Photo: Posti

Christmas cards and other greetings are meant to make the recipient happy, and that is exactly what they do. Greetings delivered by mail are important for the recipients, as more than 50% of Finns consider Christmas cards, letters and parcels sent as Christmas greetings their most valued mail items. This is revealed by a survey commissioned by Posti in November.

Greetings with a more affordable Christmas no-value indicator stamp must be mailed by Tuesday, December 13 at the latest.

Image: © Ungureanu/Adobe Stock

Two-thirds of respondents from the EU and 10 neighbouring countries reported difficulties making ends meet in the fifth round of the Living, working and COVID-19 survey. This was notably higher in EU neighbouring countries than in the EU, with 81% in neighbouring countries reporting difficulties making ends meet, compared to 48% in the EU27. Respondents from the EU neighbouring countries also reported high risk of depression; the results are particularly alarming for those aged between 18 and 44, with 75% being considered at risk of depression.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan. Photo/Tim Sullivan

Stronger multilateral solutions are urgently needed to tackle the debt crisis facing developing countries, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan said at the opening of the organization's 13th Debt Management Conference.

The event, which runs from December 5 to 7 in Geneva, takes place as a wave of global crises has led many developing countries to take on more debt to address the needs of their populations.

A harvester on a field in Huittinen, Satakunta, in August 2019. Finnish agricultural businesses have to wait for another couple of months for a support package from the government, writes Helsingin Sanomat. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

KEY MEMBERS of the Finnish government revealed yesterday that the government has yet to hold or even set a timetable for discussions on a massive support package for agricultural businesses, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Finnish agricultural businesses are widely acknowledged to be in need of financial support amid rising, feed, fertiliser and energy prices.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Saudi-based Sustainable Tourism Global Center have unveiled groundbreaking new data detailing the climate footprint of the Travel & Tourism sector in the European Union.

Between 2010 and 2019, just before the pandemic, the EU Travel & Tourism sector decoupled its economic growth from its greenhouse gas emissions.

Finnish border guard at the Vaalimaa border check point point between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, Finland on September 30, 2022. LEHTIKUVA

Finnish Customs has completed its investigations concerning leisure craft detained due to the sanctions against Russia. Eight of the leisure craft subject to further investigations were transferred to the enforcement authorities, four underwent a tax audit and two cases have been referred for criminal investigation. Besides the vessels detained in the spring, Customs also made new detentions in the summer, both to find out their ownership and to prevent illegal attempts to take the leisure craft out of the country.

Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko (Centre) spoke to reporters in conjunction with a plenary session in the Parliament House on Wednesday, 7 December 2022. The Centre is to blame for the recent difficulties of the ruling coalition, estimate 38 per cent of respondents to a survey commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

ALMOST TWO-FIFTHS (38%) of Finns believe the Centre is primarily to blame for the recent difficulties of the ruling five-party coalition led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP), reveals a survey commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat.

The Finnish government has had a tumultuous autumn, with the parties butting heads over the so-called exit tax, nature conservation, nature restoration and Sami Parliament.

Medical worker gives the vaccination with the Pzifer Biontech vaccine against the Covid-19 corona virus to the patient at a vaccination centre in Helsinki, Finland. LEHTIKUVA

When compared to those who have not been vaccinated, those who have recovered from a coronavirus infection have a halved risk of becoming infected a second time or contracting COVID-19 again with severe symptoms.

These findings were revealed in an analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, which is coordinated by Lamberto Manzoli, medical epidemiologist as well as Director of the School of Public Health and Hygiene of the University of Bologna.

A crowd gathered for the opening of Aleksanterinkatu Christmas Street in Helsinki on 19 November 2022. The opening ceremony drew around 35,000 people to the heart of the Finnish capital, according to the City of Helsinki. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

CENTRAL HELSINKI is attracting significantly fewer people than it did before the coronavirus pandemic, reveal mobile phone data-based statistics presented to Helsingin Sanomat.

Telia Finland utilised its mobile phone data at the newspaper's request to tally daily averages for each month for the number of people visiting the city centre, the rectangular area between the Parliament House, Helsinki Cathedral, Kasarmitori Square and Kamppi.

Google’s logo is shown on a tablet in Moscow, Russia, on 15 April 2022. Google earlier this week released its annual list of trending search terms, offering a reminder of the events, news and people that caught public attention. (Kirill Kudryavtsev – AFP / Lehtikuva)

THE WAR in Ukraine and the subsiding of the coronavirus pandemic are reflected in the top search terms in Finland in 2022, reports YLE.

Google on Tuesday revealed that Finns turned its search engine regarding a variety of things associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While ‘Ukraine’, ‘Russia’, ‘Nato’, ‘Putin’ and ‘rouble exchange rate’ were among the most popular search terms, one of the most popular questions was ‘why is Russian invading Ukraine’.

American tech giant Apple has announced Apple Music Sing, a karaoke experience that will be built right into the company's Apple Music app.

According to The Verge, an American technology news website, with Apple Music Sing, users will be able to follow along with Apple Music's real-time lyrics and adjust the volume of the vocals so that you can better hear your singing voice.

The Finnish Border Guard’s badge on the sleeve of a border officer in Vantaa in August 2017. The Border Guard is the most trustworthy public administration organisation in Finland, according to a survey conducted by T-Media. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

PUBLIC TRUST in public administration organisations has eroded for the second consecutive year but remains narrowly at a good level, reveals a trust and reputation survey conducted by T-Media.

The survey yielded a mean trust score of 3.51 for the 25 most well known public administration organisations, a group that includes Finnish Customs, the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), the Finnish Tax Administration and YLE.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) and Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko (Centre) attended a plenary session in the Parliament House on Wednesday, 7 December 2022. Marin on Wednesday said the Centre withdrawing its support for the nature conservation act shall be the last departure from a commonly agreed position. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER Sanna Marin (SDP) on Wednesday said the ruling coalition has had a serious discussion about the stunt pulled last week by the Centre.

“It isn’t right that someone breaks the government’s common rules and doesn’t defend proposals that the government has unanimously presented to the Parliament,” she was quoted saying by YLE on Wednesday. “I want this country to have a functioning government in the current composition, but breaking the rules repeatedly without any repercussions is untenable.”

Photo: Juha Määttä

New research shows a continually warming world is leading to extended, late-summer weeks of water stratification in lakes, which prompts oxygen deprivation in the water provoking conditions called hypoxia (low oxygen) and anoxia (no oxygen) and negative consequences for fish and other species.

New research from Cornell University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows a continually warming world is leading to extended, late-summer weeks of water stratification, which prompts oxygen deprivation in the water provoking conditions called hypoxia (low oxygen) and anoxia (no oxygen) and negative consequences for fish and other species.

A block of flats in Myyrmäki, Vantaa, on 28 November 2022. A young woman working as a postal worker died after being attacked by a person dressed in dark clothes on Thursday, 17 November 2022. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

EASTERN UUSIMAA Police Department on Monday revealed it has released a young man who was detained on suspicion of the widely reported murder of a postal worker in Myyrmäki, a western district of Vantaa, on 17 November.

The man had confessed to killing the young woman, but investigators concluded based on interrogations and forensic evidence that he was not involved in the incident.