Officials have shared that Finland is planning on completely abolishing smoking, beginning with a ban to be imposed on displaying tobacco products and on smoking in cars with minors in it.

As shared by the Finnish State Secretary Ilkka Oksala, the new laws are the first step in a move which is aimed at getting rid of tobacco and tobacco products "once and for all".

Various European countries now have a ban on smoking in public places, workplaces and in bars and restaurants, but Finland will become the first nation to place a total ban.

New Zealand’s Action on Smoking and Health director Ben Youdan has stressed that the same approach needs to be applied across NZ as well.

Helsinki, Dec 31 : A gunman killed three men and a woman in a shopping centre in the Finnish city of Espoo Thursday.

The man, still on the loose, was identified by police as a 43-year-old with a criminal record.

Witnesses said the man, dressed in black, fired multiple rounds from his automatic pistol, causing panic in the Sello shopping centre.

Police released no initial information about possible additional casualties.

Helsinki, Dec 10 : Finland, the land of Santa and saunas, Thursday showcased its new airport terminal here, equipped with a luxurious spa, well-being services and a modern, well-appointed lounge as its main attractions.

"The Via Spa environment will be unique in the airport world," said Kari Stolbow, the director for Indian subcontinent with the Nordic country's flag carrier Finnair, ahead of Friday's grand opening of the terminal at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

Helsinki, Dec 9 - The land of Santa and saunas, Finland is set to showcase its new airport terminal here Thursday, with a luxurious spa, well-being services and a modern, well-appointed lounge as its main attractions.

"The Via Spa environment will be unique in the airport world," said Kari Stolbow, the director for Indian subcontinent with the Nordic country's flag carrier Finnair, ahead of the grand opening of the terminal at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport here.

"The spa has a fir sauna from the Alps, a stone sauna, a steam sauna and Finnish saunas from where there is a spectacular view over a mineral water pool to the airport taxiway and the apron," Stolbow explained to IANS.

Helsinki (Finland), Nov 28 : India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq

Qureshi have entered the doubles finals of the ATP Challenger here.

The third-seeded India-Pakistan pair rallied to beat the wilcard pair of Karol Beck of Slovakia and Jiri Krkoska of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-5, 10-3 here Friday.

Bopanna-Qureshi next play the winner of the match between top seeds Henri Kontinen and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Germany's Phillip Marx and Slovakia's Igor Zelenay. (IANS)

Helsinki, Nov 26 - The $35-billion Indian chemical industry that exports products to European countries may soon find the cost of doing business going up because of new legislation adopted by the EU to regulate their end-use.

Indian companies export chemicals worth $2 billion per annum to Europe and are worried about the new legislation -- Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals -- that seeks to manage risks arising from the use of chemical substances.

Helsinki  - A cruise ferry with almost 1,700 people onboard was to be towed to the Finnish port city of Turku on Monday due to problems with its rudder system, the ferry operator said.

The rudder system failure was detected Sunday when the ferry Silja Europa was en route from Stockholm to Turku.

Ferry operator Tallink Silja and the Finnish maritime rescue coordination centre (MRCC) Turku said there was no danger to the 1,373 passengers and 286 crew members.

Helsinki  - The Norwegian electric car maker Think has presented at the Finnish Electric Motor Show in Helsinki this month a "ready-to-market" version of its zero-emission Think City car with serial production planned soon at a factory in Finland.

"Think has been producing EVs since 1991 and the Think City is the world's first 'ready-to-market' urban battery electric vehicle - it is available for sale now in some European countries," according to Think's CEO Richard Canny.

Helsinki  - Striking Finnair pilots and representatives of the Finnish flag carrier met Tuesday at the office of the National Conciliator while some 200 scheduled flights were cancelled.

Thousands of passengers have been impacted by the strike involving some 800 Finnair pilots that began Monday. Already on Sunday some long-haul flights and European flights were cancelled.

The meeting Tuesday was intended to sound out if the parties could resume formal arbitration talks, according to a Finnair spokesman.

Helsinki - Scores of Finnish flag carrier Finnair flights were disrupted Monday as 800 pilots went on strike, delaying thousands of passengers.

On Sunday, some 20 long-distance flights from its hub in Helsinki and European flights departing Sunday and returning Monday were cancelled.

Finnair management said it regretted that the pilots union had rejected an offer presented by the national mediator.

Finland's largest airline operates about 200 flights a day. Charter-flights were initially not to be affected.

