Monday, October 6, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Inside the 2024 Helsinki book fair

Published 14 November 2024
– By Ivana Bratovanova
3 minute read

In the last days of October, Helsinki came alive with the annual book fair at the Expo and Convention Centre, drawing Finnish and international authors for discussions on literature, art, and society. Thousands of visitors streamed in to discover books, vinyl records, decor, and more.

Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, speaking at the fair’s opening, noted that “literature builds our identity”, a sentiment that resonated with the spirit of the event.

On a gray, crispy Sunday morning the streets of Helsinki are quiet. Finns have cozied up inside their homes clenching to their beloved cups of coffee or are enjoying the avocado toasts and eggs benedict of their local brunch places. But there is one place in the city that is full of life – the Helsinki Book Fair. Outside the Expo and Convention Centre, people are speed walking to make their way first to the queues. Babies in strollers, elderly with their canes, and youngsters with their hip outfits.

The fair was held at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Center. Photo: Ivana Bratovanova

After a quick scan of the ticket’s QR code I have also made my way inside. I take off my scarf and my coat, fold them neatly in my bag, and prepare for “The Future”, this year’s theme. As I walk towards the exhibition hall, I can already feel the overwhelming twist in my stomach as my eyes open widely to the immense amount of literature, art, music, and so much more than I could have expected.

People of all ages, backgrounds, and interests have gathered together to enjoy the 4-day annual exhibit in Pasila. As I was wondering why is it that Finns choose to spend their Sunday at the book fair, Markus, an attendee, replied:

“The book fair has received an increased popularity over the past few years in media, and that also caught my eye”.

Markus says the thing he was mostly looking forward to at the fair was the vinyl selection.

“I’ve been meaning to update my vinyl selection and I knew that here I could find good jazz LPs”.

Photo: Ivana Bratovanova

The fair attracts not only natives but people from all over the world – more than 30 international authors were present this year. Panel discussions with writers, politicians, and industry professionals stopped people from flipping through the book’s pages and take a seat to listen to what they have to say.

On its opening day, the Helsinki Book Fair welcomed the president of Finland Alexander Stubb. He answered questions from the audience about the importance of literature for the Finnish nation.

”That is everything. Literature builds our identity (…) In our collective thinking Finnishness consists of the interpretation of history and literature around it. Without literature, we would not be”.

Stubb’s reflections on identity set the stage for deeper discussions throughout the fair.

Alexander Stubb spoke about the importance of literature for the Finnish nation.

The most crowded panel I saw during my visit was held by Hanna Ylöstalo, Emma Lamberg, and Inna Perheentupa on Feminism in Economics. Despite the language barrier, the audience’s sharp focus on the discussion showed a strong engagement with what was being shared.

After a quick bite from the Wine and Food corner at the fair, I was already looking forward to next year’s book fair. Until then, I’ll hold onto the inspiration of being surrounded by so many works of art in literary form.

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Gold rush in eastern Finland – billions await below ground

Published 4 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Gold is seen as a safe investment during uncertain times – its value has remained stable for centuries and the price is now breaking records almost daily.
2 minute read

Deposits believed to contain gold worth several billion euros have been discovered in eastern Finland. Mining company Endomines is now planning a massive expansion and aims to become a significant global gold producer.

In the easternmost part of Finland, just a few dozen kilometers from the Russian border, large gold deposits have raised hopes of an imminent gold rush. Record-high gold prices and new promising discoveries are giving Finnish mining company Endomines a bright outlook for the future.

— I believe in gold. There’s enormous potential here that hasn’t been exploited yet. We’re finding new promising deposits all the time, says the company’s CEO Kari Vyhtinen to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

The latest major discovery is the Ukko deposit in the municipality of Ilomantsi, where gold occurs in connection with an enormous iron formation that is seven kilometers long. The deposit is part of the so-called Karelian gold line, a 40-kilometer-long area in Ilomantsi’s greenstone belt.

According to Bo Långbacka, a specialist expert at the Geological Survey of Finland, the Finnish bedrock is fully comparable to the rich ore areas in Canada and Australia. He believes that Finland, from that perspective, has Europe’s best conditions for gold extraction.

Seven-fold production increase planned

Currently, Endomines knows of approximately half a million troy ounces of gold (about 15.5 tons) in its area, but the goal is significantly higher than that.

— In five years, we should ideally know of two million troy ounces of gold. Our gold production could then amount to 100,000 troy ounces, Vyhtinen continues.

