Jyrki Katiainen (cons), Finland's finance minister, has cancelled his visit to Maputo in Mozambique, according to a statement on Thursday by his special adviser Juha Kirstilä.

The minister was forced to delay his visit on Wednesday due to the restless situation.

Having received confirmation that he is not to enter Mozambique during the coming days, Katainen is now to return to Finland a day earlier than scheduled, on Friday.

Katainen was scheduled to meet with the finance minister and the deputy minister for foreign affairs and cooperation of Mozambique.

The restless situation was sparked by public outrage at the rising prices of food and fuels. The situation is acute in the capital city Maputo.

The finance minister traveled to southern Africa on Sunday.

STT

Finnish paper maker Stora Enso made a statement on Thursday denying reports that that it is planning a joint venture with two other Nordic forestry companies.

According to Stora Enso, no talks about creating a joint Nordic newsprint company have taken place.

The statement came in response to reports by Finnish national daily Helsingin Sanomat, earlier the same day, that Stora Enso was planning a joint newsprint company with two other Nordic forestry companies, Swedish Holmen and Norwegian Norske Skog.

According to Helsingin Sanomat, the companies wanted to combine production of newsprint because of its current weak profitability. The report told that papers were to be signed this autumn, so that the new company could take part in next year's annual newsprint price fixing negotiations.

STT

Both the economy and employment have taken a turn for the better, according to a report published on Thursday by the Finnish employment and the economy ministry and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

Depite the positive results, growth is expected to remain moderate and pre-recession levels are not to be reached for some time.

Construction and retail sectors have survived the recession better than expected. Big investments are expected in the capital city region, Kouvola, Pori and Kuopio. In southeastern and eastern Finland, the significance of Russian buyers is rising.

Construction has remained above the surface through repairs and stimulus projects. New building is also picking up.

The gloomiest clouds overshadow areas around Turku and Varkaus.

STT

Flushed with ratings success, the True Finns have listed their priorities for a future government.

TIMO SOINI, the chair of the right-wing True Finns, was not shy when listing his party's aims for the outcome of next spring's parliamentary elections. Commenting on 30 August, Soini confirmed that the True Finns wanted a place in government. And while they have a bunch of key priorities, they will not rule out an offer on the basis of a single issue.

Gathered in Porvoo's market square, Soini and his fellow True Finns MPs were evidently basking in the political sunshine: according to a Gallup poll released on 27 August by the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation (YLE), the True Finns have slightly strengthened their position as the fourth most popular party.

According to Minister of Migration and European Affairs, Astrid Thors, Finland has toughened its family reunification regulations. The changes came into force in the beginning of August. "Foster children are to have been in an actual relationship of dependency to the family reunifier before his or her coming to Finland. This is to ensure that these foster children are in fact in the position of a family member," the minister says.

The conditions for granting a residence permit to an underage person on the basis of a family relationship were also changed in the same legal reform. Now the granting is normally only possible when the child is underage at the time when the decision on the permit application is reached.

A series of high-profile cases of wrongdoing have not dented the reputation of the police.

SUSPECTED cases of malfeasance in recent years do not appear to have undermined Finns' faith in the police.

According to the latest "police barometer", Finns faith in the police force has strengthened slightly over the last three years. Ninety-six per cent of respondents felt that the Finnish police are either very trustworthy, or fairly trustworthy.

Police officers have recently been found in the dock as a result of operations by the Helsinki drug crime squad, undercover purchases by the National Bureau of Investigation...

As the number of suspected cases of narcolepsy nears 20, health officials fear a breakdown in the reporting procedures on suspected side effects.

THE MINISTRY of Social Affairs and Health does not believe that a possible link between the swine flu vaccine Pandemrix and narcolepsy has been subject to a widespread cover-up. According to now-public information, researchers were already aware of a possible link months ago, but withheld their suspicions while finalising a report on the matter.

Commenting on 26 August, Aino-Inkeri Hansson, Director-General of the Ministry's Department for Promotion of Welfare and Health, said: