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The gilded lifestyle of MEPs has been compared to the uncontrolled excesses of ancient Rome after research showed their perks have not been dented despite biting austerity measures. From Italian MEPs who enjoy free haircuts to Maltese ones who get 52 free gallons of petrol a month, the perks—and expenses—continue unabated for the representatives of European Union nations. MEPs from the 27 EU nations are paid salaries of £137 million ($207 million) a year, according to research by German pricing watchdog Preisvergleich.de, and some earn 740 percent more than the average citizen. …

The European Union is to ban olive oil jugs and dipping bowls from restaurant tables in a move described by one of Britain’s top cooks as authoritarian and damaging to artisan food makers. The small glass jugs filled with green- or gold-colored extra virgin olive oil are familiar and traditional for restaurant goers across Europe, but they will be banned from 1 January 2014 after a decision taken in an obscure Brussels committee earlier this week. From next year, olive oil “presented at a restaurant table” must be in prepackaged factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labeling in...

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden were greeted by hundreds of Delawareans as they celebrated the 375th anniversary of the New Sweden Colony, known today as the city of Wilmington. The Swedish royals, along with Finland's Speaker of the Parliament Eero Heinäluoma, began their day in Delaware with a luncheon at the Bunea Vista Mansion in New Castle with Governor Jack Markell.

Almost every country leads the World in some single field. Tiny Sweden does not have the best cuisine on the planet, neither do we Swedes enjoy the highest salaries on Earth and Sweden could not, rightfully, claim to house the World's most beautiful landscapes. Italians eat better (forget about France, Italy has a way better climate for nearly every kind of food production and Italians are even more concerned when it comes to "mangiare bene"; eating well). Danes are paid higher wages than any other people including the Norwegians and the Swiss (but having traveled around some in Denmark, I...

Amid growing calls from Tory MPs for David Cameron to respond to the Ukip threat by bringing forward legislation on an EU referendum, Farage warned that his party would not go away even if No 10 "starts singing the same song". William Hague, who famously suffered a major defeat in the 2001 election after tacking to the right, called for a cautious response to Ukip as he warned of the dangers of "quick fixes". Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, said many Ukip voters were "frustrated Conservatives". As the Tories work out their response to Ukip, which won nearly a quarter...

HELSINKI – Big bank depositors could take a hit under planned European Union law if a bank fails, the EU's economic affairs chief Olli Rehn said on Saturday, but noted that Cyprus's bailout model was exceptional. "Cyprus was a special case ... but the upcoming directive assumes that investor and depositor liability will be carried out in case of a bank restructuring or a wind-down," Rehn, the European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, said in a TV interview with Finland's national broadcaster YLE. "But there is a very clear hierarchy, at first the shareholders, then possibly the unprotected investments and...

"Since record keeping began in the sixties, we've never encountered anything like this before," ice breaker Ulf Gulldne told the local newspaper Örnsköldsviks Allehanda. On March 29th, 176,000 square kilometers of the Baltic Sea was covered in ice, a record for the time of year. On a map, it means about half of the central and northern parts are frozen over. Far north, the ice is both thick and difficult to break through. The date on which the ice reaches its maximum spread usually falls much earlier in the year. The previously latest date record was March 25th, 2008. That...

Political revolt against the euro construct has spread to Germany. A new party led by economists, jurists, and Christian Democrat rebels will kick off this week, calling for the break-up of monetary union before it can do any more damage. "An end to this euro," is the first line on the webpage of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). "The introduction of the euro has proved to be a fatal mistake, that threatens the welfare of us all. The old parties are used up. They stubbornly refuse to admit their mistakes." They propose German withdrawl from EMU and return to the D-Mark,...

Controversy has erupted over next Tuesday's European Parliament resolution "on eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU", meant to mark international women's day, after libertarian Swedish MEPs from the Pirate Party spotted the call for a ban in the small print. While not legally binding, the vote could be the first step towards European legislation as the EU's assembly increasingly flexes its political muscle within Europe's institutions.

