Racism trial begins for Finns Party youth activists
Three activists from the Finns Party youth group are on trial today at Pirkanmaa District Court, facing charges of racial incitement connected to last year’s European Parliament elections. In spring 2019 the Finns Party Youth and its members posted a number of social media messages which were branded ‘racist’ by politicians and members of Finland’s civic society. One post showed a European Parliament election campaign advert with two dark-skinned parents holding their child. An official Finns Party Youth social media account had shared the advert, and added the comment “vote for the Finns Party if you don’t want Finland’s future to look like this”, written in Finnish. In their defence, the group says this was the act of one individual person Toni Jalonen, and not the organisation as a whole, and the post was removed. However the Ministry of Education and Culture cut €115,000 funding for the group which was disbanded, and re-formed by the main party in another guise.
President Niinistö comments on US election
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö tells MTV News on Wednesday morning that he doesn’t see any predictions that give incumbent US President Donald Trump a clear chance of winning the US election, and he says challenger Joe Biden would be a different proposition for the international community. “The clear difference is that Joe Biden would certainly be more open to the world, to international cooperation and certainly to the transatlantic relationship in general. If you think about the best in the world, then perhaps it would be very positive news for us to join the Paris climate agreement” Niinistö says.
Union starts 3-day strike at Telia and Elisa
The trade union Pro has started a three-day strike at telecoms companies Elisa and Telia, which also involves subcontractors from those companies who work at at other businesses as well. The action started at 06:00 and is scheduled to last until midnight on Friday. The background to the strike is an employment dispute with Suomen Kotidata which provides telecoms services. Pro says that Kotidata pays its employees almost half the salary of its competitors. The national conciliator has invited the various parties involved in the strike to a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
Koronavilkku app downloaded 2.5+ million times
Finland’s coronavirus track and trace app Koronavilkku - or Corona Flash in English - has now been downloaded more than 2.5 million times since it was release on 1st September, according to THL. In the last two months koronavilkku users reported 2,846 positive infections to the app by unlocking a special code, which means 39% of people in Finland who tested positive in September and October reported their infection to the app, which then alerts other people who may have come into close contact for a prolonged period of time with an infected patient. “The corona flasher has been helpful in breaking the supply chains in the autumn” says THL’s Aleksi Yrttiaho.
Wednesday morning weather
It’s a fairly settled and clear weather picture across Finland for Wednesday morning. The best of the sunshine this morning is across Central Lapland, and for the Turku region in the southwest. Temperatures range from a chilly -2°C in northeast Lapland to +5°C through Central Finland to +10°C in the capital city region.
