But Lou on Monday struck a bullish tone, saying Beijing's leaders had "ample confidence" that the economy would rebound.
"China has more favourable conditions than challenges in its economic development," he insisted.
"The underlying trend of a rebound in the economy and long-term growth remains unchanged," he said.
But, he added, Premier Li Qiang would not be holding a press conference at the end of the NPC, in a break with decades-long tradition.
Li had used the briefing last year to warn that Beijing's modest growth goals would be "no easy task".
China is also set to double down on national security, with analysts expecting it to increase its military budget, second only to the United States.
Beijing revised a law dramatically expanding its definition of espionage last year and conducted raids on a string of big-name consulting, research and due diligence firms.
The legislature's top body also approved a broad and vaguely worded revision to the country's state secrets law in the run-up to the NPC.
Lynette Ong, a professor at the University of Toronto, told AFP there would "be continued emphasis on security".
"I don't expect any major policy change such as important structural reforms that will change the course of economic trajectory," she added.
On paper, the NPC wields little actual power.
All major decisions will have been made weeks before in closed-door meetings of the Communist Party, far from the international media's cameras.
But the topics that are up for discussion and the tone of the speeches allow for key insights into what's keeping China's rulers up at night, analysts say.
"Balancing security with the need to keep the economy ticking over while other issues are worked out is at the centre of policymaker's minds," said Diana Choyleva, chief economist at Enodo Economics.
About 19 per cent of the 1,148 or more fish species in the Mekong are heading towards extinction, said the conservationists' report – The Mekong's Forgotten Fishes – adding that the number may be higher as too little is known about 38 per cent of the species to gauge their conservation status.
Among those facing extinction are 18 species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, including two of the world's largest catfish, the world's largest carp and the giant freshwater stingray.
"Some of the largest and rarest fish ... anywhere on earth occur on the Mekong River," Hogan said.
Fish depletion in the Mekong - which accounts for over 15 per cent of the world's inland catch, generating over US$11 billion annually - could harm food security for at least 40 million people in the Lower Mekong basin whose livelihood depends on the river, the report said.
Hogan said it was "not too late" for countries in the delta to coordinate efforts to reverse the adverse impacts on the fish population.
"If we take action, collectively take action, to develop the river sustainably, there’s still hope," he said.
CAIRO: Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis vowed on Sunday (Mar 3) to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf of Aden following the sinking of UK-owned vessel Rubymar.
The US military confirmed on Saturday that the UK-owned vessel Rubymar had sunk after being struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Yemeni Houthi militants on Feb 18.
"Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britain's bill," Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister in the Houthi-led government, said in a post on X.
"It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza."
Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's military actions in Gaza.
Their Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.
The US and Britain began striking Houthi targets in Yemen in January in retaliation for the attacks on Red Sea shipping.
"The summit will reaffirm the longstanding and substantive relations between ASEAN and Australia, and discuss ways to deepen and expand cooperation, especially in the green and digital economies," said PMO.
"The leaders will exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, and on how to continue working with Australia in building an open, inclusive, and stable region."
Mr Albanese said building Australia’s links with Southeast Asia is "a priority" for his government.
"Australia sees ASEAN at the centre of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous region. Strengthening our relationship ensures our shared future prosperity and security," he said, adding that he looked forward to welcoming his counterparts.
Mr Lee will be accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, as well as officials from PMO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During Mr Lee's absence, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will be Acting Prime Minister.
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) -A UK-owned ship attacked by Houthi militants last month sank in the Red Sea, the U.S. military confirmed on Saturday, as it echoed a warning from Yemen's internationally recognised government that the vessel's cargo of hazardous fertiliser posed a risk to marine life.
The Belize-registered Rubymar is the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial ships in November. Those drone and missile assaults have forced shipping firms to divert ships to the longer route around southern Africa, disrupting global trade by delaying deliveries and sending costs higher.
The sinking bulk carrier also "presents a subsurface impact risk to other ships transiting the busy shipping lanes of the waterway," U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in its statement on social media platform X.
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control the north of Yemen and other large centres, say their campaign is a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The Houthi attacks have prompted a series of strikes against their positions by the United States and Britain, and have led other navies to send vessels to the region to try to protect the vital Suez Canal trade route.
The Rubymar went down in the southern Red Sea late on Friday or early on Saturday, according to statements from the Yemen government and CENTCOM.
The U.S. military previously said the Feb. 18 missile attack had significantly damaged the bulk vessel and caused an 18-mile (29-km) oil slick. The ship was carrying about 21,000 metric tons of fertiliser, CENTCOM said on Saturday.
Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, the foreign minister in Yemen's internationally recognised government in Aden, said in a post on X: "The sinking of the Rubymar is an environmental catastrophe that Yemen and the region have never experienced before.
