A new package of measures being introduced is intended to improve the labour market situation of persons aged 55 or over. They include a restructuring protection allowance and voluntary training. For employers, this means paying a new restructuring protection fee. Also, the age limit for extended unemployment benefits will be raised for those born in 1963 or 1964, and those born in 1965 or later will not be eligible at all. With the abolishment of extended unemployment benefits, the liability component payable by employers will be discontinued as well.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson watched as Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (front left), Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ann Linde signed a trilateral memorandum that clears the way for the Finnish and Swedish bids to join Nato. (Handout / Nato)

FINLAND, Sweden and Turkey resolved their differences over the Finnish and Swedish bids to join Nato after a nearly four-hour meeting held in conjunction with the defence alliance’s highly anticipated summit in Madrid, Spain.

Turkey has thereby pledged to give its backing at the summit to inviting the two countries to become members of Nato, according to a memorandum signed by the countries’ foreign ministers.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on 12 June discussed topics such as the war in Ukraine and the Finnish bid to join Nato at the opening of Kultaranta Talks, a foreign and security policy seminar hosted annually by Niinistö in Naantali, Southwest Finland. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

PUBLIC SUPPORT for Nato membership has once again crept up to a record high in Finland.

Helsingin Sanomat on Monday reported that its latest opinion poll found that 79 per cent of the public want the country to join the defence alliance, representing an increase of six percentage points from the beginning of May.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

The first batch of 5,300 vaccine doses against monkeypox purchased by the European Commission's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) was delivered to Spain on Tuesday, a Commission's spokesperson has said.

"As of today, the first deliveries of vaccines in response to the monkeypox outbreak are arriving at the most affected countries," Stella Kyriakides, European commissioner for health and food safety said.

Ole Jensen | Credit: Getty Images

Finnish Customs has conducted a preliminary investigation into a criminal case involving suspected smuggling of animal-based fodder raw material from Denmark to Finland. The fodder that was delivered to fur farms may have been contaminated by the coronavirus or some other animal pathogens. According to the Finnish Food Authority, the incident has posed a serious risk of animal diseases spreading in Finland. Customs and the Food Authority organised a briefing on the case in Kokkola today on 28 June 2022.

Hot weather drew people to the Marjaniemi beach in Helsinki on Sunday, 26 June 2022. The spell of hot weather is to continue well into this week, according to forecasts. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

THIS WEEK will be the warmest of the summer so far as temperatures are expected to stay above 30°C in large parts of Finland, tells Matti Huutonen, a meteorologist at YLE.

“The 30-degree mark may be breached especially in Southern and Central Finland. And in large parts of the country the 25-degree mark will be hit. The mercury will occasionally rise above 25 degrees also in Northern Lapland,” he commented on Sunday.

First row: Mevlut Cavusoglu Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Pekka Haavisto Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and Ann Linde of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden. Second row: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden in Madrid Spain on June 28, 2022 during the signing ceremony.

US President Joe Biden congratulated Finland, Sweden and Turkey for reaching an agreement which will pave the way for the Nordic countries to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance.

In a statement, Biden said, "I congratulate Turkey, Finland and Sweden on signing a trilateral memorandum, which paves the way for Allies to invite Finland and Sweden to join NATO at the Madrid Summit."

Common reed. Photo: Picasa

The current technology of biorefineries would enable the utilization of the common reed for product manufacture. The efficient harvesting of the reed would also help control the nutrient content of water bodies and promote the green transition.

The common reed holds great potential as a raw material for many processes aiming for highly refined end-products for international markets.

Autumn colours around Lake Inari in Malla Strict Nature Reserve in Finnish Lapland on 12 September 2021. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE FINNISH Ministry of the Environment is drafting an ambitious strategy to halt biodiversity loss, reveals YLE.

The public broadcasting company reported yesterday that the strategy seeks to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and restore biodiversity to the level of 2020 by 2035. Human activity is thereafter set to have a positive net impact on biodiversity.

President Sauli Niinistö said in Madrid on Tuesday that discussions between officials were key to reaching a conclusion in the talks between Finland, Sweden and Turkey. (Heta Hassinen – Lehtikuva)

TONI ALARANTA, a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told YLE on Tuesday that he is surprised by how quickly Finland, Sweden and Turkey reached an agreement on inviting the two Nordic countries to join Nato.

Foreign ministers from the three countries yesterday signed a memorandum following almost four hours of negotiations that took place in conjunction with the defence alliance’s summit in Madrid, Spain.

Mia Laiho (NCP) attended a plenary session in the Finnish Parliament on 22 June 2022. She believes there is readiness to move forward quickly with, for example, the proposal to do away with the stipulation that referrals from two physicians are required to access abortion services. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

A CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE to revise the act on the interruption of pregnancy is moving forward in the Finnish Parliament, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Markus Lohi (Centre), the chairperson of the Parliament’s Social Affairs and Health Committee, on Monday stated to the daily newspaper that the committee is set to finalise its report on the initiative in September.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

World Health Organization (WHO) after convening a meeting said on Saturday that the Monkeypox presently does not amount to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

"The WHO Director-General concurs with the advice offered by the IHR Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country monkeypox outbreak and, at present, does not determine that the event constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)," said WHO in its press release.

People lined up for refreshments at the Hietaniemi beach in Helsinki on Monday, 27 June 2022. The year’s temperature record was broken half a degree in Pori on Tuesday, as the mercury climbed to 32.9°C. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE BLOCKING HIGH that has sent temperatures soaring in recent days is likely to remain stationary until next weekend.

With the block set to remain over Finland until Sunday, the weather is forecast to stay hot and bright this week, Antti Kokko, a meteorologist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), stated to Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday.

Rail passengers were ushered into coaches at the Tampere railway station on Sunday, 26 June. (Kalle Parkkinen – Lehtikuva)

RAIL TRAFFIC in Finland was in disarray on Sunday and Monday due to a nearly 24-hour delay in a railway bridge replacement project undertaken in Lempäälä, near Tampere.

The replacement was not completed until midday on Monday, 21 hours behind the scheduled completion of 3pm on Sunday. Helsingin Sanomat wrote that trains were also unable to cross the bridge at full speed following the resumption of traffic because the finalisation phase dragged on at least into yesterday evening.

A member of Team USA (R) swims to recover USA's Anita Alvarez (L), from the bottom of the pool during an incendent in the women's solo free artistic swimming finals, during the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships at the Alfred Hajos Swimming Complex in Budapest on June 22, 2022. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Here are the most interesting news images of this week, from all around the world.