The Finnish Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee has rejected a Bill to introduce ‘gender-neutral’ marriage. The committee voted 9-8 against the Bill, which means it will now not be brought before the full Parliament. The Bill was proposed by Alexander Stubb, from the National Coalition Party which is part of the coalition Government. Currently in Finland, same-sex couples can register their partnerships and have the same legal benefits as those who are married. In the US, 31 states have rejected legalising gay marriage, following votes by the people. And just eleven out of the 193 UN member countries have legalised same-sex...

Syrian rebels have captured a military airbase in the north and geared up for a major battle against regime forces as the opposition says it refuses to accept President Bashar al-Assad in talks on the 23-month conflict. The rebels on Friday said they overran the base in the town of Sfeira, east of Aleppo international airport, and captured a large stockpile of ammunition. Activists reported intermittent clashes around the Aleppo airport itself as well as around Nayrab airbase and another military complex, as the two sides squared up for a major fight. "The army shelled the area around Aleppo international...

SMALLISH countries are often in the vanguard when it comes to reforming government. In the 1980s Britain was out in the lead, thanks to Thatcherism and privatisation. Tiny Singapore has long been a role model for many reformers. Now the Nordic countries are likely to assume a similar role. That is partly because the four main Nordics—Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland—are doing rather well. If you had to be reborn anywhere in the world as a person with average talents and income, you would want to be a Viking. The Nordics cluster at the top of league tables of everything...

THIRTY YEARS AGO Margaret Thatcher turned Britain into the world’s leading centre of “thinking the unthinkable”. Today that distinction has passed to Sweden. The streets of Stockholm are awash with the blood of sacred cows. The think-tanks are brimful of new ideas. The erstwhile champion of the “third way” is now pursuing a far more interesting brand of politics. Sweden has reduced public spending as a proportion of GDP from 67% in 1993 to 49% today. It could soon have a smaller state than Britain. It has also cut the top marginal tax rate by 27 percentage points since 1983,...

The Daily Telegraph has seen confidential spending proposals and internal documents planning an unprecedented propaganda blitz ahead of and during European elections in June 2014. Key to a new strategy will be “public opinion monitoring tools” to “identify at an early stage whether debates of political nature among followers in social media and blogs have the potential to attract media and citizens’ interest”. Spending on “qualitative media analysis” is to be increased by £1.7 million ($2.7 million), and while most of the money is to be found in existing budgets, an additional £787,000 ($1.24 million) will be need to be...

Supply of Nokia's Lumia 920 was getting scarce in the past few weeks due mainly to solid demands and apparently the Finnish mobile phone maker was caught off guard by the overwhelming reception generated by its new flagship smartphone. In a research note published Monday by market research firm Canaccord Genuity, it appeared that the Lumia 920 started on a rock-solid footing in the U.S. market, its sales numbers decent enough to come behind the bestselling smartphones in America as of November this year - Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S3. "Our checks indicated the Lumia 920 was the...

(Photo : Reuters) The Lumia 920 may give Nokia the push it needs when Black Friday comes around. Nokia's Lumia 920 may not be as disappointing as some critics said it would be. Actually, the Windows 8 smartphone is flying off shelves as we speak, which is a good sign for Nokia's Black Friday sales.The Lumia 920 has already made it on the Amazon Best Sellers list. It is already in high demand in Germany.Like Us on FacebookAccording to AllThingsD, a number of Nokia Deutschland's German retail partners experienced "stock-outs" since the device first became available earlier November."Because of the high demand, we are aware of the reports the Lumia 920 is sold out in...

An anti-piracy company has found itself in the middle of a huge controversy. CIAPC, the company that had The Pirate Bay blocked by ISPs in Finland, tracked an alleged file-sharer and demanded a cash settlement. However, the Internet account holder refused to pay which escalated things to an unprecedented level. In response, this week police raided the home of the 9-year-old suspect and confiscated her Winnie the Pooh laptop. Very soon in the United States, letters will be sent out to Internet account holders informing them that they should stop sharing copyrighted material on BitTorrent. The message in the US...