"It is a new tragedy for our country and our people. Every day we pay the price for the adventures of the Houthi militia ..."
The internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, has been at war with the Houthis since 2014.
MARINE LIFE THREATENED
The release of such large amounts of fertiliser into the Red Sea poses a serious threat to marine life, said Ali Al-Sawalmih, director of the Marine Science Station at the University of Jordan.
The overload of nutrients can stimulate excessive growth of algae, using up so much oxygen that regular marine life cannot survive, said Al-Sawalmih, describing a process called eutrophication.
"An urgent plan should be adopted by countries of the Red Sea to establish monitoring agenda of the polluted areas in the Red Sea as well as adopt a cleanup strategy," he said.
The overall impact depends on how ocean currents deplete the fertiliser and how it is released from the stricken vessel, said Xingchen Tony Wang, assistant professor at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College.
The ecosystem of the southern Red Sea features pristine coral reefs, coastal mangroves and diverse marine life.
Last year, the area avoided a potential environmental disaster when the United Nations removed more than 1 million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker moored off the Yemen coast. That type of operation may be more difficult in the current circumstances.
The Houthi attacks have stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread, destabilising the wider Middle East.
In a separate report, the UKMTO agency said it had received a report of a ship being attacked 15 nautical miles west of Yemen's port of Mokha.
"The crew took the vessel to anchor and were evacuated by military authorities," the UKMTO said in an advisory note.
Italy's defence ministry also said that one of its naval ships had shot down a drone flying towards it in the Red Sea.
The Houthi Transport Ministry, meanwhile, said there had been a "glitch" in undersea communication cables in the Red Sea as a result of actions by U.S. and British naval vessels. It did not give further details.
(Reporting by Mohammad Ghobari in Aden, Andrew Mills in Doha, Yomb Ehab in Cairo and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Writing by Enas Alashray, Andrew Mills and Mark Potter; Editing by Alison Williams, Giles Elgood and Jamie Freed)
Ms Wora Sukraroek, a member of Thailand Extraterritorial Obligations (ETO) Watch Coalition said she believes that the Hongsa plant would have faced many more obstacles if it was constructed or operating in Thailand itself.
“The reason why these Thai companies go out to invest abroad is because, this type of project, if you did it in Thailand, there will be civil society resistance, protests and so many other things. The environmental impact assessment (EAI) has to go through a public participation process,” she said.
A company building a coal plant would need to do modelling of gas and mercury deposition, and develop a rigorous monitoring system.
“I think this project would be delayed in Thailand and the communities in this area would demand compensation based on the impacts.
“All of these factors are the key drivers why they are going out to tap into the resources of neighbouring countries,” she said.
Despite the apparent transboundary impacts, no Thai environmental law applies to Hongsa’s operations. Ms Wora said ETO’s goal is to pressure Thai investors to comply with “sustainable, best practice principles” with their overseas practices.
“Or to demand a little bit more accountability to the needs and the interests of the communities and comply with the principle of human rights,” she said, citing the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
“At least demonstrate the goodwill of engaging communities, talking about the impacts of the project and disclose the information that is necessary for the communities to know about the environmental and social impacts that directly impact them and their health,” she added.
Within Thailand, the citizen science model being fostered in Nan - using smartphones and simple sampling - could be a pilot project for more locally-led environmental data gathering, instead of communities being entirely subjected to conclusions reached by consultancy groups engaged by the developers themselves.
As for the Lao population living in close proximity to the plant, Prof Tanapol said this modelling shows that they too are likely experiencing impacts. New relocation villages were built when the plant was constructed to move people away from its immediate surroundings.
But with no ability to perform any tests across the border, there is little firm evidence that could be presented to advocate for the welfare of those communities.
WASHINGTON: Three United States military cargo planes airdropped food into the besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday (Mar 2), an American official said, as the coastal territory faces a growing humanitarian crisis after months of war.
"We conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Gaza" involving three US Air Force C-130s to provide "relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict", a US Central Command official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The planes dropped "66 total bundles of pork-free meals" on Saturday afternoon local time, the official said, adding that a tonnage figure is not currently available.
In that incident, dozens of desperate Palestinians were killed rushing a convoy in northern Gaza, which has been under siege since Hamas' Oct 7 attack on Israel, and where the United Nations has warned of famine.
Biden has pushed Israel to reduce civilian casualties and allow aid in, while at the same time, he has maintained military assistance for the key US ally.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that the United States planned to carry out multiple airdrops that would last weeks.
He described it as a "tough military operation" that required careful planning by the Pentagon for the safety of both Gazan civilians and US military personnel.
