 "The use of artificial intelligence, automation and the development of sensor technology will accelerate the speed of military operations. Finland must stay abreast of those developments," he urged.
 Swedish defence forces commander  Micael Bydén  was present at an exchange review on Wednesday, in which outgoing defence chief  Jarmo Lindberg   passed the baton to Kivinen . The new chief of defence commended military cooperation with Sweden.
 "Sweden is our closest partner in many respects. In 2014 none of us would have believed everything that we have accomplished over the past five years."
 Major acquisitions ahead
 Kivinen will take the lead on major acquisitions of defence materiel, including an overhaul of the country's ageing fleet of fighter jets. In 2021, Finland will have to decide which model to purchase to replace the current Hornet aicraft.
 So far five models are vying for consideration in a deal whose  value has been estimated at between seven and 10 billion euros .
 Kivinen described the project as the biggest single decision of his term as commander; one that will influence the performance of the defence forces for years to come. He will also preside over the acquisition of new gear for the Navy.
 Debate on military service reforms welcome
 According to Kivinen, the defence forces are prepared to make changes to the current system of military service while paying attention to gender equality.
 "Surveys indicate that the present support has solid national support. However compulsory military service has an established status in society so it’s good to discuss it," he noted.
 The defence top brass said that women performing military service had contributed a great deal to the defence forces. In July, a record of nearly 600 women took up voluntary military service.
 Before his appointment as defence force commander, Kivinen served for two years as the head of Finland’s defence command. He spent much of his career in the army but also has international experience.
 He has been assigned to peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and worked as a military attaché in Hungary, Ukraine and Austria. He has also studied in the USA and the UK. Kivinen and his spouse have four children. He is keen on physical fitness and names orienteering as his favourite pastime.

New defence chief signals fewer international war drills for Finland


Summary: Tourists from Russia will soon be required to provide proof of income to apply for a visa to visit Finland.

Starting from September, tourists travelling with tour operators and other visitors from Russia who wish to enter Finland will be required to provide a job letter with salary information, evidence of real estate ownership and travel itineraries when  applying for a visa .
 Other EU states already require non- European travellers to include their financial details with their visa applications.
 The Finnish government has previously merely requested that Russians include additional financial and travel information in certain cases. From 1 September these specifics will be a requirement for all Russians applying for a visa.
 Russian tourists must now their financial details in the form of a job letter including salary information, bank statements from the previous three months or proof of property ownership in Russia.
 The change applies to applications submitted at Finland's embassies and Finnish visa centres across Russia.
 Meanwhile, Russia is  planning to reform its own tourist visa system , and introduce an online system to apply for a free-of-charge visa for travel to certain areas.

Finland tightens visa requirements for Russians


Summary: Lake waters are also getting chillier by the day, said the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

July 2019 will be remembered for breaking records for both freezing nights and blistering days at Finland's meteorological measuring stations. The equipment at Ylivieska airport measured a nighttime low temperature of -1.7 degrees Celsius, while Porvoo's Emäsalo station clocked in at 33.7 degrees Celsius in the daytime – the highest temperature ever recorded at that site.
 The Finnish Meteorological Institute's longest-running observation hub in Kaisaniemi, Helsinki also broke its previous record high as the July sun bore down, raising the air temperature to 33.2 degrees Celsius.
 Temperatures of more than 25 degrees were observed on only 13 days, which is three days below the long-term average.
 Subzero summer temperatures were also frequent in Finland, with seven frosty nights measured at the Möksy station in Southern Ostrobothnia, western Finland.
 Lake waters were very warm -- until they weren't. Jari Kovalainen / Yle
 FMI data shows that July was also drier than usual, with between 1 and 90 mm of rainfall collected. Central and northern regions experienced the least rain in 30 years.
 Not only that, but the swimming waters in lake-rich Finland have also begun to cool down extremely quickly.
 Measurements taken from Pääjärvi lake in Karstula, Central Finland showed surface temperatures of 26 degrees on Sunday; on Wednesday the temperature had plummeted to just 16 degrees Celsius.
 The hotter days in July initially warmed surface waters to the balmy twenties, but August lake temperatures have quickly fallen below long-term averages.

Historic temperature peaks in dry, cool July


Summary: The press covers public satisfaction with Rinne's coalition, identity politics, morning-after pills, and architecture.

Lahti-based daily Etelä-Suomen Sanomat reports on a recent Lännen Media-commissioned poll from late July that found that close to half ( 47 percent) of Finnish residents are "somewhat or very satisfied" with the left-leaning cabinet  led by Social Democrat Prime Minister  Antti Rinne .
 About a quarter of survey respondents couldn't say one way or the other how they felt about the coalition, while 28 percent reported feeling somewhat or very unsatisfied with the government team that was formed after general elections in April.
 Four years ago as the Centre Party's  Juha Sipilä  began his centre-right coalition's journey, his government enjoyed 59 percent support in the same poll. There were also far fewer respondents who were uncertain how they felt about Sipilä's cabinet, which ESS says could indicate that the Finnish public finds Rinne's policies more ambiguous.
 Who is a real Sámi?
 Newspaper Turun Sanomat  reports on a decision  yesterday by the Finnish Supreme Court to annul a Sámi Parliament decision to remove names from Sámi Parliament election rosters due to questions over their Sámi identity. Finnish constitutional law professor  Martin Scheinin  tells TS that Finnish authorities run the risk of triggering strong ethnic tensions that have arisen around the principle of the  indigenous people's self-determination .
 The UN Human Rights Committee ruled in February that Finland's Supreme Administrative Court violated human rights when it ignored the work of the Sámi Parliament Election Committee, which had decided upon  individual assessment  to not include 93 names.
 "We've suddenly got these new identities: the Lapps, the Forest Sámi and people who are calling themselves Inari Sámi. Despite this, those people who have traditionally called themselves Sámi know that these were the very people who spit on them in school yards in the 1950s and 60s," Scheinin says.
 Scheinin notes that the very same people who resisted the launch of the Sámi Parliament in the 1990s now want the same rights as the Sámi. He calls for Parliament to postpone the September election until Finnish laws can be changed.
 "If the elections take place as scheduled, I predict it will generate a lot of unrest, ethnic tension and international court cases. The situation will continue and it will get worse," he tells TS. The deadline for candidates to register for the election is Friday, 2 August.
 Fewer unwanted pregnancies
 Joensuu-based daily Karjalainen carries a Finnish news agency STT story on the  use of morning-after pills in Finland , an option that was extended to young people under the age of 15 in 2015.
 Miila Halonen  of Finland's Family Federation tells the paper that the fact that the pill is freely available in pharmacies has lowered the threshold for young people to use it. She says  abortion rates are at historic lows  in Finland for women under 20, and the 2015 law reform is one of several factors that explain the current situation.
 Finnish Medicines Agency researcher  Tinna Voipio  says about 100,000 pills have been sold annually in Finland since 2010, with no discernible jump in sales after the 2015 amendment.
 Halonen tells the paper that steady sales likely indicate that Finns see the morning-after pill as something reserved for emergency situations. She tells the paper that as a rule, young people in Finland are very savvy about contraception and use it regularly.
 "More municipalities offering free contraception has improved user numbers and increased the use of long-lasting, reliable means of protection that create little chance of user error," she says.
 Finland's most beautiful building?
 And the tabloid Ilta-Sanomat has launched a c ontest  asking readers to vote on Finland's most beautiful building. The first round of voting has already narrowed the list of candidates down to 25 from an initial 100.
 Among the iconic structures that are still in the running are the striking white Helsinki Cathedral in the capital's Senate Square, the art nouveau State Hotel (Valtionhotelli) in the eastern border city of Imatra, the 15th-century Olavinlinna Castle in Savonlinna, the Bengtskär lighthouse on the south coast island of Kemiösaari, and "the world's largest wooden church" in Kerimäki.
 Vote for your favourite  here .

