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LONDON — Russian media report that the Kremlin plans to deploy ballistic missiles close to its border with Finland. It’s the latest in a series of military and hybrid threats that Russia has made against the Nordic state since it joined NATO in April last year in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian newspaper Izvestia reported Monday that a new brigade will be deployed in the Karelia region bordering Finland, equipped with an Iskander-M ballistic missile system. The Izvestia report quoted an ex-commander of Russia’s Baltic Fleet, Admiral Vladimir Valuev, who told the newspaper that "the formation of a missile brigade is a very timely decision. This is an adequate response to Finland’s accession to NATO.” Despite the proximity to Finland, the potential deployment is not raising alarm bells in Helsinki, said security analyst Charly Salonius-Pasternak of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. “This is really not news. And of course, announcing a thing and then doing something about it are two very different things when it comes from Russia. So overall, we really haven’t seen a lot other than rhetoric,” he told VOA. Finland has warned that it is facing varied security and hybrid threats from Russia since it joined NATO. In the second half of 2023, following Finland’s accession to the alliance, over 1,300 migrants from countries including Yemen, Syria and Somalia began to arrive at the Finnish-Russian border to try to claim asylum. Helsinki closed all crossing points along the frontier in November, accusing the Kremlin of weaponizing migration. They were reopened briefly, but swiftly closed again after another surge in migrant arrivals. The closure was extended indefinitely earlier this month. Finland wants the European Union to help in preventing any future migrant crisis. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo hosted the European Union’s Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on a tour of the border region Friday. “Now we have to find common solutions to stop this phenomenon when Russia uses illegal immigrants against us. We are preparing our own legislation, but we also need EU-level measures,” Orpo said. Von der Leyen pledged the EU’s support. “This is a new phenomenon. It is a hybrid threat, and it has to be dealt (with) as a hybrid threat to national security. And what we see is that a state is instrumentalizing poor people to put pressure on another state. So that is a clear security issue, and we will certainly be dealing for quite a long time with that, and we will have to prepare for that,” she told reporters at the Imatra border crossing on the Russian frontier. Finland is building a fence along part of the 1,340-kilometer (833-mile) border and increasing patrols. The government is debating legislation to block asylum-seekers entering from Russia. Von der Leyen said any such measures must strike a balance between protecting security and international obligations on the rights of refugees. The threats go beyond a migrant crisis, said analyst Charly Salonius-Pasternak. “The Russian security services, once some of these individuals have gotten to Finland, are seeking to recruit them to then cause further mayhem within Finland.” It’s part of Russia’s hybrid campaign against Finland and other NATO allies, Salonius-Pasternak added. “The Russian land forces are, of course, engaged in Ukraine, so we really haven't seen a lot of (military threats), except some posturing. But there's certainly an expectation from the Finnish authorities that cyber-attacks, maybe other attacks on infrastructure, as well as this weaponization of humans, will continue. Now that winter is slowly receding here, the long border becomes, of course, much more passable.” Russia denies trying to create a migrant crisis on the Finnish border. Moscow has described Finland's accession to NATO as a “historic mistake” that would force it to take what it called “countermeasures.”

In Eswatini, only 46% of girls complete secondary education, according to UNICEF, with pregnancy and poverty being major contributing factors. A new mentorship program for young rural girls, STEM Sisters, is designed to buck these trends by teaching coding, robotics, and engineering, opening doors to careers and opportunities they never knew existed. Nokukhanya Musi reports.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

SYDNEY — Scientists from Australia and the United Kingdom are developing genomic sequencing technology to save parrots caught in the illegal wildlife trade.   They say their forensic methods are similar to a database used by INTERPOL, the international police organization. Parrots are among the most trafficked birds in the illegal international wildlife trade. By using samples from feathers or a speck of blood, researchers from the Australian National University and King’s Forensics in the United Kingdom are working to build a genetic database of threatened bird species.   They hope to create a DNA library that would help authorities track illegal trade routes and reveal the origin of animals seized from smugglers. The research team says the genomic techniques are like those of INTERPOL’s I-Familia database, which is used to identify people based on international genetic kinship matching. George Olah of the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University’s College of Science told that threatened species of parrots need urgent protection. He said generally, the illegal wildlife trade is the fourth most lucrative crime in the world. “Like organized crime after arms trafficking, drugs and human trafficking,” he said. “Parrots are really prevalent in that trade that is in numbers of live animals. They are the most traded bird.” Olah said genetic databases will be able to identify the source of smuggled birds. “This would help, you know, local law enforcement agencies to better focus their limited budgets to these hotspots,” he said. “So, if you could work out that most of the trade in animals are coming just from a few islands, or from a specific region, then they can focus on that to actually break the chain.” Olah will travel to Indonesia next month to meet with local authorities and researchers. He says the illegal parrot trade is rife in the Indo-Pacific nation. Scientists say that in addition to being a threat to biodiversity, wildlife trafficking is an international public health issue because of its role in spreading zoonotic diseases. The National Institutes of Health in the United States says these are “a disease or infection that can be transmitted naturally from vertebrate animals to humans or from humans to vertebrate animals. More than 60% of human pathogens are zoonotic in origin.”  

