Business activity in Finland will gradually begin to wind down in the prelude to Christmas. Consumers should look out for changes to business hours at stores and for revised public transportation schedules.
IT staff working for Barona and Manpower are off the job until late Friday, hampering customer service operations of Finland's telecommunications operators.
Law enforcement officials are moving to ban a far-right group linked to a series of violent incidents around Finland since 2010. The announcement came a day after one of the neo-Nazi organisation's leaders went on trial for manslaughter.
The Finnish Embassy in Berlin says that a Finnish national is among those hurt in Monday's terror attack.
Next week Finland’s social benefits administrator will notify 2,000 randomly selected unemployed people of their participation in its basic income experiment. The pilot aims to determine whether a monthly 560-euro payment will encourage recipients to find temporary or part-time work.
Thursday's press in Finland report that some 20,000 people in Finland stand in bread queues every week, and the problem is growing. The Finnish communications firm Nokia Corp. and tech giant Apple have re-declared legal war in patent courts in Germany and the US this week. There's a storm brewing over the North Atlantic and it may be headed to Finland.
The prosecutor alleges that the 38-year-old defendant engaged in online slander, insults and threats against Muslims, saying that they should be killed. He also posted an image showing desecration of the Koran.
MPs head home for the holidays after ratifying a 55.5bn-euro budget, including a 5.6bn-euro deficit. Government ministers and opposition lawmakers also clashed over foreign policy issues.
Finnish Defence Minister Jussi Niinistö has visited Iraq and met with Iraqi interim Defence Minister Othman Ghanm to discuss Finland's role in the joint task force Operation Inherent Resolve, according to the Ministry of Defence. Niinistö also met with Iraqi officials for conversations about the deportations and voluntary departures of rejected Iraqi asylum seekers in Finland.
A leader of a Finnish neo-Nazi group has gone on trial in Helsinki in connection with a fatal assault on a man during a demonstration by the Finnish Resistance Movement.
Continuing mild, unsettled weather means that it is still not possible to forecast precisely what parts of Finland will have snow cover over the Christmas holiday weekend.
The Finnish Transport Agency says it expects that roads and highways will see heavier traffic this year than last on the days before and just after Christmas.
Many of Finland's newspapers Wednesday morning gave readers multiple articles with follow-up reporting on Monday's attack at a Christmas market in Berlin. On a lighter note, the triumphant return of UK X-Factor finalist Saara Aalto grabbed much of the attention of the tabloids.
IT firm CGI Finland says it will launch a recruitment campaign in 2017 to hire 1,000 new workers over the next three years. The campaign will especially target students and new graduates.
The Finnish Police have raised emergency preparedness levels in response to an apparent attack Monday on unsuspecting Christmas market-goers in West Berlin, Germany. An increased police presence is particularly noticeable around the country’s embassies and at the Helsinki Airport. After the 2015 Paris attacks, plainclothes policemen have joined their uniformed colleagues in carrying weapons in Finland.
A prosecutor for the Helsinki District Court has brought stiff charges against two 19 year olds suspected of being behind denial-of-services attacks.
Finland's top children's advocate has berated the government for not taking the time to assess the impact of policy changes on children, as it rushes to pass a host of new laws needed for its ambitious reform programmes. Children’s Ombudsman Tuomas Kurttila says government has failed to get input from experts and research on important issues such as child welfare.
Finnish political leaders offered condolences to the families of an estimated 12 people killed when a truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin. Foreign Minister Timo Soini said that the incident bore similarities to an attack in Nice in July, in which 86 people died.
Finnish newspapers and news sites on Tuesday morning were filled with tragic news of what appears to be another terrorist attack in Europe, this time in Berlin. Now that a citizen's initiative on legalising euthanasia has received 50,000 signatures, one paper asked lawmakers how they felt about the issue. Finnish Christmas tree firms expect to pull in more than 30 million euros this season, and they report increasing sales via the internet.
