Helsingin Sanomat has a double page spread on Uber's arrival in Finland. The lift-sharing cum taxi service has had a frosty reception in some European countries, and Finland is no exception. The service started operations on Wednesday amid questions about its legality, and that is the focus of the HS headline: "Uber believes its lift service is legal".
In Helsinki as elsewhere, the strongest objections have come from taxi drivers. The service will offer its 'Pop' service on a six-month trial basis, using drivers who do not hold a Finnish taxi license. That's not gone down well with those representing Helsinki cabbies.
"If it's permitted to operate a taxi service without a license, then in principle everyone should be allowed to do so," said the Taxi Association's Katja Saksa.
HS found an inauspicious start to the limited trial: on Wednesday evening there was not a single Uber car in Helsinki. The company said that it currently only has a few signed up.
Finnish companies heading south
Swedish language daily Hufvudstadsbladet runs a story about Finnish companies in Estonia. HBL says that some 4,000 Finnish firms currently operate in Estonia, with info courses designed to help companies make the switch currently over-subscribed.
The paper interviews several businesspeople who've moved, with some seeing Finland's southern neighbour as a gateway to the world. Mikko Rekola of Eduhouse says that Estonia may even have replaced Sweden as an ideal route to the world market for Finnish firms.
HBL says that the reasons are lower taxes and wages, but also a more relaxed regulatory environment. A company's everyday operations are, according to HBL, smoother in Estonia than in Finland.
Mikael Forssell vs cats
Finnish football's not been in the best of shape recently, but one star player knows how to remain the centre of attention. Vfl Bochum forward Mikael Forssell's social media presence is one of his strengths, but when he tweeted a picture showing the reason he was late for training (a cat by his car--he's allergic), he probably didn't realise the news would travel quite so far, so fast.
"Guess which former Premier League star nearly missed training because he's scared of cats" headlined the Daily Mirror, with similar stories making it to the Independent, German tabloid Bild, British freesheet Metro and the Daily Star, among others.
Maybe sometimes on social media, discretion is the better part of valour.