Summary: Travellers returning from holiday destinations around Finland on Boxing Day can expect good driving conditions.

Dry, sub-zero temperatures  are making for smooth return traffic on Boxing Day, which is typically when most holiday-makers head home.
 ”Traffic will gradually increase this afternoon, but I don’t think we’ll see massive jams as some people are still on holiday,”  Marja Sillanpää  from the Finnish Transport Agency told Yle.
 "This afternoon road surfaces will re-freeze and sun is in store -- great conditions for hitting the road," the road safety official explained.
 The Transport Agency expects highways three and four to be the busiest arteries on Wednesday.

Holiday return traffic peaking Wednesday


Summary: Technology is helping motorists to avoid reindeer, one of the biggest causes of road accidents in Lapland.

"I once hit six reindeer all at the same time," truck driver  Tuomas Juopperi  told Yle News. "It was dark and slippery."
 "And they all died," he added as he barrelled along open expanses of road last autumn.
 There are over 200,000 reindeer in Lapland - almost as many as there are people - and they cause around 4,000 traffic accidents in the region every year.
 Now, a project funded by the Finnish Transport Agency is using an app to try to reduce the number of reindeer-related accidents on Lapland’s roads.
 The new  reindeer alert app , Porokello, uses mobile phone and satellite navigation location services to warn users of reindeer on the road.
 Warnings are uploaded by a network of drivers - usually bus or truck drivers - who can press a button to place a location marker on the map when they see a reindeer while driving.
 The marker, which remains in place for 30 minutes, will trigger a warning in the app for other Porokello users as they approach the location.
 Lapland is reindeer territory
 "There are a lot of reindeer in Lapland, and they are half wild, so they can basically go anywhere they want," said Porokello driver and land surveyor  Tommi Uusimäki .
 "I see it as a small favour to other drivers that if I see the reindeer, I can just press a button, and maybe it will help them to drive safer," he added.
 The Porokello project is run by the Lapland Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment or 'Ely-keskus', and has received support from the Finnish Reindeer Herders' Association.
 "Some reindeer herders have the application," explained app developer  Ahti Lahtela.  "I listened to drivers and they were happy it’s so simple to use. It doesn’t take your attention very much when you’re driving."
 Porokello project manager,  Henna Nurminen , told Yle News that the project has had a positive impact in the region. "This year it looks as if our work is working, the [number of] reindeer accidents is quite low at this time."
 "Reindeer currently cause about 4,000 accidents a year. Our goal is to get to 2,000," she noted.
 Porokello was publicly launched in September 2017, and Nurminen claimed it has between 500-1,000 daily users.
 This past autumn, there were 2,952 accidents involving reindeer in Lapland compared to 4,133 in 2017, according to figures provided by Nurminen.

Watch: Reindeer alert app makes Lapland roads safer for drivers


Summary: Finland will update name laws at the start of 2019 to provide residents with a wider range of options for their own names as well as their children’s.

The new laws  will create more space for foreign-background names and families. First names will no longer have to conform to Finnish tradition. That said, many foreign-background names that have become widespread as a result of immigration already comply with Finnish naming practice.
 Story continues after photo.
 Finnish names in the late 1800s. Severin Falkman (1880) / Museovirasto, Musketti / Yle
 Starting next year, parents will be able to give children a maximum of four first names, up from the current three. This is because an increasing number of Finnish residents and citizens come from countries where it is common to give children several first names. This is not a major innovation in naming practice in Finland however. Now and then, Finns bestowed their offspring with four names, but that was before the three-name limit was introduced by law in 1945.
 Global influences
 The range of first names chosen by parents in Finland has doubled since the 1980s.
 The  variety of first names given to children in Finland  is on the increase. Individuality is a growing phenomenon as parents aim to give their children unique names. Naming trends are also changing at a faster rate than ever.
 Naming gatekeepers
 But civil servants will still regulate name-giving in Finland to some degree. Last year, the names committee maintained by the Ministry of Justice nixed parents’ plans to name baby boys Alcapone, Enikko, Monck, Weicca, and Topelius.
 Officials also shut down Poon, Wolf, Fafnir, Marj-Linn, Paulii, and Tuhka (’ash’) for girls.
 Story continues after photo.

 A name inspired by Disney? Since the 1800s, Finland has been home to 450 girls named Lumikki (Snow White), according to Finland's Population Register Centre.  Jennifer Murray
 Other naming no-nos in the past decade have included Lucifero, Sweethoneybeebambi, and Xstina.
 Parents determined to give their child a name turned down by the names committee can take their battle through Finland’s highest court. Last year, judges declined Fosforos for a boy and Ammu (’shoot’) for a girl.
 Leo and Aino - Finland's most popular in 2017
 Some 40 percent of babies born in Finland draw their name from a pool of the country's 100 most common names.
 Last year the  most popular  Finnish first names given for boys were Leo, Elias, Eino, and Väinö. For girls, Aino, Eevi, Emma, Sofia, and Aada topped the list compiled by Finland's Population Register Centre.
 Ellen and William were meanwhile  favourites  among Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority.

Finland loosens name law, but most still prefer classics


Summary: A citizens' initiative to outlaw fireworks, ski resort vandalism and the companies young professionals in Finland aspire to work for.

More than 21,000 people have signed a citizens’ initiative to ban fireworks, writes daily  Aamulehti . The campaign to limit the use of pyrotechnics to certified professionals was launched by 14 health, disability and animal rights groups at the beginning of December.
 The aim of the campaign is to reduce the cases of injuries and damage caused by fireworks, Aamulehti reports.
 According to  Hannu Halila  from the Finnish Medical Association, despite years of education on how fireworks should be used, they cause between 10 and 20 eye injuries every year. "About a third of people hurt are children or adolescents," Halila said.
 In addition, fireworks increase air pollution, damage the environment and cause high levels of stress and anxiety in animals, Aamulehti writes. The ban would not affect all fireworks however. For example, sparklers would still be available for the public to use, the paper says.
 The initiative must gather at least 50,000 signatures by the start of June next year to be eligible for Parliamentary consideration.
 Ski lift vandals
 A lift at a Turku ski resort was sabotaged just ahead of a scheduled seasonal start, daily  Turun Sanomat  writes. Vandals appeared to have dug up a safety cable from under the snow and cut it, likely hoping to postpone the season launch at the Hirvensalo Ski Center set for 28 December, TS reports.
 The saboteurs must have known what they were doing, said  Jari Lehtinen  from Tusla, the association that manages the resort. "They knew where to dig and that there was no risk of getting an electric shock," Lehtinen added. "This is not something little boys would come up with."
 According to TS, the damage was discovered on Sunday when artificial snow was spread on the ski runs and the lifts were turned on. However, there is still time to fix the cable before the season opening, the paper adds. "Changing the cable is no big deal. Fortunately we noticed the damage early enough," Lehtinen remarked.
 He said he remains baffled about the vandals' motives. "We haven’t received any complaints for a long time. Our neighbours used to complain about the noise of the snow-making equipment but even that was years ago," Lehtinen noted.
 Tusla will file a police report about the sabotage after Christmas, TS said.
 Most-wanted employers
 Meanwhile, tabloid  Iltalehti  reports that IT firm Reaktor and tech giant Google are the most desirable companies to work for among young professionals in Finland. The finding comes from a survey by recruitment group Academic Work of more than 1,000 university-educated people.
 Engineering group Kone, game company Supercell and fashion designer Marimekko also featured among the most attractive employers. "We are pleased that of the top 10 companies six are based in Finland," said  Stefan Heinrichs , Managing Director of Academic Work.
 Other companies that made it into the Young Professional Attraction Index included multinational professional services groups PwC and KPMG as well as industrial equipment maker ABB, IL reports.
 Only 16 percent of survey participants said that the company’s brand and reputation were the most important factor when choosing an employer. "Instead, one of the factors respondents valued very highly was the opportunity to continue learning," Heinrichs noted.

Thursday's papers: Fireworks ban, ski lift sabotage and most desirable employers


Summary: Marketing efforts and growing tourism have beckoned people from all over the world to work in Arctic Finland.

Lapland travel agents and employers say they have seen a marked increase in the number of seasonal employees joining the Finnish workforce from abroad this year.
 The Lapland employment office said that some 3,200 hopefuls from outside of Finland submitted job applications to work at tourist attractions and perform other kinds of work.
 The figure is a 40-percent increase from 2017, the first year the office coordinated a massive social media recruitment campaign that ran during the summer and autumn. CEO  Sanna Tarssanen  from tourist marketing company House of Lapland said that the drive reached millions of people across the world.
 "One of our Australian employees enjoyed Lapland so much on holiday that they came back to work at our company," said entrepreneur  Ilkka Länkinen  of Rovaniemi's Santapark attraction.
 Snowmobile safaris are popular in Lapland. Antti Mikkola / Yle
 The majority of foreign workers at the hospitality service and event production chain Lapland Hotels come from Estonia and Poland, said HR chief  Tarja Tahvanainen , who also confirmed a five-percent increase in employees from abroad.
 The trend is visible in job outplacement firms such as Barona as well, which reported an increase of 10-20 percent in the number of international employees.
 "This is really a chance for us to welcome workers from around the world and to see how we can manage them in languages other than Finnish," Barona's Lapland chief  Antti Rotko  said. "There is a shortage of locals in the travel industry here, and we need all hands."
 At competitor Staffpoint, seasonal employment chief  Timo Kärki  echoed the sentiment, reporting a 5-10 percent increase in foreign wage earners, who hail from some 20 different countries.
 Lapland tourism company Visit Rovaniemi said that as a job opportunity the far north is of special interest to people from countries whose inhabitants also travel to Lapland for pleasure.
 "We see a lot of Brits, but people come in from Spain, Italy and all over," CEO  Sanna Kärkkäinen  said. "Some international students also stay to work here and even settle here permanently."
 Immigrating to Finland is easiest for people from EU countries. Staffpoint's Kärki said that some jobseekers from outside Europe have had difficulties securing working permits or visas.
 "Even educated professionals have missed job opportunities because of the long queues at the Finnish Immigration Service," he said.
 Seasonal international employees now mainly work in the hotel and restaurant business as well as in ski resort services and event production.
 "Chefs are the largest profession, followed by waiters," Kärki said.

