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HONG Kong officials eased Covid-19 lockdown restrictions this week as the infection numbers during the city’s fourth wave decline.

Channel NewsAsia reported that quarantine restrictions for people travelling from low-risk countries had also been relaxed before the Easter holidays.

The city also planned to lift bans on religious gatherings. However, the fourperson rule for gathering in a public space and wearing masks remain in place.

“The fourth wave has lasted about four months,” Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee said. | African News Agency (ANA)

Singapore

IN ITS bid to reduce carbon emissions, Singapore bus operator Go-Ahead has fitted solar panels on to two public buses in a six-month trial began this week.

According to Channel NewsAsia, a Singapore-based network, the solar panels which are fitted on the top of the bus can generate up to 1 000 watts of energy. This will be used to charge the bus’s battery in order to start the engine and will power the bus when the engine is turned off.

Based on data from a trial in the UK, a fitted bus can expect to save up to 4% of fuel, which is about 1 400 litres of diesel a year. | African News Agency (ANA)

India

FACEBOOK has announced that it is taking measures to curb hate speech and misinformation in India.

“We recognise that there are certain types of content, such as hate speech, that could lead to imminent, offline harm,” Facebook said in a statement this week.

India has been clamping down on social media due to recent uprisings across the nation.

Senior Indian officials told the Economic Times that the government wants every WhatsApp message sent to be assigned an alphanumeric hash. | African News Agency (ANA)

DRC

UNITED Nations special representative Bintou Keita has urged officials to use the time wisely before the 2023 electoral process in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The electoral process will mark “a new critical stage” in the country’s journey to democratic transition and stabilisation, Keita said this week in her first briefing to the Security Council.

Keita, who also heads the UN mission in the country, Monusco, was appointed by the secretary-general in January. She took over the top position when another African, Leila Zerrougui, exited. | African News Agency (ANA)

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