Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat covered the new Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) mini-series which cost the public transport system 200,000 euros.
The series, Matka (roughly translated as "The Trip"), airs on Finnish channels Nelonen and Jim, and is also available on HSL's website and the Ruutu streaming service. It follows a reluctant commuter in Espoo who must use public transport, portrayed by actor Carl-Kristian Rundman.
But why did Finland's largest public transport system commission a series, HS asked.
The project has drawn scrutiny given HSL's financial struggles — the company posted a loss of more than 30 million euros earlier this year, while ticket prices have continued to rise.
HSL's head of marketing and brand, Anu Koskinen, defended the cost, describing the series as "a completely new kind of marketing and brand communication". She insisted the 200,000-euro price tag represented only 7 percent of HSL's annual marketing budget.
"HSL sees marketing as an investment, not an expense."
The campaign is aimed particularly at people who do not usually use public transport. According to HSL, the show has already attracted more than 100,000 viewers in its first days on air.
Slim Jesus in Belgrade
Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reported that 18-year-old Finnish basketball phenom Miikka Muurinen stood courtside at a game for his new club Partizan Belgrade.
The Serbian side hosted Italian club Olimpia Milano in their second EuroLeague game of the season, winning 80–78. Muurinen did not play in the game, but stepped onto the court before tip-off, receiving loud applause from home fans.
Muurinen, nicknamed "Slim Jesus" is ranked as one of the top prospects in the sport for his age and played high school basketball for two seasons in the US.
As part of Finland's historic run to the EuroBasket semi-final, Muurinen was the tournament's youngest player and won its Rising Star award, making a name for himself with some iconic dunks.
The 2.11-metre (6 foot 10 inch) Muurinen signed for the Belgrade club last week, making the decision to play professionally in Europe, leaving his high school programme in the US and likely forgoing the option to play college basketball in the US.
Prior to his signing with Belgrade, storied college basketball teams like Arkansas, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, NC State and North Carolina showed interest in him.
Muurinen is a highly-touted NBA prospect and at the moment is slated to be a high pick in either the 2026 or 2027 draft. Finland currently has only one player in the NBA, the Utah Jazz's Lauri Markkanen.
Record root vegetable
Tampere-based newspaper Aamulehti reported that a local man set a new Finnish record for the longest carrot, with a specimen measuring 114 centimetres.
The carrot, grown by Petri Keskinen in Viitapohja, took first place at Finland's Giant Vegetable Championships in Mäntsälä on Sunday.
Keskinen explained that he started the plant indoors in March before moving it outside into a 1.5-metre drainage pipe filled with soil.
"I didn't really use much fertiliser, mostly just water," he told AL.
Although the carrot was unusually long, it was thin and, as Keskinen admitted, "not something many would even recognise as a carrot".
Keskinen, who works in logistics at Finland's national railway company VR, has been a member of the Finnish Giant Vegetable Association for several years and also grows other oversized produce in his garden.
This year's championships included 45 categories, with entries ranging from a 543-centimetre sunflower stem to a 276-kilogram pumpkin.
Last week, the All Points North podcast examined the trials and tribulations that foreigners in Finland can face when seeking out mental health care.
Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.