Friday's papers: Lukewarm gov't approval, Sámi identity, contraception, and Finland's most beautiful building


Summary: PM Antti Rinne also floated the idea of a wage subsidy "Tinder" service to match employers with jobseekers.

Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  has signalled that from 1 January next year he will follow up on  a pre-election pledge  to roll back  a deeply unpopular "activation" scheme  that essentially penalises unemployed jobseekers who are unable to find work.
 In an Yle interview, Rinne said that his administration would at least eliminate the element of the so-called activation model that  cut jobseekers’ unemployment benefits  by 4.65 percent if they were unable to find work, earn money as entrepreneurs or provide proof of training during a three-month evaluation period. He added that there is also a possibility that the entire system would be axed.
 "I don’t believe that it has produced a single new job. It has been a benefits cut that has increasingly pushed people toward [reliance on] income support. This will be addressed," Rinne declared.
 Rinne told Yle that aspects of the programme that have had a positive impact on employment could be preserved. He pointed to the system of regular interviews of unemployed persons as one example of a useful addition. He said that government working groups are currently trying to determine the employment impact of the activation system.
 The PM explained that legal issues have slowed down dismantling of the model. He added that it would not be enough to tackle the benefit-cutting aspect of the system and said that the administration preferred to deal with all possible reforms with a single legislative proposal.
 "It could be that in the final analysis we would water down [jobseekers’] obligations in some way. That would allow us to get rid of the benefits cut," he noted.
 Tinder setup for wage subsidies
 The government is expected to bring new, fast-acting employment-boosting measures to budget talks due to begin in the autumn. It has also asked labour market organisations to submit proposals that would help it meet job creation and employment targets, but Rinne stressed that it has not imposed any empirical targets for them.
 Rinne said that one idea that the new administration is mulling is a proposal that would make it easier for individuals to apply for wage subsidies.
 The system would involve rolling out an online service in which unemployed jobseekers could apply for a wage subsidy that is equivalent to the labour market subsidy. At the same time, employers would be told whether or not they are able to hire an employee using the wage subsidy. The result would be a kind of wage subsidy Tinder service.
 "Bringing these people together would simplify the process and could create tens of thousands of new jobs," Rinne speculated.
 The government’s goal is to get at least 60,000 people into jobs and to raise the employment rate to 75 percent during its four-year term. The entire government programme is largely predicated on improving  the current employment rate of around 72 percent . However economists have expressed caution over  slowing economic growth  and bearish employment prospects.

PM pledges end to Finland’s contentious activation model early in 2020


Summary: A third of retired entrepreneurs in Finland continue to work part-time after they officially retire.

One in three pensioners who used to own a business continues to work after retirement, according to a June study from Finland's Centre for Pensions. An examination of data from Statistics Finland on 58,000 retirees found that 33 percent of former business owners continue to work in some capacity after retirement, compared to only about 10 percent of pensioners who used to do salaried work.
 Finland has about 1.5 million pensioners at present, and another Pension Centre  study  from last summer found that ten percent of them have real difficulty making ends meet, while half of the surveyed pensioners reported occasions when they were unable to pay their bills. One-third said they had no money left after the payment of necessary bills and expenses.
 "Keeping dementia at bay"
 As in many other western countries, the percentage of pensioners who continue to work in Finland has been growing. For many former entrepreneurs in particular, extended careers are necessary because they feel they were unable to pay enough into  self-employed pension funds  (YEL) when they were younger. The Pension Centre says one in three retired business owners end up in in this situation.
 "Some of the pensioners that continue to work are motivated by financial reasons, but even more emphasise the ability to contribute to something meaningful and stay social," says the Centre's researcher  Anu Polvinen .
 80-year-old  Eila Hanhela  has been running a farmstead cafe from her home in Oulu's Haukipudas area for four years. She begins every day early, baking treats for her establishment. Then she heads outside to feed her donkey, sheep and chickens.
 Story continues after photo.
 Customers are welcome to visit Hanhela's farm animals. Arto Veräjänkorva / Yle
 "In the morning, everything aches and my joints are stiff, but once I get going, everything is fine," she says.
 Hanhela says she believes that her little business will keep dementia at bay, and is happy it offers her opportunities to meet people. She says she primarily advertises on Facebook and Instagram, as newspaper ads are prohibitively expensive. She says having things to do and goals everyday has made retired life more fulfilling.
 "A person my age once told me that they would go out with their boots on. That's my plan," she says laughing.

More pensioners working and starting businesses


Summary: Of the hobbies listed in the survey, hockey required the biggest parental input and scouting required the smallest.

