The discussion around Finland potentially joining Nato has been an ongoing story since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, often making international headlines.
Helsingin Sanomat writes on Wednesday that the speed with which Finland has moved forward with its Nato membership has considerably surprised Russia. HS adds that Russian media is now labelling Finland as "fascist" and is shocked by the Nordic nation's rapid push towards Nato.
Hanna Smith, Director of Research at the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, spoke to Helsingin Sanomat about Russia's angle on Finland's Nato membership and the hybrid attacks that Russia may use.
"It could be a big cyber attack, for example, with financial or even life-threatening consequences," Smith told HS.
She added that while it has taken some time for Russia to fully comprehend the state of affairs within Finland, there is also a possibility that the threats may take on a more traditional approach too.
"Instead, it is possible to move troops and equipment from one place to another. Similarly, in the Baltic Sea, for example, Russia can deploy its warships. Airspace violations have already been seen and will continue to be possible," Smith added.
In relation to Russian media labelling Finland as a fascist state, Smith said this is due to Finland's involvement in World War II. Part of this is due to a build up in patriotic fervour as Russia approaches May 9, Victory Day, which commemorates Russia's victory over Nazi Germany and is a grandstage for nationalistic sentiments.
Smart ring start-up Oura sports new CEO
Finland was once famous for handheld devices, and a new Finnish hand device has taken the world by storm over the past few years.
Business daily Kauppalehti writes that Finnish start-up Oura may be setting its sights on an Initial Public Offering (IPO) with the appointment of its new CEO Tom Hale.
The new executive is a former president of SurveyMonkey owner Momentive Global Inc. and COO at Homeaway, a vacation home listing service. Hale led both companies to their public listings on the stock exchange, which may be a sign of things to come for the ring from Oulu that has wound up on the fingers of numerous celebs.
KL wrote that Eurie Kim, Oura's Board Director Chair, that Hale's experience with IPOs was taken into consideration in his appointment.
"We don't invest in companies that we don't think can be publicly scalable investments. We absolutely have the aspiration to take this company far and wide, and hopefully that incorporates going public," Kim said.
Earlier this spring, the Oulu-based start-up stated that it had sold one million smart rings and raised a new round of financing, bringing the company's valuation to 2.3 billion euros.
KL wrote that Oura did not submit its financial statements in 2020 until the end of 2021. The financial statements show that Oura had a turnover 58 million euros and a net profit of 200,000 euros.
Cold weather continues
Spring weather will continue to have seasonally cool weather for the next few weeks, according to tabloid Iltalehti.
"Two cold weeks are ahead of us, but possibly as mid-May approaches the cold will ease. However, the predictability of the weather will clearly decrease," said meteorologist Anna Latvala.
May Day, or Vappu in Finnish, may have rain and even snow in some parts of the country, and temperatures will range widely from 5 to 12 degrees in the south, with the north a bit frostier stretching from 0 to 8 degrees.
The beginning of May will have a low pressure front covering Finland, which will keep the temperature 2 to 5 degrees colder than usual. Warmer weather may spread to Finland in the second week of May, but it may take a while for a high pressure front carrying warm air to travel from Central and Southern Europe up north.
Long-term weather forecasts offer the average weather forecast for a week or month, not the weather forecast for individual days, IL wrote. Weather forecasts can change or alter at any time and it is possible that warmer weather comes sooner rather than later.