Levi, Finland - World champion Maria Riesch of Germany claimed victory Saturday in the opening women's slalom World Cup race of the season in Levi.

Riesch also led after the first run and secured her win in the second World Cup race of the season with a combined time of 1 minute 48.71 seconds. Overall world champion Lindsey Vonn of the United States finished second in 1:48.79 with Finland's Tanja Poutiainen a distant third on 1:49.87 minutes. (dpa)

Helsinki - Finnish flag carrier Finnair is set to get a new chief executive in January, the group announced Wednesday.

Mika Vehvilainen will join the group on January 5, taking over from Jukka Hienonen at the end of the month.

Vehvilainen, 48, is currently chief operating officer at Nokia Siemens Networks, the 50-50 joint venture between Finland's Nokia and Germany's Siemens.

Finnair, like several other airlines, is struggling with lower passenger demand and losses in the wake of the global economic downturn.

Vehvilainen said in a comment that "to improve competitiveness" Finnair management and personnel "will have to cooperate closely."

Helsinki  - Finnish mobile telephone giant Nokia Monday advised customers to replace certain chargers for mobile phones and other devices made this year over fears of potential electrical shocks.

The chargers were made by a third-party supplier and were to be replaced free of charge, Nokia said, adding it was not aware of any accidents related to the chargers.

In the meantime customers were advised not to use the chargers.

Helsinki  - Organizers of the upcoming World Cup ski event in the Finnish resort of Levi were able to draw a sigh of relief Friday as unions said the resort was exempt from a looming strike.

The service union PAM confirmed in a statement that Levi would not be impacted even if workers at other ski resorts go on strike next week.

"The competitions affect not only Levi but Lapland and tourism in Finland, as well as our image," PAM director Ann Selin said.

Helsinki - A wage conflict has put the upcoming World Cup ski event in the Finnish resort of Levi in question, reports said Wednesday.

Workers at five resorts in Finland, including Levi, were scheduled to begin a two-day strike later Wednesday.

The service union PAM has called for a 3-per-cent wage increase while the Finnish Tourism and Restaurant Industries Federation (MaRa) has offered 0.5 per cent.

Helsinki - A thin layer of ice covers the teak wood deck of the cruise ship the Oasis of the Seas at the moment. But the cold weather is just one of the challenges a visitor will need to overcome if they want to visit the vessel: tins of paint are everywhere and sheets of tarpaulin make walking around the ship difficult.

By the start of November the flagship of the cruise company Royal Caribbean International should be ready to set sail. When that day arrives the world will have a few more superlatives: never before has there been a cruise ship as large and as expensive to build as the Oasis. Right now construction and fitting out of the 1.4-billion-dollar vessel is underway at the Aker shipyard in Turku, Finland.

Jaipur, Oct 30 - A five-member committee has been set up to investigate the fire at the Indian Oil depot here, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters Friday.

The blaze broke out in the depot in the Sitapura industrial area, about 20 km from the city centre, at 7.15 p. m. Thursday evening. Officials said nine people could have been killed and nearly 150 injured.

The committee will be headed by Mahesh Lal, the CEO of Hindustan Petroleum, and Rajasthan government officials. The report must be submitted in six weeks to the union petroleum ministry, Deora said.

Helsinki - Finnish flag carrier Finnair on Thursday reported a loss for third-quarter 2009 while turnover dropped by a fifth as demand for flights remained weak.

The group posted a pre-tax loss of 28 million euros (41 million dollars), and a net loss of 20.1 million euros for the quarter.

Third-quarter turnover fell 21.8 per cent to 436.9 million euros.

Helsinki - Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, Thursday posted a pre-tax loss for third quarter 2009 that also saw sales drop.

The Finnish-based company posted a pre-tax loss of 469 million euros (678 million dollars), compared to a pre-tax profit of 1.41 billion euros for the corresponding business period in 2008.

Third-quarter sales dropped 20 per cent year-on-year to 9.8 billion euros, the group said.

The share price was off some 7 per cent in early afternoon trading on the news.

Hamburg  - Already qualified Germany needed a last-gasp Lukas Podolski goal on Wednesday to secure a 1-1 draw against Finland in a European World Cup Group 4 qualifying match.

Jonathan Johansson, who was playing his 100th game for Finland, gave the visitors an early first-half lead in the 11th minute, but then fumbled the ball in his own half in the
90th minute to allow Miroslav Klose to play to Podolski, who miskicked, but still saw his shot trickle over the line.