Thousands of overseas applicants vie for seasonal jobs in Lapland


Summary: Criticism of the model to activate jobseekers, freeway saving lives and snowstorm causing train delays in Western Finland.

Teollisuustuotteet ja -palvelut (Sektori)

An editorial in daily  Aamulehti  highlights the problems in the so called active model designed to activate the unemployed to seek work. While the paper applauds the idea of encouraging people to work, the “current activation model kicks those who are already down.”
 The scheme, which  came into effect at the start of 2018 , obligates jobseekers to undertake at least 18 hours of paid work in a 65-day monitoring period, take part in job-related training or earn 241 euros as an entrepreneur. Otherwise the jobseekers would face a 4.65 percent cut in benefit payments.
 Even though the government never stated publicly that the model was meant to save money by reducing unemployment benefits, that’s what has happened, Aamulehti writes. At the same time, the results of the model are nor reassuring. Figures from the Social Insurance Institution Kela show that close to a half of all jobseekers saw their benefits cut by 4.65 percent for some period of time between April and November last year.
 There are also indications that while the amount of unemployment benefits Kela pays has fallen, those affected by the cuts have increasingly applied for basic income support. The active model penalises older jobseekers in particular, Aamulehti says. Over 50-year-olds have trouble finding work or training opportunities, because employers consider them too old. As a result, for many older jobseekers the model represents an automatic cut to benefits that are small to begin with, the paper writes. What is more, meeting the conditions of the model is difficult in Northern Finland and sparsely populated areas in the countryside.
 The good news is that the government has agreed to improve the model with labor market organisations to make it easier for jobseekers to show their activity, Aamulehti writes. The proposal is expected to be ready in February.
 Safe highway
 Daily  Turun Sanomat  writes that opening the highway between Lohja and Muurla 10 years ago has saved dozens of lives. During its first decade, three people died and 37 were injured in traffic accidents on the 51-km stretch, which forms a part of the Helsinki-Turku highway, whereas three people on average lost their lives on the old road every year.
 “The old road was – and continues to be – extremely dangerous,” says  Jaakko Klang  from the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. “In contrast, highway 1 could well be the safest road in Finland.”
 The number of serious accidents has fallen radically despite a constant increase in traffic between Lohja and Muurla, TS writes. About 11,000-13,000 vehicles traveled daily on the old road before 2009, and about 1,500-2,000 still do now. However, 14,000-16,000 vehicles travel on that section of the highway every day.
 Accident statistics are not quite as rosy at the eastern end of the highway between Lohja and Espoo, TS reports, where fatal crashes have claimed five lives in the past decade. The 32-km stretch called Tarvontie is Finland’s first highway and opened in 1962.
 There are many reasons for these figures, Klang said. “Tarvontie has many sharp turns, a lot of traffic, high speeds and short safety distances between cars.”
 In all, 14 people died and 428 were injured in traffic accidents on the Turku-Helsinki highway between 2009-2018, TS reports.
 Train delays
 In other traffic news, tabloid  Iltalehti  reports that trains are running late on Wednesday morning due to the stormy weather. Iltalehti said trees have fallen on the tracks and damaged the railroad's electricity lines between Laihia and Vaasa in western Finland. As a result, trains to Seinäjoki will be replaced by busses.
 Meanwhile, heavy snow fall has hampered the operation of a rail switch on the track between Seinäjoki and Parkano, resulting in delays of at least 30 minutes in the direction of Tampere, Iltalehti reports. On Wednesday morning, about a half of all long-distance trains were delayed. On the other hand, commuter traffic is experiencing fewer problems, with trains between Helsinki and Riihimäki and Kirkkonummi running largely on time, Iltalehti said.

Wednesday's papers: Active model criticism, safe freeway and train delays


Summary: Politicians could see food queues as a new form of aid and for that reason may neglect to raise the level of basic social assistance, researcher says.

A Tampere University researcher says Finland's growing  network of food aid assistance  may be numbing politicians to the problem of chronic poverty in Finland. According to welfare researcher  Tuomo Laihiala , it would be better to raise the level of social benefits so people can get by, rather than to see food queues grow longer.
 "Poverty has persisted and even become chronic among certain groups. Something absolutely needs to be done about this development," Laihiala told Yle, adding that it is odd that for decades nothing has been done to address the root causes of food queues.
 Meanwhile for the first time this Christmas, the organisers of a food aid centre in eastern Helsinki’s Myllypuro district distributed food packages to people in need. Had they not, people reliant on the aid packages for meals would have gone several days without the vital form of assistance.
 "Our customers were very worried. We decided to organise a distribution drive one way or another," said  Sinikka Backman , who coordinates the aid packages.
 Backman estimated that some 1,200 people came to pick up food packages on Christmas Eve during the three-hour distribution window.
 Record numbers in need
 Grassroots organisations providing food assistance all say that more people seem to be in need of the supplemental food supplies.
 Since spring, the Myllypuro food kitchen has been distributing food five days a week instead of the customary three days.
 This year, an estimated 265,000 came to get free foodstuff, an increase of more than 100,000 on 2017, organisers said.
 Meanwhile, the city of Vantaa has been the setting for a "common table" operation in which food aid centres have been consolidated into a central station for handling food aid distribution. This model collects unused food from grocery stores, stores it at a main station and then passes it on to 65 NGOs to provide assistance for the needy. The aim is to make efficient use of resources by combining the efforts of the city and the Lutheran church.
 "The idea is for the public sector to take responsibility for the operation," explained project manager  Hanna Kuisma .
 In addition to distributing food parcels, the operation also seeks to provide social cohesion by providing sit-down meals, for example. According to Kuisma, the model also makes it easier for volunteer helpers to continue their work.
 Other cities in Finland are following Vantaa's example, with places such as Järvenpää, Oulu, Helsinki, Turku and Tampere creating their own adaptations of the operation. Järvenpää in particular has taken the model furthest and has developed a network for providing the seated meals.
 Researcher: Increase basic social security
 Welfare researcher Laihiala said that over the years food aid has become more acceptable in international discourse and the same is true of Finland. While he said that the Vantaa model deserves support, there are also dangers involved.
 "It could become a problem if, for instance, politicians see this as a new form of assistance for the poor which may blind them to the real need to increase the level of basic social security," he declared.
 The researcher pointed out that there are hundreds of thousands of people in Finland for whom basic social benefits cannot provide a reasonable minimum standard of living. He noted that the unemployed and pensioners are most likely to seek help from food distribution centres.
 "Basic benefits should be significantly increased rather than people having to resort to charitable assistance year after year," he declared.

Hike benefits to tackle lengthening food queues, academic warns


Summary: Despite microbe resilience, hardy swimmers eager to plunge into icy winter waters need not fear infection, says public health watchdog THL.

The Finnish tradition of ice swimming poses very little risk of microbial infection to swimmers, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has announced.
 The institute periodically screens swimming waters during the winter as well as the summer. However as THL has no real obligation to report on wintertime swimming conditions, centralised data on the quality of winter waters is not readily available.
 THL planner  Outi Zacheus  said that people may dip into icy waters without fear of microbial infection – even though cold doesn't actually kill the microscopic creatures.
 "Microbes survive much better in the cold than in great warmth," she said. "Viruses and pathogens can subsist in dark, cool water for weeks or months. In the summer the sun's UV radiation kills off some microbe populations."
 Public ice swimming areas can be found across Finland in the winter. Marjut Suomi / Yle
 An annual problem for the warm season is blue-green algae, which is mostly evident during the summer. The algae cannot withstand the cold, and many birds that would otherwise litter beaches and waterways with guano fly abroad in the winter.
 Human behaviour also changes when swimming in freezing ice holes. Since ice swimming tends to be an adult activity, there is a lower risk of accidental effluents from young children. After a human-caused norovirus outbreak in 2014 people are also more aware of sanitation and hand-washing, and are less likely to take winter dips while ill, the THL expert noted.
 "People tend to swim much less in winter overall," Zacheus said. "If you only take a quick plunge the risk of ingesting water by accident is smaller."
 So far Finland's water-based epidemic reporting service has yet to receive a single wintertime hazard report.
 The quality of winter swimming waters is overseen based on the Health Protection Act and a general ordinance for small public beaches from 2008.
 While check-ups are rarer in winter, the same protocols apply year round. They include screening water for intestinal enterococci and  E. coli  bacteria, and scanning the surface for trash or oil.
 Private swimming holes are not quality-controlled. However the results of quality checks must be clearly posted at the site of public ice swimming holes. Health and quality checks may also be published online.

THL: Microbes pose no threat to winter swimmers


Summary: New information has come to light concerning the man whom police suspect murdered a young boy on Christmas Eve.

The man held on suspicion of  murdering a minor in Helsinki  on Christmas Eve has a history of violent crimes and other offences, court records show.
 The 36-year-old suspect did not reside at the address where the homicide took place, records indicate. The man is registered as living in neighbouring Espoo.
 The Helsinki District Court had previously convicted the man of assault on four occasions and he was also sanctioned for resisting security personnel, petty larceny, drink-driving and auto theft.
 The first of the convictions is from 2001, when the man was found in possession of a stolen cell phone. In 2006 the man was picked up for stealing an MP3 player from a department store.
 In 2003 the suspect was found guilty of two cases of assault in Helsinki during a night-time brawl. Two years later he was ordered to pay a fine for assault and non-compliance with a security guard who came to break up a fight.
 In 2007 the man's violence earned him a suspended prison sentence.

