VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

China warned Friday that its huge economy will suffer an immense hit from the coronavirus, as the ongoing pandemic and national lockdowns, cause massive global job losses and Russia faces a steep increase in deaths. As quoted by AFP.com, as Beijing's communist rulers failed, to set an annual growth target for the first time in decades, Asian markets fell, further battered by Chinese moves to crack down on Hong Kong's treasured autonomy.

China's e-commerce giant Alibaba added to the gloom by reporting an 88 percent drop in first quarter net profit, despite higher than forecast revenue. New coronavirus infections have begun to dip in much of the world, but the economic damage from the pandemic is only just beginning, and the disease is continuing its deadly march in Latin America and Russia//AFP

The US has announced it will withdraw from a major accord that permits unarmed aerial surveillance flights over dozens of participating countries. The Open Skies Treaty came into force in 2002 and is designed to boost confidence and assure against attacks. But senior US officials said the country was withdrawing due to repeated Russian violations of its terms. US President Donald Trump later said there was a very good chance we'll reach a new agreement with Russia.

The US will formally withdraw from the accord in six months, officials said. One official told Reuters news agency that during the course of this review it has become abundantly clear that it is no longer in America's interests to remain a party to the Open Skies Treaty. Some 35 nations are party to the treaty, including Russia, Canada and the UK//(BBC/Reuters)

China is proposing to introduce a new security law in Hong Kong that could ban sedition, secession and subversion. The move is likely to provoke strong opposition internationally and in Hong Kong, which was last year rocked by months of pro-democracy protests. China's delayed National People's Congress, its legislature, will debate the issue when it opens on Friday. Chinese media said the move defended national security, but opponents said it could be the "end of Hong Kong".

Demonstrators in Hong Kong have repeatedly protested against what they see as a gradual erosion of the territory's autonomy by the communist lead government in Beijing. The last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, called the move a "comprehensive assault on the city's autonomy". President Donald Trump said the US would react strongly if China followed through with its proposals//(BBC/AFP/Reuters)

Member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have been advised, in a new policy brief to adopt an open trade policy to safeguard food security, in the region amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief has been drafted by the APEC Policy Support Unit, according to a press release issued by the unit, which was received here on Thursday. As quoted by Antara, the recent policy brief on export restrictions and food security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows that the variety of movement restrictions implemented across borders have affected the supply of food, especially perishables such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, seafood, and meat.

Carlos Kuriyama, senior analyst with the APEC Policy Support Unit said, some governments have reacted to episodes of panic buying, by implementing export bans or restrictions on certain food products, hoping to secure the availability of food. Kuriyama, who is the author of the policy brief, explained that those measures (bans and restrictions on food trade) could threaten food security and increase food prices, which would be detrimental to citizens, especially the poorest households. The APEC region’s food security environment is in better shape today compared to the global food crisis of 2007–2008//Ant