Finnish parents spend an average of 5.17 hours on their children's extracurricular activities, according to a recent Yle-commissioned survey of over 1,000 Finns. The poll targeted parents who have children under the age of 18.
 The five-hour average is typical for a family with two children with hobbies. According to the poll, the time devoted to driving, volunteering and/or coaching children's activities does not increase with the number of children, however, as parents of just one child devoted more time to their child's hobby.
 Over 80 percent of the respondents said that most of the time they commit to their children's hobbies is spent on transportation.
 One in ten said they also worked as a coach, teacher or assistant. Dads made up the majority of these kinds of volunteers.
 Half of kids in Finland are active in sports clubs
 Maria Ulvinen , a children's sports advisor to Finland's Olympic Committee, says parental encouragement is vital.
 "Parents that are active and share in the joys and successes of their children and support them through the challenging moments always improve the children's self-motivation," she says.
 The Taloustutkimus poll determined that parents of underage hockey players devote the most time (over 10 hours weekly) to their children's hobby, followed by floor hockey (7), track and field (6), and football, horseback riding and music lessons (5).
 The activities that demanded the least parental time in the poll were dance and art classes (4 hours weekly) and scouting (3).
 A new study of children and young people's leisure activities in 2018 from the Finnish Young Research Network states that 89 percent of underage residents have some kind of hobby while half are active in some kind of sports group.
 Data from interviews with children and parents in the study suggested that regular physical exercise is associated with a higher than average feeling of satisfaction with one's health, appearance and life in general.

Poll: Parents in Finland devote 5 hours weekly on average to kids' hobbies


Summary: Cars are now used for half of two-kilometre trips in Finland, and for 60 percent of three-kilometre jaunts.

The  Antti Rinne   government  will be taking forward a proposal by the former  Juha Sipilä -led administration to increase walking and  cycling  in Finland by 30 percent by the year 2030.
 The goal is to ensure that Finnish residents complete a total of roughly 450 million new journeys on foot or two wheels, and is part of the previous government’s climate and energy strategy laid down in 2016.
 In its  government programme released in June , the new administration has pledged 41 million euros to be spent between 2020 and 2022 "for the planning work and project promotion related to walking and cycling." (Pg. 122)
 Of that amount, 10 million euros will be devoted to developing infrastructure to support more walking and cycling.
 "The goal is quite challenging, because cycling and walking have declined continuously over the long term. Now we have to turn the trend around and people need to be directed more towards walking, biking and public transportation instead of using private cars," noted  Matti Koistinen , secretary general of the Finnish Cyclists’ Association.
 According to the previous government’s proposal, more walking and biking and less time spent sitting behind the steering wheel would also benefit the domestic economy. It estimated that a 20 percent increase in perambulation and cycling would save four billion euros in health costs and would also reduce vehicle emissions by 0.30 million tonnes annually.
 Municipal funding for bike lanes
 Some of the current government’s green scheme appropriations will be directed to local governments to assist with the construction of infrastructure such as bike lanes. Funding will also be used to establish quality standards for them and to encourage the introduction of company bikes.
 The ministry of transport and communications said that the government’s target will require a broad spectrum of measures. However ministry specialist  Eleonoora Eilittä  said that a great deal of potential lies in encouraging people to opt for a bike or stroll over short distances.
 "The long-term trend has seen a decline in the popularity of biking. Last year [the government] prepared a programme to promote walking and cycling. It aims to make walking and cycling more attractive and the government programme earmarks significant resources for it," Eilittä commented.
 She noted that instead of hopping on a bike or travelling on foot, half of two-kilometre trips in Finland are made by car, while the corresponding proportion for a three-kilometre jaunt is 60 percent.
 The cyclist association’s Koistinen commended the government for the funds earmarked to promote biking and to improve cycling infrastructure. However he said that even more money should be made available for the cause.
 "We need to re-prioritise funding if we want people to walk, cycle and use public transportation more. Over the past few decades we have made it easier for people to drive and now we should do the same for walking, biking and mass transit," he declared.
 Joensuu and Oulu top cycling cities
 Some municipalities have already taken the lead in encouraging residents to opt for more low-emissions modes of transportation. Local governments in Joensuu and Oulu in particular have long invested in cycling.
 According to Koistinen, even during the winter, residents of Oulu and Joensuu cycle more than people in southern Finland do during summertime.
 "The most important factor has been the quality of the traffic environment. Oulu and Joensuu have constructed really good bike lanes for decades and really thought about how people live and move around from the cycling perspective. Winter maintenance of bike lanes is also better than average in these cities," he pointed out.
 The popularity of biking varies widely from city to city. According to the transport ministry the number of cyclists in Finnish municipalities ranges from two to 20 percent.
 "It depends a lot on how city planning is handled and where services and jobs are located. There will certainly continue to be regional differences, but in general it is possible to increase cycling throughout the country," Eilittä concluded.

Finland's green scheme to invest €40m in cycling and walking


Summary: The Bank of Finland governor tweeted news of his decision to pull out of the running for the top IMF job.

European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro

The governor of Finland’s Central Bank  Olli Rehn  has announced the withdrawal of his  candidacy for nomination as the European candidate  to lead the International Monetary Fund, the IMF.
 "The job is extremely meaningful and motivating. At this stage I am withdrawing from the vote so that we may achieve a broad consensus on a European candidate and also secure international support for them," Rehn said in a tweet on Friday afternoon.
 On Friday, EU finance ministers began voting to nominate a candidate from the continent to compete for the top job at the international financial institution.
 Apart from Rehn, a former EU commissioner, other frontrunners in the contest included  Jeroen Dijsselbloem , the Dutch former head of the Eurogroup of EU finance ministers and the Bulgarian economist, politician and another former EU commissioner  Kristaline Georgieva .
 Two other candidates, Spanish finance minister  Nadia Calviño  and  Mário Centeno , a Portuguese economist and current Eurogroup chief bowed out of the race earlier on.
 The outgoing head IMF chief, France’s  Christine Lagarde  is leaving the institution  to become president of the European Central Bank , the first woman to hold the position.
 Based in Washington, the IMF will stop accepting applications for the position on 6 September.

Finland’s Olli Rehn bows out of contest for IMF head nomination


Summary: The Finnish super featherweight champion has held the title since 2015.