Palestine can count on about 12 Yes votes by EU countries when it tries to upgrade its UN status, in a move expected later this month. … A senior EU diplomat told this website the Union remains divided on the question, however. He noted that member states’ votes “will probably follow the same pattern as with UNESCO,” referring to a decision by the UN’s Paris-based cultural wing to admit Palestine as a member last year. At the time, 11 countries—Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain—backed Palestine’s UNESCO bid. Another 11—Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Italy,...

Mining companies are flocking to northern Finland as new deposits of gold, nickel and other minerals promise vast profits. But the area’s fragile wetland ecosystem is paying the price. Conservationists are so far fighting a losing battle. … Some 40 companies are now carrying out hundreds of exploration projects across the country. The town of Sodankylä in Lapland is essentially surrounded by mining claims with several mines already in operation—and their tailings seeping toxins into surrounding lakes and rivers. Long-suffering as Finns may be, resistance is growing. Fifty-three companies in the tourist sector are protesting against a huge gold mine...

Turnout a bitterly disappointing 58.2%, despite sharp political differences over municipal reform Votes are now all counted in Finland's municipal elections, and are as follows (figures in parentheses from the 2008 municipal elections): National Coalition Party 21.9% (23.5%) Social Democrats 19.6% (21.2%) Centre Party 18.7% (20.1%) Finns Party (formerly True Finns) 12.3% (5.4%) Green League 8.5% (8.9%) Left Alliance 8.0% (8.8%) Swedish People’s Party 4.7% (4.7%) Christian Democrats 3.7% (4.2%) Others, Independents 2.5% (3.1%). The overall turnout in the election was hugely disappointing, falling as low as 58.2%, which marks a decline of three percentage points from 2008, in spite...

Finland's anti-euro populist party is expected to put in a strong showing in municipal elections on Sunday after a campaign dominated by concerns over health care, jobs, taxes and the euro crisis. Much of the interest in the elections centres around the anti-immigration Finns Party, previously known as the True Finns. It is adamantly opposed to the Finnish government's participation in eurozone bailouts. Headed by charismatic leader Timo Soini, the Finns Party soared to become the country's third-biggest formation in legislative elections in 2011, behind the government coalition partners the right-wing National Coalition and the Social Democrats. On Sunday,...

CATALONIA may be the catalyst for a renewed wave of separatism in the European Union, with Scotland and Flanders not far behind. The great paradox of the European Union, which is built on the concept of shared sovereignty, is that it lowers the stakes for regions to push for independence. While a post-national European Union may be emerging out of the euro zone crisis, with a drive for more fiscal union and more centralized control over national budgets and banks, the crisis has accelerated calls for independence from member countries’ richer regions, angry at having to finance poorer neighbors. Artur...

Nick Clegg clashed with the Prime Minister today after criticising plans to claw back powers from the EU. The Deputy Prime Minister said that only 'populists, chauvinists and demagogues' could benefit from a treaty negotiation, even though David Cameron yesterday re-affirmed his intention to repatriate powers. Mr Clegg warned that European politicians should focus on 'jobs and growth' rather than attempting to reform EU institutions. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2061798/EU-treaty-change-Nick-Clegg-clashes-David-Cameron-reform.html#ixzz1dnt5E4wa

... Popular Helsinki restaurant Muru set up a temporary eatery some 80 meters below ground in a limestone mine in the southern Finnish town of Lohja ...

In the autumn of 2010, local amateur archaeologists discovered a large harbor, dating from around 1000-1200 AD, in Ahvenkoski village, at the mouth of western branch of the Kymijoki River in Finland. The findings included a smithy, a iron smelting furnace, forceps, as well as hundreds of iron objects such as boat rivets, similar to those found at Viking settlements in different parts of the Baltic, Scandinavia, Scotland and Iceland. More recently, in August of 2012 and in the same area, a 2 x 3 meter wide late Viking Age or Crusade period cremation grave was uncovered. Artifacts included a...

