Domestic news

Two churches not to attend Askola's ordination -Kotimaa

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:08:07 +0000

Two churches have announced that their representatives are not to attend the ordination of Irja Askola, Finland's first female bishop, as the bishop of Helsinki, Finnish Christian newspaper Kotimaa reported on Friday.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia have decided not to attend the ceremony.

The Latvian church has stopped ordaining new female priests, while women do not work as priest within the Church of Ingria.

Guntars Dimants, the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, denies that the church is boycotting the ordination due to the gender of the bishop in question. According to Dimants, the church's representatives simply do not have time to attend the event.

The Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia did not want to comment on the matter.

STT

Halonen wants more consistency into Finnish politics

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:07:20 +0000

Speaking at an event to commemorate the 110th birthday of Urho Kekkonen, Finland's president from 1956-1982, President Tarja Halonen emphasised the need for consistency in Finnish politics.

In her speech about the relationship between Finland and Russia, the President noted that relations continue to be good. However, her emphasis on consistency can be interpreted as a comment on the recent Russia debate.

Halonen also commented on the tightening of presidential powers, and bringing up what the public appears to want. She evaluated that Kekkonen continues to have an effect on Finland. These comments can be interpreted to suggest that the vast majority of the public would support keeping presidential powers rather than limiting them further. According to Halonen, only the "political elite" want to reduce the president's powers.

STT

Police suspect Kanerva of accepting bribes

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:06:16 +0000

Finnish police announced on Friday, that they suspect Ilkka Kanerva (cons), MP and former foreign minister, of accepting bribes.

According to the police, Kanerva is suspected of accepting bribes in connection with the funding of his 60th birthday party. The now solvent developer Nova Kiinetistökehitys, a subsidiary of the also now solvent Nova Group, provided funds of 17,000 euros for the event.

The police did not comment on who or how many people are suspected of offering bribes to the former foreign minister.

During the preliminary stages of the investigation, Kanerva has denied the charges. Police questioned the MP twice. Kanerva previously announced that he was not aware of the identity of the donor or the sum involved.

Jorma Kalse, Finland's deputy prosecutor-general, is to begin the consideration of charges for the case.

STT

Finnish Market Court clears THL of wrongful vaccine decision

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:21:32 +0000

The Finnish Market Court made a statement on Friday clearing the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) of accusation in the pneumococcus vaccine case.

According to the court, the THL did not act incorrectly when choosing to purchase the vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline.

Pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer suspects THL of favouring its competitor and has demanded a new call for tenders.

YLE to stop hosting Election Night -Suomen Kuvalehti

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:20:42 +0000

The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) is to stop hosting its traditional Election Nights festivities, Finnish weekly Suomen Kuvalehti reported on Friday.

The political parties have informed YLE that they do not intend to attend the Election Night for the upcoming general election in April.

Mikael Jungner, party secretary for the Social Democratic party, confirmed that the Election Night festivities are no longer to be held by YLE.

STT

Finland's economic forecast still unstable -IMF

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:19:31 +0000

The Finnish economy is to recover from the recession during this and the coming year, however the economic forecast is still uncertain, according to a stability assessment published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday.

According to the report, Finland's export driven economy experienced a big blow during the economic crisis of 2008.

Finland's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by eight per cent last year, which was the most dramatic drop within the eurozone.

Teacher layoffs decrease

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:27:53 +0000

Finnish Trade Union for Education (OAJ) told on Thursday that, a decreasing number of local councils attempt to save by laying off teachers. This year the layoffs will affect about 3000 teachers, which is 50 per cent fewer than last year.

OAJ suspects that the decreasing enthusiasm to lay off teachers indicates that the advantages gained through layoffs have often remained poor compared to the disadvantages.

STT

Kiviniemi not to enter presidential race -regional papers

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:27:06 +0000

Mari Kiviniemi, Centre Party leader and Finland's prime minister, is not to stand as a candidate for the 2012 presidential elections, regional papers reported on Friday.

According to Kiviniemi, the party is looking for a candidate from outside the current party leadership.

Centre is to support the other centre-right candidate if their own candidate does not make it to the second stage of the presidential election, Kiviniemi continued.

STT

Katainen cancels visit to Mozambique

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:33:57 +0000

Jyrki Katiainen (cons), Finland's finance minister, has cancelled his visit to Maputo in Mozambique, according to a statement on Thursday by his special adviser Juha Kirstilä.