Eva Wahlström  successfully defended her World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight championship title in Las Vegas on Friday night against US challenger  Ronica Jeffrey .
 The 10-round bout ended in a draw, with one judge awarding the encounter to Jeffrey 100-90, while another tipped in Wahlström’s favour at 96-94. A third gave an even score at 95-95.
 Friday night was the fifth time that Wahlström defended her title, which she has held since April 2015.
 During her professional career, the 38-year-old Finn has won 32 fights with three knockouts (KOs), lost once and drawn twice.
 At 36, Jeffrey had claimed victory in 17 bouts in her career with one KO and lost just once before the Wahlström fixture.

Finnish boxing champ Eva Wahlström retains world title after Las Vegas draw


Summary: Finland has reportedly informed Russia and said that it regretted the incident.

The Finnish Navy said on Friday that its minelayer Hämeenmaa had inadvertently ventured a short distance into Russian territorial waters during a surveillance exercise on Thursday.
 The vessel had been monitoring the territorial integrity of waters in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland when it wandered about 600 metres into Russian territory.
 When personnel manning the vessel noticed the error, they immediately returned to international waters and reported the incident in accordance with the operational chain of command, the Navy said in a statement.
 Navy chief of staff  Tuomas Tiilikainen  told local news agency STT that the intrusion occurred west of Suursaari, an island in the eastern part of the gulf.
 "Monitoring territorial integrity is our core mission. Our ships were there accordingly," Tiilikainen added.
 The naval officer noted that the operation did not involve any kind provocation and explained that the vessel always has arms ready as is customary in monitoring missions.
 The Navy said that it has launched a probe into the matter. Finland has also informed Russia and said that it regretted the incident.

Finnish minelayer strays into Russian territorial waters


Summary: Sari Essayah will be on sick leave for two weeks while she receives treatment.

Christian Democratic Party chair  Sari Essayah  has been diagnosed with breast cancer, the party organ KD-lehti reported on Saturday. Essayah was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer at the end of July.
 The second-term MP will be on sick leave for two weeks to receive acute treatment for the disease. According to KD-lehti, Essayah is also mulling stepping down as party leader.
 "[My] treatment for breast cancer will begin on Monday. I will have to consider the future of my chairmanship," Essayah said during a meeting of government coalition partners at parliament on Saturday.
 The Christian Democratic Party currently holds five seats in the Finnish parliament. The party’s annual congress is scheduled to take place in Oulu at the end of August.
 Time "to think about the chairmanship"
 The former MEP was  the unanimous choice to succeed  long-time leader  Päivi Räsänen  as head of the CD in 2015 but may now step aside to make room for a new chair.
 "I wanted to make this known as soon as possible so that party organisers would have enough time to deal with the situation and to give people enough time to think about the chairmanship. It’s still so fresh that apart from my family circle, most people are hearing about it for the first time now. I would like to thank everyone for their expressions of support and especially for their prayers of intercession," Essayah said in a statement issued by the party.
 The retired race walker added that she hopes to return to parliamentary work when the autumn session opens in September and to otherwise be involved as far as her treatment allows.
 Edit: Updated at 2.36pm to clarify that the Christian Democrats have five seats in parliament and to correct the statement that it is a member of the five-party government coalition.

Party paper: Christian Democrats’ chair ponders stepping down after breast cancer diagnosis


Summary: Savo officials have advised locals not to eat the dead fish and to avoid swimming in Rautalampi lake.

The eastern Finland police department has launched an investigation into a massive fish kill in Rautalampi, in eastern Finland’s northern Savo region. On Saturday police collected specimens of the dead fish and also sampled water from streams feeding into the local lake.
 Locals have reported large numbers of dead fish washing up on the shores of the lake since Wednesday. The majority of them are said to be roach and bream, but the lifeless shoals also included perch, pike and a few pike perch or zander. On Friday the local daily Savon Sanomat (SS) reported that the number of dead fish ran to tens of thousands.
 Residents have been advised not to consume the fish or to feed it to animals. Rautalampi mayor  Anu Sepponen  also told the paper that residents should avoid swimming in the lake.
 Reports of the massive fish kill first surfaced on Wednesday evening, but the scale of the problem only became apparent between Thursday and Friday, SS said.
 Disease, algae ruled out as cause
 Sepponen and northern northern Savo rescue services fire official  Miika Laitinen  told SS that the cause of the fish deaths is not yet known. The mayor added that initial information suggested that the fish kill was not due to disease or algal blooms.
 Chair of the Rautalampi lake conservation society  Pekka Saarikko  said he was taken aback by the sight of the dead fish.
 "We haven’t seen so many dead fish in this lake in 32 years," he told Yle and added that he'd collected up to 20 dead fish over a 40-metre distance on the lakeshore.
 Story continues after photo.
 The municipality has provided waste containers to help dispose of the dead fish. Pekka Niiranen / Yle
 The municipality has provided several waste containers for residents to dispose of the fish. Originally there was only one in the Jaakonharju district and on Saturday it was half full and emitted a putrid odour.
 "We will try to empty the container during the weekend," the mayor commented.
 Sepponen said that samples of the lake water and some of the dead fish have been recovered and sent to the northern Savo centre for economic development, transport and the environment (Ely-keskus) for analysis.
 Test results are expected by Monday.

Police probe large-scale fish kill in eastern Finland lake


Summary: The event has been condemned for dishonouring victims of crime and for glorifying criminals.

Kulttuuri- ja taidetapahtumat ja -näyttelyt

Finland’s first "true crime" event scheduled for mid-August has had to undergo a major shake-up following objections to the originally-planned programme of activities.
 The event was billed as offering members of the public the opportunity to get closer to robbers, escaped convicts and murderers during visits to crime scenes and at a "meet and greet" dinner with offenders and crime writers.
 However these elements of the event have since been scrubbed from the programme following widespread criticism.
 According to reporting by main daily Helsingin Sanomat and tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, the planned event has been condemned as unethical for glorifying criminals while dishonouring victims and their families.
 Jan Erola , a veteran in the local publishing field, told Yle that true crime is becoming more mainstream and commercial.
 "When you’re at an event in which a convicted murderer acts as a guide at the scene of his crimes, you’re in quite deep. My first reaction was to get chills," he commented.
 One of the site visits would have been led by  Janne Raninen , who was convicted over a double murder in Vuosaari in eastern Helsinki. Raninen is listed as one of the organisers of the event and is still serving time for what was said to be an execution.
 Original location swapped for Helsinki's Oodi
 Initially attendees would have had to pay for the event, but it is now free and patrons who have already paid for tickets will receive a refund. The original location of the main events has also been changed from Hanasaari in Espoo to Helsinki’s new flagship library, Oodi.
 Raninen told Ilta-Sanomat that Hanasaari had received negative feedback and no longer wanted to host the true crime experience.
 The programme will include speeches by novelists who have written about their past crimes and how they came to chronicle them. A panel discussion featuring crime journalists will also take place as originally planned.
 New aspects of the revised programme will include a performance by a rap artist and an address by a victim support official.
 In July Raninen told Yle that the purpose of the event was to prevent crime. He added that literature and writing about crime were at the heart of the programme, rather than criminals themselves.
 "I hope that young people don’t make the same mistakes that I did and cause suffering to the victims and their families."

