Jussi Halla-aho on Monday announced he is not seeking a second term at the helm of the Finns Party. The right-wing opposition party will convene to elect his successor in Seinäjoki in August. (Silja-Riikka Seppälä – Lehtikuva)

JUSSI HALLA-AHO on Monday startled the Finnish political landscape by announcing he will not seek re-election as chairperson of the Finns Party.

“Not everyone will like this decision, at least immediately. I’d tell them that I’m not making this decision, or any other, on flimsy grounds on the spur of the moment, but after long and exhaustive consideration. This is the most right decision I can make,” he stated in a press conference.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute has issued high temperature warnings for half of Finland today as Eastern and Southern parts of the country are expected to bear the brunt of the ongoing heat wave. 

Southeastern Finland will likely experience the highest temperatures, with the mercury forecast to rise above 30°C. The warm weather (with an average temperature of 24 degrees) is expected to continue till Thursday, with Tuesday slated to be the hottest day of the week. 

A car parked in front of a block of flats in Helsinki on 2 July 2020. (Olivia Ranta – Lehtikuva)

THE WANING of the coronavirus pandemic will cool down the housing markets in the Nordics, predicts Danske Bank.

House prices have climbed rapidly across the region in the past year as people have looked for abodes with more space for remote work, study and free-time activities – by as much as 18 per cent in Denmark and Sweden, 11 per cent in Norway, and almost five per cent in Finland.

Private consumption is forecast to recover, albeit at a slower rate than expected due to the cautious approach taken to lifting restrictions, in Finland in 2021–2022. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

ECONOMIC GROWTH in Finland will pick up to 2.6 per cent in 2021 and to 2.8 per cent in 2022, forecasts the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday pointed out that although the economic situation has fluctuated notably in the first half of this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the positive signs have strengthened clearly, with the outlook for both exports and investments becoming brighter.

An activist watched as police officers carried another into a police vehicle in downtown Helsinki on Sunday, 20 June 2021. (Teemu Salonen – Lehtikuva)

POLICE in Helsinki brought a total of 117 people into custody in connection with a demonstration organised by Extinction Rebellion Finland on Sunday.

Helsinki Police Department reported yesterday that 104 people were taken into custody for failure to comply with police orders to vacate the road on Mannerheimintie, the main thoroughfare of Helsinki, and 12 on Unioninkatu. One more person was taken into custody for contumacy to the police in conjunction with a counter-protest organised on Sunday.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Here are the most eye-catching images of this week, from all around the world.

Environmental activists with Extinction Rebellion Finland (Elokapina) have gathered on Mannerheimintie as part of a protest that began on Thursday afternoon but continued overnight till Friday. 

Around 120 demonstrators pitched tents and mattresses near the Parliament so they could sleep on the street on Thursday night. Police have been stationed at the spot and are directing the traffic on Mannerheimintie, which is the main thoroughfare in Helsinki.   

Locals enjoyed a warm summer day in Esplanade Park in Helsinki on Thursday, 17 June 2021. (Silja-Riikka Seppälä – Lehtikuva)

A HEATWAVE is forecast to deliver temperatures of up to 30°C to southern and central parts of Finland as of Friday.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has issued a hot-weather warning to several regions for today, with the mercury forecast to climb to 25–28°C in southern and central areas and even closer to 30°C in Häme, Pirkanmaa and Satakunta.

Kirsi Pimiä, the permanent state secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, commented on the easing of entry restrictions for business travellers in a news conference in Helsinki on Thursday, 17 June 2021. (Mikko Stig – Lehtikuva)

THE MINISTRY of the Interior on Thursday confirmed that the lifting of restrictions on business travellers arriving to Finland from the other parts of the EU and Schengen Area by land or sea as of Monday, 21 June.

Finland will also scrap entry restrictions for leisure travellers from the same group of countries who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or recovered from the coronavirus disease in the past six months.

The Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital district (HUS) has revealed that there was a 8.9 per cent increase in the number of births in the region this Spring compared to the previous year. Uusimaa registered a total of 7,089 births from January to May this year, compared to 6,511 births during the same period last year.

The Women’s Hospital (Naistenklinikka) in Helsinki and Espoo Hospital accounted for 80 per cent of the births, and saw a 7.2 per cent increase (380 more) in births compared to last year.