Suspect in Helsinki child murder had history of violent crime, records show


Summary: Last year officials at Finland's southeastern border recorded up to 38,000 crossings in one day, according to local Border Guards.

Ulkoasiain hallinto, maanpuolustus ja järjestystoimi

Border Guards in southeast Finland are preparing for a brisk period of border crossings from Russia in the New Year. The period has traditionally been one of the busiest for border crossing points in the region.
 Officials expect the pace and number of border crossings to pick up during the weekend ahead, as Russian tourists arrive in Finland for vacations and post-Christmas sales.
 The busiest period for the seasonal border crossings is expected to be the first weekend in January, when Russian tourists pour into Finland and the second week in January, when visitors return home.
 The Border Guards said that it will aim to deploy as many personnel as possible during the most active periods.
 During the busiest period last year, officials recorded a total of nearly 38,000 border crossings in one day, with the highest number of crossings taking place at the Nuijamaa checkpoint near Lappeenranta.
 This year officials say they expect the same volume of traffic. The Border Guards said that it will provide updates about crossings via Twitter.

Finland's Border Guards brace for seasonal influx of Russian tourists


Summary: A confectionary version of the Kuopio city hall was the winner of Yle's gingerbread house competition.

People the world over associate gingerbread cookies and their more elaborate relatives, gingerbread houses, with Christmas. The tradition is also  well-entrenched in Finland  so national broadcaster Yle launched a contest to see who could design and build the country's finest gingerbread house.
 The eventual winner,  Saara Valtonen  of Kuopio in eastern Finland, spent 30 hours over a three-week period to create a gingerbread replica of the local town hall.
 "I've always admired the building and thought that I could make a gingerbread house that looked like it," Valtonen said of her creation, which gathered 699 votes.
 Saara Valtonen, creator of the winning gingbread house. Toni Pitkänen / Yle
 Valtonen, a recent graduate of construction engineering, began by taking photos of the building and using them to develop measurements and a pattern.
 "Creating a pattern took 10 hours. It was a pretty heavy process." The next step involved cutting and baking the sections of the structure.
 The 24-year-old said she had started her project even before Yle announced the competition, but all the same she went down to the wire to get it ready in time.
 "So I didn't do quite everything. The chimneys didn't make it."
 The sugary town hall reflects many of the details of the brick and mortar version, including a clock tower and different kinds of window frames.
 Toni Pitkänen / Yle
 Valtonen said that the dough however, was not home made, because the family does not eat the gingerbread creations. "If we were to eat them, I'd probably make the dough myself. I don't know what to do with this house. We have tried to preserve my previous designs, but the sugar softens with time and it all falls apart."
 The master gingerbread house maker said she doesn't yet have any ideas for next Christmas' project, but quipped that it will probably be just as detailed as this year's effort.

Finland's most spectacular gingerbread house is from Kuopio


Summary: Steady demand for English-language early years education, Finland's economic growth forecast to slow more than expected and above-zero temperatures causing slick pavements.

Daily  Turun Sanomat  writes that demand for English-speaking early childhood education in Finland remains steady outside the Helsinki region too and that daycare centres also offer instruction in many other languages.
 Katri Mantere  from the City of Tampere says there are several private institutions offering daycare in English. “In addition, we have one English-language group in a municipal daycare centre,” she says.
 At the moment, 240 children are enrolled in English-language early years education in Tampere. “Our supply meets demand,” Mantere adds. Early years education is also available in French and German in Tampere.
 What is more, Tampere and some other cities organise so-called "language showers" or language immersion programmes, where language teacher students from local universities visit daycare centres to teach and play with children. So far, such immersion groups have been organised in English, Spanish, Chinese, Swedish, French, German, Russian and Italian.
 "These events serve as a basis for the culture and language education that daycare institutions offer on their own," says  Outi Verkama ,who coordinates the project in Tampere.
 "They increase the feeling of community and participation," Verkama says.
 Meanwhile, about 600 children in Turku are enrolled in English, French, Spanish, Russian or Estonian-language early years education.
 “Most of them are in English groups,” says  Vesa Kulmala  from the City of Turku. “The number has remained quite steady over the years,” he adds.
 In Oulu, early childhood education is available in English, German and Sámi, TS writes.
 Growth to slow
 Daily  Kaleva  reports that Finland’s economic growth is forecast to slow down more than previously expected next year.
 According to the Research Institute of Finnish Economy Etla, because of its small size Finland is sensitive to fluctuations in the global economy and market sentiment, which have recently become more pessimistic.
 What happens in the UK next year will have a significant effect on Finland, Kaleva writes. Etla director  Vesa Vihriälä  says Britain will likely organise a new referendum on its relationship with the European Union. "The alternatives are either accepting PM May’s agreement, a no-deal Brexit or remaining a EU-member," Vihriälä said in a statement, according to Kaleva.
 "With some luck, the last option will gain the most votes," he added.
 Etla also foresees that the relationship between the US and China will worsen next year. Retail sales and industrial production in China have already slowed and the trade war with the US could accelerate a global downturn, Kaleva writes.
 Slick sidewalks
 Finally, tabloid  Iltalehti  warns readers that sidewalks are likely to be slippery on Friday. Temperatures will rise slightly during the day, and it will be mild and cloudy in most areas of southern and south-western Finland. As a result, frozen snow on sidewalks and above-zero temperatures will cause moisture to build up on top of icy street surfaces, IL says.
 According to  Juha Sihvonen  from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, this is "a perilous combination for pedestrians."
 Fellow tabloid  Ilta-Sanomat  says pedestrians in southern Finland should choose their footwear carefully on Friday and wear spiked shoes, if possible.
 Slippery pedestrian pathways tend to show up in accident unit statistics during the winter. Figures indicate that altogether Finland sees some 16,000 different kinds of falling, slipping or stumbling every year. Roughly 11,000 of them involve pedestrians.

Friday's papers: English education, economic growth and slippery sidewalks


Summary: A Russian national suspected of drug and money laundering crimes was detained at Helsinki Airport in mid-December at the request of US authorities.

According to Detective Inspector  Ritva Santtila  from the National Bureau of Investigation, an international warrant for the woman who was detained on 15 December had been issued by Interpol’s office in Washington.
 Russian news agency Tass was the first to report the arrest of the 30-year-old woman who was supposedly on her way from St. Petersburg to Spain. Tass said the US suspects the woman of money laundering and drug trafficking while she resided there between 2013 and 2016.
 Santtila confirmed that the woman is being accused of drug-related crimes committed outside of Finland.
 The US must make an extradition request for the woman within 30 to 40 days of the arrest, Santtila said. So far, Finland has not received one. "If we do not receive the extradition request by the deadline, we will release the suspect."
 After the receipt of the request, Finland’s justice ministry will decide whether or not the woman will be extradited to the US.
 Edit: Updated at 2.52pm to indicate that Tass is a Russian news agency, not a newspaper.

Russian woman detained in Helsinki at US request


Summary: As of mid-day Friday, nearly 40,000 people had signed a citizens’ initiative aimed at banning consumers from using fireworks.

As the New Year approaches, merchants and consumers looking to ring in 2019 with a bang are on the lookout for the biggest and brightest pyrotechnics for the occasion.
 This year though,  a movement opposing the cacophonous displays  has gained momentum with the launch of a citizens’ initiative aimed at prohibiting the use of fireworks by consumers.
 The city of Espoo is already moving away from using fireworks for New Year celebrations and will be the first municipality in Finland to provide a laser light show instead of rockets and firecrackers. According to Espoo culture services chief  Lea Rintala , the city has long since left behind the noisy, smoky shows.
 "We are a sustainable development city and rockets don’t really sit well with that. However over the years we have received some feedback about this, so we are now trialling a laser show," Rintala said.
 News of the alternative to fireworks has already generated a surprising amount of interest, Rintala added.
 "For example there has been a very animated discussion on social media about this option and only in a positive way," noted event coordinator  Saara Vanhala .
 Residents and visitors can expect a light park with a laser show that covers an area including the Espoo cathedral, the nearby Kirkkopuisto park and the river bank. Other light shows may also take place in other parts of the city during the year.
 Turku, in southwest Finland, is also said to be contemplating following in Espoo’s footsteps.
 Meanwhile, at least one Helsinki grocery has decided not to sell any fireworks this year. According to law, the public may use fireworks in New Year’s Eve from 6.00pm until 2.00am on New Year’s morning.
 However Norway banned the use of fireworks by private individuals years ago and starting next year, Sweden will require a permit for the use of certain kinds of stick-mounted fireworks.
 Citizens’ initiative picking up speed, doctors on board
 A citizens’ initiative to prohibit the use of fireworks by private individuals was launched in early December and had gathered the support of nearly 40,000 individuals by mid-day Friday.
 The initiative must have the backing of 50,000 signatories by June for MPs to consider legislative changes based on the proposal.
 The initiative itself has been endorsed by 14 NGOs and lobby groups, including the Finnish Medical Association. The physicians’ lobby group said that fireworks cause up to 30 eye injuries annually.
 "The health hazards, injuries and dangers fireworks cause every year are our primary motive for supporting this initiative. Eye injuries in particular, but also burns and damage to hearing," explained  Hannu Halila , deputy chair of the association.
 The last time officials in Finland took steps to limit the use of pyrotechnics was ten years ago, when its use was proscribed for minors and the use of protective eyewear became compulsory. The window for using fireworks was also shortened by four hours.
 Halila said that those changes have helped reduce cases of eye injury, but not enough.
 "All of the people who’ve sustained injuries haven’t shot rockets themselves. Mere bystanders are also exposed to injury. The initiative would still allow professionals to use fireworks because we have not received any information about accidents caused by expert users," he pointed out.
 The Chemicals and Safety Agency Tukes has recommended the use of safety goggles by persons shooting rockets as well as bystanders.
 Apart from the risk of injury to humans, concern for animals affected by the noise caused by fireworks has become a perennial talking point. Evidensia, a chain of veterinary clinics, has called on the public to spare a thought for horses in particular, during the New Year revelry.