True crime event overhauled over claims of disrespect for victims


Summary: Comments made by parliamentarians Päivi Räsänen, Hussein Al-Taee, and Juha Mäenpää could be considered ethnic agitation.

Finnish police are currently examining inflammatory comments from three members of parliament, after requests to investigate the legality of the public remarks were submitted to the authorities. The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS)  reports  that preliminary stances on the matter are expected from the police and prosecutors in the coming week.
 The first investigation request concerns  Facebook posts  from  first-term  Social Democrat MP  Hussein Al-Taee , who admitted several weeks ago to writing text that was disparaging of minorities in 2011-2012.
 Inspector  Pekka Hätönen  from the Helsinki Police now told the paper that Al-Taee's dated comments may still be made subject to a criminal investigation. The National Bureau of Investigation had earlier stated that the police would not begin an investigation into the fledgling MP's old posts, but the Helsinki Police have since reconsidered the statutes of limitation with regards to the case.
 Ethnic agitation is a crime in Finland. The law defines it as a person who makes available to the public an expression of opinion or another message where a certain group is threatened, defamed or insulted on the basis of its race, skin colour, birth status, national or ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation or disability.
 The maximum time within which legal proceedings may be initiated for suspected crimes of this nature is five years after the event.
 HS reports that the authorities are now reconsidering an investigation request because it could be construed that a suspected ethnic agitation crime could conceivably continue for as long as the posts are on display.
 Al-Taee has publicly apologized for his remarks.
 Comments on Pride, immigrants as alien species
 The second investigation request being considered by the police concerns tweets from former interior minister and current Christian Democrat MP  Päivi Räsänen  on Helsinki Pride 2019.
 Räsänen  criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland's decision  to defend the rights of sexual minorities by signing on as an official partner in the event.
 Räsänen tweeted that she found it regrettable that "sin and shame" had been elevated as a source of pride. She included a still photo of New Testament verses which speak of "vile affections", among other things
 On 4 August, Räsänen posted on Twitter that she had not been told about any investigation requests, and heard about it for the first time in the media. She also said that "she has faith that it is still allowed to quote the Bible" in Finland.
 The third request for police investigation centres on a statement from Finns Party MP  Juha Mäenpää , who gave a speech on the floor of the Parliament in mid-June in which he equated immigrants with alien or invasive species.
 Freedom of expression in the Finnish Parliament is exceptionally broad. Even so, HS writes that things would get complicated if Mäenpää's remarks are found to meet the criteria of suspected ethnic agitation by the police and prosecutors.
 If the authorities reach this conclusion, the paper writes, the case would proceed to the body's constitutional law committee.

Police mull criminal investigation into divisive remarks from 3 MPs


Summary: Officials have preliminarily ruled out technical faults and alcohol use as potential causes of the fatal crash.

Two people died and four people were injured in the collision of a motorboat and a sailboat in the Archipelago Sea in southwest Finland on Saturday evening, 3 August. The crash took place in a stretch of the open sea known as Airisto, near the city of Turku.
 Southwest Finland police say the impact killed two middle-aged men that were passengers on the sailboat.
 Traffic rules for people moving about on the water require that motorboats give the right of way to sailboats, but the police would not provide more information at this stage about the collision, or say whether the deceased were thrown overboard in the incident.
 Director  Veli-Pekka Nurmi  from Finland's Accident Investigation Board says a preliminary investigation has been started.
 Initial inspection has ruled out a technical fault, he says, so the investigation will probably look closely into the behaviour and action of the boaters and rescue personnel in question.
 The West Finland Coast Guard branch reported on their Facebook page on 4 August that the previous day had been "a difficult one in many ways", with many simultaneous issues to respond to.
 Nine people were involved in the accident: two adults in the motorboat and seven others in the sailboat. Two of the sailboat passengers were children.
 The crash will be investigated as a case of aggravated traffic safety endangerment and aggravated manslaughter.

Boat accident claims two lives in southwest archipelago


Summary: About 600 imbibers in inflatables floated down the chilly Kerava River on Saturday, a big drop on previous years.

The annual grassroots event  Kaljakellunta  invites people to float leisurely down a river and enjoy beer. Eastern Uusimaa police estimate that about 600 people participated in the 2019 event, a significant decrease from  previous years  when more than 2,000 revellers were estimated to have joined in.
 Officials say that chilly temperatures on 3 August likely discouraged many from partaking in the fun.
 This year's procession departed from the Heureka science museum and followed the Kerava River. The float alternates every other year between two rivers in the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa.
 Police say Saturday's float proceeded peacefully. Only one inebriated individual was taken into custody.
 Every year since the event was founded in 1997, participants in the beer float have been upbraided by law enforcement officials, environmental groups and local residents for leaving their rubbish on the shores. Cans, bottles, abandoned plastic boats and inner tubes, and other trash cause damage to the waterways' natural environment.
 Organisers arranged a  clean-up effort  on the day after the event for the first time in 2017.
 Kaljakellunta 2019
 Kaljakellunta 2019 Sini Järnström / Yle
 Kaljakellunta 2019
 Kaljakellunta 2019 Anni Reenpää / Lehtikuva

Low turnout at annual capital city area beer float


Summary: Finland's press looks at life before and after the internet, faster boat traffic, and the battle for battery business.

