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Do Finland want to start World War III? It's something to think about if Finland wants to join NATO, warns Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal envoy Sergei Markov. Enlarge Do Finland want to start World War III? It's something to think about if Finland wants to join NATO, warns Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal envoy Sergei Markov. It's not Russian hatred against Finland, but if Finland joins NATO, it shows that the country has a Russia-complex, said Markov, who is a political scientist, to the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet. - If Finland wants to join NATO, they should think first . Will...

At the start of morning assembly in the state-of-the-art Viikki School here, students’ smartphones disappear. In math class, the teacher shuts off the Smartboard and begins drafting perfect circles on a chalkboard. The students — some of the highest-achieving in the world — cut up graphing paper while solving equations using their clunky plastic calculators. Finnish students and teachers didn’t need laptops and iPads to get to the top of international education rankings, said Krista Kiuru, minister of education and science at the Finnish Parliament. And officials say they aren’t interested in using them to stay there. That’s in stark...

Cynics are three times more likely to develop dementia than those who have faith in humanity, a study has shown. Believing that others are motivated by selfishness, or that they lie to get what they want, appears to radically increase the risk of cognitive decline in later life.It could mean that grumpy old men and women should be screened more closely for diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Cynicism has previously been linked to health problems such as heart disease, but this is the first time it has been associated with dementia.“These results add to the evidence that people’s view on life...

Finland’s Ministry of Defence Carl Haglund says he believes Russia’s actions in Ukraine have brought Finland and Sweden closer to NATO now than they ever were in the past. During his party’s conference in the southern coastal city of Hanko on Saturday, the Swedish People’s Party (RKP) Chair Carl Haglund spoke of the Ukraine crisis and its ramifications, defending Ukraine’s right to sovereignty and self-determination. “In a free Europe, every country is free to decide on its own development, without an army situated behind the border threatening to barge in,” said Haglund. Haglund says he is of the opinion that...

Gdansk, Poland If only Ronald Reagan -and Pope John Paul- were here to see what freedom and prosperity their little project has brought the Polish people over the last quarter-century now... but I think they're looking down with a smile. Small wonder the Poles are more than ready to fight in order to defend their hard-won liberty (and booming economy) from the Russians... and why the Ukrainians have now said "Hey!- that's what we should have been doing for the last two lost decades..." Photo presentation at Reaganite Republican-

Euronazis: Who Supports Putin in the West? 26.04.2014 | 22:33S.Parkhomenko, T.Stezhar Full list of foreign observers to a Crimean pseudo-referendum has become public. Names of “friends of Putin” (who doesn’t stop claiming that there has been a “fascist coup” in Ukraine) will make you consider very carefully, who should be called a fascist. Names of “friends of Putin” will make you consider very carefully who should be called a fascist. / REUTERS Back in early March of 2014, two weeks ahead of the pseudo-referendum and annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, in one of the Russian newspapers, a prominent historian and religious...

The last time the Russian "Doomsday Plane" was seen in the air doing its trademark loops at 27,000 feet telegraphing Vladimir Putin was somewhere nearby, was on March 31, just days after the formerly Ukrainian region was annexed by the Kremlin. Until today, when over the past 4 hours, the Tu-214 has been quietly circling in position just shy of Finland and the Baltics, where as it is known, NATO has been depositing hundreds of western soldiers in a "defensive" build up.

Medieval slave trade routes in Eastern Europe extended from Finland and the Baltic Countries to Central Asia April 15, 2014 University of Eastern Finland Summary: The routes of slave trade in Eastern Europe in the medieval and pre-modern period extended all the way to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia. A recent study suggests that persons captured during raids into areas which today constitute parts of Finland, the Russian Karelia and the Baltic Countries ended up being sold on these remote trade routes. The routes of slave trade in Eastern Europe in the medieval and pre-modern period extended all the...

The West’s standoff with Russia over Ukraine is triggering debate over the adequacy of defence spending and cooperation to confront a more assertive Russia across Europe. In Finland and Sweden, an important element in this debate is whether the two countries should join NATO, STRATFOR reported. While the events in Ukraine strengthen the argument for NATO membership, general support for the idea is still lacking in both countries — such a step would represent a big shift from Finland’s and Sweden’s strategy of avoiding too strong a military alignment with the West in order to prevent any conflict with Russia....

There is no large Russian military presence in East Ukraine, head of EU intelligence, Commodore Georgij Alafuzoff, has said. The spy chief has dismissed multiple accusations from the West alleging Russian involvement in the unrest in the region. In an interview with Finnish national news broadcaster, Yle, Alafuzoff said the Russian military had nothing to do with the seizing of government buildings in eastern Ukraine. “In my opinion, it’s mostly people who live in the region who are not satisfied with the current state of affairs,” said Alafuzoff, referring to the situation in East Ukraine. He went on to say...

