Finland's largest retail chains admit that they have been selling textiles produced with the help of child labour. Both the K and S groups say that they have cloth on sale manufactured at a textile mill in Narva in the east of Estonia, which has used cotton from Uzbekistan, where children are frequently used in harvesting. One fifth of the output of the Estonian factory is exported to Finland.
Educated employees in Finland are paid far less on average then their counterparts in other EU countries, according to the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff, AKAVA.
According to a wide scale survey carried out by the National Public Health Institute, Finns still subscribe to a healthy diet but nonetheless still put on weight. The average male weight has increased by 500 grams and that of women by 900 grams in the past five years. One-fifth of both sexes are overweight.
More than one quarter of Finland's municipalities are raising income taxes next year. However the rate hikes are not directly due to the hefty pay raises promised to some municipal nurses on Monday. The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities said on Tuesday that 119 municipalities will raise tax rates for next year, more than previously expected.
A week ago, the court ruled the state should pay some 70,000 euros in damages plus legal costs to political scientist professor and former Presidential Advisor Alpo Rusi. The damages relate to harm caused to him by Finnish security police allegations he had spied for the former East Germany's security police, the Stasi, during the Cold War era.
The Union of Health and Social Care Professionals, Tehy, has responded to initial parliamentary approval of the patient safety bill by announcing almost 4,000 more resignations. The union says that the government's proposed law on patient security weakens prospects for a settlement in the ongoing labour dispute. In an interview with YLE Radio News, Minna Helle, Tehy head of interest promotion, said on Monday morning that the bill will not solve the labour dispute, and will actually encumber negotiations aimed at resolving the issue.
In Syria, a book tour by Finnish author has been cut short after her novel stirred an angry response from Muslim leaders. Leena Lander's book 'The Home of the Dark Butterflies' is the first Finnish book ever translated directly into Arabic.
National subsidies are a must to farmers in Finland. The European Commission has a different view. If subsidies were slashed, that would have a negative impact on Finnish attitudes towards the European Union, writes Kyösti Karvonen, Managing Editor of the newspaper Kaleva.