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

Daily Helsingin Sanomat begins the week with  a story on what Finns used to in their free time , before " the internet started controlling us ".
 Data from Statistics Finland show that 88 percent of Finnish residents use the internet, more than the European average for people aged 16-74, which is 76 percent. The paper says the clear majority checks into social media daily, one-quarter several times daily, and another quarter is there virtually non-stop.
 There are still the same 24 hours in a day, HS writes, so what activities has screen time replaced? Well, for one thing, 12 percent of the population used to write poems, short stories and novels in their leisure time – now only 6 percent pursue this hobby. Up to 2002, one in four kept a diary, now that number has dropped to one in ten. Half of the country wrote letters in 1981, dropping to a third in 2002. Today, only one in twelve drops a handwritten line.
 Reading has also taken a hit, the paper says. In 1991, nine out of every ten people over the age of 15 read a newspaper daily, but in 2017, this number dropped to six in ten. Only 30 percent continue to read magazines. Almost everyone in Finland still reads at least one book a year, but tastes in reading materials have changed. Literature and poems are out: fantasy, non-fiction and biographies are in.
 Finns listen to less music, but frequent more films and concerts. Listening to the radio has fallen off, but people in Finland are still big consumers of TV. Six out of ten report tuning in every day.
 Bigger boats require better sailors
 The tabloid Iltalehti provides  more insight  into a  boat accident  this weekend that left two people dead and four injured. The collision of a motorboat and sailboat in the southwest archipelago has triggered a public conversation about the dangers presented by the relatively swift rise in fast luxury yachts in Finnish waters.
 IL spoke with boaters at the Nagu (Nauvo) Coast Guard Station, near the crash location. They say that the number of large boats has grown quickly in Finland, making traffic at sea much speedier and unsafe.
 The tabloid  reports  that the two passengers of the sailboat that died in Saturday's collision were brothers, while the yacht involved in the crash was a 15-metre motorboat from the British Fairline Targa 48 product line, costing between 150,000 and 500,000 euros.
 Jori Nordström , acting head of the Finnish Lifeboat Institution, tells IL that accidents involving yachts occur regularly, and that each is "unnecessary". He says skippers have to become more considerate sailors as the boats in Finland grow larger and faster.
 "Fast boats in the hands of inept drivers are very dangerous," says a local boater to the tabloid. "Courses don't teach many practical skills these days; they concentrate more on legal issues and navigation."
 Finland's next frontier?
 The financial publication Kauppalehti features a column from the Minister of Economic Affairs,  Katri Kulmuni , who says that  Finland has to act now to take advantage of "battery industry momentum" .
 Kulmuni says that billion-euro plants are now up for grabs, as electric cars become more popular and Europe struggles to meet its emissions-reduction promises.
 "It makes sense that Finland is part of this development journey, and preferably a step ahead," the minister writes.
 Finland's natural resource of precious metals could make the country a key miner and refiner of the raw materials needed for lithium batteries, the minister argues. She also sees a bright future for Finland in the burgeoning battery recycling industry, saying that "hopefully, a few decades down the line, the word 'waste' won't even exist".
 Finland is currently competing against Europe's automotive industry powerhouses Germany and France for so-called gigafactories, combined electric battery manufacturing and automobile factories.
 A government-supported initiative to  attract a proposed Tesla gigafactory to the west coast city of Vaasa  was launched in 2017. Ministry authorities argue that nearby lithium carbonate deposits, the world's largest cobalt refinery, and an annual 50 kilotonnes of nickel production make it an ideal location.
 "International competition is very tough. We will try to do everything we can," the minister says in the column.
 A 31-year-old Centre Party representative from the northwest Lapland municipality of Tornio, Kulmuni announced in late June that she would be  facing off  against MP  Antti Kaikkonen  for the party chair position in September.

Monday's papers: Fading leisure pursuits, dangerous muscle yachts and coveted gigafactories


Summary: A bid to lower Finland's 24 percent value-added tax on sanitary products has drawn attention to the so-called "pink tax".

Gender-based price discrimination has been under scrutiny in Finland since MP  Saara Hyrkkö  submitted an official request to parliament on 23 July to propose lowering taxes on women's sanitary products.
 The Greens representative proposed lowering the current 24 percent value-added tax on menstrual protection to 10 percent, arguing that such products are "regularly-needed hygiene necessities".
 Several countries have banned sales taxes for menstrual products altogether. Kenya was the first back in 2004, and Canada, Colombia, India, Ireland and most recently Australia are others that have since joined the list.
 Hyrkkö pointed out unequal pricing for other hygiene products in Finland as well.
 "The pink tax phenomenon extends beyond tampons and the like," the Hyrkkö wrote on Twitter two weeks ago, "For example, so-called 'women's razors' are more expensive than razors made for men."
 Differentiation as a marketing strategy
 So why does a Gillette Venus razor for women with three replacement blades cost more than 16 euros, while a Gillette Mach 3 razor with two replacement blades costs 11.20? The two giants of Finland's grocery duopoly, S Group and Kesko, say the reason lies behind the products' "distinguishing features".
 "Razors and their blades are different because men and women possess varying user needs. A product for shaving a face is shaped differently than a product for shaving legs," explains  Salla Tuuri , a purchasing manager for Kesko's chain of K markets.
 The Consumer Research Centre's  Essi Pöyry  says producing two different versions of the same product is a tempting marketing ploy. Before consumers know it, they are buying two different kinds of shampoo for their homes.

MP calls for action on "tampon tax" in Finland


Summary: The National Police Board predicts the financial scale of environmental crimes will soon rival that of the illicit drug trade.