This would mean a seven-fold production increase, and with today’s gold price, which is around €106 per gram, such production would be worth approximately €330 million annually.

1,200 meters underground

Endomines currently operates two mines in Ilomantsi – the Pampalo mine and the Hosko mine. At the Pampalo mine, work is now being conducted at a depth of 900 meters, and by 2032, operations will be 1.2 kilometers underground.

The company invests four to six million euros annually in prospecting to find new gold deposits. Operations are growing rapidly – the company has about a hundred employees and recently hired 20 new staff members.

Ahead of autumn’s test drilling at the Ukko deposit, the CEO says the excitement keeps him awake at night.

— It’s so exciting and thrilling to wait for the results, says Vyhtinen.

Finland faces multimillion lawsuit over illegal boarding of Eagle S

The new cold war

Published 3 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The Eagle S was dramatically boarded on Christmas night 2024 – an action that the court has now determined lacked legal basis.
4 minute read

Helsinki District Court rules that Finland lacked jurisdiction to prosecute the crew of oil tanker Eagle S.

Harsh criticism is now directed at authorities’ boarding of the vessel in international waters – an action that risks becoming very costly for Finnish taxpayers.

The ruling from Helsinki District Court is a heavy setback for Finnish authorities who dramatically boarded the oil tanker Eagle S in international waters last year. The district court establishes that Finland simply lacked the right to prosecute the crew for the alleged cable breaks.

Captain Davit Vadatchkoria and officers Robert Egizaryan and Santosh Kumar Chaurasia were charged with aggravated sabotage and aggravated disruption of postal and telecommunications traffic. The charges also included alternative, lesser criminal classifications: sabotage, aggravated vandalism and causing public danger.

But since the cable breaks – which involved five underwater cables – occurred outside Finland’s territorial waters, Finnish criminal law cannot be applied, the court states.

“International waters – period”

Lawyer Herman Ljungberg, who represents shipping company Caravella FZ LLC, has consistently argued that the action was illegal.

— The damage occurred in international waters, period. Therefore Finland has nothing to do with the matter. Only the flag state, in this case the Cook Islands, has jurisdiction, he tells Svenska Yle.

Ljungberg goes further and calls the incident an illegal hijacking.

— The boarding should absolutely be investigated. We already filed a police report about the boarding at an earlier stage, but it was left without investigation, he says.

District court refers to maritime law convention

In its ruling, the district court states that the incident was an accident and refers to articles in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The court does note that the act according to the charges had caused “exceptionally large” economic damage, but still establishes that a Finnish court cannot try the case.

The court’s conclusion underscores the inappropriateness of the authorities’ actions: They boarded a vessel in international waters, held it for over two months and brought charges – despite lacking jurisdiction.

Taxpayers will pay the bill

The direct cost of the failed legal process already amounts to €193,000 in legal costs that the Finnish state must reimburse the three acquitted defendants.

But that could be the beginning of a significantly more expensive bill. The shipping company is preparing extensive damage claims.

— It could involve damages of tens of millions of euros. The shipping company believes the Finnish state owes them money due to the illegal hijacking of the vessel, says Ljungberg.

He points to the cargo – primarily unleaded gasoline – allegedly being damaged during the months the vessel was held, as well as lost rental income while the ship stood idle outside Sköldvik, Finland.

“Shadow fleet” – a loaded term without clear definition

The case has been characterized by strong words and dramatic headlines. When the EU introduced new sanctions in May 2025 against what is called “the Russian shadow fleet,” Eagle S was placed on a list of so-called shadow vessels.

The term “shadow vessel” or “shadow fleet” is used by politicians and in media, but there is no unified, official definition of what is meant. The concept generally seems to refer to older vessels with complicated ownership structures that transport Russian oil, possibly to circumvent international sanctions.

That a vessel appears on the EU’s sanctions list does not, however, affect the question of jurisdiction. In the Eagle S case, the court establishes that Finland lacked the right to prosecute the crew, regardless of the vessel’s status as a listed shadow ship.

What happens now?

The prosecutors, represented by Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe, have not yet commented on the ruling. Rappe has previously unsuccessfully tried to justify why Finland should have jurisdiction:

— In this case, the cable capacity has been so large that in my opinion it is clear that data communication and the electrical system have been affected in Finland. Therefore the act is considered to have been performed in Finland even though the location where the cables were cut lies outside Finnish borders, Rappe told Svenska Yle in August.

