Tweets mostly about Finland. Work: @ylenews
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Articles by Egan Richardson
Thursday's papers: Finns Party polling woes, Finland hangover, and Midsummer driving breaks
Helsingin Sanomat runs a poll just as politicians (and the rest of the country) are heading off on their Midsummer breaks. It has good news for the Left Alliance, and more depressing numbers for the Finns Party. Those two are tied in fourth place on 10 percent, according to the paper. Ahead of them are the Centre Party on 15.7 percent, the National Coalition on 19.8 percent and the Social Democrats on 25.2 percent.
Wednesday's papers: Summer unemployment, Midsummer rain and NHL Finns' win
As Finland gears up for the summer, Helsingin Sanomat covers one group who get a raw deal in the holiday season: teachers on temporary contracts. HS interviews one teacher who says she was tricked into signing a contract that ended before the summer holiday. Tampere vocational school Tredu offered her a post from August until the end of July, but the contract was in two chunks.
Friday's papers: Finns Party challenge, Ukraine ambassador, and football agony
Ilta-Sanomat has a story on the challenge facing the Finns Party as they grapple with polling figures around half of what they achieved at the last parliamentary election. The party conference is coming up this weekend, and leader Riikka Purra is broadly expected to secure a new term in office. She has a challenging task, according to researcher Markku Jokisipilä, who says that no Finnish party has suffered a similar dip in support and recovered by the next election without changing leader.
Thursday's papers: Pension suggestion, popular neighbourhoods, and a football test
Helsingin Sanomat carries a suggestion on making the pension system a little fairer to younger generations. Risto Niemisvirta, CEO of financial services firm Mandatum, says that people should be able to use some of their compulsory pension contributions towards a personal pension pot. At present people and their employers contribute to a pension fund which chooses the investment targets and uses the bulk of the money to fund current pensioners' incomes.
Wednesday's papers: Land ownership, drug consequences, and football delays
Ilta-Sanomat reports on the ownership of land in Finland in the wake of several large purchases by foreign firms looking to build data centres. They find that the National Land Survey of Finland (Maanmittauslaitos in Finnish) does not have statistics on the nationality of property owners. They do have records of sales to foreign owners since 1990, but that gives an incomplete picture of who owns what nationwide.
Tuesday's papers: Twin mortality, drug costs and Eurovision frenzy
Finnish papers have been reporting on the strange case of 91-year-old identical twins who died within four hours of each other, after their memorial notices were published in Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday. Siiri Heiska died in Helsinki, and Maiju Ehrola passed away in Raahe, some 600km north, within four hours of each other. Their families say neither even knew the other had gone into the hospital. Heiska's daughter Nina Heiska told Ilta-Sanomat that the timing of the deaths was a mystery.
Wednesday's papers: NCP union resignation, Finnair skirts Pakistan, and pilots' dispute
The government's tax adjustments and labour market reforms have been in the news recently, and the National Coalition Party has been keen to trumpet certain changes. One of the big ones is the removal of the tax deduction for trade union dues (and for employer association membership fees), which was part of the recent budget negotiations.
Tuesday's papers: Overall ban, dangerous jobs and Kela boss
Helsingin Sanomat is gearing up for the big May Day celebration this week with a look at the decision by several Helsinki bars to ban groups of students in their traditional overalls. This uniform is part of the tradition of student life in Finland, with different clubs and societies having their own overalls and donning them for social events and nights out. They are practical and easy to clean, a handy feature when things get messy.
Thursday's papers: Budget framework and a former Finns Party figure in Russia
The papers all cover the government's framework budget settlement, which was announced late on Wednesday evening. MTV has a list of the decisions. They include cuts to higher education funding, development aid and municipalities. There are also big income tax breaks targeted at higher earning taxpayers, a higher threshold for paying inheritance tax, and corporate tax reductions to benefit Finland's companies.
Wednesday's papers: Ukraine advice, returnee employment and colder weather on the way
International headlines on Wednesday focus on Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin's apparent willingness to freeze the conflict on current frontlines and the US-Russian plan in all the major outlets. That plan would involve Ukraine recognising Russian control of Crimea and accepting it will not join Nato, the lifting all sanctions on Russia and closer US-Russian trade links. Iltalehti, meanwhile, has reporting from Ukraine with a distinctive Finnish angle.
Local election results live
In most parts of the country people had two ballot papers to cast in Finland's double election. Image: Elina Rantalainen / Yle Local election results live Finland heads to the polls on Sunday to elect thousands of councillors in a range of local and regional bodies.
APN Podcast: Finland's foreign vote deficit
Finland goes to the polls this weekend to elect thousands of municipal and county councillors — but is turnout what it could be? Foreign-background voters have been slower to head to the ballot boxes than the general population, and that could have a growing impact as the population diversifies. We asked researcher Josefina Sipinen about Finland's democratic deficit — and especially the reluctance to get involved.
APN Podcast: Local election special
Our 'election 2025' special covers the key topics ahead of Finland's municipal and county councils. Historically, foreign background voters have been less active than the overall population. Ran Blumgrund, who works for the intercultural family NGO Familia, told the panel that things have changed in recent years after the Finnish government tightened laws on immigration and residence permits.