Espoo first in Finland to opt for laser show as public sours on fireworks


Summary: The suspect was named as the victim’s uncle and police cited the "particularly brutal and cruel nature of the act" during the remand hearing.

The Helsinki District Court on Friday remanded a 36-year-old man into custody on suspicion of  killing a young boy on Christmas Eve  night.
 The remand hearing took place in camera – behind closed doors – at the request of investigators.
 "The basis for the murder charge is the especially brutal and cruel manner of the act and that the victim was a defenceless child," lead investigator  Kirsi Kanth  of the Helsinki police department said in a statement on Thursday.
 The victim in the case was a pre-school-aged boy and the suspected crime took place in a private residence in Helsinki’s Arabianranta district on Monday night. The suspect had been detained at the scene of the crime.
 According to information released by police on Friday, the victim was a seven-year-old boy and the suspect was his uncle. The man had been visiting the victim and his family when the incident occurred.
 Two other adults in the family and another minor were also present at the home when the event began to unfold, police said. However no one else had been threatened with violence.
 Police said in a statement on Friday that the incident began unexpectedly. At one point the suspect was interrupted and [others] sought assistance for the victim, but the suspect managed to get hold of the victim and locked him in the apartment.
 "The situation progressed so quickly that it was not possible to intervene. The suspect has been questioned once during the preliminary investigation and he spoke of hallucinations that triggered his actions. A knife was used in the attack, and the intent to kill was obvious," Kanth said in a statement following the hearing.
 Police are still interviewing the child’s relatives and officials have provided crisis counselling for them.
 “The victim’s relatives are very distraught. We are requesting that the media be considerate when approaching them,” Kanth added.
 Suspect had a history of convictions
 The man did not live at the address where the crime was committed, but was registered as living at an address in Espoo, according to checks with the population register.
 Additional enquiries with the local registry office indicated no records that the suspect had any children.
 However court records indicated that he had a criminal background. The Helsinki district court had convicted him for four cases of assault, resisting an officer of the peace, petty larceny, drunk driving and driving without a permit.
 His first conviction dated back to 2001 when as a 19 year-old, he was slapped with a day fine for concealment, when he accepted a stolen mobile phone. Another property offence was from 2006, when he shoplifted an MP3 player from a department store.
 In 2003 he was found guilty on two counts of assault in Helsinki and he was also convicted on the same charge in 2005 and 2007, when he received a suspended prison sentence. The Espoo district court also convicted the man for aggravated drunk driving in 2015.

Helsinki child murder suspect remanded into pre-trial custody


Summary: Confidence indicators for consumers and businesses have dropped while research institute Etla downgraded its 2019 growth forecast forecast.

A recent release from Statistics Finland shows that consumer confidence weakened in December. The indicator that measures the degree of optimism among Finnish consumers stood at 16.1 in December, down from 18.3 in November and 24 in December last year.
 Expectations among consumers with regard to the national economy, their personal finances and general unemployment development all weakened in December. Nonetheless, consumer confidence remains above the long-term average of 12.7, the statistical agency said.
 Similarly, the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK reports that manufacturing confidence saw a moderate decline in December. The indicator fell to +2 points, down from +6 in November. Its long-term average is +1, EK said.
 Etla lowers growth forecast
 There are also other signs that point to a slowdown in Finland’s economic growth. On Friday, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy Etla said it expects GDP to grow at a more moderate pace next year than the previously forecast 2.2 percent.
 Because of its small size,  Finland is sensitive to fluctuations in the global economy  and market sentiment, which have recently become more pessimistic, Etla said in a statement.
 Etla director  Vesa Vihriälä  considers the developments in the UK significant and says Britain will likely organise a new referendum on its relationship with the European Union. "The alternatives are either accepting PM May’s agreement, a no-deal Brexit or remaining a EU-member," Vihriälä said.
 "With some luck, the last option will gain the most votes," he added.
 Housing prices rise
 Nevertheless, housing prices have not fallen. Figures from Statistics Finland indicate that prices for old flats in housing companies in Finland rose by one percent in November compared with the same month last year.
 Growth was steepest in the Helsinki region, where prices increased three percent year-on-year, and in Turku which saw a 6-percent price rise.

Dip in consumer confidence, guarded growth forecast spell trouble for Finnish economy


Summary: Police say that surveillance footage shows the 19-year-old emptying his employer's safe before leaving the premises with a backpack and a plastic bag.

A young man is suspected of stealing 150,000 euros from his employer’s safe in Vantaa on Saturday and fleeing to Tallinn, Eastern Uusimaa Police Department said on Friday.
 According to Detective Intendent  Simo Kauppinen , surveillance footage shows the suspect, who was born in 1999, emptying the safe and leaving the company premises with a rucksack and a plastic bag.
 The man had told his supervisor he had to leave work early because he felt unwell.
 The suspect, who has no criminal background, had access to the safe due to his work duties, Kauppinen said. The theft was discovered by a substitute worker later on Saturday.
 Police have issued a warrant for the man's arrest and is asking the public to inform them of any  sightings.
 The company is a nationally known large firm with an outlet in Vantaa.

Man suspected of stealing 150k from employer, fleeing to Tallinn


Summary: The introduction of an anti-doping programme aims to ensure fair play in esports.

Suomen elektronisen urheilun liitto (SEUL)

Competitors in Finland’s esports arena will soon be subject to anti-doping rules. A new anti-doping program created by the Finnish Esports Federation SEUL in collaboration with the Finnish Centre for Integrity in Sports Fincis, will come into effect from 1 January.
 The anti-doping programme affects everyone active under the SEUL umbrella – in other words all licensed players. The association said it would be organising anti-doping training with the support of Fincis.
 "The purpose of the anti-doping programme is to ensure players have the right to equitable and fair sports," the association said in a release.
 SEUL said that more information about the programme is available on its website as well as that of Fincis. It added that it would continue to work with the sports integrity watchdog to combat manipulation in esports competitions.

Esports in Finland now subject to anti-doping rules


Summary: The city of Tampere in south-central Finland is bidding against Minsk, Gothenburg and Silesia for the European track and field games.

Tampere has submitted a bid to host the 2024 European Athletics Championship, according to  sports website insidethegames .
 Other bids have so far been submitted by Minsk in Belarus, Gothenburg in Sweden and Silesia in southeast Poland.
 The next stage of the process at the end of January will see the council of the European Athletics Association select three bids to advance to the next round for consideration.
 Last summer Tampere hosted the World Under-20 Athletics Championships.

Finland’s Tampere bids for 2024 European Athletics Championship


Summary: Amendments to several policies in Finland will take effect as of 1 January 2019, affecting tax rates and pension payments, for example.

The turn of the year will bring several changes to public policies and taxation in Finland. Among other things, the unemployed will be able to study for six months without losing their benefits, and vehicle taxes on low-emission cars will go down.
 Unemployed free to study
 As of 1 January 2019, regulations will change to allow jobless persons over 25 years of age the opportunity to pursue studies that "improve professional skills or help set up a new business" for up to six months without losing their eligibility for unemployment benefits. This new policy differs from the old practice in that the TE employment office will no longer assess whether the training is necessary before it can commence.
 Jobseekers who receive the unemployment benefit will still be obligated to apply for and accept full-time work and attend the employment-promoting services that are offered to them, however. Finland's employment ministry stresses that the new study option will not be considered a valid reason to turn down a job or the offered services.
 The new study opportunity will also be accepted as an activation requirement under the government's  activation model , a policy change introduced in 2018 that cut unemployment benefits to jobseekers the authorities deemed passive.
 Support for upper secondary school material
 Starting in August 2019, people in Finland continuing studies past compulsory basic education will receive support from the state for the purchase of their textbooks and other study material. Pupils under 20 will be granted up to 50 euros a month for this purpose.
 The new act and decree will also provide an extra month of study support and guidance per academic year for pupils in upper secondary schools, and financial aid for pupils under 18 who do not live at home will no longer be tied to parental income levels or other grants.
 Employers obliged to start reporting wages and salaries
 The Incomes Register,  a nationwide online database with real-time wage and salary information provided by employers , will be deployed on 1 January 2019. Pension and benefit data will be added in 2020.
 A brainchild of the Tax Administration, one of the objectives of the register is to make it easier to update tax rates according to current income levels. For this reason, large tax refunds and back taxes should become a thing of the past. As of next year, both tax refunds and taxes owed will also be paid on a sliding basis from August to December, instead of in December alone.
 Tax on alcohol and sugary drinks goes up
 All drinks containing alcohol will grow more expensive in 2019, as taxes on them will increase by 2.5 percent. The state expects to earn an extra 30 million euros with the change, as the price of an average bottle of wine will rise by ten cents and Koskenkorva vodka by twenty cents.
 Drinks with more than 0.5 percent sugar per litre will also grow more expensive by ten cents or so, while taxes on cigarettes will grow to 52 percent of the sale price, at around eight euros per pack.
 Taxes on the sticker prices of new automobiles will go down, as determined by the value of the vehicle and its CO2 emissions. Vehicle taxes on cars with lower emissions will also be taxed at a lower rate after 1 January.
 Minimum pension payment rises
 Finland's guaranteed pension will rise to 784.52 euros per month in 2019, an improvement of more than nine euros monthly.
 The maximum limit for out-of-pocket costs for prescription medicine will also fall by about 30 euros to 572 euros. People exceeding the annual maximum will be entitled to reimbursement from the state for the rest of the year, although a co-pay of 2.50 euros is required for each reimbursable medicine beyond this amount.
 Tax relief for low-income earners
 Finland's government will lower taxes for low-income earners in Finland by 130 million euros. For earners in other pay brackets, tax rates on wages and salaries are forecast to remain the same.
 On the local level, however, municipal tax rates are expected to go up next year in 50 municipalities, along with increases to real estate taxes in over 30 locations. On average, a middle income earner in Finland can expect to pay about 7,500 euros in municipal taxes next year.
 Energy taxes will also rise by 40 million euros next year, as part of a political drive to wean the country off of coal. Owners of homes that are heated with fossil fuels will pay more than ten euros more in energy taxes in the coming year.
 The market for chimney sweeps will be decentralised at the start of the new year, as local rescue service providers will no longer be solely responsible for arranging regular inspections. Year-round residences will still be subject to annual chimney inspections, but seasonal abodes will only have to have their flues checked once every three years.
 New agency names
 Several state organisations will also merge and/or take on new names in the coming year. First, the Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), will take over for the combined Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority and the Transport Safety Authority. Next, the Transport Agency will become the Transport Infrastructure Agency (Väylävirasto replacing Liikennevirasto in Finnish).
 Likewise, the title of Finnish Food Authority will be given to the newly-merged Finnish Food Safety Authority, the Finnish Agency for Rural Affairs and the National Land Survey's ICT services centre.
 Strict  Finnish rules about what kinds of names parents can give their children  will also be relaxed at the turn of the year, with more tolerance for names from foreign cultures. Civil servants will still require that the names are "well established" in Finland before they can be approved. Family or last names can also be a combination of the parents' names in future, and children from common-law marriages will be allowed to take a common family name.