Dancing is not a common sight on the Finnish-Russian border, but song, dance and hugs were the order of the day Monday when a Finnish Santa Claus and his Russian counterpart "Grandfather Frost" met to exchange seasonal greetings.
Nearly half of all home fires are started by residents, usually as the result of carelessness. When a home electric sauna is used for storage and the heater gets turned on accidentally, it can easily lead to disaster.
Average temperatures in Finland are rising nearly twice as fast as in the rest of the world, says the Finnish Meteorological Institute FMI. New projections suggest the warming trend is most pronounced during winter.
Prime Minister Juha Sipilä has responded to criticism his administration received from the Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka over the weekend. The Chancellor characterised Sipilä's government as careless in its approach to drafting new legislation, saying the administration had tried to hastily push through legislation. On Sunday Sipilä wrote in his blog that Jonkka's assertions were serious and largely caused by a lack of resources.
A new international survey shows that for the third year running, mobile data usage by residents of Finland is the highest in the world, and now nearly twice that of users in South Korea which placed second in the ranking.
A recently-launched citizens’ initiative to legalise euthanasia has already gathered the 50,000 signatures required for lawmakers to consider the proposal. Sponsors of the initiative have pointed out that more than 85 percent of Finns support the idea of euthanasia.
Monday’s papers continue wall-to-wall coverage of Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka’s criticism of the Sipilä government’s apparent slap-dash approach to drafting legislation. Otherwise, dailies ponder a fresh poll showing that a majority of Finnish residents feel the current national mood is oppressive, and also look at Helsinki’s most expensive -- and cheapest -- bus lines.
'Tis the season to be jolly, and to find inexpensive but memorable gifts for friends and loved ones. Playing the ukulele is also easy to learn, says guitarist Jocke Kulju.
Yle meteorologists say that those areas of the country that can already boast at least 10 cm of fallen snow will have a postcard Christmas. Scanter amounts are likely to melt away by Dec 24.
A change to Finland's laws on public procurement practices will make more room for small and medium-sized enterprises to win public tenders. The reform will put existing municipal corporations that have traditionally provided the services in many locations at risk, as they will now face tougher competition.
The Finnish Food Safety Authority has set up a restriction zone in the affected area to help prevent the spread of the H5N8 outbreak.
Finland’s leading newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reports that the Chancellor of Justice, Jarkko Jonkka, has accused the current centre-right government of subverting constitutional law in many of its planned law changes.
The last few years have seen more cases of antibiotic-resistant superbacteria infections in Finland. Even special strains of antibiotics that are saved for difficult cases may not necessarily have an effect on the so-called superbugs.
A new survey finds that half of respondents in Finland would be happy to buy insect-based food products if they were available in shops. The figures are higher than in other European countries.
The Automobile and Touring Club of Finland offers road service and towing for all motorists year round. During the holiday season, the organization beefs up its regional response teams under the name Operation Snowflake, to make sure no one stranded on the road misses out on Christmas and New Year’s festivities.
The events of the last few weeks in Finland have likely damaged its chances of being named the top country on the World Press Freedom Index next year, a ranking it has enjoyed every year since 2008. Finland’s branch of the Reporters Without Borders organization sent a note to the charity’s head office in Paris on Thursday that spoke of a “deep concern” about the conflict between Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Finland’s public broadcasting company Yle.
Primary school students and their parents staged a rare demonstration in Kuopio on Friday. They picketed outside the school building to protest the city's lack of action over mould and indoor air problems in the building.
A new doctoral dissertation indicates that most frequent users of alcohol in Finland are in working life, but that the effects of heavy drinking on employees' working ability are largely unknown.
The government is instructing municipalities to offer emergency housing to rejected asylum seekers, including food and essential medication. The state will reimburse local authorities for these costs.
The data security director of Finland's largest cyber security and privacy company warns that high-tech household appliances are being exploited to carry out crippling cyber-attacks.