Key committee amends and approves trans law
A contested proposal to reform Finland's law on gender recognition has been passed with amendments by parliament's Committee for Social Affairs and Health. The committee voted 11-5 in favour of the proposal, which now moves on for a debate and vote of all 200 MPs in Finland's legislature. That means the measure will be dealt with during this parliamentary term, before MPs go back to the country for an election due on 2 April.
APN podcast: Foreign student numbers at record high - but will they stay?
This week's show looks at the situation of foreign students in Finland. There are record numbers from outside the EU this year (siirryt toiseen palveluun), but why did they come? "I am really interested in the Finnish education system," said Haruka from Japan, who is studying at the University of Helsinki.
Centre reshuffles ministers
The ministers officially take up their new posts on Friday. Finland's Centre Party changes up its ministerial lineup on Friday, as Jari Leppä resigns as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry to be replaced by Antti Kurvinen. Kurvinen's job as Minister of Science and Culture will be taken over by Petri Honkonen, a vice-chair of the party and a second-term MP. President Sauli Niinistö approves the appointments on Friday morning.
Covid updates 7.2.2022-8.3.2022
8.3 11:53 Face masks no longer mandatory on VR trains Finland's state railway firm VR has announced that it was changing its coronavirus-related requirement for train passengers to wear face masks trains to a recommendation. The new recommendations apply to all VR long-distance and commuter trains and went into effect on Monday.
Coronavirus updates 21.1.2022-4.2.2022
4.2 15:17 Lindén replaces Kiuru as social services minister Aki Lindén (SDP) has been confirmed as Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services, replacing his party colleague Krista Kiuru, who begins her maternity leave on Friday. Lindén will also chair the government’s coronavirus ministerial working group, where his views on handling the pandemic will have important sway.
Cornavirus updates 9.12.2021-9.1.2022
9.1. 15:58 New restrictions in Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia New restrictions took effect on Sunday in Kainuu and North Ostrobothnia. In Kainuu, including the city of Kajaani, the Regional State Administrative Agency (Avi) of Northern Finland has banned (siirryt toiseen palveluun) all indoor public events and meetings involving more than 20 people. Outdoor events for more than 50 people are also prohibited.
Working group: Employees should have right to know colleagues' salaries, if they suspect discrimination
The proposal could help employees who suspect pay discrimination. The proposal has been criticised by both employers' and employees' groups, but for different reasons. Image: Tiina Jutila / Yle Egan Richardson A working group looking to close Finland's gender pay gap has proposed changes to the law to allow employees who suspect discrimination to find out how much their colleagues get paid. They would be required to keep the information confidential, once they had received it.
Suomen Kabulin-suurlähetystön evakuoimatta jääneet vartijat sanovat olevansa hengenvaarassa - "Emme aio antaa Suomelle anteeksi"
Suomi on päättänyt olla evakuoimatta sen Afganistanin-suurlähetystön vartijoita, yksi heistä kertoo Ylelle. Ulkoministeri Pekka Haavisto sanoi maanantaina vartijoiden olevan alihankkijoiden alihankkijoita. Vartijat seisovat vihreän vyöhykkeen portin edessä Kabulissa, Afganistanissa. Monet suurlähetystöt sijaitsivat vartioidulla vihreällä vyöhykkeellä.
Suosittu kieltenoppimissovellus Duolingo opettaa nyt myös suomea - "Se on yksi kaikkien aikojen toivotuimpia kieliämme"
Duolingolla on yli 300 miljoonaa käyttäjää maailmanlaajuisesti. Duolingo mainostaa suomen kieltä muun muassa sauna-teemalla.Duolingo Suosittu ja maksuton kielten oppimiseen tarkoitettu Duolingo-sovellus opettaa nyt myös suomea. Yritys markkinoi suomea eksoottisena ja äärimmäisen erilaisena kielenä, joka inspiroi muun muassa tunnettua fantasiakirjailijaa J.R.R. Tolkienia. – Suomi on yksi kaikkien aikojen toivotuimpia kieliämme, Duolingon markkinointipäällikkö Colin Watkins kertoi Yleisradiolle.
Finnair admits carbon offset sales pitch 'misleading' as European emissions increase 14% per year
Finnair has admitted to providing misleading information about emissions reduction targets as part of a 'Push for change' campaign to sell carbon offsets to airline passengers. While the airline's campaign page suggests that Finland’s national carrier is aiming to reduce overall emissions by 2020, the company said this is not actually the case.
Kiireisen äänestäjän opas: Tästä eduskuntavaaleissa on kyse
Suomalaiset valitsevat 200 kansanedustajaa eduskuntaan vaaleissa sunnuntaina 14. huhtikuuta. Ennakkoäänestys alkoi viime viikon keskiviikkona 3. huhtikuuta ja kestää huomiseen tiistaihin 9. päivään asti. Mutta mistä vaaleissa on kyse? Miten hallitus valitaan, ja mitä eroja on puolueilla, joihin ehdokkaat kuuluvat? Entä liittyykö presidentti Sauli Niinistö tähän jotenkin?
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