Pro-government protesters wave the Israeli flag as they gather near Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on April 27, 2023 in support of the hard-right government's controversial push to overhaul the justice system. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

As Israel celebrates its 75th anniversary, every Israeli should remember that the occupation stains the country’s independence day and that Israel is not and will not be a true democracy as long as it remains an occupying power.

I couldn’t applaud and admire enough the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who protested for 17 consecutive weeks against the Netanyahu government’s scheme to subvert Israel’s judiciary under the pretense of necessary ‘reforms.’

In the United States, mass shootings are normal.

Of course, when they happen, they’re followed by heartbroken communities, thoughts and prayers, and a heated debate over gun laws… and then the trend repeats.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde posing for pictures after signing a memorandum during a NATO summit in Madrid. Photo by Murat CETIN MUHURDAR / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP / LEHTIKUVA

Nearly a year ago I was writing a trilogy of articles for Helsinki Times outlining the problems and risks for Finland joining NATO.

Groupthink clearly prevailed when making the decision to join. Irving Janis who developed the concept years before warned that when decision makers look inward and invest in a perspective that is biased in favour of their own world view without sufficient recognition of other viewpoints, then it leads to poor and damaging decisions.

An aerial view shows a woman siting next to an art work painted on the rubble of a building that collapsed during the February 6 earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, in the rebel-held town of Jindayris in northern Syria, on February 22, 2023. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Two devastating earthquakes at magnitudes of 7,7 and 7,6 respectively, struck southeast of Türkiye on 6 February 2023. Another two at magnitudes of 6,4 and 5,8 hit Hatay province on 20 February. In the meantime, quake-stricken region was shaken by over 6.000 aftershocks since 6th February. In this respect, I would like to share information on the scope of the disaster, as well as subsequent search and rescue operations and international assistance sent to Türkiye.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

The Russo-Ukrainian War is on its way to becoming the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War 2. At the current rate, it will surpass the 140,000+ deaths recorded in the decade-long Yugoslav Wars. A United States estimate places military losses (killed and wounded in action) at over 200,000 soldiers. This figure does not include the needless and unforgivable deaths of countless civilians. In economic terms, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stated that 1 Trillion USD is required to rebuild his nation. Conservative estimates by Reuters put the figure closer to 310 Billion.

For quite a few years in a row, Finland has come to the top of the list as the world's happiest country. What happens next usually is massive sharing on social media where we all cheer, congratulate each other and express our pride in living in and contributing to a society of happy people. In the meantime, people who visit Finland are somewhat puzzled as they (accurately) point to the fact that on the surface little of this happiness is visible in everyday interactions with Finns.

Wang Tongqing, Chinese Ambassador to Finland

It comes again the golden season of the year. The Chinese people have just celebrated the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, and will soon embrace the 73rd National Day on 1st October.

Since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has made remarkable development achievements in various social domains. A moderately prosperous society in all respects has been built.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

During the past summer we have been served news of extreme drought, vast forest fires and massive floods in different parts of the world. All the while, updates from the war in Ukraine have nevertheless dominated the headlines. A year earlier many would most likely have said that the covid-19 pandemic was the biggest catastrophe of our time.

If one widens the perspective, into the future and the past, it is hardly meaningful to start ranking catastrophes.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine more than 6 months ago has caused a dramatic spike in natural gas prices and caused repeated energy shocks in Europe. The EU has accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon, while Russia denies this and blames western sanctions for the drop in exports.

After Russian state-owned company Gazprom announced a three-day shutdown of North Stream Pipeline 1, natural gas futures linked to TTF, Europe's wholesale gas price, increased sharply to EUR340 per megawatt hour due to supply fears.