Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) spoke to reporters outside the Parliament House in Helsinki on Wednesday, 8 December 2021. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER Sanna Marin (SDP) has issued an apology for her actions last weekend.

“I should’ve used better judgement and refrained from going out, refrained from being around other people,” she stated before a group of reporters behind the Parliament House in Helsinki on Wednesday. “I apologise for my actions and behaviour.”

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) attended a plenary session in the Parliament House in Helsinki on 26 November 2021. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER Sanna Marin (SDP) broke internal government instructions by going to a nightclub after being notified of her exposure to the new coronavirus on Saturday, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Iltalehti on Tuesday revealed that a general government directive updated late last month states that the government and staff at its ministers are encouraged to avoid contact as soon as they have been notified of exposure to the virus.

LEHTIKUVA / SUOMEN TULLIN HANDOUT

Based on a request from the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, Customs has conducted preliminary investigations into sales of alcohol from other European countries to Finland. The investigations are now complete, and criminal charges will be considered next.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been in self-isolation after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, said Farhan Haq, his deputy spokesman.

Nurses turning over a patient in intensive care with Covid-19 in Seinäjoki Central Hospital on 2 December 2021. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE DEMAND for intensive care is rising across Finland.

YLE on Wednesday reported that a total of 54 patients are presently in intensive care with the coronavirus disease, highlighting that most of the patients are being treated outside the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS).

In the wake of national crises, such as financial crises or natural disasters, governments often raise taxes. This is the finding of a new study conducted by the ifo Institute. “The majority of tax increases made due to crises happen very quickly, either while the crisis is still happening or in the following year,” says Prof. Niklas Potrafke, Director of the ifo Center for Public Finance and Political Economy.

Visitors present their so-called "Green Pass" to be checked at the entrance to the Altare della Patria monument in Piazza Venezia on December 05, 2021 in Rome. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Tighter Covid-19 restrictions for the unvaccinated go hand in hand with greater willingness to get the shot. That is the finding of an ifo study on vaccine willingness in the German-Austrian border region.

Researchers from the UT Southwestern Medical Centre have identified the characteristics of more than 100 memory-sensitive neurons that play a central role in how memories are recalled in the brain.

Processing of parcels at the Posti logistic centre in Vantaa on 2nd of December 2021. The christmas season is the busiest time of the year for Posti.

Christmas is approaching, and soon it will be time to show your loved ones near and far that you’re thinking about them. The mailing dates for Christmas greetings within Finland will soon be upon us. If you’re sending greetings to Europe, it is a good idea to act quickly.

According to FINEEC’s new themed publication, the competence of pupils in basic education is even across Finland. However, there is still room for improvement in the guidance provided to learners and the adequacy of support measures at all levels of education.

Spinnova fibre.

For the second time, nova-Institute grants the “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year” within the framework the “International Conference on Cellulose Fibres 2022” (2-3 February 2022). The advisory board of the conference nominated six highly interesting products, ranging from cellulose made of orange- and wood pulp to a novel technology for cellulose fibre production.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) was photographed arriving at the Parliament House in Helsinki on 24 November 2021. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER Sanna Marin (SDP) has come under criticism for going to a nightclub following news about the coronavirus infection of Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto (Greens).

Marin went to a nightclub in Helsinki between Saturday and Sunday, after being notified of the infection and being told that other cabinet members need not quarantine themselves if they have received two vaccine injections.

Rooftops in Töölö, Helsinki, on 12 October 2021. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

PRELIMINARY DATA from Statistics Finland indicates that the prices of old dwellings in housing companies crept up by 3.6 per cent year-on-year in October.

The sales of old dwellings brokered by real estate agencies increasing by almost two per cent from the previous year, pushing up prices in all of the largest cities and major population centres except for municipalities surrounding the capital region and municipalities in Eastern Finland.

A healthcare worker assists a traveller to obtain his test results after conducting a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Covid-19 test at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

People infected with the Omicron COVID-19 variant are not permitted to leave South Africa, the country's embassy in Moscow told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"South Africa follows and enforces globally recognised COVID-19 health protocols on travel. No infected individuals are permitted to leave the country," the embassy said.

Power lines in Vantaa on 17 January 2021. Low temperatures have driven up demand for electricity in Finland. (Ritva Siltalahti – Lehtikuva)

LOW TEMPERATURES will drive up electricity prices substantially in Finland on Tuesday, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Data from Nord Pool, an electricity exchange co-owned by transmission system operators in the Baltics and Nordics, indicates that the market price of electricity will surge to about 1,000 euros per megawatt-hour at 7–8am on Tuesday.