Ukraine bans Russian men from entering country amid invasion fears

Ukraine has banned Russian men aged between 16 and 60 from entering the country, amid fears Moscow is planning an invasion.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said the restrictions have been imposed to prevent Russians from forming "private armies" in his country.

Moscow has been supporting Russian separatists in the east of the country with troops and weapons.

Mr Poroshenko also told Sky News he has evidence that Russian tanks are massing along his country's border.

Ukraine imposed martial law earlier this week following an escalation in the long-simmering conflict between the two nations over Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.

In a violent confrontation, Russian border guards fired on and captured three Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian vessels had been trying to pass through the Kerch Strait on their way to the Sea of Azov.

The latest crisis led US President Donald Trump to cancel a meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin at a summit of world leaders in Argentina.

Mr Trump said it would not be appropriate as Moscow had still not released the 24 crew members of the seized vessels.

A Crimea court has ruled that the sailors will be detained for two months pending the outcome of an investigation.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian intelligence officers have been searching the home of the the head of Kiev's largest and oldest monastery, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church.

George Bush inspired generations of Americans, Trump mourns ex-president

The Republican served as commander-in-chief from 1989 to 1993 and eight years later watched his son also become the country's leader.

Mr Bush Snr was a Second World War hero, Texas congressman, UN ambassador, CIA director, and Ronald Reagan's vice-president between 1981 and 1989.
Family spokesman Jim McGrath said the 41st president died shortly after 10pm on Friday.

George Herbert Walker Bush, who served one term as US leader, is survived by five children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, as well as two siblings.

George W Bush, who was the 43rd president, issued a statement following his father's death.

In it, he said: "Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died.

"George HW Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for."

"The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41's life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens," he added, referring to Mr Bush's nickname.

The longest living president in US history, one of his biggest achievements was steering America through the end of the Cold War.

He also saw his popularity swell with America's success in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, where US and coalition forces liberated Kuwait from Iraqi control following an air and brief ground campaign.

A short but deep recession saw his popularity evaporate, costing him a second term in office.

He was also haunted by his decision to break a stern, solemn vow he made to voters: "Read my lips. No new taxes."

Mr Bush was succeeded by Democrat Bill Clinton.

His death comes less than eight months after his wife Barbara died. They had been married for 73 years.

The day after her death, Mr Bush was taken to hospital with a blood infection. He continued to suffer with ill-health during the following months.

George Bush Snr was visited by former president Barack Obama two days ago, according to the family's spokesman.

"President @GeorgeHWBush was very pleased to receive President @BarackObama this afternoon during his visit to #Houston. The two had a very pleasant and private visit at the Bush residence, where they rekindled what was already a very warm friendship," Jim McGrath tweeted.

As news of the statesman's death broke, the Obamas issued a statement, saying: "America has lost a patriot and humble servant in George Herbert Walker Bush. While our hearts are heavy today, they are also filled with gratitude.

"Not merely for the years he spent as our forty-first President, but for the more than 70 years he spent in devoted service to the country he loved - from a decorated Naval aviator who nearly gave his life in World War II, to commander-in-chief of our Armed Forces, with plenty of posts along the way."

They added: "Our thoughts are with the entire Bush family tonight - and all who were inspired by George and Barbara's example."

Mr Bush had vascular parkinsonism, a form of Parkinson's disease, and used a wheelchair or motorised scooter for the last six years of his life.

Mr Bush was also vice president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.

During the Second World War, he became the youngest naval pilot at the age of 18 following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour.

He flew combat missions from the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto and won the Distinguished Flying Cross.

In 1944, he was shot down over the Pacific and after desperately paddling his life raft away from a Japanese island and with enemy boats sent out to capture him, he was rescued by a US submarine.

Arrest in Florida in connection with US pipe bombs

A dozen devices have been sent to Democratic politicians and high-profile critics of Trump

Federal authorities made an arrest on Friday in connection with a dozen parcel bombs sent to Democratic politicians and high-profile critics of US President Donald Trump, the US Justice Department said.