Former President Jimmy Carter and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari were hoping to visit the State Department this week to brief officials on their recent trip to North Korea, but nobody at the State Department was available to meet with them. Carter and Ahtisaari, both Nobel Peace Prize laureates, had been eager to give their readout of their meetings in North Korea April 26 and 27 to U.S. officials and press their case for a resumption of food aid to the Hermit Kingdom. The two are members of the Elders, a group of senior figures who have been informally engaging...

German eurosceptics quietly hope that Finland will become the first creditor state to storm out of monetary union in disgust, opening the way for others to break free. Once Finns break the taboo, it would be easier for Germany to extricate itself from an escalating national disaster without inviting opprobrium from across Europe, or so goes the argument. “We can’t start this off, but the Finns can,” said Hans-Olaf Henkel, former head of Germany’s industry federation. Berlin’s policy elites are constrained by their honourable - if misdirected - feelings of moral duty towards the euro. They cannot bring themselves to...

Eurozone Finland: 'Prepare for eurozone breakup' Finnish politicians are beginning to evaluate the worst-case scenarios of the eurozone's debt difficulties. They have called on fellow European leaders to consider contingency plans should the currency union collapse. Finland's Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, told the Friday edition of the Daily Telegraph that European leaders must be prepared for the possibility, however undesirable, of the euro area breaking up. He stated in his interview with the right-leaning newspaper that Finnish officials had been preparing for the demise of the single currency in its present form with an operational plan for any eventuality. Tuomioja...

Finland is preparing for the break-up of the eurozone, the country’s foreign minister warned today. Erkki Tuomioja, Finland's foreign minister: "We have to face openly the possibility of a euro-break up". The Nordic state is battening down the hatches for a full-blown currency crisis as tensions in the eurozone mount and has said it will not tolerate further bail-out creep or fiscal union by stealth. “We have to face openly the possibility of a euro-break up,” said Erkki Tuomioja, the country’s veteran foreign minister and a member of the Social Democratic Party, one of six that make up the country’s...

After dutifully abiding by EU fiscal rules, Finland's tiny population remains surprisingly phlegmatic about bailing out less disciplined euro zone members, and is mostly clinging on to its faith in the single currency project. That faith has been tested as a succession of struggling nations make ever greater demands on the sounder economies in the currency bloc, but it is not yet at breaking point. "We had to sort out our own problems ourselves in the past. That's why people are asking, do we have to help others?" said Maija Siirala, a freelance dressmaker and alterations specialist. Finland, one of...

Among President Obama's disingenuous promises made over his four years, he said he would focus on creating "jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced." Yet he spent billions of U.S. taxpayer's money overseas to create outsourced jobs. Typical of Obama's passion for outsourcing was the appointment of his jobs czar, Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric. Even as he was basking in the prestige of his new title, Immelt was closing his last U.S. plant making light bulbs in Virginia and opening a plant in China to manufacture more expensive light bulbs, which Americans will be forced to...

Finland is just as financially conservative as Germany and in contemplating euro exit, she does not bear the burden of war guilt. After last week's euro meeting, Spanish 10-year government bond yields fell back to 6.6pc. So that's all right then. In fact, if Spain carried on borrowing at this rate it would be set for the knacker's yard sooner than you could say Don Quixote. The essence of the eurozone's financial problem lies in the discrepancy between northern and southern members. So why don't they just integrate their finances? Because that would mean the northern countries taking their share...

New cars and vans in the European Union will produce one-third less carbon dioxide within eight years, under proposed new rules set out on Wednesday (11 July) in Brussels. By 2020, the average emissions from new cars will have to be no more than 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer driven (5.4 oz/mile), a cut of more than 40 grams from today's levels and of 35 grams per kilometer compared with the 2015 target, if the proposed new regulations are accepted. Connie Hedegaard, climate chief of the European commission, said the goals were "ambitious but achievable" and would benefit...

