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Thousands of people have resigned from the Lutheran Church in Finland, after the nation’s parliament approved a same-sex marriage law and the church’s archbishop expressed support for the vote, Finland’s Yle News reported.By late Saturday, around 7,800 people had officially resigned from the state-supported Lutheran Church via an online service, which was specifically created to ease the registration process. The resignation frees the individuals from obligatory church membership taxes, which is where the majority of the Lutheran Church’s income comes from. By the end of 2013, some 75 percent of Finns – 4.1 million people – were listed as members...

As military tensions with Russia continue to run high, northern European nations pledged to boost cooperation against Moscow. Defense ministers from 8 countries met in Oslo for talks. Norwegen Russland Kampfflugzeug Su-34 Eight northern European nations have pledged closer cooperation in an effort to counter a recent increase in Russian military activity in the region. The defense ministers from the Baltic and Nordic states, as well as Britain are holding military talks in the Norwegian capital of Oslo Thursday and Friday. They agreed to improve intelligence sharing and broaden cross-border air force training in the Nordic territories. The meeting comes...

Balance Of Power: As Vladimir Putin tops the Forbes list of powerful men, Russia targets NATO with air incursions and moves missiles toward Ukraine. As it does, Finland warns Europe is "at the gates of a new kind of cold war." President Obama may soon have more to worry about than what brand of Kentucky bourbon he'll share when he meets with new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Considering the recent actions of Russia's president, a round of vodka might be in order, a Finnish brand while it's still available. Forbes says its rankings are based on "an evaluation of...

You’re probably surprised by the title of this post. You may even be wondering if President Obama had an epiphany on the road to Greece?I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but the leader we’re talking about isn’t the President of the United States.Instead, we’re talking about the Prime Minister of Finland and he deserves praise and recognition for providing one of the most insightful and profound statements ever uttered by a politician.He explained that the emperor of Keynesian economicshas no clothes.As reported by Le Monde (and translated by Open Europe), here’s what Alexander Stubb said when asked whether European...

The maker of hit mobile video game Angry Birds, Rovio, will lay off 130 staff, it announced on Thursday. The job cuts in Finland, which account for 16% of its workforce, will happen "sooner rather than later," said chief executive Mikael Hed on its website. "We have been building our team on assumptions of faster growth than have materialised," he added. Angry Birds is the number one paid mobile application of all time, according to Rovio. The company has expanded the brand into a TV series, toys, clothing and an animated movie, which is expected to premiere in cinemas in...

Tuesday's climate summit at the U.N. may well mark a turning point in the long-running talks as the reality sinks in that they are heading nowhere. For sure, the rhetoric is unchanged. Recently appointed U.N. peace messenger Leonardo DiCaprio is the show’s newest star, telling the meeting that it was "humankind’s greatest challenge." But the older acts sounded stale. Former Vice President Al Gore demonstrated his green credentials when he said that political will was "a renewable resource," recycling a line he’d first used at the 2007 Bali climate conference. For small countries, the U.N. climate change talks provide an...

American fighters intercepted the Russian warplanes over Alaska United States officials have attributed the provocation in the sky with the visit of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko US fighters intercepted six Russian military aircraft in the area of ​​Alaska. About it on his Twitter said CNN journalist Jim Skuitto. "Russian planes stormed the US airspace larger group than usual: Two fighters, two bombers and two tanker" - wrote the correspondent. Skuitto reported that the Americans intercepted the Russians. According to him, officials of the United States associated with the arrival of a provocation President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko States. On...

pic: facebook (Miss Suomi official) More/video at Reaganite Republican...

The Russian Orthodox Church has cancelled an official doctrinal dialogue with the Finnish Lutheran Church over the Lutheran stance on homosexuality. The Orthodox side wanted to pre-approve a communique before the meeting, but talks broke down over the Finns’ refusal to condemn homosexuality.Finnish and Russian attitudes to gay rights are poles apart, and that’s helping to derail doctrinal dialogues between the two countries’ largest religions. Archbishop Kari Mäkinen says that he was forced to cancel planned ecumenical dialogues when he met the Russia Patriarch Kiril in Moscow. The Russian Orthodox Church wanted to agree a statement in advance, as the...