2019 brings changes to taxation, pensions, unemployment terms


Summary: The chains' Danish parent company reversed its policy on redeeming gift cards, and store closures leave customers with just three days for exchanges, but not returns.

The Nordic company that owns the toy retail chains of BR and Toys 'R' Us has filed for bankruptcy, meaning that customers that wish to exchange items have until 31 December to complete their transactions. Returns are no longer possible, the company said.
 Top-Toy had begun a process of restructuring in November, but company representatives says disappointing sales over the Christmas season made continued business impossible.
 Top-Toy posted operational losses of 149 million Danish crowns in the most recent financial year, and the bankruptcy was not unexpected. The US-based Toys 'R' Us chain declared bankruptcy in early 2018, closing 885 stores and leaving some 33,000 employees without work. Top-Toy said at the time that the US chain's bankruptcy would not affect its business, as it had "only bought the right to use the Toys 'R' Us brand".
 Top-Toy included 71 Toys 'R' Us locations in the Nordic countries, in addition to 228 BR toy stores located in the Nordics and Germany. In Finland, the company ran eight Toys 'R' Us stores and 25 BR shops.
 Now that the company has declared bankruptcy, several trustees have been appointed to handle the estate, and the firm will enter into negotiations with its creditors.
 Change of policy on gift certificates
 Initially, a press release from Top-Toy had stated that any outstanding gift certificates that customers may hold would not be honoured due to the bankruptcy. After significant backlash, the beleaguered company agreed to honour those gift certificates that were issued after 30 November only.
 The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority confirms that the bankrupt company has the right to refuse gift cards bought before the declaration was filed.
 The company says that customers with gift cards from December will be able to receive their money back via the firm's website, but not at store locations. Top-Toy media contact  Lars Bo Kirk  said that instructions for redeeming the gift cards would appear on the company's website shortly. He reported that things at Top-Toy have been chaotic since the company declared insolvency.
 "All I can say is that we regret the misunderstanding," he told Yle Svenska.
 "Owners of gift certificates should in any case submit to the trustees written notices of the money owed, so this can be noted when the bankrupt estate's assets are distributed," the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority advises on its website.

Abrupt BR, Toys 'R' Us bankruptcy in Nordics creates confusion


Summary: Survey results suggest that Finnish residents believe next year will be better on a personal level, but are worried about the world stage becoming more troubled.

A recent Taloustutkimus poll has found that 37 percent of Finnish respondents agreed with the statement that 2019 would be better for them personally than the year previous. Only 14 percent indicated that they thought the coming year would be worse.
 The results were a part of a larger  Gallup International poll  that asked people in 50 countries two questions: "As far as you are concerned, do you think that 2019 will be better, worse or the same as 2018?" and "Do you expect the coming year of 2019 to be more peaceful, more troubled or the same?".
 Gallup International commissioned the poll from October to December 2018. Close to 50,000 people were interviewed in total, for a margin of error between 3 and 5 percentage points.
 The results put Finland squarely in the optimist camp in terms of future personal wellbeing.
 "We've got a higher degree of optimism than the EU average," confirms Taloustutkimus' research director  Juho Rahkonen .
 Nine percentage points higher than EU average
 Among the EU population, the poll suggests that only 28 percent on average believe that the next year will be better, while 29 percent believe it will be worse, and 35 percent say things will stay the same.
 As a rule, optimism about the future is much higher in Asian and African countries with emerging economies, such as India and Ghana.
 "The US is an interesting exception, as it is already a very rich country, and yet people there are optimistic. It's as if they seek something still better," Rahkonen says.
 Respondents between the ages of 25 and 34 were most confident in the future in the Finnish sample, while those over 60 years of age were the most pessimistic. The size of the survey in Finland resulted in a 2.5 percentage point margin of error.
 Predicting less peace in 2019
 The Gallop poll also gauged whether people believed that the next 12 months will be more or less peaceful than 2018 has been.
 In Finland, 65 percent of the poll respondents said that they feared that 2019 would be more troubled on the world stage.
 Results from all 50 countries participating in the Gallup poll indicated that 27 percent of the respondents expected the world to be more peaceful in 2019, while 35 percent predicted more problems.
 Confidence in peace was most pronounced in India, Ghana, Albania, Nigeria and Pakistan.
 Protests in France may have contributed to 70 percent of respondents there reporting that they believe next year will be more troubled, edging out the fourth-place Finnish result for first place, followed by Hong Kong and Hungary.
 An annual  defence ministry-commissioned survey  corroborates these latest poll results, as just under half of this autumn's respondents said that they believe that "Finland and Finns will be living in a more insecure world over the next five years when compared to today".

Gallup poll: Finns optimistic about future wellbeing, pessimistic about global politics


Summary: Police report that the three casualties in Saturday's collision were Russian citizens.

Saturday afternoon a passenger car and a lorry collided on a motorway near Oulu in northwest Finland, killing all three occupants of the car, police report.
 Authorities had originally reported that just two adults in their thirties had died in the crash, but the third victim, the school-age child, was found in the backseat after the vehicle was dismantled. They believe that all three of the deceased were killed instantly in the impact of the crash.
 Police say the victims have been identified as Russian citizens, and that the Russian authorities have been informed accordingly.
 The accident took place sometime before 3 pm on motorway four, between Haukiväylä road and Kiiminkijoki bridge. The family's car was approaching from the south, and the side of the car struck the truck travelling in the opposite direction head-on.
 Police are not sure why the car had ended up in the opposite lane. The surface of the road at the time was slushy and slippery, but the authorities say that an inspection of the car's winter tyres revealed that they were in good condition.
 The driver of the lorry was not seriously injured in the incident.

Young child among three dead in car crash near Oulu


Summary: A man suspected of stealing 150,000 euros in cash from his employer's safe was detained in Estonia Saturday evening.

Finnish police report that they have detained a man who is  suspected to have stolen 150,000 euros from a safe  owned by the betting agency Veikkaus on 21 December.
 The suspect, born in 1999, was apprehended in Tallinn, Estonia on Saturday evening, after a surveillance camera captured footage of the man emptying the safe into his rucksack and a plastic bag and leaving the premises. The breach was discovered by another employee of the company on 22 December.
 The police had not revealed the name of the suspect's employer in its bulletin, but the state-owned betting monopoly Veikkaus confirmed to the news agency STT on 28 December that it was indeed the safe owner and suspect's employer.
 The Finnish authorities had learned that the suspect had travelled to Tallinn on the day of the theft, and had launched a manhunt to track him down.

Suspect behind theft of 150K from safe apprehended in Tallinn


Summary: Finland's press covers the market for toys since the bankruptcy of two major chains, different views of changes in alcohol sales, and a presidential rebuttal.

