High winds caused further power cuts in many parts of Finland on Wednesday, with utilities repairing lines severed by Monday's storm.

Utilities said Thursday morning that about 44,000 households remained without power at 7am.

Finnish Railways (VR) restored normal services on the Helsinki-Turku line but a replacement coach service continued to run between Tampere and Turku.

Nicotine gum and other medication to deal with tobacco withdrawal should be covered by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), according to a statement on Wednesday by Finland’s Doctors Against Tobacco (DAT) network.

According to Olli Simonen, chairman of DAT, Kela should cover nicotine withdrawal treatments because nicotine and tobacco addictions are recognised illnesses, not voluntary habits. Both have been included in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

STT

Finland is to open a new general service number in 2013 to help keep the Emergency Response Centre Administration’s emergency number clear for real emergencies, Finnish regional daily Aamulehti reported on Wednesday.

Henna Virkkunen (NCP), public administration and local government minister, told the paper that the new service number is to be a 24-hour service for Finns in need of assistance but not in immediate danger, for example in the case of power cuts.

STT

At least 170,000 households across Finland were still without power on Wednesday morning following the storm which battered the Nordic countries on Monday, according to a statement by Finnish utilities.

Utilities told that they expect the situation to ease significantly during the course of Wednesday.

The Finnish Transport Safety Agency on Monday released MS Thor Liberty from impoundment.

Finnish officials confined the ship to port earlier this month after discovering an unauthorised consignment of Patriot surface-to-air missiles on board.

The Finnish police have ordered the captain and first officer of the ship to remain in Finland.

The 69 missiles are kept by the Finnish Defence Forces in an undisclosed location.

STT

National daily Helsingin Sanomat reported Tuesday that some 64 per cent of respondents in a poll wanted to see the country remain a part of the eurozone.

HS added that about 12 per cent had said that Finland should leave the EU, with some 16 per cent saying the country should remain in the EU but scrap the euro.

Commissioned by the paper, market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres interviewed about 1,000 people, with the margin of error stated as three percentage points.

STT

National daily Helsingin Sanomat reported Tuesday that some 64 per cent of respondents in a poll wanted to see the country remain a part of the eurozone.

HS added that about 12 per cent had said that Finland should leave the EU, with some 16 per cent saying the country should remain in the EU but scrap the euro.

Commissioned by the paper, market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres interviewed about 1,000 people, with the margin of error stated as three percentage points.

STT