CHINESE COUNTY BANS SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM MOSQUES

BEIJING: Authorities in a Muslim- majority county in northwest China have banned schoolchildren from going to mosques during their winter holidays, a state- run daily reported on Friday, the latest tightening of regulations on religious freedoms. The decision was outlined in a notice sent to all high schools, primary schools and kindergartens in Gansu province’s Guanghe county, according to the

. “Schools should require students to not enter religious venues for activities, nor attend scripture schools or religious venues for reading scripture during winter holiday,” the notice read, according to the Global Times. “Schools of all levels and kinds should further strengthen ideological and political work and enhance publicity work in order to inform each student and parent,” it continued. The notice was confirmed to the newspaper by the county’s local publicity department. It was not clear why the restrictions were being enforced during the holidays. Some 98 percent of Guanghe’s

ALL- FEMALE NORTH KOREA BAND LEADER SET TO VISIT SOUTH

SEOUL: The leader of North Korea’s all- female Western- style Moranbong band is set to head a delegation to the South on Saturday to prepare cultural performances during the Olympics, Seoul said, becoming the first North Korean official to visit for four years. Pyongyang nominated Hyon Song- Wol— rumored to be an ex- girlfriend of leader Kim Jong- Un— to head a seven- member advance team to inspect venues for proposed art performances in Seoul and the eastern city of Gangneung in connection with the Olympics, the South’s Unification Ministry said. The nuclear- armed North agreed last week to take part in the Pyeongchang Games, which will take place just 80 kilometers ( 50 miles) south of the Demilitarized Zone ( DMZ) that divides the peninsula, easing tensions over its weapons programs.