The northern lights of Earth are more than just dazzling light shows — they also generate their own strange applause too, a new study reveals. The same energetic particles that create the dancing, dazzling northern lights high up in Earth's atmosphere also produce strange "clapping" noises just 230 feet (70 meters) from the ground, researchers said. The results vindicate folktales and reports by wilderness travelers, which have long described sounds associated with the northern lights (which are also known as the aurora borealis). "In the past, researchers thought that the aurora borealis was too far away for people to hear...

The Independent reports Finland warns of euro exit rather than pay debts of others FINLAND would consider leaving the eurozone rather than paying the debts of other countries in the currency bloc, Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen has said. In a newspaper interview today she said she'd consider crashing her AAA-rated country out of the eurozone. “Finland is committed to being a member of the eurozone, and we think that the euro is useful for Finland. Finland will not hang itself to the euro at any cost and we are prepared for all scenarios. “Collective responsibility for other countries' debt,...

Finland Would Rather Exit Euro Than Pay for Others Finland would rather leave the euro zone than pay down the debt of other countries in the currency bloc, Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen said in a newspaper interview Friday. "Finland is committed to being a member of the euro zone, and we think that the euro is useful for Finland," Urpilainen told financial daily Kauppalehti, adding though that "Finland will not hang itself to the euro at any cost and we are prepared for all scenarios." "Collective responsibility for other countries' debt, economics and risks; this is not what we...

During a recent mapping of the rare virgin forest in and around the Øvre Dividalen National Park in Troms, Norway, scientists noticed some scars reappearing on the trees. Many trees had some of their bark cut away on one side, leaving marks that were hard to explain. Arve Elvebakk of the University of TromsØ (UiT) headed the study. He worked together with Andreas Kirchhefer, an expert in dating old trees by tree-ring analysis. He had already used ancient pines to chart weather and climate conditions. Could the cuts in the bark have been left by settlers who started farms in...

<p>Finland, one of the eurozone’s few remaining AAA-rated economies, has pledged to block Brussels’ celebrated plans to allow its new bail-out fund to buy sovereign bonds in the market.</p>

The Whole World Will Revolve Around The Tiny Island Of Cyprus Wolf Richter, Testosterone Pit Jun. 28, 2012, 8:41 AM Finland doesn’t get the white-hot attention Germany does, but it should because it could be the driving force behind a breakup of the Eurozone. And it fired another shot: it demanded collateral for its share of the billions of euros that Cyprus would receive from the bailout Troika. Cyprus is the fifth of 17 Eurozone countries to ask for a bailout. It’s panic time. The first tranche, €1.8 billion, is needed by June 30 to prop up its second largest...

The once-great Finnish cell-phone giant Nokia (NOK) is now undergoing one of the most spectacular implosions in the history of business. Several years ago, Nokia was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world when it came to making phones. Now, the company is frantically cutting costs and downsizing in a desperate bid to survive. What happened? The iPhone happened. In the five years since Apple (AAPL) released its first iPhone, Nokia has lost a staggering 90% of its market value. Worse, the company has gone from coining money to burning it. And the situation has gotten so bad that Nokia...

Finland's Supreme Court has found a prominent politician guilty of defaming Islam for "Islamophobic" comments he made on his personal blog. The ruling represents a major setback for free speech in a Europe that is becoming increasingly stifled by politically correct restrictions on free speech, particularly on issues related to Islam and Muslim immigration. The Helsinki-based Supreme Court ruled on June 8 that Finns Party MP Jussi Kristian Halla-aho was guilty of "inciting hatred against an ethnic group" for blog posts he made in 2008 which compared Islam to paedophilia, and for sarcastic comments which insinuated that immigrants from Somalia...

The European Parliament on Wednesday (13 June) approved draft laws that would strongly increase Brussels' power over eurozone countries' budgets. But they tempered the previously austere proposals with measures for growth, debt redemption and democratic scrutiny. "This is the core of a fiscal union," said Austrian MEP and socialist leader Hannes Swoboda. "This is the first time that there is a structural solution [to the eurozone crisis] on the table," said Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt. His Green counterpart Daniel Cohn-Bendit called it a "milestone" for the strength of agreement among MEPs. The pair of laws—also known as the two-pack—is among...