Helsingin Sanomat reports that  Finland only has about between 10 and 20 toy stores left  after the  sudden bankruptcy and closure of the BR and Toys 'R' Us chains  at the end of 2018.
 The toy industry association Leluyhdistys tells the paper that the wholesale trade in toys grew by 11.7 percent in 2017, but that most of the toys sold in Finland today aren't sold in dedicated toy stores, but in large supermarkets and the like. The owner of the Prisma chain of big box stores, S-Group, says its toy sales have fallen by a few percentage points every year.
 S-Group's  Emilia Lehtonen  tells HS that the reason for flagging sales is the "changing nature of play. Children are switching to mobile and computer games at younger and younger ages."
 Kesko representative  Hannele Åberg  tells the paper that sales of toys have grown in the last few years in K-Citymarket locations.
 "At first, when the electronic games and digitalization hit, it hit toy sales very hard. But toys have made a good comeback in the last few years, in our experience. Children will always need to play," she says.
 Conflicting reports on alcohol sales
 Ilta-Sanomat features a story on the  effects of the reformed Alcohol Act  that came into force in early 2018. One year later, the Brewer's Federation and the national health watchdog have "completely different evaluations" of the repercussions of the new statues, the tabloid says.
 Among other things , the new law allowed for stronger alcoholic drinks to be sold in shops and kiosks. Alko's business manager  Kari Pennanen  tells IS that overall sales at his state-owned chain of liquor stores had fallen by over 8 percent in 2018 on the previous year. He says the sale of "lighter products" such as non-alcoholic drinks, rosé and white wine, and champagne have grown since 2017, while the sale of long drinks, beer and cider have fallen".
 Kari Luoto  of the Finnish Grocery Trade Association says the sales of long drinks in particular have gone up by over 60 percent in food shops, and sales of beer and cider have dropped off slightly in the last year.
 Research professor  Pia Mäkelä  of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) says the reformed alcohol law has brought an end to a steady decline in alcohol consumption in Finland "or it has even started to go up, which would not be a good thing in terms of the health hazards," she says.
 Finland's Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry will have its final statistics on 2018 sales in February, but CEO  Riikka Pakarinen  tells IS that preliminary data shows that more strong beers and ciders were sold in 2018, but that total sales by litre were down. Mid-strength beer continues to dominate the market, accounting for 90 percent of beer sales.
 "Non-alcoholic drinks are selling better, and at this stage, it looks as if the fears surrounding the Alcohol Act reforms have not come true, because there has not been a surge in alcohol sales. Higher taxes on alcohol have reduced sales," she tells IS, adding that taxation on alcoholic drinks in Finland must be lowered so that it is "closer to European levels".
 Sauli has the last word
 And to finish, Verkkouutiset features a  comment from Finnish President Sauli Niinistö  in response to  criticism of his choice of words in his annual New Year's Day address  to the nation.
 Green MP Ozan Yanar joined  several others  in criticizing Niinistö's phrase asking migrant communities to "bear responsibility by guiding their own".
 Yanar took to  social media  on Thursday to comment on why he felt the President's choice of words was inappropriate, urging his readers to imagine that a Finn was accused of an extremely offensive crime in a foreign country, after which the president of that country encouraged the immigrant groups there to "guide their own".
 The Turkish-born MP said it was an "absurd" suggestion from the point of view of an individual who had nothing to do with it.
 Niinistö responded to Niinistö's tweet on Twitter by explaining that "I spoke of 'those here', i.e. all individuals in Finland, regardless of their background. Both in my speech and in my interview with Helsingin Sanomat, I did not use collective expressions like immigrant community or group, because I was taking about individuals."

Friday's papers: Toy market, conflicting reports on reformed alcohol law, and Niinistö's response to criticism


Summary: Critics question funding for what they believe is an increasingly political Sitra, saying "a think tank should be able to get by on less than 800 million euros".

Finland's Ministry of Finance has established a parliamentary working group to assess the future role of the Finnish Innovation Fund, known as Sitra.
 Founded in 1967 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Finnish independence, the fund was charged with "building the successful Finland of tomorrow", and especially in its early years, the independent body functioned as an important venture capital and private equity investor. But recent years have seen its activities move in a more think tank direction.
 The fund now fashions itself as a "predictor of societal change, analyzer of development options, and tester and developer of operational models".
 The parliamentary working group will set out to evaluate the mission, role and administration of Sitra for the first time since it was founded. Members of each of the parliamentary political parties in Finland are represented in the group, which is led by former prime minister  Matti Vanhanen .
 "The idea was preceded by a need for change in Sitra's administration and the necessity to discuss the 50-year-old fund's activities, purpose and resources," Vanhanen said.
 Sitting atop a pile of money
 Back when Sitra was first founded, the fund received 100 million Finnish markka in Bank of Finland bonds. Finland's central bank raised the fund's core capital with additional payments of 100 million markka in 1972, 1977 and 1981, bringing the total capital at Sitra's disposal to 400 million markka.
 In 1992, Sitra was transferred from the Bank of Finland to the auspices of the Finnish Parliament, and shares in the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia – a world market leader at the time – detached from the state portfolio were transferred to the fund. Today, Sitra's operations are financed with the near 30-million-euro return the fund earns on approximately 840 million euros it holds in nest egg capital.
 An external evaluation has also begun alongside the parliamentary working group's assessment, and both audits are forecast to be completed by the close of 2019.
 "It's a good thing that an external reviewer will assess Sitra's activities - for example, from the perspective of the stakeholders – and the owner, Parliament, can consider what it wants from the fund. This way we will have the most comprehensive assessment possible at our disposal," said  Mikko Kosonen , Sitra's President.
 Independent fund denies political bent
 Kosonen says that the independent fund has been reproached in recent years for being seen as " too green " and interfering in the debate about the so-called  freedom of choice element of the planned revamp of Finland's social and health care services .
 "A few years ago, labour organisations and the Social Democrats criticised the stance we took in favour of introducing more labour market flexibility," Kosonen said.
 Sitra employs fewer than 200 experts and about half of its annual budget is devoted to personnel costs. During the last election cycle, the SDP proposed that the fund's capital be reduced by half.
 Kosonen said that if Sitra's funding were cut, it would reduce the fund to a think tank alone.
 "At the moment, we aren't just a traditional think tank, rather we are a 'think and do tank'. We've got our hands in the dirt, building society's infrastructure and running experimental projects. This takes money," he said.
 Determining expectations
 Parliamentary working group chair Vanhanen said that he has heard no criticism of Sitra from his own Centre Party ranks, and said he believes that a strong capital foundation is necessary to ensure the fund's independence.
 "Sitra must be a 'future house' that can independently launch projects that it considers important for Finland's future, regardless of what kind of government is leading the country," he said.
 Sitra's President Kosonen said he expects the assessments to finally remove the unnecessary "political games" that have plagued the fund in recent years.
 "It's good to carry out a thorough evaluation that can determine what kind of Sitra people want. I hope that once it is done, we will be able to conduct our work in peace once again."

Parliament to assess future role, finances of Finnish Innovation Fund


Summary: Finland's Tax Administration says wage and salary information available starting 1 January in the nationwide online database will be safe from leaks and misuse.

A recent  privacy breach  of motorists' personal data from Finland's Transport Safety Agency Trafi has led to more vocal calls for top data security with regards to the Incomes Register, a nationwide database for information that will be launched on 1 January 2019.
 The Tax Administration, which was the prime motivator of the massive data repository, assures people with security concerns that the information in the online register will be safe.
 "We have invested heavily in data security, and it has been taken into consideration at every stage of the project. It is an important issue whenever electronic services are launched, as personal information is at stake," says  Jarkko Levasma , the Finnish Tax Administration's head of development and information.
 Data on 4.6 million people eventually
 The Incomes Register will at first contain real-time wage and salary information provided by employers, or what is estimated to be the income data of 2.8 million people.
 If everything proceeds according to plan, as of 2020, the population's pension and benefit data will be added to the register, expanding the scope of the database contents to information on 4.6 million people.
 Representatives of the state-owned social benefits administrator Kela also seek to calm down people's worries.
 "Kela will employ the same data protection principles it uses with its own register information in dealing with the data of the people found in other registers," says  Mia Hella , Kela's legal unit head.
 Several state authorities will have access to the centralized database in future, including the Tax Administration, Kela and Finland's pension firms. Once the pension and benefit data is added, groups like unemployment funds, insurance companies and municipalities, among others, will also have access to the database.
 Cybersecurity expert: Every large database contains risks
 Aalto University's professor of cybersecurity  Jarno Limnéll  points out that larger registers always involve risks that need to be recognized.
 "Sizeable databases are of interest to many malicious actors. The motive may not only be to steal or exploit data, but also to manipulate this kind of information, which is one risk that is increasingly being discussed on the international stage," he says.
 The Tax Administration's Levasma says individual civil servants will not be granted access to see more than just the Incomes Register data directly relevant to their work.
 "All views of the online database are accumulated in a log file that can later be checked to see which items have been looked at and whether they are linked to the work task in question. The log will be reviewed regularly in an effort to pinpoint anomalies," Levasma says.
 Kela's Helle says that a mark is also made in Kela's database each time data on benefit decisions and register information is accessed.
 "It is therefore possible to check who it was that viewed the data in the Incomes Register, after the fact," she says.
 Individuals can only view their own data
 The Incomes Register was designed to be a centralised database for use by state organisations and other authorities.
 Ordinary residents of the country will only be able to see their own information in the system. In order to access the data, both an ID number and correct bank code number must be provided.
 Even business owners and other employers – that will now be  obliged to report their employees' salary and wage data to the register  – will only be able to view the data that they contribute.
 Sanna Linna-Aro , head of tax affairs at the Federation of Finnish Enterprises, the largest federation of business owners in the country, said in early November that accounting firms appear to be quite well prepared for the rollout of the Incomes Register on 1 January 2019, but she suspects that many employers aren't aware of the new Incomes Register and haven't made the necessary preparations.

Launch of Incomes Register dogged by data security concerns


Summary: Finland can expect to start 2019 in the grip of a windy whiteout.

