VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Trump administration appeared to join local officials on Thursday in advising Americans to wear masks when venturing out during the still-exploding coronavirus pandemic, as the U.S. death toll rose by 1,000 in a single day for the first time. Speaking at a White House briefing, Deborah Birx, a member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would issue guidelines in the coming days on the use of face coverings. As of Thursday evening the U.S. death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus, stood at 5,821, with more than 241,000 positive cases across all 50 states. Global cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday with more than 52,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally based on country by country data//Reuters

Signs that Saudi Arabia and Russia may end an oil feud sent prices up more than 20% on Wednesday, the biggest one-day leap on record. US President Donald Trump said he expected the two sides to cut supply, while Saudi Arabia called for an emergency meeting of oil producers. The Russian energy minister also said his country may re-enter talks. A deal to cut production - in response to the drop in demand from coronavirus shutdowns - collapsed last month. Since then, the cost of crude has fallen to lows not seen for almost two decades as Russia and Saudi Arabia slashed prices and ramped up production in a fight for market share. Those moves, alongside the wider collapse in demand, have caused US oil to its worst quarter on record. Prices fell by two thirds in the first three months of the year, rocking the American energy sector. The international benchmark, Brent crude, rose 21% to finish at $29.94 a barrel and the price of US oil, known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), jumped almost 25% to $25.32. Both were record gains. A cut of 10 million barrels per day would amount to about 10% of global output//BBC

The World Bank on Thursday (Apr 2) said it had approved an initial US$1.9 billion in emergency funds for coronavirus response operations in 25 developing countries, with more than half the aid earmarked to help fight the fast-spreading disease in India. Action on projects in scores of emerging market countries is expected in the coming days and weeks, the World Bank said. In addition, the bank said it was working to redeploy resources in existing World Bank financed projects worth up to US$1.7 billion. The bank has said it is prepared to spend up to US$160 billion over the next 15 months to combat the pandemic. World Bank Group President David Malpass said the institutional lender was moving quickly to strengthen the ability of developing countries to respond to the virus, and shorten the time to economic and social recovery//Reuters

China on Wednesday said it has more than 1,300 asymptomatic coronavirus cases, the first time it has released such data following public concern over people who have tested positive but are not showing symptoms.  As quoted by AFP.com (01/4), Health officials also reported the first imported case from abroad in Wuhan -- the epicentre where the virus first emerged late last year -- heightening fears of infections being brought into China from other countries. Of 36 new cases reported Wednesday, 35 were imported from abroad. The National Health Commission (NHC) said 1,367 asymptomatic patients were under medical observation, with 130 new cases added in the last day. The NHC announced Tuesday that it would respond "to public concerns" by starting to publish daily data on asymptomatic cases, which it said were infectious. There were mass calls online calls for the information after authorities revealed over the weekend that an infected woman in Henan province had been in close contact with three asymptomatic cases//AFP