kerkko.fi

Teemu Matinpuro, executive director of the Finnish Peace Committee, and Kerkko Paananen, information secretary of the Finnish-Russian Civic Forum (FINROSFORUM), gave an interview to Lyudmila Mamina, editor-in-chief of Kasparov.Ru, about the Finnish edition of Novaya Gazeta, the attitude of Finnish society to Anna Politkovskaya, the war in Chechnya, and the current political situation in Russia.

http://finrosforum.fi/russians-need-to-respect-themselves

The Finnish crane manufacturer, Konecranes, has announced that it would stop selling new equipment and services to Iran. The advocacy organisation, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), urged the company to leave Iran because one of the regime's preferred methods of execution is public hanging from construction cranes.

Konecranes follows four other crane manufacturers, -- Tadano, Terex, UNIC, and Liebherr, -- which ended their business in Iran following public calls from UANI. Another Finnish company, Cargotec, has exported ship cranes to Iran. UANI launched its "Cranes Campaign" in May 2011 to exert pressure on crane manufacturers.

http://t.uani.com/noivr6

Sweden owed its Baltic neighbours a "debt of honour" for turning a blind eye to post-war Soviet occupation, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told his Baltic counterparts. Speaking at a ceremony in Stockholm attended by the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Mr Reinfeldt spoke of "a dark moment" in his country's history.

As a Finn, I would like to know, when could we expect the same sort of message of support and remorse for Finnish policies toward the Baltic States under Soviet occupation from human rights activist Tarja Halonen, chairman of United Russia's sister party Jyrki Katainen, or Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom's consultant Paavo Lipponen?

http://www.swedishwire.com/politics/10940-sweden-apologises-to-baltics-over-soviet-era

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A study using census data shows that religion is heading for extinction in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The study, presented at the American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, found a steady rise in those claiming no religious affiliation. The research team's mathematical model attempts to account for the interplay between the number of religious respondents and the social motives behind being one.

The team took census data stretching back as far as a century on religious affiliation. The team then applied their nonlinear dynamics model, adjusting parameters for the relative social and utilitarian merits of membership of the "non-religious" category. They found that those parameters were similar across all the countries studied, suggesting that similar behaviour drives the mathematics in all of them. And in all the countries, the indications were that religion was headed toward extinction.

When Adam Greenfield, Nokia’s former head of design direction for user interfaces and services, quit the company in 2010 to set up his own design practice in New York, he made no secret of his frustrations with Nokia. In a long post on his blog, he outlines what problems Nokia faces.

He says "there is nobody with any taste in the decision-making echelons at Nokia”, something which he notes is particularly ironic considering Finland’s wider reputation for style and innovative design culture. Coming from somebody who left the company last year, it carries weight.

The Finnish government continues to receive unsatisfactory answers from Afghanistan as to why President Karzai ordered the release of five Afghan men convicted in June 2007 for detonating a roadside bomb that killed a Finnish peacekeeper. Unofficial reports from Afghanistan-based Finnish officers all seem to point to corruption that may include top Karzai government officials.

Finnish military and civilian officers in Afghanistan have pieced together a picture of what they believe really happened. The information they have gathered points to probable prisoner mistreatment before the sentencing and corruption in connection with the pardon, perhaps even on the highest level. Most disturbing of all, money changed hands in connection with the pardon.

The search for a plausible answer in this case stems from a desire to ensure that the event does not prompt negative public opinion toward the ISAF mission. Finland has been engaged in a public debate over whether to increase its commitments in Afghanistan. Clearly, the Defence and Foreign Ministry officials do not want the freeing of a peacekeeper's killers to become part of the debate.

Liisa Jokisen ja Ulla-Maaria Engeströmin Nopsa on kiireettömyyteen ja lähimatkailuun keskittyvä matkatoimisto. Nopsan tavoitteena on muuttaa käsitys kotimaanmatkailusta. Verkkosivusto esittelee esimerkiksi Karjaan kirpputoreja, Pirkanmaan luomukohteita ja Porin satavuotiasta kangaskauppaa. Nopsa on käyttäjälle ilmainen. Seuraavaksi suunnitelmissa on tehdä sivustosta mobiiliversio. Jokisen mukaan Suomesta puuttuu kattava verkkopalvelu, jossa olisi koottuna kaikki turistin tarvitsema tieto.

http://www.nopsatravels.com/

Speak softly and carry a big carrot. We have to adapt to a situation where European norms and values face genuine opposition and cannot be universally dictated to others. Rule of law and promotion of democracy and human rights form the essence of the European Union. I am not saying we should abandon this.

Yes you are. Quoting Iivi Anna Masso: "When exactly, since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the UN General Assembly, did human rights become "European norms and values" that "cannot be universally dictated to others"?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2010/11/finland_berates_world