A jury in New Zealand on Friday convicted a 27-year-old man of murdering a British woman backpacker, media said, in a case that shocked the Pacific nation.

The Australian state of New South Wales was gasping under the worst levels of air pollution ever recorded on Friday as smoke from widespread bushfires caused a spike in hospital visits and hazards including poor visibility for drivers.

Scientists infected mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria to make it harder for them to spread disease.

A man has been found guilty of strangling British backpacker Grace Millane.

At least eight protesters who had been holding out at a trashed Hong Kong university surrendered early on Friday, while others searched for escape routes past riot police who surrounded the campus but said there was no deadline for ending the standoff.

The United States is concerned about China's attempts to influence Taiwan's presidential election, the top U.S. official in Taiwan said on Friday, as China stepped up pressure on the self-ruled island ahead of the vote in January.

Pope Francis paid tribute on Friday to Catholics in Thailand who suffered or were killed for their faith in the past and urged today's Thais not to consider Christianity a "foreign" religion.

Sri Lanka's newly-elected leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, the current Prime Minister, as the interim government's new finance minister, state television showed in a live telecast on Friday.

Protesters holed up at a Hong Kong university campus should leave and there is no deadline to clear them, the city's police chief said on Friday, adding that he hoped for a peaceful resolution to the standoff.

Television audiences for the show have slumped and the brand said its marketing needs to "evolve".