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MP Tuula Väätäinen (sdp.) is concerned that Finns participating abroad – such as in Syria – in the ongoing military conflict are without the added protection of soldiers’ compensation law.

The European Union (EU) is seeking to reassure Israelis who are concerned about the economic harm caused by the EU’s decision to forbid its member states from cooperating, transferring funds, or giving scholarships or research grants to bodies in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. A senior delegation from the European Union will arrive in Israel early this week to examine ways of preventing damage to Israeli entities operating beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines. …

European banks would leave London “in very short order” if Britain voted to exit the European Union, a senior Goldman Sachs executive said in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Michael Sherwood, a vice-chairman at the bank, said the prospect of a British withdrawal was a real worry given Prime Minister David Cameron’s plans to hold a referendum on the subject if re-elected in 2015. … Goldman’s Sherwood predicted European banks would quickly relocate if Britain did sever its EU ties. “Forget what we would do. Every European firm would be gone in very short order,” he was quoted as...

Company to hold investor call; members of the media invited to attend. REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. and Nokia Corp. today announced that the boards of directors for both companies have decided to enter into a transaction whereby Microsoft will purchase substantially all of Nokia's Devices & Services business, license Nokia's patents, and license and use Nokia's mapping services.

Why is Poland purchasing Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles for its F-16s? As Rzeczpospolita broadsheet reports the Americans will allow Poland to purchase modern JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) missiles for Warsaw’s F-16s. This will significantly increase the Polish Vipers’ strike capabilities. Poland currently operates 48 F-16 airplanes in Block 52+ variant, where the ‘+’ means they have CFTs (Conformal Fuel Tanks). The strike capability of JASSM is immense, as it is able to destroy targets at distances of 370 km (ca. 220 miles). This allows the Viper to destroy the target outside of the SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles) envelope,...

SINGAPORE: The current buzz phrase in the Republic's education system, "every school is a good school", is in fact the principle on which the Finnish education model was built over the last four decades. But as Singapore strives to realise this vision, Finland's widely praised education system is being challenged because of an increasingly diverse student population, said the country's Minister for Education and Science Krista Kiuru. In an interview with TODAY, Ms Kiuru also responded to doubts about her country's education system, given the high number of jobless youths. The solution does not lie in changing the education system...

On Wednesday two Moroccan men were sentenced for a racist assault on three people in Helsinki in May. The men asked two passing women and a man if they were Finns. When the answer was yes, they attacked the three - this was a racist act according to the Helsinki District Court which sentenced the men to six months' imprisonment suspended and damages and fines. One man, in his 40s, was found guilty of four counts of assault (one of the victims was beaten twice), defamation, theft, an immigration violation and obstruction of an official. The other, in his 30s,...

Viking gold ingot which was found at Brickland, Co. Down and dates to the later ninth/tenth century. Sean Barden/Armagh County Museum A rare piece of Viking gold dating back more than a thousand years was discovered by an amateur with a metal detector in Northern Ireland, it was revealed. Tom Crawford was pursuing his hobby in farmland in Co Down last year when he found the small but precious ingot, which may have been used as currency during the 9th and 10th centuries. It is one of only a few nuggets known from Ireland, experts said. Mr Crawford also uncovered...

CONTEND TO OVERCOME ! Contend for your coming graduation day , The life of the overcomer with me and say , To the arrow by night be gone i deny you , And the lies of the enemy I do not receive you , But to my words of promise I receive every one , As Deuteronomy I repeat them as my song, So take my authority with you as you go , For just as I did in the desert my word you must speak "declare" and know, For I am the Way the Truth and the Life, So...

While on a trip to Finland today, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that wanted NSA Leaker Edward Snowden is still in the transit area of Moscow's airport, and thus, technically not on Russian soil. He also confirmed that Russian law enforcement will not arrest him or extradite him to the United States, saying he is "a free man," but the sooner he chooses his final destination, the better. Putin also deployed one of the better similes we've heard in a while: "In any case, I would like not to deal with such issues because it is like shearing a...

The potential for social unrest in European Union countries is higher than anywhere else in the world and the already yawning gaps between rich and poor, a major trigger, are likely to widen globally, the International Labour Organisation said on Monday. Those most vulnerable, the report said, were Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. However the risk of social unrest had declined in Belgium, Germany, Finland, Slovakia and Sweden since 2010. Overall, the risk of unrest in the EU "is likely to be due to the policy responses to the ongoing sovereign debt crisis and their impact...

Government officials in Jerusalem accused Ireland on Wednesday of leading opposition inside the EU to placing Hezbollah, or at least its “military wing,” on the European Union’s terrorist black list. According to the officials, Ireland—which holds the EU’s rotating presidency—was supported in this position by Sweden and Finland at a working group on Tuesday that debated the issue. A consensus of the EU’s 27 states will be needed to blacklist Hezbollah’s “military wing,” a move now even backed by Germany and France. In the past these two countries have opposed this step, arguing that it could destabilize Lebanon, make European...

You are my chosen in whom I have found , Loyalty that abounds , Eager and ready to do MY will , A vessel in which the heavens I fill , To whom "has" been given ALL Autority , To take back land and break the neck of the enemy , There is no wall or boundary around , You can not take down , A "Mighty LOYAL" woven into , My Tapestry and Kingdom ready to do , Whatever I ask whenever it is , You do My business for ALL of My kids , So continue on for...

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...