Many in the West have applauded the annulling of the first round of the presidential election, won by a Moscow-friendly candidate, but even his critics say it raises troubling questions about Romanian democracy.
US President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, switching their penalty to life in prison without parole.
Among those are nine people convicted of murdering fellow prisoners, four for murders committed during bank robberies and one who killed a prison guard.
In a statement, Biden said he condemned the murderers and their crimes, but added he was "more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level".
Biden's decision comes before the return of President-elect Donald Trump in January, who previously resumed federal executions in July 2020 for the first time since 2003.
"Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss," Biden added.
Disgraced former New Orleans police officer Len Davis, who operated a drug ring involving other officers and arranged a woman's murder, is among those who have been shown clemency.
The three remaining on death row include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who helped carry out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof who shot and killed nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015.
Robert Bowers, who killed 11 Jewish worshippers during a mass shooting in 2018 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, will also remain on death row.
Biden has campaigned as an opponent of the death penalty, and the Justice Department issued a moratorium on its use at federal level after he became president.
During his first term in office, Trump oversaw 13 deaths by lethal injection during his final six months in power.
There had been no federal inmates put to death in the US since 2003 until Trump resumed federal executions in July 2020.
During his re-election campaign, Trump indicated he would expand the use of capital punishment to include human and drug traffickers, as well as migrants who kill American citizens.
Biden appeared to make reference to Trump's intentions in his statement by saying he could not "in good conscience - stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted".
In US law, these clemency decisions cannot be reversed by a president's successor.
Biden's decision will not impact people sentenced to death in state courts, which is around around 2,250 inmates according to the Death Penalty Information Centre. More than 70 state executions have been carried out during Biden's presidency.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states. Six other states, including Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, have moratoriums in place.
Earlier this month, Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 more convicted of nonviolent crimes.
He also pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases. He had pleaded guilty to tax charges earlier in September, and was found guilty of being an illegal drug user in possession of a gun in June - becoming the first child of a sitting president to be a convicted of a crime.
The US Constitution decrees that a president has the broad "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment".
Thousands of people were killed and wounded in the surprise attacks
Two former Israeli intelligence agents have revealed how members of the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah used Israeli made walkie-talkies booby-trapped with explosives for 10 years before they were detonated in a surprise attack in September this year.
The two ex-Mossad agents told US CBS News how the service duped Hezbollah into buying thousands of rigged walkie-talkies and pagers without realising they were made in Israel.
Dozens of people were killed and thousands injured in the attacks. Israel said it was tailored to target only Hezbollah members, but civilians were among victims, Lebanese officials said.
The UN human rights chief called the attack a war crime.
At the time of the attack, Israel and Hezbollah were fighting a conflict which had spiralled since Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions a day after Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel 7 October 2023.
On 17 September 2024, thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded across Lebanon, mainly in areas with a strong Hezbollah presence. The blasts wounded or killed users and some people nearby, spreading panic and confusion. The following day walkie-talkies exploded in the same way, killing and injuring hundreds more.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel was responsible two months later, Israeli media reported at the time.
One of the agents, given the name Michael, said Mossad had concealed an explosive device inside the batteries operating the walkie-talkies, which he said would typically be carried in a vest nearer the wearer's heart.
He said Hezbollah had unwittingly bought over 16,000 the walkie talkies at "a good price" from a fake company 10 years ago.
"We have an incredible array of possibilities of creating foreign companies that have no way being traced back to Israel," Michael said. "Shell companies over shell companies to affect the supply chain to our favour.
"We create a pretend world. We are a global production company. We write the screenplay, we're the directors, we're the producers, we're the main actors, and the world is our stage."
The operation expanded two years ago to include pagers, CBS said.
Mossad found that at that time Hezbollah was buying pagers from a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo, it said. It set up a fake company which used the Gold Apollo name on pagers rigged with explosives, without the parent company realising.
CBS said Mossad put explosives inside powerful enough to hurt only the user.
"We test everything triple, double, multiple times in order to make sure there is minimum damage," said the second agent, whom the programme called Gabriel.
It said Mossad specifically chose a ringtone which would sound urgent enough for someone to check in incoming message.
Gabriel said the agency duped Hezbollah into buying the pagers, making advertising films and brochures, and sharing them on the internet.
"When they are buying from us, they have zero clue that they are buying from the Mossad," he said. "We make like [movie] Truman Show, everything is controlled by us behind the scene."
Hezbollah had bought 5,000 of the booby trapped pagers by September 2024, CBS said.
They were triggered from Israel when Mossad feared Hezbollah began to have suspicions, it said.
The explosions caused shockwaves across Lebanon, with detonations happening everywhere the pagers were being carried, including in supermarkets. Hospitals were overwhelmed with casualties, many of whom had been maimed.
Gabriel said there was a "strong rumour" that people also fell victim in front of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Days later, with Hezbollah still reeling from the attack, Israel began intense waves of air strikes against Hezbollah targets, followed by a ground invasion of Lebanon.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire on 26 November.
Atul Subhash's suicide has galvanised men's rights activists and started a wider debate around India's tough dowry law
On the night of 9 December, a 34-year-old Indian man killed himself. Next to his body was a placard reading "justice is due".
Atul Subhash left a detailed 24-page suicide note and an 81-minute video in which he blamed the trouble in his marriage and divorce proceedings.
The letter and the video, which contain distressing details about his life, have gone viral on social media and caused outrage.
