Of Finland's dailies, at least Helsingin Sanomat and Tampere's Aamulehti run top stories on new figures out on people seeking asylum in Finland. The Helsingin Sanomat headline is accompanied by contextualising statistics.
Finland expects some 8,000 seekers to make their way to the Finnish border – a significant increase from last year – while the same figure is ten times that in Sweden, the paper shows. This week an old record has been broken, as 114 asylum seekers have come to the country in a mere three days – more than ever before in such a time period. Of these, 34 came from Iraq, 22 from Somalia and 12 from Albania, Finland's top daily lists.
One Iraqi man says he paid more than 15,000 euros for an eight-month trip to Finland.
"I miss my family, but not my country," Ali Khalkhali told HS. "There is nothing good there to miss."
Nursing home swindle, police force rehaul
Meanwhile various media report on the conditions in nursing homes and their questionable payment policies. An Iltalehti article says that depending on the kind of agreement a resident has made, basic daily needs like going to the bathroom may incur steep fees.
Both habitants and disgusted ex-employees even say that the system may force nurses to charge 20 euros just for lifting up trousers or opening a window. Tiina Raiski from the Kuusela Senior Centre says it is "unfortunate that an employee has been misinformed," but admits that non-inclusive calls do cost extra.
"Additional care visits always amount to an added fee no matter what the reason," project manager Maarit Hirvonen from Finland's biggest care firm Mainio Vire says dourly in Iltalehti.
In crime-fighting news, local paper Turun Sanomat reports on the plans that new chief of the National Police Board Seppo Kolehmainen has in store for Finland's gumshoes.
"Posts in strategically important operations like narcotics or organised crime units should be fixed term positions, to avoid getting mixed up too deeply in the criminal world," Kolehmainen says in TS, referring to the corruption scandal surrounding ex-chief Jari Aarnio.
Mini-Pride first in Savo
In the small town of Kangasniemi, South Savo, this year's Pride Week has started off better than expected, Ilta-Sanomat reports. Tomorrow Saturday an LGBT-themed parade will kick off, making history as what Seta's Aija Salo says is probably the first Pride parade in the entire Savo region.
The woman behind the parade is ex-model and sexual educator Tarja Pölkki.
"I only expected half a dozen people to attend originally, but now we're expecting more than 100 attendees," Pölkki tells Ilta-Sanomat. "Coming to watch the walk is also a communal act, it's all part of Pride."
A ten-minute jog around the town centre, the miniature parade is probably one of the smallest many have come across. But Pölkki says that that's enough, that "a lot has been accomplished."