Two Iraqi men have been handed prison terms for killing one local man and robbing another in Kajaani, eastern Finland, on September 11.
Oulu Emergency Services reports a large accident involving hazardous substances at the former Talvivaara nickel and zinc mine – since renamed Terrafame – in Sotkamo, Finland. Mine representatives say the fire that resulted is under control and presents no immediate danger.
A recent Yle survey of Finland’s teachers and rectors suggests that reaction to the country’s new core curriculum plan is mixed. Most agree, however, that the new subject-merging elements of the study plan benefit gifted students.
Friday's print press in Finland looks at the toothless response from EU leaders on Syria, Yle's hard line on pressing politicians, an alarming jump in drug use in mid-sized cities and record-breaking Christmas donations.
Christmas is a busy time on the railways, and some yuletide services are already fully booked. The state railway company VR, though, has the biggest train in Finnish history ready to take the strain.
Helsinki's stock exchange is less carbon intensive than it was last year, according to a new report, but firms listed there still emit three and a half times more carbon than their Swedish counterparts.
MP Timo Harakka has announced that he will run for the leadership of the Social Democrat Party. The current leader, Antti Rinne, will also run for re-election.
As gifts of produce were presented to the presidential couple, their Boston terrier seemed to be the most excited. The annual event spotlights produce from around Finland.
The Finnish Customs board has launched a pretrial investigation into imports of allegedly faulty fireworks. Last New Year's celebrations resulted in five firework-related accidents caused by defective rockets.
New statistics show that poverty has risen in recent years, especially among families with two guardians and very young children. Mothers are more likely to face financial straits than fathers, and having a degree is no guarantee against hardship.
Former high-ranking UN human rights official Elisabeth Rehn says it is clear that troops supporting the Syrian government have committed war crimes in Aleppo, but that it will be difficult to bring anyone to justice.
Print media follows other formats in reporting on the resignation of two Yle journalists, while a law suit against EasyFit gyms and the poor posture of Finnish children also make headlines. A small win for a young swan gets local coverage.
Yle's Board of Directors has expressed full confidence in the company's CEO Lauri Kivinen and the editor-in-chief of News and Current Affairs, Atte Jääskeläinen. In addition, the board will be requiring team managers of the company's various units to report regularly on any attempts to influence or bring pressure on journalistic operations.
Police and game officials report that non-lethal explosive charges have been successfully used to convince wolves to stay away from a residential area of Ylivieska in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia where they had been roaming all autumn.
The Finnish Immigration Service, Migri, has received dozens of formal complaints this year from asylum seekers about the operations of reception centres where they reside. Many of the complaints concern the availability of medical services.
This spring's municipal elections will likely see several new political parties on the voting roster. One of them, the Feminist Party, filed its application for official registration with Ministry of Justice on Tuesday. Despite its name, the newly formed party has a goal of fighting racism and other discrimination.
As gifts of produce were presented to the presidential couple, their Boston terrier seemed to be the most excited. The annual event spotlights produce from around Finland.
A deadly shooting has occurred in the city of Imatra in South-East Finland. Police say that three women are confirmed dead from gunshot wounds from a rifle. A local man has been apprehended.
A fire in the Helsinki district of Vuosaari killed a woman and her three underage children early Friday. The police say the deceased woman was 40 years old, while the children were 7, 6 and 2.
Most taxpayers will be repaid excess taxes on Tuesday, but some 750,000 people face the unpleasant task of coughing up unpaid taxes to the tune of nearly 1.2 billion euros.
President Sauli Niinistö's first discussion with US President-elect Donald Trump went well, according to a short statement released on the Finnish President's official website. Topics included bilateral relations, Russia and the Arctic, according to the Finnish statement.
Every day at 3.05pm we broadcast a five-minute television bulletin of news from Finland and beyond.
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In the Helsinki/Uusimaa region, Yle Mondo can be heard at 97.5 FM, with Yle Radio 1 at 87.9 FM.
