The global news agenda on Friday is dominated by Turkey’s attack on Kurds in northern Syria (siirryt toiseen palveluun) this Friday, and Finland is no exception.
Helsingin Sanomat assesses (siirryt toiseen palveluun) the situation, headlining its story: ‘The international order is falling apart and national borders are no longer sacrosanct - this development is concerning from a Finnish standpoint’.
The headline quote comes from Mika Aaltola, who heads up the Finnish Institute of Foreign Affairs.
He says that with Nato divided and the US withdrawing from international forums, there’s nobody to enforce or uphold international law.
“If America doesn’t do it anymore then nobody does, and regional powers feel their time has come,” HS quoted Aaltola as saying. “This is of course concerning from Finland’s perspective.”
Tabloids Iltalehti and Ilta-Sanomat both find a Finnish angle through immigration. IS asks (siirryt toiseen palveluun) the Immigration Service if Finland is ready, should another wave of refugees arrive in the country.
Migri says yes, much readier than in 2015, and within two days they could establish a centre able to handle 5,000 new arrivals.
Iltalehti, meanwhile, focuses (siirryt toiseen palveluun) on the fate of Finns in the al-Hol camp. The paper asks Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo when Finland will decide on the fate of children in the camp, but she offers only a curt ‘no comment’ in response.
Makia mark mess
Finnish clothing firm Makia is in hot water this week after it emerged that their logo drew extensive inspiration from a sailing club in a plush neighbourhood of central Helsinki.
Helsingin Sanomat uncovered the alleged violation of Ullanlinna’s Merenkävijät sailing club’s intellectual property on Sunday, and other media have followed up all through the week. The firm denied plagiarism, saying (siirryt toiseen palveluun) they were instead ‘referencing’ aspects of culture rather than copying them.
On Friday the Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet headlines its story ‘A clear case of plagiarism (siirryt toiseen palveluun)’, with quotes from an expert on copyright law saying the firm was bang to rights.
MTV on Thursday published (siirryt toiseen palveluun) a story suggesting that up to 80 other Makia brands could also be guilty of copying already-existing logos.
And the Seura magazine collated (siirryt toiseen palveluun) the memes born this week, as people helpfully suggest new graphics for the company to adopt.
Traffic cops in the dock
Iltalehti follows up on a story it reported (siirryt toiseen palveluun) earlier in the week about a truck driver who had a fine overturned on appeal when it turned out the inexperienced police officer did not understand how lorries should affix their cargo.
The paper described it as a ‘6-0 win for the experienced driver over the police’. That’s what it sounds like, as the officer thought that three of seven container locks on the lorry were open.
He had not realised that the container only had four locks, so those three had to remain open.
On Friday Iltalehti asks (siirryt toiseen palveluun)retired traffic cops for their verdict and, perhaps not surprisingly, they conclude that things were better in their day.
Training and knowledge could be improved, said retired Chief Inspector Jyrki Haapala. He also suggested a new traffic police unit to be established directly alongside the National Bureau of Investigation and Supo, the Finnish Security Intelligence Police.
