According to Helsingin Sanomat, the government intends to make a decision Thursday on an extension of the closure of crossing points on Finland's eastern border.
If the government does not decide to extend the closure, it will automatically end on 11 February.
The Finnish government has justified the closure of border crossing points on grounds of national security.
The paper writes that Finland's Border Guard estimates that there are still hundreds, perhaps thousands, of third-country nationals on the Russian side, including in St Petersburg, Vyborg, Murmansk, Kostomuksha and Kandalaksha waiting to enter Finland.
Most of those who entered from Russia during the autumn were men aged between 20 and 30 from Syria, Somalia or Yemen. According to the Finnish Immigration Service, no positive asylum decisions have been made in the cases of third-country nationals who have arrived in Finland via the eastern border since the autumn.
Russian response
Ilta-Sanomat reports that Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova again commented on the border situation on Wednesday.
In a statement to the news agency Ria Novosti, Zakharova accused Helsinki of "not wanting to discuss with Moscow the threat allegedly posed to Finland from across the Russian border".
According to Zakharova, Finland is also avoiding direct contact between the two countries' border authorities.
"Helsinki stubbornly refuses to discuss with us the threats allegedly posed to Finland's security from Russia's side of the border", Zakharova told Ria Novosti.
Ilta-Sanomat notes that Finland's Border Guard has said it has held talks with Russian border authorities, for example last month after four people illegally crossed the land border.
Zakharova claimed Finland's decision to close the eastern border was solely due to the "politicised attitude" of the Finnish authorities towards the eastern border.
Dissatisfied with mail-in voting
Sunday's second round of the presidential election will be a problem for Finns voting abroad, especially if the only realistic way to vote is by mail, says Iltalehti.
The paper spoke with Italian resident Marjo Kaislasuo who pointed out that the two weeks between the first and second rounds of the presidential election is not enough time to ensure that a postal vote reaches Finland by the deadline.
She says that letters she sends to Finland can take more than a month to arrive, and that a letter sent from outside Europe can take even longer. Kaislasuo suspects that her first-round ballot paper was lost in the post.
The total number of Finns living abroad who are entitled to vote in these presidential elections is just over 264,000. A total of 42,630 — or 16.1 percent— of all expatriate Finns entitled to vote cast a ballot in the first round of the presidential elections.
This is the best turnout in years, but there is room for improvement. Kaislasuo would now like to see a move to digital voting, at least for Finns living abroad.
Estonia could be taken as a model, where electronic voting has been possible since 2005. In the 2019 Estonian parliamentary elections, up to 43.7 percent of voters cast an e-vote.
Women top men in job market
Last year saw a historic change in the annual employment rate, with the rate for women rising above the rate for men for the first time, according to a report carried by several papers, including Keskisuomalainen.
In 2023, the overall employment rate for people aged 20-64 was 77.9 percent. Last year, 78 percent of women were employed.
The employment rate for women has long been higher in all age groups except for those in the so-called "family transition" age group, 25-44.
Eurostat statistics are not yet available for last year, but in 2022, the employment rate for men was higher than for women in all European countries. Finland had the second smallest difference in employment rates between women and men. Only Lithuania was ahead of Finland. Estonia and Latvia were close behind.
Sweets and traffic jams
Helsingin Uutiset says that it's worth heading into the capital's centre on Thursday afternoon, or then again, maybe not.
It depends on whether you want to see high school students celebrating, or if you want a smooth drive through town.
It is the time of year for a tradition known as "penkkarit" when upper secondary school seniors celebrate the end of formal classes by dressing in costumes, riding through towns and cities in open trucks, throwing sweets to passers-by.
This is happening Thursday 8 February in Helsinki with over 100 trucks and more than 4,000 students in the convoy.
Lasting for about an hour, beginning at 1pm, the string of vehicles will be spaced out to ease interruptions to other traffic.
However, congestion is expected near the route, so Helsingin Uutiset advises avoiding a drive through the citry centre around that time, if possible.
The convoy route will be : Eteläranta-Pohjoisesplanadi-Lönnrotinkatu-Abrahaminkatu-Bulevardi-Eteläesplanadi – Fabianinkatu-Pohjoisesplanadi-Lönnrotinkatu-Abrahaminkatu-Bulevardi-Eteläesplanadi-Eteläranta-Pohjoisesplanadi-Päävartiontori/Meritullintori-Pohjoisranta.
Dress warmly
Ilta-Sanomat says not to forget a heavy coat and a fur hat for the rest of this week.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has issued a cold temperature warning for the whole country for three days from Thursday to Saturday.
The cold is expected to intensify, with Thursday night and Friday night being the coldest.
"In Lapland, North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu, temperatures of more than minus 30 degrees Celsius will be widespread, " FMI meteorologist on duty Tuukka Keränen told the paper.
In central Finland, the thermometer will hover at minus 20-25 degrees during the day and in the south, minus 15-20 degrees.
"Will the 40-degree mark be broken at a single station? That is also possible but unlikely. Minus 35 degrees is possible in many places," Keränen adds.
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