The latest twist in US President Donald Trump's demands on Greenland dominate the headlines in Finland's newspapers on Thursday morning.
Helsingin Sanomat writes that Trump has now cancelled the threat he made last week to impose punitive tariffs on Finland and seven other countries if they stand in the way of his plans for a US takeover of Greenland.
This U-turn follows Trump's meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, HS reports, after which the US president announced that an "understanding had been reached".
While the exact details of this 'understanding' are still hazy, HS cites a source within CNN as saying that it will involve a reworking of the agreement made between the United States and Denmark in 1951 on defending the Arctic territory.
This reworking could involve Denmark giving the US control over new "small" areas of Greenland, according to HS — this time citing a New York Times insider.
A Nato spokesperson meanwhile noted that the agreement currently being drafted will not only pertain to the US and Denmark, but also to other countries operating in the Arctic region — including Finland.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) will meet other EU leaders on Thursday to discuss relations with the US, the cancellation of the tariff threat, and the draft agreement over Greenland's future.
With newspapers scrambling to make sense of the US president's tactics, tabloid Iltalehti heads to a Helsinki daycare to hear the children's thoughts on taking something that does not belong to you.
"If I want something, I ask, 'May I have it?' 6-year-old Viljo says. "If they refuse, I can’t take it without permission. That feels bad."
Out of the mouths of babes, as the saying goes.
"Too frequent and too strenuous"
Staying with the subject of children, Ilta-Sanomat returns to a subject often raised in Finland's public discourse — are the demands of organised sports leading to kids suffering too many injuries?
The question arises from a report by Iltalehti, published earlier this week, which revealed that up to half of children in Finland who regularly participate in sports have sustained some kind of injury in the past year — many of them due to over-exertion.
"Children attend practice four times a week, where they train at high intensity," sports physician Harri Hakkarainen told IL. "This of course puts strain on, for example, the lower back. Some have too little leisure-time activity that would allow the body to recover."
One Helsinki-based father, whose three children aged 10-12 all play football, argues that children's hobbies in Finland are "too frequent and too strenuous".
He has noticed that his children, and their teammates, often suffer similar injuries — in particular to the knees and the heels. He believes this is because the training sessions are too narrowly focused on repetitive tasks, instead of having a broader range of activities that would strengthen the core muscles.
Overall though, he wonders if children who are still in elementary school should have to undergo such demanding training sessions 4-5 times per week.
"Does sport really have to be taken so seriously?" he asks.
Clothes maketh the … dog
Tampere-based daily Aamulehti meanwhile asks if dogs should wear a coat when going outside during Finnish winter, in one of the paper's most popular articles on Thursday.
The phenomenon of dogs wearing anything — and indeed, everything — from an overcoat to a fleece jacket to waterproof boots has become a common sight on the streets of Finland in recent years.
But putting on clothes and especially footwear can feel very unnatural for dogs, often leading to them walking in a way that seems more "reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch", Aamulehti writes.
Local vet Antti Mikkonen tells the paper that deciding whether or not to dress your pet during winter depends on the dog — short-haired and smaller breeds, as well as older dogs, should don some form of warm clothing when going for walks, he says, as the risk of hypothermia exists for them just as it does for humans.
Other breeds, such as huskies and Finnish Lapphunds, are better suited to winter conditions and therefore may not necessarily need clothing.
For those who do need to be dressed, it's good to get them used to the habit early in life, according to poodle-owner Miia Rimpiläinen.
"Probably no dog likes putting on clothes if they haven’t been taught to enjoy it from puppyhood," Rimpiläinen tells AL.
