If the situation in Iran drags on for months, people in Finland will start to feel it, reports to Ilta-Sanomat.
The war in Iran is set to weigh on consumers' wallets, though Sari Forsman-Hugg, research director from Pellervo Economic Research (PTT), does not expect a surge in food prices on the scale seen in 2022.
Rising fertiliser costs are likely to feed through to grain and animal-feed production. Prices of goods such as coffee may also face upward pressure, driven by higher transport costs.
Meanwhile, Hanna Kalenoja, a transport expert at the Finland Chamber of Commerce, told IS that Finnish consumers should brace for higher fuel prices in the coming weeks. Diesel, in particular, appears more vulnerable to price increases than gasoline.
Yle News' All Points North podcast heard how food prices have risen by as much as 25 percent since the pandemic.
Defining happiness
Finland has once again been ranked the world's happiest country in a survey covering 147 countries.
Many talking to Hufvudstadsbladet in Helsinki seem taken aback that the country has held on to the top spot.
This past winter, Finland recorded the highest unemployment rate in the EU. At the same time, the economic outlook remains subdued, with high public debt and sluggish growth.
"The situation with unemployment is very bad, and many people are struggling because of it. There are enough resources to meet basic needs, but not much more," Pyry Korhonen told the paper.
Maternal instincts
Why do mothers know everything? That's a question posed to Helsingin Sanomat's children's science corner by five-year-old Onni.
Matilda Sorkkila, a psychologist at Helsinki University, said that moms generally do know a great deal thanks to life experience, and at times, mothers seem to know things about their children even before kids tell them. Some researchers think this maternal instinct is linked to changes in hormones after childbirth, helping them pick up on even the smallest changes in a child's behaviour.
Motherhood is often accompanied by a maternal myth, which is the idea that mothers can do everything. In reality, they can do a lot, but they also need to rest and sometimes make mistakes, Sorkkila told Onni.
