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.

Stockholm  - The Finnish government Thursday nominated current European Union enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn as a candidate for the next European Commission.

Citing the "uncompleted ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty," the government noted it was not clear when the next European Commission would be formed or under which treaty it would operate.

Rehn last month said he was interested to take up a post in the next EU executive in Brussels if asked to do so by his government and if he had the confidence of the European Parliament.

Helsinki  - Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen Thursday won a vote of confidence in parliament brought on by an ongoing political row over election campaign financing.

Finnish media have in recent weeks reported on several cases of questionable contributions to leading politicians and parties from businesses, trade unions and foundations.

The disclosures have generated calls for the premier to step down and the need to tighten rules on election funding.

Helsinki - Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen rejected Tuesday allegations in a Finnish news documentary that he received building materials free of charge from a construction company.

At a brief news conference, Vanhanen rejected a report on Monday evening by public broadcaster YLE and said he had paid for the materials - lumber for bookshelves for his house built 13 years ago.

Helsinki - A Rwandan man charged with genocide in the Central African nation went before a Finnish court Tuesday in the first such trial in Finland.

Francois Bazaramba, 58-year-old Hutu, faces a life sentence if convicted over his alleged role in the 1994 events.

Bazaramba denied the charges when the proceedings opened at the district court in Porvoo, east of Helsinki, where he has lived for some years.

Helsinki  - Nokia, the world's largest maker of handsets, is to offer a mobile financial service for mobile phone users, including those who lack a bank account.

The group on Thursday said it also had plans to create a new business unit, Solutions, aimed at better combining the group's services and devices.

With the Nokia Money service, mobile phone users would be able to send money to another person using that person's mobile phone number. It could also be used to pay for goods, utility bills or tickets, the Finnish-based mobile phone maker said.

Helsinki - Four people have been admitted to hospital after eating poisonous mushrooms over the weekend, news reports said Wednesday.

Three of them were in intensive care at a hospital in Helsinki and one might need a liver transplant, public broadcaster YLE reported.

The cases marked a significant increase of mushroom poisoning since on average only a couple of cases are reported each year.

Mushroom picking is a popular pastime in the Nordic country.

Helsinki  - Finnish nationals dominated the 10th Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships held Saturday near the Finnish town of Savonlinna.

Pauli Kosunen's 79.60-metre throw gave him the victory in the men's category, but was no threat to Mikko Lampi's world record of 94.97 metres set in 2005.

Suvi Torikka won the women's event with a 37.05 metre throw, while 12-year-old Verneri Aleksejev won the junior class hurling the handset 43.77 metres.