The minister was forced to delay his visit on Wednesday due to the restless situation.

Having received confirmation that he is not to enter Mozambique during the coming days, Katainen is now to return to Finland a day earlier than scheduled, on Friday.

Katainen was scheduled to meet with the finance minister and the deputy minister for foreign affairs and cooperation of Mozambique.

The restless situation was sparked by public outrage at the rising prices of food and fuels. The situation is acute in the capital city Maputo.

The finance minister traveled to southern Africa on Sunday.

STT

Stora Enso denies joint newsprint production plans

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:33:04 +0000

Finnish paper maker Stora Enso made a statement on Thursday denying reports that that it is planning a joint venture with two other Nordic forestry companies.

According to Stora Enso, no talks about creating a joint Nordic newsprint company have taken place.

The statement came in response to reports by Finnish national daily Helsingin Sanomat, earlier the same day, that Stora Enso was planning a joint newsprint company with two other Nordic forestry companies, Swedish Holmen and Norwegian Norske Skog.

According to Helsingin Sanomat, the companies wanted to combine production of newsprint because of its current weak profitability. The report told that papers were to be signed this autumn, so that the new company could take part in next year's annual newsprint price fixing negotiations.

STT

Finnish Economy takes a turn for the better

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:23:59 +0000

Both the economy and employment have taken a turn for the better, according to a report published on Thursday by the Finnish employment and the economy ministry and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

Depite the positive results, growth is expected to remain moderate and pre-recession levels are not to be reached for some time.

Construction and retail sectors have survived the recession better than expected. Big investments are expected in the capital city region, Kouvola, Pori and Kuopio. In southeastern and eastern Finland, the significance of Russian buyers is rising.

Construction has remained above the surface through repairs and stimulus projects. New building is also picking up.

The gloomiest clouds overshadow areas around Turku and Varkaus.

STT

True Finns eye government benches

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:05:56 +0000

Flushed with ratings success, the True Finns have listed their priorities for a future government.

TIMO SOINI, the chair of the right-wing True Finns, was not shy when listing his party's aims for the outcome of next spring's parliamentary elections. Commenting on 30 August, Soini confirmed that the True Finns wanted a place in government. And while they have a bunch of key priorities, they will not rule out an offer on the basis of a single issue.

Gathered in Porvoo's market square, Soini and his fellow True Finns MPs were evidently basking in the political sunshine: according to a Gallup poll released on 27 August by the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation (YLE), the True Finns have slightly strengthened their position as the fourth most popular party.

Family reunification regulations toughened

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:58:17 +0000

According to Minister of Migration and European Affairs, Astrid Thors, Finland has toughened its family reunification regulations. The changes came into force in the beginning of August. "Foster children are to have been in an actual relationship of dependency to the family reunifier before his or her coming to Finland. This is to ensure that these foster children are in fact in the position of a family member," the minister says.

The conditions for granting a residence permit to an underage person on the basis of a family relationship were also changed in the same legal reform. Now the granting is normally only possible when the child is underage at the time when the decision on the permit application is reached.

Finns’ confidence in police remains high

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:54:57 +0000

A series of high-profile cases of wrongdoing have not dented the reputation of the police.

SUSPECTED cases of malfeasance in recent years do not appear to have undermined Finns' faith in the police.

According to the latest "police barometer", Finns faith in the police force has strengthened slightly over the last three years. Ninety-six per cent of respondents felt that the Finnish police are either very trustworthy, or fairly trustworthy.

Police officers have recently been found in the dock as a result of operations by the Helsinki drug crime squad, undercover purchases by the National Bureau of Investigation...

Ministry to investigate link between swine flu vaccine and narcolepsy

assiabi@helsinkitimes.fi (HT Assiabi) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:50:00 +0000

As the number of suspected cases of narcolepsy nears 20, health officials fear a breakdown in the reporting procedures on suspected side effects.

THE MINISTRY of Social Affairs and Health does not believe that a possible link between the swine flu vaccine Pandemrix and narcolepsy has been subject to a widespread cover-up. According to now-public information, researchers were already aware of a possible link months ago, but withheld their suspicions while finalising a report on the matter.

Commenting on 26 August, Aino-Inkeri Hansson, Director-General of the Ministry's Department for Promotion of Welfare and Health, said: