Egan Richardson

2 days ago | yle.fi | Egan Richardson

Finnish papers have been reporting on the strange case of 91-year-old identical twins who died within four hours of each other, after their memorial notices were published in Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday. Siiri Heiska died in Helsinki, and Maiju Ehrola passed away in Raahe, some 600km north, within four hours of each other. Their families say neither even knew the other had gone into the hospital. Heiska's daughter Nina Heiska told Ilta-Sanomat that the timing of the deaths was a mystery.

1 week ago | yle.fi | Egan Richardson

The government's tax adjustments and labour market reforms have been in the news recently, and the National Coalition Party has been keen to trumpet certain changes. One of the big ones is the removal of the tax deduction for trade union dues (and for employer association membership fees), which was part of the recent budget negotiations.

2 weeks ago | yle.fi | Egan Richardson

Helsingin Sanomat is gearing up for the big May Day celebration this week with a look at the decision by several Helsinki bars to ban groups of students in their traditional overalls. This uniform is part of the tradition of student life in Finland, with different clubs and societies having their own overalls and donning them for social events and nights out. They are practical and easy to clean, a handy feature when things get messy.

3 weeks ago | yle.fi | Egan Richardson

The papers all cover the government's framework budget settlement, which was announced late on Wednesday evening. MTV has a list of the decisions. They include cuts to higher education funding, development aid and municipalities. There are also big income tax breaks targeted at higher earning taxpayers, a higher threshold for paying inheritance tax, and corporate tax reductions to benefit Finland's companies.

3 weeks ago | yle.fi | Egan Richardson

International headlines on Wednesday focus on Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin's apparent willingness to freeze the conflict on current frontlines and the US-Russian plan in all the major outlets. That plan would involve Ukraine recognising Russian control of Crimea and accepting it will not join Nato, the lifting all sanctions on Russia and closer US-Russian trade links. Iltalehti, meanwhile, has reporting from Ukraine with a distinctive Finnish angle.