Over a thousand people in Reykjavik took part in Saturday’s march in support of the father and son of Cuban origin who temporarily left Iceland a week ago due to racially motivated abuse. Read the full story

Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen has won the latest round of the World Rally Championship in Australia, extending his lead in the title race. Read the full story

Driving his Ford Focus, Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala truly dominated the Rally of Italy-Sardinia to take the racing event. This race was the sixth stage in the current World Rally Championship season, and the first victory for the Finn-dominated Ford team since it took the Japan Rally at the end of 2008. Read the full story

Jens Stoltenberg, the Prime Minister of Norway, ripped around the Norway Rally circuit as World Champ Sebastien Loeb’s passenger in a celebration of new technology at this year’s Rally Norway. Using a cutting-edge Citroen C4 hybrid WRC car, the pair likely cruised at a somewhat slower speed than Loeb normally drives on such circuits. Read the full story

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb is enjoying the perfect start to the new World Rally Championship campaign by making it two out of two after winning Rally Norway over the weekend. Loeb, who races for Citroen, had to fight hard to keep Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen at bay but was able to fend off the Ford driver to win the race. Read the full story

The 29th International Icelandic Rally kicks off today in Reykjavik. The three-day event takes in some of the most challenging and picturesque routes in southern and western Iceland.

Ranging over tarmac, loose pumice, glacier-smoothed rock and just plain bumpy gravel; Rally Reykjavik is an unforgettable challenge for all involved, and the unpredictable Icelandic weather always has the potential to shake things up even further.

A short leg today is followed by a tour of the South around Mount Hekla tomorrow. Saturday is the final day and is the longest leg of the rally around western Iceland and back to the centre of Reykjavik for the finish – right in the middle of Reykjavik’s Menningarnott celebrations where the streets will be thronged with people cheering the cars home.

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, a four-time world champion auto rally racer, won his first Finnish Rally last week. He completed the three-day, 24-stage race with a total time of 2 hours 54 minutes and 5.5 seconds.

This was the 42nd time that Loeb has won a world championship race, squeaking past Finnish racer Mikko Hirvonen with just 9 seconds between the two. “It’s fantastic, an incredible feeling, winning here in Finland means so much to me,” Loeb told reporters after winning the rally. “I desperately wanted to win this rally,” Loeb added. “Getting a win here was more important to me than just getting points.”
The points Loeb picked up do matter, however, as he narrowed Hirvonen’s overall lead to just a single point. Loeb’s sense of pride was justified, since the high-speed gravel roads of this annual rally in Finland have traditionally been dominated by local drivers. Since the event began in 1951, non-Scandinavians have only managed to win four times, Loeb included.

The Frenchman led the Finnish Rally throughout every stage, but Hirvonen kept the pressure on until the very end. “I wanted to win here, but it was still a fantastic event,” said Hirvonen, who had hoped to follow up last year’s victory by fellow Finn Marcus Gronholm.

This May Day ranked among the bloodiest in the history of Helsinki according to Finnish Police reports noted in the Finnish News Agency (STT).

Local police are still investigating ten serious violent crimes which occurred in the capital on Wednesday and Thursday.

Inspector Jari Koski from the Helsinki police said about the violence: “It is a wonder that nobody died.”

Among the ten violent incidents over the two day period were several knifings as well as an incident in which a man was stabbed in the neck with a used syringe.

May Day was celebrated on Wednesday night and Thursday with gatherings of tens of thousands of people in downtown Helsinki.

According to those who were present at the EuroMayDay rally on Wednesday night, police were aggressively provoking those present – particularly the organisers.

According to one of the media spokespeople for the event, Dan Koivusalo, the police caused problems before the bottles starting flying.

“I think it is incomprehensible that the police stopped a well run demonstration and the first people they detained were those responsible for keeping order,” Mr Koivusalo said.

Helsinki police officer Inspector Petri Juvonen told the STT that ten people were arrested for fighting the police during the May Day eve rally.

“Mainly there was bottle throwing. I am not sure if all of it was in connection with the demonstration,” Inspector Juvonen said. He didn’t comment on any injuries among the police force.

Police arrested 27 demonstrators at the EuroMayDay rally but they were all released on Thursday. Police estimate that 500 people took part in the rallies.