Finnish airport operator Finavia on Thursday said it will begin consultative negotiations with a view to trimming up to 480 jobs from its organisation and that of its airport service subsidiary, Airpro. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

FINAVIA, the state-owned airport operator in Finland, has announced it will begin consultative negotiations with its staff the objective of trimming a maximum of 480 positions, including roughly 130 in its organisation and up to 350 in that of its cabin crew and ground-handling subsidiary, Airpro.

Staff at both companies have been temporarily laid off due to the crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, some since as early as March.

A photograph of a blackmail message sent to an individual following the hacking of Psychotherapy Centre Vastaamo. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

THE NATIONAL BUREAU of Investigation (KRP) has revealed it has received 13,500 reports of an offence in connection with the hacking and blackmailing case revolving around Psychotherapy Centre Vastaamo.

“That number is from late Tuesday afternoon, and it’s rising all the time because of delays in recording,” Tero Muurman, a detective chief inspector at KRP, told Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday.

On 28 October, 1950, China and Finland established diplomatic relations. Today marks the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic ties. For those who care for and support the development of the bilateral relations, today is a big moment for commemoration. It is with joint efforts of people of all circles in both countries that our bilateral relations have enjoyed a rapid and all-around growth, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Mika Salminen, the head of health security at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), provided an update on the coronavirus epidemic in Finland in Helsinki on Thursday, 29 October 2020. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

THE DAILY NUMBER of people infected with the new coronavirus appears to have stabilised in Finland.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on Thursday announced in a news conference that the incidence of new cases, the number of analysed samples and the share of positive samples have stayed almost unchanged for a couple of weeks.

A Finnair aircraft at the uncharacteristically quiet Helsinki Airport on Wednesday, 28 October 2020. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

FINNAIR did not get the lift under its wings it was hoping for in the third quarter of the year, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

The Finnish majority state-owned airline reported yesterday that its third-quarter revenue fell from 865 million to 97 million euros and passenger numbers from 4.1 million to 500,000 between 2019 and 2020. Its operating result consequently plunged 183 million euros into the red, adding to the losses of 171 million euros reported between April and June.

The Finnish government has committed to halving emissions from transport by 2030 and eliminating them entirely by 2045. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

A TASK FORCE at the Ministry of Transport and Communications says Finland should raise its target for the number of electric vehicles on its roads significantly and increase the cost of carbon dioxide emissions from cars – one way or the other, report YLE and Helsingin Sanomat.

The task force published its report on measures to halve emissions from transport from the levels of 2005 by 2030 and eliminate them entirely by 2045.

Experts are concerned that the COVID- 19 pandemic could have long-lasting effects on the psychological wellbeing of individuals, eventually culminating in a public mental health crisis. 

COVID- 19 and the subsequent panic, uncertainty and isolation have led to a widespread rise in cases of anxiety and depression. Mental health professionals warn that given current conditions, everyone is at risk for these diseases. 

Autumn landscape with wooden jetty, forest and lake in Finland

A DRY WIND is set to descend from the mountains of Norway, bringing unusually warm temperatures to Finland next month.  
According to the forecast from Foreca, low pressure will result in steady rainfall and mild weather this week. Temperatures are expected to reach 1-3° C in Lapland and 3-6° C in the South and Central regions. 

Psychotherapy Centre Vastaamo recently announced its database was hacked almost two years ago, possibly compromising the personal privacy of tens of thousands of its clients. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

NEARLY 10 MILLION EUROS’ WORTH of the assets of Ville Tapio, the newly fired chief executive of Psychotherapy Centre Vastaamo, and his parents has been seized as a precautionary measure, report Ilta-Sanomat and MTV Uutiset.

The seizure order was issued at the request of the majority owner of the service provider, PTK Midco, by the District Court of Helsinki.

Our modern day lives have largely shifted to networks, and the criminals have done the same. Facebook, Momio, Tiktok, Brawl Stars etc. are part of our children’s everyday life, but many of us parents don’t know them at all. Online interaction is different from face to face interaction, because in the online world you can also operate anonymously. It is a different world where everything is not what it looks like, which we must not forget.

Lehtikuva

More and more workforce is recruited from abroad to Finland. In many sectors, foreign labour sent from abroad has become a norm. Unfortunately, with the increase in the number of foreign workers, their exploitation has also grown. 

This autumn is filled with work in Parliament. We are busy renewing laws, from mining to taxis, from waste to the duration of compulsory education. Alongside this, we take steps towards sustainability and equality and handle the COVID situation in a responsible way, taking into consideration both health and economics.

The Government budget proposal means that reforms and investments proceed despite the crisis. In a normal situation, net borrowing of billions of euros couldn´t be justified.

Pedestrians crossing the road in Helsinki on 23 May 2020. Over 70 per cent of Finns view that it has been fairly or very easy to cope with the restrictions adopted to fight the coronavirus outbreak, according to a new Eurobarometer. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

FINNS have tolerated the various restrictions on movement and social life adopted to fight the coronavirus outbreak better than people in other parts of Europe, indicates a Eurobarometer released in October.

As many as 73 per cent of Finns estimated that coping with the restrictions has been fairly easy or very easy – even to the extent that the restrictions have improved their quality of life.

An office of Psychotherapy Centre Vastaamo in Malmi, Helsinki, on 26 October 2020. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

THE CEO of Intera Partners, the Finnish equity capital firm that acquired Psychotherapy Centre Vastaamo in mid-2019, on Tuesday revealed to Helsingin Sanomat that the acquisition would not have taken place had the firm had knowledge of the data breaches and data security problems at Vastaamo.

CEO Jokke Paananen told the newspaper that neither the majority owner nor the board of executives of the psychotherapy service provider was informed of the hacking that took place in March 2019.

A girl studied at home in Espoo on 27 April 2020. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE in Finland engaged in considerably less physical activity during the coronavirus-disrupted spring than previously, reports the UKK Institute.

The Tampere-based private research organisation reported today that it monitored the activity levels of 255 children in years one, three, five, seven and nine of basic education with wearable motion sensors during the first week of May.