China said its economy shrank 6.8 percent (FT) in the first quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. It was the country’s first contraction since the 1970s, signaling serious challenges ahead for the global economy.
 
China shut down parts of its economy (Nikkei Asian Review) in January to address the spread of the coronavirus. The government has since announced around $184 billion in fiscal measures to counteract its downturn. By March, China’s unemployment rate declined (Bloomberg) to 5.9 percent from February’s 6.2 percent, according to official numbers. While state media reports that the government plans to cut interest rates more to boost domestic demand, analysts say much of China’s rebound will depend on demand from abroad.

Myanmar announced it will release (Reuters) nearly twenty-five thousand prisoners in an amnesty honoring the traditional New Year. Last year, around twenty-three thousand people were freed.

A Taliban spokesperson said the militant group freed (RFE/RL) twenty Afghan prisoners as part of confidence-building measures with the Afghan government outlined in a U.S.-Taliban deal. Earlier this month, the Taliban released twenty other prisoners.
 
Tajikistan: Reporter Daler Sharifov was sentenced to a year in prison (Reuters) for hate speech after publishing a dissertation quoting leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Committee to Protect Journalists said the charges are absurd and called for his release.

The White House approved $5 million in aid (Times of Israel) for the Palestinian response to the coronavirus after previously cutting all aid to the Palestinian Authority.
 
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia announced new measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus among migrant workers (FT). These include temperature checks, surface disinfection, and isolation rooms. Migrant workers make up 75 percent of the country’s private sector labor force.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Krithika Varagur looks at how the coronavirus threatens Saudi Arabia’s global ambitions.

Nigeria’s security forces have killed eighteen people (This Day) while enforcing restrictions due to the coronavirus since the lockdown began on March 30, the country’s National Human Rights Commission said.
 
South Africa: The country will allow mines to operate at up to 50 percent capacity (Reuters) after most had been ordered to halt activity during a coronavirus lockdown.

In a letter to the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain proposed a “binding mechanism” on distributing asylum applicants (Politico). In recent days, Italy and Malta declared their ports unsafe to rescue ships, and many countries in the European Union’s passport-free area restored their internal borders.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Robert Malley and Richard Malley write that the coronavirus crisis could lead to massive refugee flows.
 
Russia, Ukraine: Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists in the country’s eastern region exchanged thirty-four prisoners (RFE/RL) in a confidence-building swap.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired (Guardian) his health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who encouraged strict lockdown measures to fight the coronavirus, while Bolsonaro called for a swift economic reopening.
 
This CFR In Brief looks at how Bolsonaro’s skepticism of the virus’s severity clashes with other Brazilian authorities’ attitudes.
 
Mexico: Workers at factories for U.S. companies near Mexico’s northern border held protests calling for factory closures (Reuters) following several deaths apparently linked to the coronavirus.

New White House guidelines for lifting coronavirus-related lockdowns call for governors to set their own timelines (CNN). President Donald J. Trump also said states should manage their own testing capabilities. Several Midwest states agreed to coordinate their reopening strategies.