Finland

HELSINKI, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- An automatic emergency shutdown of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in southwestern Finland on Dec. 10 was caused by a human operation error, not any technological fault or equipment breakdown, the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) reported on Wednesday.

This was the first emergency shutdown of a nuclear plant in Finland, since the start of using nuclear energy in the national power grid in the mid-1970s.

TAMPERE (Finland), Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The trial of a suspected warlord accused of atrocities during Liberia’s civil war begins in Finland on Wednesday, the first such case to be partly heard on Liberian soil.

Gibril Massaquoi, a Sierra Leonean living in Finland since 2008, is accused of murder, aggravated war crimes and aggravated crimes against humanity during the West African country’s internal conflict a generation ago.

HELSINKI (AP) — Rescue teams searching for survivors four days after a landslide carried away homes in a Norwegian village found no signs of life Saturday amid the ruined buildings and debris.

Three bodies have been recovered but searchers are still looking for seven more people believed to be missing. The landslide in the village of Ask is the worst in modern Norwegian history and has shocked citizens in the Nordic nation.

HELSINKI (AP) — A landslide smashed into a residential area near the Norwegian capital Wednesday, injuring at least 10 people, leaving 21 unaccounted for and destroying several homes, authorities said. Some 700 people were evacuated amid fears of further landslides.

Norwegian police were alerted at 4 a.m. to the slide in the village of Ask, in the municipality of Gjerdrum, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Oslo.

(Reuters) - Email accounts belonging to some Finnish lawmakers were compromised during a cyberattack on parliament, the authorities said on Monday.

Neither the speaker of parliament nor the National Bureau of Investigation gave any details of what information was lost, if any, or when the attack was, other than saying it was in the autumn.

HELSINKI, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Finland's Center Party on Saturday elected Minister of Science and Culture Annika Saarikko as new chairperson at its convention in Oulu, northern Finland.

Center is one of the five parties in the current Finnish center-left coalition government under Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

Saarikko, 36, got 51 percent of the 2,264 votes and was elected in the first round. Of the other candidates, incumbent chairperson Katri Kulmuni, who had been running for re-election, failed with 773 votes.

HELSINKI, July 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. ambassador to Iceland Jeffrey Ross Gunter has provoked anger and criticism in Iceland after he retweeted a post from U.S. President Donald Trump calling COVID-19 "the Invisible China Virus."

"We are United to defeat the Invisible China Virus," wrote Gunter last week on his official ambassadorial Twitter account, followed by the flag emojis of the United States and Iceland displayed side by side.

Gunter's retweet came after Trump tweeted on July 20, using "the Invisible China Virus" to refer to COVID-19.

KHELSINKI, June 25. /TASS/: There is no need to perform a rescue operation for the Kokshaysk fishing trawler grounded near Norwegian shores, the Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes told TASS on Thursday.

The trawler with 35 persons on board ran aground near Arnoya Island in Norway, the Nordlys newspaper reported earlier on Thursday.

HELSINKI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish government on Tuesday announced restrictions on upcoming reopening of restaurants in June to prevent possible further spread of COVID-19.

Restaurants can reopen only at half capacity, between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., and alcohol service would only be allowed from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., Finnish Family Affairs and Social Services Minister Krista Kiuru said at a government press conference.

6 May 2020; MEMO: A Finnish board member of Amnesty International has hit out at Germany’s decision to ban the political wing of Hezbollah by suggesting that the ideology of the Shia movement is no different to the racist views of political parties in Israel, including those in the current government.