Finland and Sweden plan to work more closely with Nato by signing a pact that allows assistance from alliance troops in the Nordic countries in emergency situations, officials said on Wednesday. The move comes as Nato prepares for a summit next week in Wales amid heightened tensions with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. Finland shares a 1,300km (800-mile) border with Russia. The Finnish government said the host nation support agreement applies to situations which include "disasters, disruptions and threats to security". It also enables joint training exercises and military cooperation. Finnish defence ministry senior adviser Mika Varvikko said Finland...

(Reuters) - Sweden put its top military staff on higher alert on Friday as a result of the situation in Ukraine, the armed forces said. It is already participating in international maneuvers in Finland, which borders Russia, and has moved its quick-response fighter jets to the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, off Sweden's southeast coast.

(Reuters) - Russia's defense ministry has denied that a Russian aircraft entered Finnish airspace, local media quoted the ministry as saying on Sunday. Finland's defense ministry said a day ago it suspected a Russian state aircraft briefly entered its airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission on Saturday afternoon.

Finnish defence forces announced on Saturday that they are to conduct an unusually large-scale military exercise close to the Russian border next summer. Up to 8,000 reservist troops from all regiments will take part in training in the border district of Pielinen Karelia in June 2015. Major Markku Vääntänen said military exercises on this scale are only organised in the region about once every ten years. The training will be the defence forces' principal exercise event next year.

Dozens of warships have arrived at Turku harbour today Friday for Nato’s annual Northern Coasts war exercise, organised since 2007 and which Finland is hosting this year for the second time. The appearance of the impressive military hardware raises mixed emotions in Turku residents. Part of the populace welcomes the ships and their crews with open arms, but especially younger citizens say they are troubled by the grey battleships. Sign language student Salla Haapaporras said the ships make her feel threatened. ”It’s a pretty scary thought, they’re right there when they’re usually in another part of the world,” Haapaporras described...

This handout picture from the Finnish Air Force taken Thursday shows a Russian AN-72 transport plane, taken by a Finnish aircraft pilot. Finland's Defense Ministry said it suspects a Russian military aircraft on Thursday violated Finnish airspace — the third such incident in six days. Ministry spokesman Max Arhippainen told The Associated Press that a Russian AN-72 transport plane is believed to have crossed into the Nordic country's airspace over the Gulf of Finland for a few minutes. (Finnish Air Force/Lehtikuva via AP) Finland's Defense Ministry said it suspects a Russian military aircraft on Thursday violated Finnish airspace — the...

US, Russia held secret Ukraine meeting on Finnish island: Helsinki AFP | Aug 27, 2014, 03.20 AM IST HELSINKI: The United States and Russia met on a small Finnish island in June for confidential talks on the Ukraine crisis, the Nordic nation's foreign ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry said the meeting was held on the island of Boistoe off the southern coast of Finland, but did not divulge who participated or at what level, and also did not disclose what was discussed. "The foreign ministry confirms that the meeting was organised and the ministry helped at the request of...

The Finnish foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that back in June the United States and Russia held secret talks over Ukraine on Boisto Island in Finland. This startling announcement and synchronised information about the result – a ‘24-Step Plan to Resolve the Ukraine Crisis’ - were clearly timed to coincide with the meeting in Minsk between, among others Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. There were a number of crucial differences between the peace initiatives and one key similarity. Despite the Finnish report, the Boisto meeting, albeit sponsored by Finland’s foreign ministry, was between Russian and US...

New rules about to come into force could put an end to recycling discarded car tyres. The changes mean environmental specialists are now racing to find other ways to save thousands of tonnes of scrap rubber from going to waste. One potential deployment for the unused tyres could be water purification, with a technique that is currently being tested in Kitee, Eastern Finland. Every year, some 50,000 tonnes worth of used car tyres are withdrawn and sent to scrapyards -- where they are in fact put to good use. The rubber in the tyres is almost 100 percent recyclable, finding...

Finland could face an economic crisis because of European Union sanctions against Russia and Helsinki will seek financial compensation from the EU if it is disproportionately hit by the measures, its prime minister said on Wednesday (6 August). Last week, the EU imposed tough sanctions targeting Russia's banking, oil and defence sectors over Moscow's stance in the Ukraine crisis. The West accuses Moscow of actively backing pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and blames them for downing a Malaysian airliner last month. Russia denies the charges. Russia is Finland's third largest export market, accounting for about 10% of total Finnish sales...

This might help you recover from the long weekend.