Now prosecutors face the choice of appealing to the Court of Appeal or accepting defeat.

It is also possible that the Cook Islands, as flag state for Eagle S, chooses to take over the investigation – if they would even consider there is a case to investigate.

For the three crew members, who spent months in Finland with travel bans and obligations to report to police weekly, the matter is now over. But for the Finnish state and taxpayers, the consequences of the hasty boarding could prove far more costly than those responsible originally imagined.

Six kilos of medieval silver treasure found in Stockholm

Published 19 September 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The silver coins have been dated to the 12th century and were likely minted when Knut Eriksson was king of Sweden.
2 minute read

A private individual has discovered a significant silver treasure from medieval times. The treasure, which could likely be one of the largest ever found, contains among other things up to 20,000 coins from the 12th century.

The silver treasure was discovered by a person digging for worms just outside Stockholm, Sweden, who contacted the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen). It was found in a copper cauldron and contained approximately six kilos of silver coins, pendants, pearls and silver rings.

This is probably one of the largest silver treasures from the early medieval period that has been found in Sweden. We don’t yet know exactly how many coins there are, but I believe it could be up to 20,000. Most of the objects are well preserved, but unfortunately the copper cauldron they were stored in is not as well preserved, says Sofia Andersson, who is an antiquarian at the Stockholm County Administrative Board, in a press release.

The silver coins have been dated to the 12th century and some of the coins bear the text “KANUTUS”, which means Knut in Latin – indicating they are from the time of Knut Eriksson’s reign as king of Sweden.

Three types of coins found in the treasure: KANUTUS coins, Gotland coins and bishop coins. Photo: Stockholm County Administrative Board

The treasure also contains some rare bishop coins, which were coins manufactured in Europe by bishops. These coins feature a bishop holding a crosier in his right hand. Lin Annerbäck, head of the Medieval Museum in Stockholm, describes the treasure as unique and believes it can tell us much about Sweden’s history.

It is completely unique, we have no other medieval treasures from Stockholm. And then it also appears to be extremely large. So it’s very exciting. she tells the Swedish newspaper DN.

The location where the treasure was found is currently being kept secret due to the risk of illegal treasure hunters. Archaeologists will further examine the site and the treasure as well as evaluate it.

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel suspended after Kirk monologue

Published 18 September 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Jimmy Kimmel together with Kamala Harris (D) in June 2024.
3 minute read

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has been suspended from US television network ABC after controversial statements about the murder of Charlie Kirk. The decision has sparked strong reactions in both American politics and the entertainment industry.

ABC has decided to pause the talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely. The background is a monologue where Kimmel questioned the White House’s official version of the motive behind the murder of right-wing profile Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel suggested that the perpetrator could be linked to the Trump movement, rather than the radical left, and accused the president’s allies of “scoring political points” from the murder.

The Maga Gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.

The comment sparked immediate backlash. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened ABC with action and argued that Kimmel’s words undermine public trust.

Shortly thereafter, the network announced that the program would be suspended until further notice. Several major stations, including Nexstar Media, followed suit and stopped broadcasts nationally.

Jokes about Trump’s grief

Jimmy Kimmel also made ironic comments about Trump’s alleged grief after the murder. Kimmel began by showing a video clip from the weekend where a reporter first asks the president how he feels after the murder.

But between all the pointing, they’re also grieving… On a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.

After Trump responded to the reporter that he feels “very good”, he quickly shifts the conversation to talk about the construction start of the new ballroom at the White House and how beautiful it will be.

This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, said Jimmy Kimmel.

Donald Trump: “Kimmel talentless”

Donald Trump expressed his approval of the decision on social media and called Kimmel “talentless” while commenting on the program’s “low ratings”. The White House then backed up Trump’s tone, claiming that television audiences benefited from the decision to stop Kimmel.

The announcement has simultaneously created a storm of criticism, not least from Democratic leaders.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer argues that threats against media broadcasting licenses due to satire and opinion statements constitute a serious threat to freedom of speech. Schumer compared the action to methods reminiscent of authoritarian states.

That’s what Xi does. That’s what Putin does, said Schumer.

The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel has quickly become a symbol for many of the increased political polarization in America’s media landscape.

The question of what responsibility and freedom comedians and satirists have in polarized times continues to be debated, and critics warn that the suspension risks creating a barrier between those in power and free media.

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