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Mount Hampden, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwean authorities responded swiftly to the recent decline in the new gold-backed currency by apprehending illicit moneychangers and closing the bank accounts of businesses accused of exclusively dealing in U.S. dollars. On Monday, Zimbabwe business owners pleaded with parliamentary committees to ask the government to stop arresting moneychangers and re-open the bank accounts of companies accused of only accepting foreign currency. "This is an inception process of a monetary policy shift," said Sekai Kuvarika, the chief executive officer of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries. "So, let's give ourselves time. Let's give the market time. Let's give the policymakers time to iterate how the policy is going to work in our markets. But we definitely do not support that we accompany our policies with the police.” Last week, police arrested several people it said were fueling the black market where Zimbabwe’s new currency, called ZiG, introduced earlier this month, is trading at around 20 ZiG for one U.S. dollar.  The government’s official exchange rate is 13 ZiG to a dollar.  Owen Mavengere, with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe, said  arresting moneychangers causes panic. “The parallel market and those dealers in the streets are a symptom of the problem,"  Mavengere said. "Sending the police doesn't inspire confidence. So, we would rather have a situation where we handle the root cause. And use a soft approach." He said the government, and government-related services, should be the first to move from the dollar. "There must be deliberate effort to make sure that the government starts to take the ZiG,” Mavengere said. The government said for now, commodities like fuel and import duties will still be paid with U.S. dollars.   Parliament had summoned Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mushayavanhu to explain how the ZiG currency rollout would work, but for unspecified reasons neither attended.  Last week, Mushayavanhu announced a shift in the central bank’s policies — vowing to restore confidence in an institution that has failed to stabilize the nation’s currency. Ngonidzashe Mudekunye, chairman of Parliament’s Industry and Commerce Committee said he was happy to hear from business owners about the new currency. “We want to get feedback regarding the new policy, whether it’s working, whether the industry has new suggestions that may be helpful, to ensure that this new monetary policy works," he said. "We all want a stable currency. Everyone is crying for it. We got so many views; the market wants a stable currency. This is what we are going to suggest to them.” The next stage for ZiG — introducing physical notes and coins to the public — is set for April 30.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that the United States is looking into allegations of human rights abuses by Israel in its operations against Hamas in Gaza. Two people were seen being taken into custody during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia University on Monday. A prosecutor told jurors that Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public. The statement came Monday at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. And on Earth Day a ship which emits no pollution as it sails the seas.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to China this week for talks with senior officials in Shanghai and Beijing to discuss a range of issues, including Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Middle East crisis, the South China Sea, and human rights. State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching has more.

NEW YORK — Columbia University held virtual classes Monday on the sixth continuous day of student protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict.  University president Nemat “Minouche” Shafik sent an email to the Columbia community announcing that classes would be held virtually.  “The decibel of our disagreements has only increased in recent days,” Shafik wrote. “These tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas. We need a reset.” More than 100 students were arrested at the school April 18, after the university’s president authorized police to clear away protesters. Some of the students also received suspension notices from the school.  Columbia’s action prompted an onslaught of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at other universities and responses from faculty and politicians. The arrests occurred after students calling themselves Columbia University Apartheid Divest erected dozens of tents on a lawn at the center of the campus, establishing it as the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment." Following the arrests and the demolition of the original encampment, another pro-Palestine encampment sprung on an adjacent lawn. Students aren’t the only demonstrators experiencing tensions on campus and with the university administration. Monday morning, Business School assistant professor Shai Davidai was denied entry to the university for an attempted pro-Israel counter-protest on the occupied lawn after he refused to comply with the university’s counter-protest policies.  “I am a professor here; I have every right to be everywhere on campus. You cannot let people who support Hamas on campus, and me, a professor, not on campus. Let me in now,” he said after Columbia COO Cass Halloway stopped him and other pro-Israel protesters at the entrance gates. He has repeatedly called student protesters “violent maniacs” and “pro-Hamas terrorists.” A petition calling for Davidai’s dismissal has amassed nearly 9,000 signatures as of last Thursday night; additional grievances have been shared on social media and with the university. Some Jewish students at Columbia say that many criticisms of Israel are antisemitic and make them feel unsafe. Since the arrests, many student groups and Columbia affiliate groups have released statements condemning the university’s decision to arrest students, citing discriminatory enforcement of rules that limit students' freedom of speech.  Monday, hundreds of faculty members from across Columbia and Barnard staged a rally and walkout to urge the university to reverse the students’ suspensions. Some faculty members wore their graduation regalia and sashes reading “We support students.” The backlash from the protests has even reached the ear of U.S. President Joe Biden. When asked about the recent events at the university by reporters Monday, Biden said, “I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” Other campuses, such as Yale, Stanford, and New York University have also rallied around the Palestinian cause, calling for their universities to divest from companies with ties to Israel and for a ceasefire in Gaza. Many have put up tent encampments on their campuses. About 50 students were arrested at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, Monday after they refused to leave their encampment. Student protesters at Columbia have urged organizers of rallies outside the campus to “remember what we are protesting for” and focus on the war in Gaza, rather than just expressing solidarity with protesters.  Some information for this report was provided by Reuters and the Associated Press.  

Farmers in rural Malawi are learning to move away from over-dependence on maize, the country’s primary staple crop. A local charity Never Ending Food is teaching farmers about 200 types of food crops they can grow and eat. Lameck Masina reports from Lilongwe.