A majority of Finns want Greece to leave the eurozone, a study conducted by Finnish pollster Think If Laboratories showed on Monday. A total of 56 percent of the 1,819 people questioned said Greece should leave the euro while 21 percent opposed the idea, and 23 percent of respondents were undecided, according to the survey. ”Finns are clearly dubious about the way the ongoing crisis is being handled. The findings are indicative of a deep distrust in Greece’s ability to manage its economy,” Juhana Aunesluoma, the director of the University of Helsinki’s Network for European Studies, told AFP. According to...

Explanation: Who guards the north? Judging from the above photograph, possibly giant trees covered in snow and ice. The picture was taken last winter in Finnish Lapland where weather can include sub-freezing temperatures and driving snow. Surreal landscapes sometimes result, where common trees become cloaked in white and so appear, to some, as watchful aliens. Far in the distance, behind this uncommon Earthly vista, is a more common sight -- a Belt of Venus that divided a darkened from sunlit sky as the Sun rose behind the photographer. Of course, in the spring, the trees have thawed and Lapland looks...

(Reuters) - A gunman opened fire from a rooftop in a Finnish town centre in the early hours of Saturday, killing two people and wounding several others, police said. An 18-year-old man wearing camouflage clothing was arrested after the shooting in Hyvinkaa, a small town 56 km (34 miles) north of the capital Helsinki.

The study of the "Demon star", Algol, made by a research group of the University of Helsinki, Finland, has received both scientific and public attention. The period of the brightness variation of this eclipsing binary star has been connected to good prognoses three millennia ago. This result has raised a lot of discussion and the news has spread widely in the Internet. The Egyptian papyrus Cairo 86637 calendar is probably the oldest preserved historical document of bare eye observations of a variable star. Each day of one Egyptian year was divided into three parts in this calendar. A good or...

In theory, tiny Finland could have done nothing against Stalin. Just like my Sweden, a tiny country up North in Europe, eternally, by sheer geographical and demographical laws were forced to eternally bow down to Rome. Theory is one aspect of reality. Action is a completely different matter. Scandinavian troops probably are the toughest enemy any opponent on this planet ever could challenge. Our "small" nation have recently been successful in fighting Talibans. Our equipment is superior. Our organization is superior. Our training is superior. Our genes are superior. Our health is superior. Our military tradition is superior. Our planning...

Archaeologists have started unearthing human remains from a mass grave near the German town of Lützen, a find that dates back to the Thirty Years' War. "We estimate that there are at least 75 dead, who were buried very close together in several layers," archaeologist Susanne Friederich said on Friday. The Battle of Lützen, which took place in 1632, pitted Swedish soldiers against those under the command of German Roman Catholic general Albrecht von Wallenstein. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the Thirty Years' War, with an estimated 6,500 to 10,000 casualties. The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus was...

This took place in Kannelmäki, a suburb of Helsinki. The kids doing the bullying are all of immigrant extraction, and are doing what all school bullies have done throughout history, torment others unwilling to fight back. The interesting thing here is that it breaks with the carefully crafted PC meme that only minorities can be the victims. If the roles where reversed, you would hear the politicians and human rights groups decrying the wave of racism that’s raging through the streets and schools of Finland. NOTE: Apparently one of the kids bullying placed it on the net. They pretty much...

Everyone knows the US today is the single most powerful nation on Earth and corners of Europe like Switzerland, Scandinavia and Luxemburg are the richest (yes, Qatar is pretty rich too). But what part, if any, will lead the World in say 200 years from now? Marxists claim the US is heading for a fall. Perhaps it is, but don't expect North Korea or Cuba to take its place. Hundreds of times, I've been telling members of this forum what is right about Scandinavia. We dare to stand up for freedom of speech, we dare to fight Islamofascism, we dare...