Finland is the best country in the world to live in, the Newsweek magazine announces.

Foreign Minister of Finland in a speech this week said that visa-free travel and free trade are the two top bilateral issues in Finnish-Russian relations.

Today we mark the 70 years anniversary for one of the many events that took place in the Northern areas of Norway, Russia and Finland during WWII. On August 16, 1940, the Norwegian Crown Princess Märtha, the Princesses Ragnhild and Astrid and Prince Harald, now King of Norway, left for the United States from Petsamo in Northern Finland on the US troop transport “American Legion” – the last neutral vessel allowed to leave Northern Europe.

Organized criminal gangs from Sweden are trying to get foothold in Finland, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation informs. Finland is in danger of becoming a much more violent place, the bureau says.

Industrial production in Finland in the first half of the year increased 7,8 percent year-on-year.

The Finnish Ministry of Finances has given green light to the border guard service’s purchase of new helicopters to use along the border to Russia.

More than 200 thousand Russian tourists visited Finland in the first six months of 2010. That is up about six percent compared with the same period in 2009.

Russian authorities have introduced an import ban on food products from 14 diary and meat product producers in Finland.

The Barents cooperation and movements towards visa-free rules are two of the themes that will be high on the agenda when Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev meets with Finland’s President Tarja Halonen on Tuesday.

Wondering where to go on vacation this summer? BarentsObserver has rated the Top 10 places in the Barents Region for vacation.