Finland’s environment ministry says there are insufficient monitoring resources to combat mounting environmental crimes in the country.
 "It’s a clear fact that there’s been a reduction in the number of officials working to supervise [compliance with] environmental laws. Hopefully the government programme will rectify the situation," said environment ministry legal affairs director  Riitta Rönn .
 Rönn’s comments follow estimates by the National Police Board that environmental crimes will soon rival the illicit drug trade in terms of the ill-gotten gains they provide.
 The organisation said that there are no firm estimates quantifying the cost of environmental degradation because the offences largely go undetected. However an international research programme, the BlockWaste study, put the value of Finland’s illicit waste trafficking activity at up to 60 million euros annually.
 However that study noted that the illegal export of waste from countries like Finland is just one type of environmental crime.
 Superintendent  Arto Hankilanoja  of the police board said that the value of Finland’s drug trade is around 100 million euros annually.
 "We estimate that the illicit proceeds of environmental offences in Finland are on nearly the same scale as the drug trade," Hankilanoja added.
 Meanwhile the environment ministry’s Rönn said that environmental crime is becoming more closely linked with the grey economy.
 "We’re talking about big money here," she declared.
 Gov't pledges more environmental action
 The new government programme has pledged to "increase resources for environmental management" and to "examine a system for the prevention and more efficient sanctioning of environmental offences".
 However Rönn noted that so far government has not produced any concrete plans or timetables for achieving its goals. The pledge relating to environment crimes will be on the agenda of a joint government working group this autumn, she noted.
 This year the University of Eastern Finland and the Police University College began a research programme to investigate the financial gains of environmental crimes and how effectively the state recovers the ill-gotten earnings from these offences.
 The institutions also aim to determine how much of the money that companies obtain from circumventing environmental laws can be used to prevent further crime. The study is expected to be completed in autumn 2020.
 Batteries, construction waste shipped to Baltic States
 As the number of environmental offences reported to police has grown in recent years, so too has the amount of money the state has been able to recoup from offenders.
 According to Hankilanoja, improved inter-agency cooperation and a general rise in firms failing to comply with the law has seen police receive more reports of alleged crimes.
 "Waste management rules are stricter and treatment has correspondingly become more expensive. This has increased the potential for financial gain from non-compliance," he explained.
 Hankilanoja noted that the motive for environmental offences is almost always money. The stricter environmental regulations have become, the more companies try to save by bypassing permits and recycling charges and illegally dumping waste.
 The police board member pointed out that waste is often illegally exported to the Baltic States in particular, for example, used batteries and construction waste.
 Leila Suvantola , a former prosecutor specialising in environmental crimes and Eastern Finland university researcher, said that waste exported to Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia may not be processed at all.
 "If, for example, we export batteries to the Baltics without the required paperwork, some of the heavy metals are recycled and the rest is dumped," Suvantola explained.
 Plenty of forgotten places to dump things
 The bulk of illegal dumping takes place inside Finland’s borders, however. Offenders avoid paying huge charges arising from major projects such as the demolition of shopping malls, by not properly disposing of the concrete and other dangerous waste.
 "It’s easy to dump things in this country because there’s so much space," Suvantola remarked.
 She said one trend emerging in recent years has been to establish a sham recycling company to supposedly deal with the waste. The company then goes bust and the untreated problem material remains on the property, as no one is responsible.
 "It’s up to people to conclude whether or not there was any criminal intent at the outset. When you receive a large amount of waste and there is no waste management process in place, you get a strong feeling that there never was any intention to treat it."
 Inadequate sanctions encourage violations
 Suvantola said that lax punishments and fines are behind many environmental offenses.
 "The consequences are minimal, if you compare it to the penalties related to drug offences," she noted.
 Imprisonment is rare, as  fines for violating environmental regulations  are much more common.
 There are provisions for long prison sentences in the legislation – for example a sentence of up to two years for basic environmental contamination and up to six years for aggravated offences, but courts do not generally hand down such stiff sentences.
 In June the Supreme Court arrived at a precedent that Suvantola called a step in the right direction.
 In that case, a Janakkala civil engineering firm took gravel and dumped the waste in a ground water system, a practice that it continued for years. A district court sentenced the firm’s chief executive to a three-month suspended prison sentence and an appeal court ordered the boss to pay 12,000 in damages. However the Supreme Court imposed a seven month suspended sentence and ordered the company to pay nearly 280,000 euros.
 Financial gains often go unrecovered
 The risk of getting caught in Finland is small, as only a fraction of environmental violations come to light. Suvantalo speculated that only the most egregious offences are uncovered, while many less serious crimes go unnoticed.
 In addition, authorities often fail to recover any financial gains from firms that commit environmental crimes. A University of Eastern Finland study of rulings in environmental degradation cases between 2009 and 2013 found that Finnish prosecutors as a rule do not call on firms to forfeit any financial benefit they’ve gained from their violations.
 In one case where a company illegally exported waste batteries, the defendant neglected to pay for a 950-euro license. Suvantola noted that for some reason, some prosecutors did not interpret the unpaid permit as a financial gain.

Illicit waste trafficking in Finland propels €60m industry


Summary: Most of the human trafficking cases that come to light in Finland are related to forced labour and forced marriages.

Finnish authorities have seen a rise in the number of people seeking help as victims of human trafficking compared to last year. In a report released on Monday, the National Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking said that up to the end of June, it had taken on 155 new clients who were potential trafficking victims as well as 37 underaged children related to them. That number is 50 percent more than the same time in 2018, when the organisation received 76 new clients.
 The organisation is a unit of the Finnish Immigration Service, Migri. It said that most of the suspected human trafficking cases that come to light in Finland are related to forced labour and forced marriages – officials identified 12 instances of each.
 In the case of forced labour, victims were  set to work in restaurants  or on farms against their will, while four forced marriages took place in Finland. In the other eight cases, the couples wed abroad while the brides were still minors and the abuse continued when the families arrived in Finland.
 A 2017 study found that victims of forced marriages living in Finland – including Finnish citizens –  are often sent abroad by their parents  to marry. However the organisation said that it had not been contacted by any victims who fall into this category.
 The organisation said in the report that seven of its clients had been victims of sexual abuse in connection with human trafficking. It noted that this was a decline on 2018, when the majority of victims forced into prostitution had been identified as a result of police operations.
 It also reported that it had been contacted by victims forced into crime as well as panhandling.
 Organisation concerned about reach
 Just five of the people who claimed to be victims of human trafficking were asylum seekers, the data showed. The majority had come to Finland for family ties, as EU citizens, on work permits or otherwise as illegal immigrants.
 The organisation noted that it does not itself seek out potential human trafficking victims. Clients are generally referred to it by law enforcement of municipal officials such as child welfare authorities as well as prisons or health care officials.
 It added that while it received many referrals from the police in particular in 2018, this has not been the case in 2019, due to the continued scaling back of police resources. At the same time, it has also received fewer referrals from municipal sources.
 "We are worried that we are not reaching human trafficking victims in Finland," it said in its report.
 A report on human trafficking released by the Council of Europe in June found that  the illicit activity had tripled in Finland  between 2015 and 2018.

Report: 50% rise in suspected human trafficking victims in Finland


Summary: Researchers suggest a correlation between respondents’ Swedish language skills and whether or not they found it useful.