A man was taken into custody in the Miami area, a law enforcement official said. Two federal law enforcement officials named the suspect as Cesar Sayoc, born in 1962.

The investigation into this week’s wave of suspicious packages had focused on southern Florida and a mail sorting facility in the area.

No-one had claimed responsibility for parcel bombs, which were denounced by authorities as terrorism and came less than two weeks ahead of US congressional elections that could alter the balance of power in Washington.

Two more suspicious packages were found as US authorities hunted for the sender of a series of devices addressed to prominent critics of Mr Trump.

Packages addressed to New Jersey senator Cory Booker and former National Intelligence director James Clapper were similar in appearance to pipe bombs sent to other prominent Democrats, the FBI said.

They were intercepted as investigators scrambled from coast to coast to locate the culprit and motives behind a bizarre plot aimed at critics of the president.

The discoveries brought to 12 the total number of devices addressed in recent days to Democratic figures including former president Barack Obama, ex-vice president Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

The FBI said the package to Mr Booker was intercepted in Florida, and the one discovered at a Manhattan postal facility was addressed to Mr Clapper, care of CNN.

Mr Clapper said he was not surprised to be targeted, and described the mail bombs as “definitely domestic terrorism”.

He described the situation as “serious”, but insisted it was “not going to silence the administration’s critics”.

He stressed that he did not want to suggest any direct link between Mr Trump’s rhetoric and the packages, but the president should bear responsibility for the “coarseness and uncivility of the dialogue in this country”.

An earlier package had been sent to former Obama CIA director John Brennan care of CNN in New York.

Investigators are analysing the crude devices to reveal whether they were intended to detonate or simply sow fear before elections next month.

Law enforcement officials said the devices, containing timers and batteries, were not rigged like booby-trapped package bombs that would explode on opening, but they were uncertain whether the devices were poorly designed or never intended to cause physical harm.

A search of a postal database suggested some may have been mailed from Florida, one official said. Investigators homed in on a postal facility in Opa-locka, where they believe some of the packages originated.

Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen acknowledged that some of packages originated in Florida.

New details about the devices came as the mail bomb scare spread nationwide, drawing investigators from dozens of federal, state and local agencies in the effort to identify one or more perpetrators.

The targets have also included CNN and Democrat Maxine Waters ofCalifornia. A common thread is their critical words for Mr Trump and his frequent criticism in return.

The president claimed on Friday that he was being blamed for the mail bombs, complaining in a tweet: “Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma Citybombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, ‘it’s just not Presidential!”’

Details suggested a pattern — that the items were packaged in manila envelopes, addressed to prominent Trump critics and carried US postage stamps. The devices are being examined by technicians at the FBI’s forensic lab in Quantico, Virginia.

The packages stoked nationwide tensions as voters prepare to vote on November 6th to determine control of Congress — a campaign both major political parties have described in near-apocalyptic terms.

Even with the sender still unknown, politicians from both parties used the threats to condemn a toxic political climate and lay blame.

“A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News,” Mr Trump said on Twitter.

“It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!”

Mr Brennan fired back: “Stop blaming others. Look in the mirror. Your inflammatory rhetoric, insults, lies, & encouragement of physical violence are disgraceful. Clean up your act....try to act Presidential.”

Actor Robert De Niro, another target of the packages, said: “There’s something more powerful than bombs, and that’s your vote. People must vote!”

The Oscar-winner said he was glad no-one was hurt, and thanked “the brave and resourceful security and law enforcement people for protecting us”.

He has been one of Mr Trump’s most vocal critics, dropping an expletive insult at this year’s Tony Awards and also apologising to Canadians for the “idiotic behaviour of my president”.

The explosive devices were packed in envelopes with bubble-wrap interiors bearing six American flag stamps and the return address of Florida representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chairwoman of theDemocratic National Committee.

