The news year 2023 was tough. At the turn of the year, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine continued, and Finland moved towards the defense alliance NATO.
We collected the most memorable news photos for this story.
Turkey was rocked by a series of strong earthquakes in February. More than 50,000 people were killed in Turkey and neighboring Syria.
Ylen Foreign Editor Tom Kankkonen reported from the earthquake zone and returned there in May.
Russia continued its merciless war of aggression in Ukraine throughout the year. Russia has targeted civilian targets and more than 10,000 civilians have died during the almost two-year war of aggression.
journalists continued their work in Ukraine throughout the year. You can read about this story by ‘s award-winning photojournalist Benjamin Finland about work in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, April 4, Finland became NATO’s 31st member country with historic speed. Foreign minister Pekka Haavisto handed over Finland’s accession document to his American counterpart To Anthony Blinken in Brussels.
Finns are still strongly in favor of NATO membership.
In the spring, Finland got confused about Käärijä. Käärijä, i.e. from Vantaa Jere Pöyhönen represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest in May in Liverpool and got a lot of attention there as well.
Finland got the highest number of audience points in the final, but lost to Sweden in the points awarded by the jury.
Liverpool fans cheered Käärijä in an interview with . 6 year old Arthur Wright had made a Finnish flag and learned the Cha Cha Cha dance.
King Charles III and the queen Camilla was crowned in London in May, and Britons flocked to the streets to watch the events.
Not everyone was excited about the new king. This story shows how many young people think the monarchy is old-fashioned.
President of the United States Joe Biden the visit messed up Helsinki’s traffic on July 13.
Policemen and conscripts were seen in the street scene when Biden was visited by the president Sauli Niinistön hosted by the Nordic and American summit. Security measures were strict and partly secret.
Air Force One carrying President Joe Biden landed at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport after ten in the evening. The people of Helsinki followed Biden’s journey to the center of Helsinki along the roads. The landing of the famous plane in Finland also excited airplane fans.
The Barbie movie created an international pink craze in the summer and broke box office records. Events related to the film were organized around the world. In Bolivia, girls dance in a Barbie parade in the city of La Paz.
Greta Gerwig the film he directed could also be seen in Russia despite the sanctions. Ylen Russia correspondent Heikki Heiskanen tells in a video how it is possible.
In late summer, record-breaking forest fires raged in Canada, under which thousands of people were evacuated.
Forest fires are common in the Quebec region during the summer season, but last spring fires were detected exceptionally early. The fires spread rapidly and their smoke polluted the breathing air on the US side as well.
Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time.
President of the Spanish Football Association at the medal ceremony Luis Rubiales kissed the star player Jennifer Hermosoa to the mouth. Hermoso filed a criminal complaint. In September, Rubiales announced his resignation.
‘s sports reporter Jelena Leppänen opened the chain of events in his analysis.
Record heats tormented Southern Europe in the summer. Still, many Finnish tourists headed south on vacation.
In this story, we tell you that travel agencies do not report current temperatures on their websites, but sell vacations to their destinations, even though extreme heat, wildfires and drought plague the Mediterranean countries.
Former President of the United States and running for office again Donald Trump was filmed at a police station in Atlanta in August. The so-called “mug shot” was taken when Trump surrendered to police in Atlanta, Georgia.
Trump is accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Other charges have also been brought against Trump.
US Correspondent Iida Tikka ponders in his analysis of Trump’s chances of winning next year’s elections.
Founder of the Russian mercenary company Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin marched his troops towards Moscow on Midsummer. In August, Prigozhin died in a plane crash in Russia.
In the Maa maila paupuu podcast, we consider what kind of traces the coup attempt left on Russia.
The footage in the video below may shock you.
The Palestinian extremist organization Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people. Editor of Antti Kuronen reported from the Kafir Azan kibbutz on the Gaza border after the attack.
The terrorists also attacked a music festival popular with young people, from which they took hostages. An estimated 260 young revelers died trying to escape the attackers.
Israel launched an attack on Gaza right after the Hamas attack.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 20,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes. Among them are more than 3,000 children. There are practically no other statistics available on the victims of the Israeli attack other than the numbers reported by the Hamas-controlled health authority.
In this story, researchers assess whether a genocide is taking place in Gaza.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepened rapidly in late autumn.
The largest hospital in the region, al-Shifa, was caught in the middle of fighting between Israel and Hamas, and the premature babies being treated were stuck in a non-functioning hospital. In the end, 31 babies were evacuated to Egypt.
Two Swedish soccer fans were killed in October when a self-proclaimed ISIS supporter opened fire on soccer supporters in Brussels.
A man opened fire in the city center a few kilometers from the stadium where Sweden was about to play a European Championship qualifying match against Belgium.
At the end of the year, the news was dominated by the situation on Finland’s eastern border.
The Vartius border crossing point was closed like most other border crossing points on November 24, when asylum seekers from third countries came to Finland from Russia. At the border crossings, a barrier made of so-called barbed wire was erected.
In the What’s the world talking about podcast, foreign journalists and correspondents review the past news year and anticipate the future.