An Israeli hacker team published on Tuesday images and personal details of members of the Anonymous hacker collective who participated in the OpIsrael attack against Israeli sites earlier this week, Israel’s Channel 2 reported. Israeli Elite Force gained access to the computers of 16 Anonymous members and was able to capture screenshots and photos of the anti-Israel hackers with their own webcams. The Israeli team published the information in a Dropbox document via their Facebook page, saying, “Anonymous, next time do not mess with us.” The file includes the names of the attackers, their countries of origin, and usernames and...

Finland has launched a range of erotic gay stamps, featuring a man in police uniform sitting on the shoulders of a naked man, and another with a man looking in between some naked legs. The stamps are to commemorate the life and work of the artist Touko Laaksonen, more commonly known as Tom of Finland, reports Pink News. The stamps, which will be available from the Autumn, are being launched by the Finnish Postal Service, Itella. In a statement they said: “His emphatically masculine homoerotic drawings have attained iconic status in their genre and had an influence on, for instance,...

CBS/ReutersMarch 5, 2014, 11:01 AM Vladimir Putin nominated for Nobel Peace Prize OSLO -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has been nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize but the conflict in Ukraine is also likely to be on the Nobel committee's agenda. A record 278 candidates, including 47 organizations, received nominations for the 2014 prize, said the Norwegian Nobel Institute's director, Geir Lundestad. Committee members who met on Tuesday added their own proposals with a focus on recent turmoil around the globe. "Part of the purpose of the committee's first meeting is to take into account recent events, and committee...

Archeologists have uncovered a unique funerary monument of the first millennium AD on the territory of Opolye, Suzdal. The discovery of this Finno-Ugric burial ground is a real event for archeologists. In the excavation around 300 square meters large there have been unearthed 11 tombs that make it possible to reveal the earlier unknown facts of ancient history. The monument dating back to the 3rd-4th centuries has kept Finnish jewelry and is evidence of a rich militarized society, where cattle breeding played an important role. All entombments are located in a row. Judging by their size at least four of...

‘Red Festival’ In Udmurtia 19 November 2010, 07:50 Nadezhda Volokitina The Udmurts are the most red-haired Finno-Ugric people, the most red-haired nation in Russia, and as far as the rest of the world is concerned, they are inferior only to the Irish in this respect. The so-called ‘Red Festival’, which gathers a lot of people, takes place annually in the capital of Udmurtia, Izhevsk. There organized such contests and competitions as ‘Mother, Father and I are a Red Family’ (the most red-haired family contest), ‘Mischievous Gingers’ (the most red-haired child contest), as well as ‘red’ pet contests for cats, dogs,...

Eighteen countries, including five of the world’s leading arms exporters, ratified a landmark treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade on Wednesday, giving a significant boost to the campaign for the treaty’s entry into force. […] Five of the world’s top 10 arms exporters—Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain—turned in their ratification documents at the ceremony. The other 13 were Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Among the hold-outs is the United States, the world’s largest weapons exporter. The Obama administration has signed the treaty but there is strong resistance in...

STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI (Reuters) - When Russian warplanes staged a mock bombing run on Sweden last year, air defences were caught napping. It was the middle of the night and no Swedish planes were scrambled.

Is the Republican Party's Middle East policy up for bid? For four days ending Sunday, a quartet of presidential hopefuls trooped to Las Vegas to attend the annual gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Impresario: Sheldon Adelson, the Vegas-Macau casino mogul whose fortune is estimated at $39 billion -- 8th richest man on the planet -- and who dumped $92 million into the election of 2012. Adelson kept Newt Gingrich alive with a $15 million infusion of ad money, gutting Romney, and then sank $30 million into Mitt's campaign. This time Sheldon wants to buy himself a winner. Ari Fleischer,...

Russian military drills near neighboring Finland have provoked concern that northern Europe may be the next focus of Moscow's seemingly renewed appetite for redrawing its borders. Troops and jet fighters from all four military regions of Russia were deployed Sunday about 150 miles east of the Finnish border, according to the English-language newspaper Finnbay. The Russian defense ministry said in a statement that the exercises were pre-planned and that more than 50 fighter pilots took part. Finland was part of the Russian empire for 108 years, from 1809 until Russia’s withdrawal from World War I in 1917. The Karelia region,...

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ex-advisers has claimed that the ex-KGB agent ultimately wants to reclaim Finland for Russia. Andrej Illiaronov, Putin's economic adviser between 2000 and 2005 and now senior member of the Cato Institute think tank, said that "parts of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Finland are states where Putin claims to have ownership." "Putin's view is that he protects what belongs to him and his predecessors," he said. When asked if Putin wishes to return to the Russia of the last tsar, Nicholas II, Illiaronov said: "Yes, if it becomes possible." Illiaronov admits...