Stormy conditions are set to envelop Finland as residents ring in 2019, according to the latest weather forecasts. Residents of the west coast can expect gusty winds that could also strike a blow to plans to set off fireworks in the Ostrobothnia region, according to local emergency services.
 Current forecasts are for high winds on the west coast, reaching storm force in Ostrobothnia, while gusts over open seas could exceed 20 metres per second.
 Oulu-Koillismaa emergency services warned that high winds could send fireworks off course and could blow down poorly secured pyrotechnics. Meanwhile other rescue services across the country have pointed out that if conditions feel too windy it would be wisest not to set off fireworks.
 Yle meteorologist  Anne Borgström  said on Monday that just as Helsinki residents ring in the New Year, the wind will be at its fiercest, gusting up to 20 metres per second.
 Helsinki rescue services tweeted Monday morning that it would monitor the weather during the day and issue possible restrictions on fireworks use later in the day.
 Southwest Finland should also brace for high winds along with rain, sleet and snow. Emergency services in the southwest and Ostrobothnia said that they are monitoring the situation closely and will issue additional warnings on Monday.
 Wind speed to affect fireworks
 Meanwhile, officials are warning revellers to be especially careful using fireworks given the windy conditions expected, and have cautioned that pyrotechnics could veer in unexpected directions as a result.
 Ostrobothnia and southwest Finland emergency services said that if conditions worsen, it may be necessary to consider restricting their use altogether. The storm is expected to make landfall in Ostrobothnia around 8.00pm, while the revellers can begin using fireworks from 6.00pm.
 "We are now actively following how the winds are developing and we will make a decision about whether or not the weather will affect fireworks or otherwise on New Year’s Eve," said duty fire officer  Riikka Oravainen  of the Ostrobothnia rescue services.
 Consumers do not have to observe any official wind speed limits when using fireworks, but professionals do. According to the Fireworks Promotion Association, it is not considered safe for professionals to use fireworks when wind speeds exceed 14 metres per second.
 Windy and snowy across the country
 The New Year is expected to usher in windy and snowy conditions throughout the country, with the stormiest weather due on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to Yle meteorologist  Matti Huutonen , the wind will reach dangerously high speeds on those days.
 Central Finland and the Kainuu region in the east could be blanketed by 30 centimetres of snow, while in the south, precipitation is likely as rain as conditions become milder. Daytime highs will range from minus five degrees Celsius in the north to around zero degrees in coastal areas.
 Edit: Updated at 11.47am to include current information from rescue officials in Lapland, the Oulu region and Helsinki as well as comments from Yle meteorologist Anne Borgström.

New Year’s Eve wind, whiteout could put damper on fireworks


Summary: The proposal aims to reduce injuries caused by fireworks as well as relieve the stress suffered by animals.

A citizens' initiative to prohibit the use of fireworks by untrained consumers has gathered the 50,000 signatures required for MPs to consider legislative changes based on the proposal. The initiative reached the 50,000-signature threshold on Saturday.
 The legal reform proposal has the backing of a number of animal rights, health, patient and disability organisations including the Association for the Deaf, the Medical Association, Helsinki Humane Society and the Finnish Kennel Club. Altogether 14 NGOs and lobby groups launched the initiative in early December.
 Sponsors said that they hope the initiative will reduce harm caused by fireworks, such as  eye and other injuries  as well as fires. They also said cited a desire to alleviate stressed caused to animals and to limit environmental contamination.
 If it became law, the initiative would ban ordinary consumers from using fireworks classified as F2 and F3. These categories include pot bombs, air bombs and rockets. The proposal allows consumers to continue to use lighter pyrotechnics such as sparklers and smaller bomb fireworks.
 The December initiative was the second push to restrict the use of fireworks by non-professionals. At the beginning of the year a previous citizens’ initiative to allow only professionals to use the pyrotechnics attracted a little less than 16,000 supporters.
 Current legislation allows members of the public to use fireworks between 6.00pm on New Year’s Eve and 2.00am on New Year’s Day.
 The city of Espoo said last week that it would no longer put on fireworks displays to mark the New Year, but  would introduce laser light shows .

Citizens' initiative banning non-professional use of fireworks meets target, to go before MPs


Summary: The PM stressed that everyone who comes to Finland must comply with the law of the land and should respect the integrity of others.

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

Prime Minister  Juha Sipilä  used a New Year’s address on Monday to warn about the dangers of disseminating hate speech. During his statement, the prime minister referred to ongoing investigations into cases of  suspected child sex abuse  in Oulu, where the alleged perpetrators are foreign-background men.
 Sipilä stressed that everyone who comes to Finland must comply with the law of the land and should respect the integrity of others.
 "We will not compromise at all. Persons found guilty of crimes will be held accountable for their actions in accordance with the rule of law. In addition, serious offences will negatively affect obtaining a permanent residence permit," he warned.
 The PM also said that the suspects in the Oulu offences are individuals, not entire groups in society.
 "I urge [you] not to use these events to stir up hatred against refugees or foreign-background people. Let me remind [you] that vigilante justice is a crime in the eyes of the law, as is disseminating hate speech," the premier added.
 PM: Boost employment to 75 percent
 Sipilä pointed to positive developments on the economic front, noting that the government had achieved  its goal of 72-percent employment . However he called for further growth in employment to safeguard Finland’s welfare society.
 "The number must rise to 75 percent during the next administration. It will require a commitment to continuing reform policies. For example easing access to employment for part-time workers," he advised.
 A win for democracy
 Sipilä said that the commemoration of the 1918 civil war has united the nation, allowing it to mourn the event without bitterness and a desire for revenge.
 He pointed out that July 2019 will mark 100 years since the establishment of a republican form of government in Finland. He said that upcoming parliamentary elections are a celebration of democracy.
 "I hope for an honest election battle, in which we can focus on finding solutions rather than inciting fear and pointing fingers. I believe that voters also have the same hope," he added.

"Sowing hate speech is a crime" PM says in New Year’s address


Summary: Other grocery chains such as Lidl and the Kesko Group say they have taken steps to stop selling eggs laid by caged hens.

Animal rights activists have launched a campaign protesting the sale of eggs laid by battery farm hens at some of the S-Group’s Prisma hypermarkets. The activists have put up signs in some of the group’s stores in Pori, Tampere and Jyväskylä.
 The signs attached to shopping cards inform consumers that layers have about as much room in battery farm conditions as the sign itself occupies. S-Group has confirmed the presence of the adverts in some of its stores.
 The Rights for Animals NGO is currently gathering support for an online petition that calls on the duopolist to stop selling eggs from chickens kept in cramped battery farms. However  Juhis Ranta , head of the animal rights group’s corporate campaigns said that the NGO is not behind the campaign; rather individual protestors have been putting up the advertising in stores.
 Waning appetite for eggs from caged hens
 Lidl, a challenger in Finland’s grocery industry, said that it gave up selling eggs from caged hens in 2016. Kesko, the other duopoly player in the market, said that it intends to crack the battery farm egg habit by the year 2025, after a transition period.
 Sales of battery farm eggs have declined significantly in Finland in recent years, while sales of other types of eggs have increased.
 New investments in poultry farming have focused on barn and free range methods, although overall investment levels have been low, according to Finland’s poultry farmers association.

Animal rights activists target S-Group over battery farm eggs


Summary: Vantaa's Clarion hotel has been fully booked since New Year's Eve celebrations ended last January.

Pet owners now looking to reserve a sound-proof room at the Clarion hotel in Vantaa on New Year’s Eve will regret their tardiness. Located near the airport where the use of fireworks is banned, the hotel was booked up last January as soon as the last New Year’s Eve celebrations subsided.
 The rooms offer just enough insulation to muffle the sounds of rockets and other pyrotechnics so that household pets are not distressed by the explosive noises.
 Up until this year, the Clarion was the only hotel that had thought to market its quiet rooms around the time of New Year revelries. However, a new establishment, Hotel Heimari in Mikkeli, southeast Finland has now joined the fray.
 "Our hotel is located in the middle of the forest. We have a lot of land and not a single rocket is fired off on our property. We also have an agreement with our closest neighbours that they too won’t set off fireworks," said hotelier  Jaana Orava .
 Heimari has received bookings from across the country. One guest who will be spending New Year’s Eve at the hotel with her dog is Lahti resident  Paula Salovaara , who’ll be joined by 10-year-old Pyrenean Mastiff Otto. New Year’s Eve is a rough time for Otto, who hisses, wheezes and paces from stress, even when he has been sedated.
 "He’s so old, that I’m afraid his heart won’t hold out," Salovaara added.
 Salovaara and Otto live in a city apartment block. When residents set off fireworks, the explosions don’t only echo in the air, but resonate in the building’s brick walls.
 Last year, Otto spent the night with his owner at the Clarion in Vantaa and according to Salovaara it was a great experience for the pooch: he snored peacefully throughout the festivities.

Hotels target new niche, offer pets refuge from fireworks onslaught


Summary: Some in Finland want to downsize to smaller homes for environmental and financial reasons, but housing regulations remain an obstacle.

