A member of local emergency services surveys the devastation (Image: Lehtikucva)

UNPRECEDENTED WILDFIRES HAVE BROKEN OUT in the popular resort island of Gran Canaria, causing as many as 9000 holidaymakers to evacuate. 

Finnish Minister of Finance Mika Lintilä (Centre) has expressed his concern that the lack of investments is undermining employment growth in Finland. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

FINNISH BUSINESSES are faced with a plethora of problems, views Risto Siilasmaa, the board chairperson at Nokia, F-Secure and Technology Industries of Finland.

Siilasmaa stated on Twitter on Sunday that the problems include old deep-rooted attitudes, lack of labour market flexibility, political talk about reducing working time, a chronic and exacerbating labour shortage, and a reluctance to copy proven solutions from other Nordic countries.

Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) spoke at the summer meeting of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Group in Helsinki on Thursday, 15 August 2019. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER Antti Rinne (SDP) offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the coalition formation negotiations at the summer meeting of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Group in Helsinki on Thursday.

“There was a clear difference between those looking to reform and those looking to slow down the society in the coalition formation talks held after the elections,” he said.

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The Finnish working-age population is believed to have contracted by more than 100,000 between 2010 and 2018, according to Statistics Finland. (Martti Kainulainen – Lehtikuva)

FINLAND should turn its attention to immigration to alleviate the problems caused by its shrinking working-age population, views Sami Pakarinen, the chief economist at the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).

“The topical employment debate has focused more on the labour force than on increasing the working-age population,” he wrote in his blog on Sunday.

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Pro-democracy protesters in Narinkkatori yesterday (image: Lehtikuva)

PROTESTERS FROM BOTH SIDES OF HONG KONG'S escalating dispute over Chinese control of the region faced off in Helsinki's Narinkkatori yesterday, in a peaceful protest attended by both PRC and Hong Kong citizens. 

Lieutenant General Timo Kivinen took over as the commander of the Finnish Defence Forces on 1 August 2019. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

FINNISH ARMED FORCES can have a significant role in the integration of young immigrants, believes Lieutenant General Timo Kivinen, the newly appointed commander of the Finnish Armed Forces.

“People entering the [military] service are equal regardless of background. The training teaches you how to work together and that everyone is an equal member of the group they’re serving in. I view that working together and getting the same training promotes integration,” he told Uusi Suomi on Thursday.

Antti Kurvinen (left) and Juha Sipilä (right) of the Centre Party attended a meeting of the party’s ministerial group and working committees in Iisalmi on Monday, 19 August 2019. (Akseli Muraja – Lehtikuva)

THE CENTRE and the Swedish People’s Party have voiced their reservations about the idea of reducing working time considerably in Finland.

Sanna Marin (SDP), the Minister of Transport and Communications, stated in Turku on Saturday that the Social Democratic Party should incorporate a four-day, 24-hour work week into its political agenda for the near future.

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SOME OF THE BIGGEST STARS of online streaming platforms such as Youtube, Twitch, Tik Tok, and podcasting are in the Finnish capital this weekend, along with 17,000 of their biggest fans. 

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A four-year-old labrador retriever at Helsinki Vantaa Airport this week (Image: Lehtikuva)

THE TEAM AT HELSINKI-VANTAA AIRPORT have boosted their ranks with the help of some four-legged friends. Golden retriever dogs have been recruited to help airport staff detect contaminated foodstuffs and anything that may be carrying African Swine Fever.

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Sanna Marin (SDP), the Minister of Transport and Communications, says she would like to see a shorter work week become a reality in the near future. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

SANNA MARIN (SDP), the Minister of Transport and Communications, made a bold working life-related proposal during a panel discussion held in conjunction with the 120th anniversary celebrations of the Social Democratic Party in Turku on Saturday.

Marin identified a considerably shorter work week as one of the objectives the party should incorporate into its agenda and pursue in the future.

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Festival attendees at the Architects of Air exhibition in central Helsinki (Image credit: Lehtikuva)

FINLAND'S LARGEST MULTI-ARTS FESTIVAL officially kicked off last night, with performances, acts, and openings occurring across the city. The two-week festival is expected to draw close to half a million attendees from across the country and beyond. 

The income tax cuts planned for next year will not suffice to offset the rises in social security contributions, says Teemu Lehtinen of the Taxpayers’ Association of Finland. (Mesut Turan – Lehtikuva)

THE TAX BURDEN of Finnish middle and high-income earners will grow considerably as of next year due to an increase in social security contributions, predicts Teemu Lehtinen, the managing director of the Taxpayers’ Association of Finland.

The contributions, he explained in a press release yesterday, cannot be offset with the income tax cuts laid out in the budget proposal of the Ministry of Finance.

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Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo (Greens) addressed the media in a press conference held in conjunction of a meeting of the Green League in Helsinki on 12 August 2019. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

MARIA OHISALO (Greens), the Minister of the Interior, has voiced her concern about attempts to erode the sense of security in Finland.

“Finland is one of the world’s safest countries. It is disconcerting to notice how people are deliberately trying to erode the sense of safety […] by fuelling distrust and driving a wedge between different population groups,” she wrote in a blog on the website of the Green League on Friday.

Issue-specific task forces were a key feature of the coalition formation negotiations led by the Social Democratic Party. A photograph from a meeting of the task force focusing on biodiversity and carbon neutrality. (Handout – Laura Kotila, Office of the Prime Minister)

PRIME MINISTER Antti Rinne’s (SDP) comments about the coalition formation negotiations have raised eyebrows among members of the National Coalition.

Matias Marttinen (NCP), a first-term Member of the Finnish Parliament from Satakunta, reminded on Thursday that the National Coalition’s economic policy approach was based on recommendations made by the Ministry of Finance.

The Finns Party Parliamentary Group will thwart any attempt to bring formal charges against Juha Mäenpää, who is being investigated for drawing a comparison between introduced species and asylum seekers in the Finnish Parliament. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

PEKKA HÄTÖNEN, a detective chief inspector at Helsinki Police Department, will remain in charge of the ongoing inquiries into statements by three Members of the Finnish Parliament: Juha Mäenpää (PS), Hussein al-Taee (SDP) and Päivi Räsänen (KD).

Lasse Aapio, the chief of Helsinki Police Department, told YLE on Wednesday that Hätönen will remain in charge of the investigations but the processes will be discussed with him.