Finnish

Nokia to reorganize business; launches low-cost handset series

NokiaHelsinki  - Finnish-based mobile telephone maker Nokia on Tuesday said it was to reorganize its operations and shut down a site in Finland.

The world's largest mobile telephone maker said it would shut down its plant in Turku, which employs 220. The employees were to be offered the option of relocating to Salo and Helsinki.

The group was also to reorganize its sales and marketing activities, which could mean the loss of 450 jobs, 100 of which are in Finland.

Finnish Nobel Peace laureate Ahtisaari to get stamp

Helsinki - A stamp featuring former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, winner of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, iss to be issued December 10, the Finnish Philatelic Centre said Wednesday.

The stamp will go on sale the day Athisaari receives his Nobel prize at a ceremony in Oslo. He is being honoured for his mediation efforts in international hotspots.

The stamp with Ahtisaari's portrait will be worth 0.80 euros (1 dollar), for first class mail within Finland and abroad, Liisa Oksanen of the philatelic centre said.

A stamp featuring Ahtisaari, who served as president 1994-2000, was already issued 1997 when he turned 60.

Nokia reports lower net profit in Q3

NokiaHelsinki  - Finnish-based Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said Thursday its operating profit dropped by 21 per cent in the third quarter 2008.

Operating profit for the quarter was 1.46 billion euros (1.98 billion dollars), compared to 1.86 billion euros for the corresponding business period in 2007.

Net sales dropped 5 per cent in the quarter to 12.2 billion euros.

Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in a statement he believed Nokia was "well positioned for the current times," citing the group's "scale, brand, improving product portfolio and low cost structure."

All victims of Finnish school shooting now identified

Helsinki - Finnish police said Friday all 10 victims of this week's school shooting in western Finland have now been identified, but withheld their names.

The bodies of the victims - eight female students, one male student and a male teacher - were taken to Helsinki for formal identification after the bloodshed Tuesday at the trade school in Kauhajoki.

The identification process included matching DNA and dental records since the gunman, identified as Matti Saari, had set fires in the school and several of the bodies were burned.

Autopsies and other forensic tests were to determine the cause of death. Some victims may have died of asphyxiation or burns.

Sari, 22, died Tuesday of self-inflicted wounds after the rampage.

Police say school gunman survives suicide attempt

Helsinki- Finnish police, in an account contradicting a media
report, said Tuesday that the gunman in a school shooting spree in
western Finland survived a suicide attempt.

Gunman in Finnish school shooting dead

Helsinki - The gunman in a trade school shooting spree in western Finland is dead, the Finnish newspaper Ilkka reported Tuesday, citing police sources.

Pages