Finland

As tourists discover Finland's Santa Village, locals call for crowd control

Shuffling across icy ground on a cold December afternoon, lots of tourist groups poured into Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle. They frolic in the snow, take a reindeer sleigh ride, sip a cocktail in an ice bar or even meet Saint Nick himself in the capital of Finnish Lapland, Rovaniemi, which happily calls itself the official hometown of Santa Claus." The Santa Claus Village theme park, which attracts more than 600,000 people annually, is especially popular during the holiday season. This is like my dream came true, beamed Polish visitor Elzbieta Nazaruk. I'm really excited to be here. Tourism is booming in Rovaniemi which has hotel and restaurant owners, as well as city officials, excited as it brings lots of money to the town. However, not everyone is happy about the onslaught of visitors, 10 times the town's population, each year at Christmas time. We are worried about the overgrowth of tourism. Tourism has grown so .

Finland needs immigration to grow: Here's how Indians can benefit

Indians are exploring European options, with many choosing Finland after facing tighter visa regulations in countries like the US, Canada, and the UK

After Finland's example, Norway mulls building fence on border with Russia

Norway may put a fence along part or all of the 198-kilometer (123-mile) border it shares with Russia, a minister said, a move inspired by a similar project in its Nordic neighbour Finland. A border fence is very interesting, not only because it can act as a deterrent but also because it contains sensors and technology that allow you to detect if people are moving close to the border, Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said in an interview by the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK published late Saturday. She said the Norwegian government is currently looking at several measures to beef up security on the border with Russia in the Arctic north, such as fencing, increasing the number of border staff or stepping up monitoring. The Storskog border station, which has witnessed only a handful of illegal border crossing attempts in the past few years, is the only official crossing point into Norway from Russia. Should the security situation in the delicate Arctic area worsen, the Norwegian

China can end Russia's war in Ukraine with one phone call: Finnish prez

Stubb's comments reflect the increasing frustration among Ukraine's allies over China's perceived support for Russia's war

HMD plans to make India a key manufacturing hub for its phone exports

Nokia was the first mobile brand which was exported out of India from its own manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu

12 yr old suspect arrested for shooting in Finland's school that killed one

The suspect, however, fled on foot but was caught by police later in a northern Helsinki suburb, CNN reported, citing the country's public broadcaster, YLE

Former PM Alexander Stubb wins Finnish presidency, defeats Pekka Haavisto

Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won Finland's election runoff on Sunday against ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in a close race for the presidency and the task of steering the Nordic country's foreign and security policy now that it is a member of NATO, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With all votes counted, centre-right candidate Stubb of the National Coalition Party had 51.6 per cent of the votes, while independent candidate Haavisto from the green left got 48.4 per cent of the votes. The 55-year-old Stubb, who was prime minister in 2014-2015 and started his political career as a lawmaker at the European Parliament in 2004, will become the 13th president of Finland since the Nordic country's independence from the Russian empire in 1917. Haavisto conceded defeat after a projection by the Finnish public broadcaster YLE showing a win for Stubb was released on Sunday night. He shook Stubb's hand and congratulated him at Helsinki City Hall, where the candidates and the

JSW Group ties up with Finland-based Coolbrook for low-carbon emission tech

JSW Group on Thursday said it has partnered with Finland-based firm Coolbrook to implement a low carbon emission technology at its Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka. In a statement, JSW Group said the partnership follows Coolbrook's successful completion of the first phase of large-scale pilot tests for RotoDynamic Technology at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in the Netherlands in 2023. "This strategic partnership will focus on implementing Coolbrook's RotoDynamic Heater (RDH) Technology at JSW's manufacturing sites at Vijayanagar Works in Karnataka with the primary goal of achieving low CO2 emissions in steel and cement production," it said. The RDH technology utilises renewable electricity to power high-temperature industrial processes in steel and cement production, significantly reducing the need to burn fossil fuels, JSW Group said. "Deployment of RDH Technology is expected to have a sizeable impact on the decarbonisation of the group's manufacturing process," P K Murugan, ...

Russia to deploy newest howitzers close to borders of Finland and Norway

Earlier in December, Russia's TASS state news agency reported that single Coalition-SV howitzers had already been deployed to the frontline in Ukraine

Finland to close 4 border points after accusing Russia of migrant flow

Finland will close four crossing points on its long border with Russia to stop the flow of Middle Eastern and African migrants that it accuses Moscow of ushering to the border in recent months, the government said Thursday. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the southeastern crossing points -- Imatra, Niirala, Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa -- will be closed at midnight Friday on the Finland-Russia land border that serves as the European Union's external border. It runs a total of 1,340 kilometers (832 miles), mostly in thick forests in the south, all the way to the rugged landscape in the Arctic north. There are currently nine crossing points with one dedicated to rail travel only. Operations of the Russian border authorities have changed, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters. He referred to dozens of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, who have arrived in recent days at the Nordic nation without proper documentation and

India, Finland hold 12th Foreign Office Consultations in New Delhi

The meeting also focused on multilateral cooperation, including the Arctic and reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

Heavy force damaged Baltic Sea gas pipeline, says Estonia's Hanno Pevkur

The Balticconnector subsea gas pipeline and a telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia were damaged on Sunday

HCLTech, Business Finland sign agreement for technology collaboration

Partnership will enable Finnish firms to use Indian company's innovation network

Finland's govt survives no-confidence vote over 2 right-wing ministers

Finland's centre-right government that includes nationalist and anti-immigration lawmakers survived a no-confidence motion from three opposition parties on Friday over two ministers from the right-wing populist Finns Party at the center of a racism scandal that has rocked the Nordic country. Lawmakers voted 106-65 in favour of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. Debate ahead of the vote focused on writings from 2008 and 2016 by Finance Minister Riikka Purra, leader of the Finns Party, and Economic Affairs Minister Wille Rydman, a member of the same party, which were deemed racist. The opposition, particularly the Social Democratic Party, criticized Orpo's government for not distancing itself enough from Purra's and Rydman's writings and not doing enough to tackle discrimination and racism in Finland, a country of 5.5 million that became NATO's 31st member in April. The issue has crippled the government, which took office less than three months ago after Orpo's conservative

Finland's Ex-Prime Minister Alexander Stubb will run for president in 2024

Finland's former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said on Tuesday he will run as a candidate in the presidential election early next year, in a race that also includes a popular former Finnish foreign minister who was a key negotiator of the Nordic country's recent membership in NATO. Stubb, 55, who headed the Finnish government in 2014-2015 and later served as foreign minister, said he was both honoured and thankful for the trust bestowed upon me". Prime Minister Petteri Opo and Finland's conservative National Coalition Party had asked him to run. The Finnish head of state is elected by a popular vote every six years. Finland's president has substantial powers, particularly in matters related to foreign and security policy, which the president decides together with the government. The president also signs bills into law, can veto legislative proposals and acts as Finland's supreme military commander. The two-leg Finnish presidential elections will be held in January and February ..

Biden is closing out his Europe trip by showcasing new Nato member Finland

President Joe Biden will close out his five-day trip to Europe on Thursday standing alongside Nordic leaders in an effort to show NATO's expanding power and influence against a burgeoning Russia. The brief stop in the shoreline Finnish capital is the coda to a Biden tour that was carefully sketched to highlight the growth of the military alliance that the president says has fortified itself since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined as NATO's newest member earlier this year, an entry that effectively doubled the alliance's border with Russia. Biden arrived in Helsinki after what he deemed a successful annual NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where allies agreed to language that would further pave the way for Ukraine to join the military alliance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the summit's outcome a significant security victory" for his country but nonetheless expressed disappointment Kyiv did not get an outright invitation to join NATO. Biden and other .

Explained: Why Turkey has not yet approved Sweden's bid of joining Nato

Despite Sweden implementing new anti-terror legislation in June, Turkey still claims Sweden has not taken sufficient "concrete steps"

Sports Ministry approves Neeraj Chopra's proposal to train in Finland

The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of Sports Ministry on Thursday approved Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra's proposal to train in Kuortane, Finland

Finland's birth rate drops to lowest on record since 1776: Official data

Statistics Finland said the main reason for the drop was that families chose not to have a second or third child

NATO member Finland breaks ground on Russia border fence near Imatra

The construction of barbed-wired fence along Finland's long border with Russia - primarily meant to curb illegal migration - has broken ground near the southeastern town of Imatra less than two weeks after the Nordic country joined NATO as the 31st member of the military alliance. The Finnish Border Guard on Friday showcased the building of the initial three kilometer (1.8 mile) stretch of the fence to be erected in Pelkola near a crossing point off Imatra, a quiet lakeside town of some 25,000 people. Finland's 1,340 kilometer (832 mile) border with Russia is the longest of any European Union member. Construction of the border fence is an initiative by the border guard that was approved by Prime Minister Sanna Marin's government amid wide political support last year. The main purpose of the three-meter (10-foot) high steel fence with a barbed-wire extension on top is to prevent illegal immigration from Russia and give reaction time to authorities, Finnish border officials say. In .