Growing concern over the impact of climate change in recent years has accelerated the interest in tiny homes and the minimalist lifestyle that goes with it, and the movement also appears to be gaining ground in Finland. However moves to live in smaller spaces have floundered over unclear legislation and trends to expand rather than contract living spaces.
 Pauliina Helle  is a member of a small community in southern Finland currently trialing life in tiny homes as part of a more sustainable lifestyle - which includes communal facilities for household tasks such as cooking and laundry. She is also the chairperson of the Finnish eco village network and a strong advocate of the ‘tiny house’ lifestyle, which encourages people to downsize their lives into smaller and more environmentally-friendly dwellings.
 "The tiny house movement offers a model for living with a smaller environmental impact and economical investment," Helle told Yle News. "Taking into consideration all the huge challenges that humankind is facing, I just feel that I cannot close my eyes to these things anymore," she added.
 Living below means
 The tiny house lifestyle can have financial benefits too. Choosing to live in a smaller space can mean fewer bills, and little or no mortgage or rent to pay.
 "Of course in a small place, you use a lot less energy to heat the space. It’s been incredible actually for me to see the difference in how much less firewood you use in a much smaller space," Helle noted. "And gardening a lot of your own food is another way to reduce your carbon footprint."
 Story continues after photo.
 Kitchen and living area. Yle News / Ronan Browne
 'Tiny' houses are loosely defined as being between eight and 37 square metres, and living in a tiny house can have a dramatic effect on an individual’s or a group’s consumption levels. Finnish Environment Ministry regulations, which are not enshrined in law, determine the minimum space for a single-person dwelling to be no less than 20 square metres.
 The current tiny house movement originated in the United States in the 1990s as a response to the materialism and consumerism associated with the 'American Dream' and as a means of addressing the affordable housing crisis. Buying or building a smaller house offered people the twin benefits of owning their own home at an affordable price, and living a more sustainable lifestyle.
 The concept spread to Europe in the early 2000s. Germany was at the forefront of early adopters when the ‘sustainable model district’ neighbourhood of Vauban was built in the southwestern city of Freiburg in 2001. Similar projects and developments have since been undertaken in other countries, including Sweden and the Netherlands.
 However, the relative novelty of the tiny house concept in Finland has created some conflict between advocates and authorities, and has led to calls for current legislation to be reviewed and updated.
 Story continues after photo.
 A room with a view. Yle News / Ronan Browne
 Douglas Gordon , an architect with the City of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division City Plan team, explained that the Ministry of Environment stipulates that the minimum size of a dwelling for a single person is 20 square metres, and for a student in university housing, 16 square metres. "In other cases, cities and municipalities use their discretion as to what constitutes reasonable floor space for households of two or three occupants, or a family of four or larger.
 Gordon further noted that the city of Helsinki, for example, negotiates with developers throughout the building planning process on what constitutes a reasonable sized dwelling for different households, and also, equally important, the mix of housing stock.
 "The City of Helsinki's ATT building company will, on average, provide larger sized dwellings compared to the private sector. Similarly, the Housing Fund of Finland (ARAVA) is likely to have greater minimum standards per dwelling than homes for the private market."
 Gordon also argued that size is not the only factor in determining how environmentally-friendly or sustainable a dwelling will be.
 Eco-dwelling not just down to size
 "It is not simply the size of a dwelling which defines 'eco-living'. It requires an attitude change in the way we live within four walls and how efficiently space and energy is used," Helle of the Finnish eco village network explained.
 Cultural and social barriers further hamper the acceptance of the tiny house lifestyle choice into Finnish society, as has happened in many other countries. The alternative lifestyle challenges long-held attitudes about property ownership and the pursuit of material wealth, according to Helle.
 Furthermore, any move towards living in smaller homes would be a considerable reversal of the decades-long trend in Finland towards living in larger spaces. In 1960, for example, the average Finnish person inhabited a living space of only 14 square metres. Today, that has increased to 37 square metres.
 Helle said upholding these norms contrasts sharply with the spirit of Finnish law. "It is worth noting that even though the Nordic laws are meant to secure cultural freedom, diversity and social safety, a culture of living voluntarily in simple dwellings is confronted with notably negative attitudes and constraints," she said.
 "I have been following what is happening in Germany and in Sweden and in other countries, where there are some very fresh and interesting ways to make these new ideas possible. We just need a bit of creativity and cooperation to throw us into that."

Watch: Finland's tiny house movement checked by regulations, attitudes


Summary: Finland’s parliamentary speaker, Paula Risikko, wants to make it easier for Finland to cancel residence permits held by convicted criminals.

Speaker of Parliament  Paula Risikko  told Yle's Ykkösaamu programme on Saturday that Finland should update laws making it easier to deport permanent resident holders convicted of crimes.
 Risikko said that while Finland will continue to offer protection to those in need, ”the country’s system can also be abused," according to Risikko,  echoing a similar message delivered by president Sauli Niinistö  in his New Year’s address earlier this week.
 ”We must have the possibility to nullify residence permits, including permanent ones,” she explained.
 Laws governing residence permits should include consideration for ’national threats,’ Risikko told the breakfast programme.
 ”If a person is deemed a national threat, it should be possible to cancel their residence permit.”
 Once granted, it is very difficult for the state to rescind residence permits.
 ”I know this is a very difficult subject, but the cases in Oulu are extremely shocking,” she said, referring to recent  sex abuse cases involving minors and asylum seekers .
 ”[Sex crimes] are punishable offences and perpetrators will, if deemed necessary, be sent back to their countries of origin. In Finland we play by our laws,” she stated.

"Finland should strip residence permits from criminals deemed national threat," says parliamentary speaker


Summary: New Year’s celebrations fuelled by inebriated revellers kept police and rescue workers busy around Finland.

In Helsinki, police were called out to deal with some 360 separate incidents.
 Police in south-western Finland said that in addition to brawls, fireworks misuse kept officers busy as revellers shot rockets at people, cars, buildings—and even across balconies.
 In the south-east, police said they were called out twice as often as during a regular weekend.
 Firework-related eye injuries
 In Oulu and Tampere physicians are treating three serious eye injuries that occurred on New Year’s Eve.
 Finnish Lapland saw several snowmobile accidents. Two people sustained serious injuries when a snowmobile crashed into a skier.
 Finland’s Emergency Response Centre said each of its regional units received hundreds of calls mainly concerning alcohol-related disturbances, batteries and slips on ice.

Helsinki police respond to hundreds of incidents on NYE


Summary: Storm winds will pound the Finnish coastline on Tuesday evening, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).

Winds of up to 27 metres/second are gathering in the Baltic and Sea of Bothnia, according to FMI meteorologist  Eveliina Tuovinen .
 The FMI has issued a  warning  that waves at sea may surpass seven metres in height.
 ”We may see record-breaking waves,” said Tuovien, adding that storms like this tend to occur once a year.
 Strong winds will also sweep over Finland on Tuesday night, with gusts of 20 m/s in southern and western areas.
 Up to 20 cm of snow
 On Tuesday afternoon, precipitation was coming down as rain in the south and southwest and as snow elsewhere.
 ”Ostrobothnia, Pirkanmaa, Central Finland and North Savo may see 10 to 20 centimetres of snow,” she added.
 A warning for slippery roads is in force for all of Finland, with the exception of the Uusimaa region.
 ”Snowy roads and poor visibility are making overtaking difficult, which is why we're warning motorists,” Tuovinen explained.

FMI: Winter storm will unleash strong winds


Summary: Sauli Niinistö said Finland must find a better way to deal with migration in the president’s traditional New Year’s address.

Sauli Niinistö said migration is the most divisive force in Europe at the moment, and Finland has to find a better way to manage all types of migration.
 ”We must not forget that we also need migration. Qualified experts and those learning to become ones, to participate in the maintenance of our society,” he explained.
 With nationalistic, anti-immigrant forces sweeping through Finland, the president reiterated Finland's commitment to international agreements governing asylum seekers.
 ”An asylum application cannot be left unexamined without breaching international law. International agreements were created to protect those in real need of protection,” Niinistö emphasised.
 Niinistö also made references to the recent  Oulu underage sex abuse case  involving asylum seekers that shocked Finland.
 ”We have also seen how some people who have sought refuge in Finland, even some who have received it, have created insecurity here with inhumane acts. This is an intolerable situation.”
 Populist movements threat to democracy
 On the European front, Sauli Niinistö said the continent has ”drifted into divisive quarrels over its own values.”
 Niinistö underlined Europe's long tradition of representative democracy, but said populist movements increasingly want to make a quick impact.
 ”We risk at losing something essential to representative democracy: that is the ability to harmonise different viewpoints. And at the same time the ability to listen and try to understand the opinions of others, even when not accepting them.”
 Niinistö emphasised that the right to call something into question is at the core of democracy and that all political parties were once born out of discontent, but he said there are also disturbing signs of extremist movements.
 "Anarchists hiding under yellow vests and  demonstrators marching openly under Nazi symbols  [in Finland] remind us of the cruelties and atrocities of the previous century,” he noted.
 International system shifting
 The world order is changing, the president said. China is using its economic power, Russia is rearming and the United States is distancing itself from cooperation, according to Niinistö.
 ”Foremost in my mind is the danger of the return of nuclear weapons to the everyday life of international politics. If the arms control treaties formulated during the Cold War collapse, we have to strive for the creation of new ones to replace them.”
 Finland vs climate change
 The president also called on residents to live in a more sustainable way.
 ”We can no longer be certain that children have a better future ahead of them than their parents had. The era of material abundance and continuous growth is about to change. It does not have to mean the end of welfare. It must not mean the end of equal opportunities. We have to be able to redefine the elements of the good that we strive for,” the president said.

President emphasises migration in New Year's speech


Summary: Which stories resonated the most with our social media audience in 2018? Read on to find out.

1. The making of the Finnish First Lady's tree-based eco dress
 Finland's first lady, Jenni Haukio, embodied the environmental theme of last year's Independence Day Gala by wearing a dress made from birchwood. A behind-the-scenes look at the gown's journey from forest to red carpet.
 2. What is love?
 Yle found plenty of romance in the streets of Tampere on Valentine's Day.
 3. Finland's frigid weather
 In February, news of temperatures plummeting to -30 degrees Celsius in Finland made for exciting news.
 4. Self-deprecating Finnish memes a big online hit
 Self-deprecating takes on Finnish daily life and culture have become a social media niche.
 5. WHO: Finland has the world's cleanest air
 Our audience went mad for a story on Finland's air quality being better than that of any other country, according to statistics from the World Health Organisation published by the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
 6. A sneak-peek at Finland's 2018 baby box
 The unveiling of animal prints, graphic designs and splashes of colour sent readers clicking.
 7. Finland's flagship library Oodi opens to the public in Helsinki
 Bibliophiles loved news of Finland's newest public library, a wood-clad behemoth called Oodi, opening its doors.
 8. Finland offers free online Artificial Intelligence course to anyone, anywhere
 A free course with no prerequisites on a daunting subject made an impression.
 9. 2018 high temperature of 32.2 degrees recorded in Turku
 In July, readers sweated a story on tropical nights.
 10. Study: Finland’s health care system among best in the world
 Also cracking the top ten was a story on how Finland's publicly-financed health care system is one of the best in the world, according to an international study.

2018 in review: Our most popular stories of the year