Opposition accuses government of neglecting unemployment

Finland's opposition criticised the government's adjusted budget proposal for neglecting the unemployed on Friday.

The decision to cut 60 million euros from employment funds is unsound because the importance of employment should have been reflected in the budget proposal, accord...

Government proposes higher energy taxes in 2011 budget

Finland's government on Thursday concluded its budget talks after only one day of discussing the finance ministry's budget proposal.

The government's adjusted proposal for next year's 50.3 billion euro budget is to increase energy taxes in particular and grant more funds for imp...

Home improvement

Is it time to call in the design professionals?

We’ve all seen the TV shows, but there’s more to designing a living space than choosing a paint colour. With finances under strain and house prices increasing, some homeowners are opting to improve their existing property rather th...

Searching for advantage

THE average length of time that an investor holds a stock can be counted in weeks, not years. As most investors become more and more myopic, those who take a longer view have an opportunity to profit from their fellows’ disability. The key to a longer holding period is finding a compan...

Universities court foreign academics

Visiting researchers will have a new place to live in Helsinki, but that is only one service the universities offer them.

THE University of Helsinki and Aalto University are investing heavily to make international researchers and lecturers feel more at home. At the start of Sept...

Israeli generals and intelligence officials oppose attack on Iran

An article by pro-Israeli journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was evidently an attempt to show Barack Obama’s administration that it risks an attack by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran unless the US takes a more menacing line toward Iran’s nuclear programme.

I...

Mobile phones a must for first graders

At the beginning of the school year home electronics sales step up as first graders are universally equipped with mobile phones and status-conscious older children with touchscreen smartphones.

Aleksi Komulainen from Iisalmi was given a Nokia 5230 smartphone for his eleventh bir...

Energy police on patrol at day-care centre

One day-care centre has realised that if you want to teach people to be aware of the environment, you have to get them while they’re young.

LAST spring, retired energy police officer Ossi Ilonen, seven years old, was given a weighty responsibility along with his uniform and badg...

Newsweek ranks Finland best in the world

As regular as clockwork, another international ranking study has given Finns reason to puff out their collective chests. This time, however, rather than merely finding the Finnish education system or healthcare to be amongst the best in the world, a study by the US magazine Newsweek ha...

Finland experiencing widening rental gap

Renting on the private market doesn’t come cheap at the best of times, let alone in a capital region whose cost of renting is increasing at a quicker rate than in other parts of the country.

The cost of rental accommodation in the Helsinki region is rising noticeably faster than...