Russia's nearly three-year war in Ukraine continues to be a significant concern for many Finns, and Ilta-Sanomat's top story on Tuesday looks at a Financial Times interview with a sanctioned Russian tycoon.
Konstantin Malofeyev told FT that Moscow would likely reject a peace plan proposal by Donald Trump's recently nominated Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg.
This plan involves the US tying weapons support for Ukraine to peace talks while telling Russia that any unwillingness to engage in negotiations would result in increased American support for Ukraine.
But that's not how Russia sees things.
According to Malofeyev, the US needs to reverse its stance on deploying advanced long-range weapons and encourage Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to step down from office.
Recent weeks have seen intense debate over Finland's potential withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, which bans anti-personnel landmines. This discussion has been sparked by Ukraine's increasing use of landmines to defend against Russian infantry.
Bitter reality
Chocolate lovers have likely noticed that Fazer chocolate bars now cost nearly twice as much as they did just a few years ago. The last few years have not been the best for the Finnish company's business, which have included an exit from the Russian market, the energy crisis and the rising price of cocoa.
This autumn the government raised the value-added tax on sweets and chocolate from 14 to 25.5 percent.
Helsingin Sanomat reports that the tax increase has forced Fazer to pause its planned 750-million-euro factory investment in Lahti, hinting that this move could be seen as a form of pressure.
"It is always possible that we might build the factory elsewhere instead of Lahti, such as in Sweden, which would also be closer to export markets," said Fazer CEO Christoph Vitzthum.
Vitzthum added that his main problem with the sweets tax is that it distorts competition.
"It's marketed as health-based, but it is just a way to easily generate tax revenue for the state," he explained, adding that potato chips, cookies and puddings are excluded from the VAT hike.
Cutting down summer holidays
Next August, pupils in Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa will have fewer summer vacation days in August, as the fall semester will begin exceptionally early.
In the capital, pupils will be back in class on 7 August.
A decade ago, the school year started in the middle of August, but now it kicks off during the first full week of the month.
Hufvudstadsbladet explains that shortening the summer vacation is part of efforts aimed at better distributing the academic year. The summer vacation reduction aims to accommodate both a one-week autumn break and a long Christmas break extending into Epiphany.