The shocking murder of radio show host Percival Mabasa in the Philippines was ordered by the country's top prison officials, according to the police.

Pro-Beijing candidates have won a majority of seats in Hong Kong's legislative elections. But only 30% of voters took part as candidates were vetted for their political views.

Police have arrested 46 people in connection with Sunday's attack in central Istanbul. They say the attacker had "Kurdish links" but are not ruling out Islamic State involvement.

Yuesheng Wang, whose work at public utility Hydro-Quebec related to battery materials, is accused of allegedly trying to steal trade secrets to benefit Beijing.

Police allege two men defrauded hundreds of thousands of people between 2015 and 2019. A joint US and Estonian operation to catch the suspects involved more than 100 police officers and around 15 FBI agents.

Prosecutors in the German city of Dresden have said they are investigating climate activists accused of damaging property at an art gallery.

A court in Hong Kong has found Cardinal Joseph Zen and five others guilty of failing to register a legal defense fund set up to help protesters in the 2019 anti-government protests.

China is witnessing its biggest wave of public dissent in a decade. Chinese universities are now sending students home in a bid to tighten COVID restrictions.

Cities across China have rolled back some Covid-19 restrictions, requiring less testing and allowing people to isolate at home instead of in quarantine centres. The authorities have been careful not to send any signal that the relaxing of rules were in any way a response to rare displays of public discontent.

It is still unclear whether the squad could be set up again under a new mandate. The death of a young woman arrested by the "morality police" for improperly wearing a hijab sparked months of protests in Iran.

There is uncertainty over reports suggesting the notorious vice squad has been shut down. In any case, authorities have other powerful means of monitoring behavior and issuing punishment.

Wildlife trafficking is the third most profitable illegal activity in the world, after arms trafficking and drug trafficking. In Brazil, where traffickers can earn nearly $2 billion a year, some 80 percent of trafficked animals are birds – often endangered species.