The bombs seized on Wednesday were about 6in long and packed with powder and broken glass, according to a law enforcement official who viewed X-ray images. The official said the devices were made from PVC pipe and covered with black tape. – AP

‘Obsessed’ farmer shot neighbour in dispute over right of way

Ted O’Donoghue, (74) admitted firing a shot from his legally-held gun at John Hayes

A farmer who shot and injured a neighbour had “turned into an obsessive fool” over a “festering” dispute about a right of way on his land, a court has heard.

Ted O’Donoghue, (74), has admitted firing a shot from his legally-held shotgun at John Hayes on June 16, 2017, but said he did not mean to harm him.

He pleaded guilty at Limerick Circuit Court to assault causing harm, reckless discharge of a firearm and animal cruelty.

The court heard that as Mr Hayes (66) went to open a gate at a right-of-way on O’Donoghue’s land, he way met by his neighbour holding a shotgun.

O’Donoghue, of Kilmoreen, Kildimo, told Mr Hayes, “you are never coming in here again” before he fired the shotgun.

The shot went through the window of Mr Hayes’s tractor, killing his sheepdog Lassie. Mr Hayes was injured when the same shot grazed his shoulder.

The right of way, at Ballycasey, Kildimo, is located on O’Donoghue’s land, but a number of farmers, including Mr Hayes, use it to gain access to their own lands.

O’Donoghue’s barrister, Anthony Salmon, SC, told his client’s sentencing hearing on Thursday that he had become “obsessed” about the ancient passageway, which the court heard dated back to the “horse and cart” era.

He said O’Donoghue was concerned the laneway was being destroyed by tractors driving on it.

After he was arrested over the shooting, O’Donoghue told gardaí: “They have it tore asunder with tractors...but I’ll stop them.”

The dispute specifically involving the defendant and the victim had gone on for 10 years the court heard. However, one neighbour told gardaí there were issues in the local farming community over the right of way going back “40 years”.

Mr Salmon said his client had “tried to deal with it through solicitors, but he wasn’t getting anywhere with it.”

He said: “It was festering away. It was like an obsession boiling over.”

Mr Salmon described O’Donoghue as “a decent hardworking man” was was now facing serious consequences.

“These disputes have a way of turning right-minded people into obsessive fools. Incidents of a minor nature can become obsessive and overshadow their lives.”

He said O’Donoghue “deeply deeply regrets his actions”.

The defendant told gardaí that, on the morning in question, he saw Mr Hayes heading for the passageway and he “drove up ahead of him”.

“He wanted to open the gate. I blazed at him,” O’Donoghue said.

“I fired a shot at him, and that’s that,” he said. “He was outside the gate, but it’s my land. He shouldn’t have been there. He was trespassing.”

When gardaí asked O’Donoghue if he had deliberately tried to hurt Mr Hayes, he replied: “Not exactly. I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

Mr Salmon stressed that the DPP’s view was, there had been “no intent” to endanger life.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Hayes said he had become withdrawn socially, fearful and stressed. “I was sure he was going to kill me. He had an angry look about him,” he said. “I was terrified.”

Evidence was heard that O’Donoghue had appeared in court in 2016 charged with producing a knife during the course of a dispute with the son of another neighbour. At the time, he escaped a conviction after the court applied the Probation Act.

O’Donoghue is facing up to five years in jail in relation to the shooting charge, as well as a possible fine of up to €250,000 for the animal cruelty offence.

Mr Hayes has begun civil proceedings against O’Donoghue, the court heard.

Judge Tom O’Donnell said he needed to consider the evidence carefully and remanded O’Donoghue on continuing bail to appear before Limerick Circuit Court for sentencing on December 19th.

Robber tipped taxi-driver who drove him to and from raid, court hears

Dean Gray (30) to be sentenced next month for spate of shop raids in Dublin

A robber who tipped a taxi driver who had “unwittingly” driven him to and from the crime scene will be sentenced later for a spate of shop raids.

The court heard the taxi man had driven Dean Gray (30) to a number of locations, including XL Fintstones,Baldoyle, Dublin, and that the fare had come to €64.

