Operation Hunger Day begins
The Finnish Red Cross’ largest annual fundraising campaign kicks off on Thursday and runs through Saturday.
The operation collects money for the organisation’s Disaster Relief Fund, which primarily helps victims of natural catastrophes and war, such as in Haiti and Libya. While most aid recipients are outside of Finland, the organisation also helps domestic accident victims. In 2010, some 500 Finns drew on the Disaster Relief Fund to cope with the aftermath of fires and floods.
At the moment the organisation has teams working to help civilians caught up in the conflict in Syria while also tackling the deadly cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone.
Thursday launched the 32nd annual Hunger Day drive. In Finland’s largest cities volunteers can pick up collection tins at campaign centres without pre-registration.
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Soini and SDP contest workers’ support
The Social Democratic Party’s recent ministerial changes, which tipped the gender balance and created a female-majority cabinet, brought strong criticism from Finns party leader Timo Soini. He claimed the party had abandoned working-class men. Soini's comments provoked a strong response from the SDP.
Finnish Eurovision contestant: Kiss may have cost points
The ESC title remains in the Nordic region, but the Finnish entrant failed to attract much support.
Siegfrids hopes for Eurovision success
The Danish pre-contest favourite believes that this could be Scandinavia’s year, while Finnish contestant Krista Siegfrids promises to celebrate whether she wins or not.
Lions’ golden dream dies in Stockholm
Finland’s men's ice hockey team lost 3-0 in their World Championship semi-final against arch-rivals Sweden on Saturday in Stockholm. The Lions will play in the bronze medal match on Sunday.
Summery, thundery conditions continue over the weekend
Summer has finally arrived in Finland, with warmer than average temperatures and some lively bursts of thunder expected. That means the south and east of Finland are set for warm weather—and rain—this weekend.
SDP chair rejects calls to appoint new Foreign Minister
Social Democratic Party chair and Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen has rejected calls to appoint a new Foreign Minister, saying that incumbent Erkki Tuomioja is “the right man” for the job. The demands followed Urpilainen’s decision Friday to shake up the party's cabinet line-up.
Restaurant Day celebrates Finland’s growing culinary diversity
A group of hard-boiled food enthusiasts cooked up the ninth Restaurant Day, which took place Saturday. The originally Finnish idea has been to feed a grassroots movement celebrating food, fellowship and community.
Bus drivers’ strike continues through the weekend
Bus drivers who shut down their engines and walked off the job at a Vantaa bus depot last Tuesday will continue their work stoppage through the weekend. The drivers are protesting plans to introduce a new shift system, which they say provides inadequate rest periods. Employer and employee representatives have had no success resolving the impasse.
"Russian Google” Yandex sets up in Mäntsälä
One of the world’s largest search engine providers has announced plans to fast track construction of a server centre in Mäntsälä, in southern Finland. Yandex, also known as the “Russian Google” says Finland is an ideal location for a server hub, partly due to competitive energy prices.
Finnish cabinet now running on woman power
The SDP cabinet reshuffle announced Friday has transformed the makeup of Finland’s cabinet, tipping the balance in favour of women. The government’s ministerial lineup now features ten women and nine men. Finland was previously led by a majority female government during Matti Vanhanen’s second term and by his successor Mari Kiviniemi.