A Taloustutkimus survey for Yle of how Finnish residents assess their Swedish language skills and how useful they found the language revealed that nearly half of respondents found the language valuable. By contrast, just over 50 percent said that for them, Swedish was either somewhat or completely useless.
 According to Taloustutkimus, there appeared to be a correlation between respondents’ Swedish language skills and whether or not they found it beneficial.
 Nearly all of the respondents who evaluated their Swedish language skills as excellent also said it was useful. Half of those who described their language skills as satisfactory said there were benefits to knowing how to speak it. Meanwhile just 23 percent of those who said they were not proficient in the language said it would be useful if they knew it.
 "If you are proficient in the language, it’s more likely that you would seek out situations where you could benefit from it. For example by travelling to Sweden or watching Nordic detective series," Taloustutkimus research director  Juho Rahkonen  noted.
 Regional, gender differences in attitudes to Swedish
 In southern Finland’s Uusimaa district, 63 percent of respondents said they saw Swedish as somewhat or very important. However in eastern and northern Finland, just 37 percent said that they saw any value to speaking the language or believed it could offer any benefit.
 To some extent, more women than men viewed the ability to speak Swedish as a useful skill.
 "Female students are generally diligent. Boys on the other hand are less so. On the other hand, if we consider industry, finance, retail or even the construction sector [where Swedish would be beneficial] men dominate there," observed  Satu Pessi  of the Swedish teachers’ association.
 Ilmari Rostila  of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity said that women are more likely to work in sectors that require Swedish language skills.
 "The care and service sectors, especially in the public sector require some form of Swedish language expertise. Employment contract requirements are responsible for the difference," he declared.
 Party affiliation matters
 The survey also revealed differences in attitudes to Swedish along party lines. Not surprisingly, supporters of the Swedish People’s Party said they benefitted most from using the language; they were followed by backers of the Greens.
 On the other hand, members of the Christian Democratic Party and the nationalist Finns Party said that they saw Swedish as useless. However research chief Rahkonen pointed out that the relatively smaller number of respondents from these groups may have influenced the survey results.
 The new government programme has proposed  restoring Swedish as a compulsory subject  in upper secondary school matriculation exams.
 Taloustutkimus conducted phone interviews of 1,005 respondents between 17 and 25 June for the poll. The margin of error was +/- three percentage points.

Survey: Finland divided on benefit of Swedish language skills


Summary: Finland's press examines the skills of incoming school pupils, a poll on surrogate motherhood, and news from Rautalampi.

Main daily Helsingin Sanomat details an  assessment of incoming first-graders' math and language skills , the first of its kind in Finland.
 Results found relatively uniform skill levels across the country. It discovered more seven-year-olds with excellent reading, math and spoken language skills than those with poor skills. Children who exhibited good math skills were invariably better at reading and writing, and vice-versa.
 About 40 percent could not yet read. Unlike in many other countries, Finnish early childhood education does not expect children to learn to read and write before they start primary school, as the emphasis is on socialisation and play. Most in this group could however already associate certain sounds with certain letters. Some 29 percent could already read entire sentences and 32 percent could read words.
 Urban seven-year-olds were in general only slightly further advanced in reading, maths, and spoken language aptitude than their rural peers, HS reports, and overall, girls were just a bit more advanced than boys. Boys were represented at both ends of the learning spectrum, however, generally accounting for the most advanced and underdeveloped skills in the report.
 Last year the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre examined the aptitude of 8,000 pupils, accounting for almost 13 percent of the total age group.
 No surrogacy in Finland, despite apparent public support
 The tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reports on a  poll that suggests that more than half (53 percent) of Finnish residents support surrogacy , a legal agreement whereby a woman agrees to give birth for others who intend to parent the child.
 21 percent of the 1,000 people interviewed said they did not approve of the idea, while 26 percent said they couldn't say one way or the other. Women tended to be more supportive of the practice than men.
 Laws in Finland currently  prohibit surrogacy  in all circumstances. For women with uterine disorders or a missing organ, surrogacy and adoption are the only options if they wish to have a child. Fertility treatment is also denied to people whom authorities suspect will give the child up for adoption.
 In 2006, Finland extended the right to fertility treatment to single women and lesbian couples, as well as to heterosexual couples, with no age limit.
 Investigators: No clear reason for massive fish kill
 The agriculture union's daily Maaseudun Tulevaisuus examines  preliminary results  from an investigation into the deaths of thousands of fish in Rautalampi, a lake in central Finland last week.
 Several reasons have been proposed for the  incident , including the warm water temperature and large blue-green algae build-up in the lake.
 Ilpo Käkelä , a biologist with the regional government in North Savo, tells the paper that because the lake is only one metre deep, water temperatures could have easily reached 30 degrees Celsius during the hot days of early August. Yet he says this is not conclusive, as conditions were even hotter last summer with no such loss of lake flora.
 He tells the paper that the high blue-green algae content in the lake has made the water unsuitable for drinking or washing. Analysis found low levels of hypoxia or oygen deficiency in dead specimens, however.
 Reports of the massive fish kill first surfaced late Wednesday evening, but the scale of the problem only became apparent later. On Friday the local daily Savon Sanomat reported that the number of dead fish ran to tens of thousands.
 Police in eastern Finland today ruled out any suspicion of criminal activity in the case, MT reports. Käkelä tells the paper that testing will continue into the coming weeks.

Tuesday's papers: School starter skills, surrogacy support and preliminary fish kill probe results


Summary: Finnish mail provider Posti reported slight revenue growth in the second quarter as postal volumes see record decline.

Posti, Finland’s state-owned mail services provider, said Tuesday that it had posted slightly improved second-quarter revenues compared to the same period last year.
 Net turnover for the period grew to 393.8 million euros, up from 386.8 million euros in the second quarter or 2018. The adjusted operating result came in at 8.7 million euros this year, compared to 8.2 million in the second quarter last year, a slight increase of two percent.
 Letter mail down 13 percent
 The national mail carrier said that the second quarter saw a rise in parcel deliveries, even as residents mailed 13 percent fewer letters during the period, compared to last year.
 The company noted that in March, it had adjusted the delivery speed for letters mailed by consumers from two working days to four. It also invested in a major expansion of its parcel locker network, which grew 41 percent during the first half of the year to reach nearly 1,500 units.
 At the end of July, Posti announced that it would  hike prices for sending letters and cards  and reduce fees for mailing parcels. The new price regime is set to take effect from the end of August.

Posti profits hold steady despite shrinking mail volumes