Detective Garda Darren Burke said Gray went into the shop with his face uncovered, pulled out a “small fishing-type knife” and robbed €350. He then returned to the waiting taxi and handed the driver €70 to cover the fare.

Det Gda Burke said gardaí ­ later obtained CCTV footage and fingerprints from the store and a statement from the taxi driver who had “unwittingly” driven Gray to the scene.

Gray, of Buttercup Drive, Darndale, Dublin came forward on signed pleas of guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery and production of a knife at the shop on May 21st, 2017.

He affirmed signed guilty pleas to robbing €425 using a screwdriver from Petmania, Gulliver’s Retail Park, Northwood, Dublin, on March 17th, 2018.

He also affirmed signed guilty pleas to robbing €200 from tanning salon Tan Me on New Cabra Road, Dublin 7 on March 12th, 2018 and a further €300 from the same store on April 10th, 2018.

He came forward on further signed pleas of guilty to robbing €200 from Centz shop on North Circular Road on March 14th, 2018 and attempted robbery, threats to kill and producing an article at Spar, Harts Corner, Dublin 9, on April 10th, 2018.

Garda Deirdre Gill told Monika Leech BL, prosecuting, that Gray committed the second Tan Me robbery 10 minutes after the failed Spar raid on April 10th.

Garda Gill and Det Garda Burke both agreed with Karl Monaghan BL, defending, that his client made no attempt to conceal his face in any of the CCTV footage obtained from the shops.

They accepted that Gray had a drug addiction and was robbing to feed his habit.

The court heard Gray has 69 previous convictions, including 21 robberies, four burglaries and public order offences.

Mr Monaghan submitted to JudgePatricia Ryan that his client had had a difficult upbringing and was in a vicious circle of homelessness, drug abuse and criminality to fund his addiction.

He said though his client had become institutionalised, he did aspire to employment and wished to get onto residential treatment for his drug problem.

Judge Ryan put the matter back until late November.

China and Japan reset strained relationship with new deals

Shinzo Abe hails agreements as ‘historic turning point’ on rare official visit to Beijing

Beijing and Tokyo reset their troubled bilateral relationship on Friday asShinzo Abe concluded a range of agreements on his first official visit to the Chinese capital since becoming Japanese prime minister for a second time in 2012.

The agreements – ranging from a three-year, $30 billion credit swap agreement between the two countries’ central banks to co-operation on overseas development projects – are the most substantive reached between the world’s second- and third-largest economies since 2011.

Mr Abe hailed the agreements as the start of a “historic turning point”. Li Keqiang, who in May made his first visit to Japan since becoming premier in 2013, said China was willing to “return to a normal track” with Japan. He also urged Mr Abe to help Beijing “safeguard” global trade and economic growth and said China would not devalue its currency to boost exports.

The renminbi is threatening to fall through 7 to the dollar, which would be its lowest level in a decade. But Chinese officials and most analysts say that Beijing has been working to support the currency, not weaken it, in order to reduce trade frictions with the US and guard against capital flight.

Bilateral relations between Japan and China were effectively frozen in 2012-13 after the Japanese government purchased the Senkaku Islands, known in China as the Diaoyutai and claimed by Beijing, from their private owner to head off a counterbid by the then-nationalist governor of Tokyo.

Large-scale protests across China intimidated many Japanese companies, which scaled back their investment plans. “The situation in 2012 influenced Japanese investment decisions,” a Japanese diplomat said on the eve of Mr Abe’s three-day visit, which began on Thursday. “[But] we are neighbours and our two economies are interdependent.”

Repairing relations

The two governments began to re-engage in late 2014, when Mr Abe held a brief meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ summit in Beijing. But it was only over the past two years, as Chinese economic growth began to slow and US president Donald Trump launched a trade war against Beijing, that Mr Xi accelerated efforts to repair relations

“Strategic confrontation still exists between Japan and China but it is under better control compared to 2014,” said Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing.

In addition to Mr Abe’s meetings with Mr Xi and Mr Li, this week’s flurry of diplomatic activity included a “third country co-operation forum”, bringing together hundreds of Japanese and Chinese corporate executives.

The forum is aimed at finding areas in which Japanese and Chinese companies can co-operate with each other, rather than compete, for example on rail projects in southeast Asia. Japanese officials see such co-operation as one way of blunting the impact of Mr Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has encouraged large overseas infrastructure investments by Chinese state-owned enterprises.

But they have stopped short of formally endorsing the BRI programme or joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China’s flagship development bank.

“We have emphasised the importance of respecting international standards,” said the Japanese diplomat. “We do not want to see recipient [countries] accumulate massive debts or their economies suffer.”

Mr Abe’s visit was timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s first and only visit to Japan as paramount leader in October 1978, shortly before he officially launched his economic “reform and opening” programme. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2018

Where Is Khashoggi's Body?: Turkey's Erdogan Asks Saudi Arabia

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi praised Canada for “raising the flag” on human rights in an interview with Global News’ Jeff Semple just months before he was killed.

Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi royal family, was killed inside the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Officials have admitted it was a “premeditated” attack.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had more information on Khashoggi's case than it shared so far 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged Saudi Arabia on Friday to disclose who gave the order to kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well the location of his body, saying Turkey had more information about the case than it has shared so far.

Erdogan also said Riyadh needed to reveal the identity of the "local cooperator" who Saudi officials earlier said had taken Khashoggi's body from Saudi agents after the journalist was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was premeditated, reversing previous statements that it was unintended.

Khashoggi's murder has sparked global outrage and mushroomed into a crisis for the world's top oil exporting country and Prince Mohammed, the kingdom's de facto ruler.

"Who gave this order?" Erdogan said in a speech to members of his AK Party in Ankara. "Who gave the order for 15 people to come to Turkey?" he said, referring to a 15-man Saudi security team Turkey has said flew into Istanbul hours before the killing. Erdogan also said Saudi's public prosecutor was due to meet the Istanbul prosecutor in Istanbul on Sunday.

Saudi officials initially denied having anything to do with Khashoggi's disappearance after he entered the consulate, before changing the official account to say an internal investigation suggested he was accidentally killed in a botched operation to return him to the kingdom.

On Thursday, Saudi state TV quoted the Saudi public prosecutor as saying the killing had been planned, and that prosecutors were interrogating suspects on the basis of information provided by a joint Saudi-Turkish task force.

Guatemala volcano eruption kills 25

At least 25 people were killed when Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupted Sunday, belching ash and rock and forcing the capital's main airport to close.

The volcano expelled hot muddy material that caused the deaths -- including of several children -- in the El Rodeo and Las Lajas communities located on its southern slope, disaster agency spokesman David de Leon said in a WhatsApp group.

Search and rescue operations for the missing and dead have been suspended due to low light and dangerous conditions, and will resume early on Monday morning, he said.

The eruption of the 3,763-meter (12,346-foot) volcano sent ash billowing over the surrounding area, turning plants and trees gray and blanketing streets, cars and people.

Farmers covered in ash fled for their lives as civil defense staffers tried to relocate them to shelters during the event.

National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) chief Sergio Cabanas said earlier that the eruption also left 20 injured and affected more than 1.7 million people.

President Jimmy Morales announced a red alert for Escuintla, Chimaltenango and Sacatepequez, the areas most affected by the eruption, and an orange alert throughout the country.

The president said he and his government would determine whether to ask Congress to declare a state of emergency in the areas, while at the same time appealing to the population for calm.

Death toll may rise
Hundreds of personnel from the police, Red Cross and military have been dispatched to support emergency operations, Morales said.

Cabanas said that the dead included a civil protection official.

More than 3,000 people were evacuated due to the eruption, which affected rural communities around the volcano as well as Antigua Guatemala, a colonial-era town very popular with tourists in the Central American country, he said.

Cabanas did not rule out the number of dead increasing, as there are "missing persons, but we do not know how many."

Dense ash blasted out by the volcano shut down Guatemala City's international airport, civil aviation said.

People were working to clean ash off the runways to get the airport operating again.

The eruption is the second major one this year from the peak, following another that subsided at the beginning of February after sending ash towering 1.7 kilometers into the sky.

A September 2012 eruption of the volcano saw 10,000 people evacuated, while another in February 2015 forced the closure of the capital's main airport.

Apart from the Fuego volcano, there are two other active volcanos in Guatemala. One of them, Pacaya, is just 20 kilometers from Guatemala City.

Philippines’ Duterte tells UN expert to ‘go to hell’

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday told a United Nations rights expert to “go to hell” over criticism of the Philippine leader for threatening the country’s top judge.

Duterte’s latest profanity-laced diatribe came after Diego Garcia-Sayan, the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said the president’s statements against former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno were a “vicious attack” on the judiciary

Sereno’s colleagues voted to remove her from office last month, shortly after Duterte openly called her his “enemy” and demanded her swift ouster.

“Tell him (Garcia-Sayan) not to interfere with the affairs of my country. He can go to hell,” Duterte told reporters in Manila, insisting he had nothing to do with Sereno’s dismissal.

“He is not a special person and I do not recognise his rapporteur title.”

Duterte, 73, has lashed out in the past — often using less-than-parliamentary language — at critics of the deadly drug war he launched soon after coming to power in 2016.

Several of his opponents have since been ousted, punished or threatened.

Police say they have killed 4,279 drug suspects in the anti-narcotics campaign but rights groups believe the actual number is three times higher.

Sereno was one of the few remaining high-profile critics of the crackdown at the time of her ouster.

The UN’s Garcia-Sayan said Friday that Duterte’s public threats against Sereno appeared to have had a “chilling effect” on her colleagues in the judiciary.

“The use of such derogatory language… sends a clear message to all judges of the Philippines: in the so-called ‘war on drugs’, you’re either with me or against me,” Garcia-Sayan said.

China continues to close down churches, religious centers; says religions must be 'subordinate' to Communist Party

- China has ordered crackdown on large outdoor religious statues

- The Asian country has also put running of religious affairs directly under the officially atheistic Communist Party

- Churches are reportedly being demolished while thousands of Muslims are being subjected to anti-Islamic indoctrination in re-education camps.

China's ruling Communist Party has reportedly ordered local governments to better regulate the construction of large outdoor religious statues amid increasing restrictions on religious expressions of all kinds.

The directive from the United Front Work Department viewed on its website on Saturday, May 26, appears targeted mainly at followers of Buddhism and Taoism, two of China's five officially recognized religions, New York Times Reports

"The meeting required all localities to take up the regulation of large outdoor religious statues as their top priority in preventing the further commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism," the directive said.

Reporters notes that thousands of Buddhist and Taoist temples and shrines, along with mosques and churches, were damaged or destroyed under communism, especially during the violent 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. Although many have been restored and reopened since then, new regulations and a bureaucratic overhaul earlier this year have put the day-to-day running of religious affairs directly under the officially atheistic party.

There has reportedly been a renewed campaign promoting atheism and loyalty to the party, along with a push to study the works of one of communism's founding fathers, Karl Marx, who famously wrote that religion "is the opium of the people."

The anti-religion drive overlaps with campaigns to promote patriotism and party loyalty, oppose separatism among ethnic minorities and fight Western liberal values.
It has also complicated efforts toward reconciliation with the Vatican and led to thousands of Muslims being subjected to anti-Islamic indoctrination in re-education camps, churches being demolished and students and monks removed from a famed Tibetan Buddhist seminary.

Chinese officials were also reportedly tearing down couplet door decorations that use Christian language.
According to an anonymous source in Shangqiu, Henan, Christians in the province have been placed under house arrest without charge, with police officers watching their residence.

The Christians are also required to report where they are going every time they wish to leave the house.