The software engineer from the southern city of Bengaluru accused his estranged wife Nikita Singhania, her mother and brother of sustained harassment and torture – accusations they denied. The three were arrested a few days later and a court has remanded them for 14 days.
News of Subhash's tragic death has also galvanised men's rights activists and started a wider debate around India's tough dowry law which was designed to protect women from harassment and even murder. Singhania had accused Subhash and his family of harassing her for dowry.
Many argue that with cases of divorce steadily rising, the law is now being misused by women to harass their husbands, even forcing them to kill themselves. India's top court has also weighed in, with one judge describing it as "legal terrorism" that was "intended to be used as a shield and not as an assassin's weapon".
Women's activists, however, point out that demands for large dowry payments from husbands' families still continues to kill thousands of women every year.
Bengaluru police
Subhash and Singhania (second from right) married in 2019, but had been estranged for three years
Subhash and Singhania married in 2019, but had been living apart for three years and Subhash said he was not allowed to meet their four-year-old son. His wife, he alleged, had filed "false court cases", accusing him of cruelty, dowry harassment and various other wrongdoings.
In the video, he accused the Singhania family of "extortion" and said they had demanded 30m rupees ($352,675; £279,661) to withdraw the cases, 3m rupees for visitation rights to their son and asked to raise the monthly maintenance from 40,000 rupees to 200,000 rupees.
He then spoke about the dozens of long trips he made over the past few years to attend court hearings and accused a judge of harassment, seeking a bribe from him and mocking him. A notice which appears to have been issued by the judge refers to the allegations as "baseless, immoral and defamatory".
News of the suicide prompted a firestorm of protests in several cities. Many took to social media to demand justice for Subhash.
They said his suicide should be treated as a case of murder and targetted Singhania, demanding she be arrested and sent to prison for life.
On X (formerly Twitter), thousands tagged the American multinational firm where she worked, demanding that they sack her.
Following the outrage, the police in Bengaluru opened an inquiry against those named in the suicide note. On 14 December, Singhania, her mother and brother were arrested on charges of "abetment to suicide".
During interrogation, Singhania denied the allegation that she had been harassing Subhash for money, Times of India quoted the police as saying.
In the past, Singhania had also levelled grave charges against her husband. In her 2022 petition for divorce, she had accused him, his parents and brother of harassing her for dowry. She said they had been unhappy with the gifts her parents had given during the wedding and demanded an additional 1m rupees.
Men's rights activists have held protests in many cities demanding justice for Atul Subhash
Dowries have been outlawed in India since 1961, but the bride's family is still expected to gift cash, clothes and jewellery to the groom's family. According to a recent study, 90% of Indian marriages involve them and payments between 1950 and 1999 amounted to a quarter of a trillion dollars.
And according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 35,493 brides were killed in India between 2017 and 2022 - an average of 20 women a day - over dowry demands, sometimes even years after the wedding. In 2022 alone, more than 6,450 brides were murdered over dowry - that's an average of 18 women every day.
Singhania claimed that her father died from a heart attack soon after her wedding when Subhash's parents went to him to demand the money. She also alleged that her husband used to threaten her and "beat me up after drinking alcohol and treated the husband-wife relationship like a beast" by demanding unnatural sex. Subhash had denied all the allegations.
Police say they are still investigating the allegations and counter-allegations but Subhash's suicide has led to growing calls to rewrite – even scrap - India's stringent anti-dowry law - Section 498A of the India Penal Code.
The law was introduced in 1983 after a spate of dowry deaths in Delhi and elsewhere in the country. There were daily reports of brides being burnt to death by their husbands and in-laws and the murders were often passed off as "kitchen accidents". Angry protests by female MPs and activists forced parliament to bring in the law.
As lawyer Sukriti Chauhan says, "the law had come after a long and hard fight" and "allows women to seek justice in cases of cruelty in their matrimonial homes".
Nikita Singhania had accused Subhash (pictured here with his mother) his parents and brother of harassing her for dowry - they had denied the allegations
But over the years, the law has repeatedly made headlines, with men's activists saying it is being misused by women to harass their husbands and their relatives.
India's top court has also warned against the misuse of the law on many occasions. On the day Subhash's suicide was reported, the Supreme Court once again flagged – in an unrelated case - "the growing tendency to misuse the provision as a tool for unleashing personal vendetta against the husband and his family".
Amit Deshpande, founder of Mumbai-based men's rights organisation Vaastav Foundation, says the law is being used "mostly to extort men" and that "there are thousands of others who are suffering like Subhash".
Their helpline number, he says, receives about 86,000 calls every year and most cases are about matrimonial disputes that include false dowry cases and attempts at extortion.
"A cottage industry has been built around the law. In each case, 18-20 people are named as accused and they all have to hire lawyers and go to court to seek bail. There have been cases where a two-month-old baby or an ill nonagenarian was named in dowry harassment complaints.
"I know these are extreme examples but the whole system enables this in some manner. Police, judiciary and politicians are turning a blind eye to our concerns," he says.
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Men's rights activists say the dowry law is being used "mostly to extort men"
Mr Deshpande says according to the government crime data for more than 50 years, a large majority of male suicides were by married men - and family discord was the reason for one in four suicides among them.
Patriarchy, he says, also works against men. "Women have recourse to laws and they get sympathy, but people laugh at men who are harassed or beaten by their wives. If Subhash was a woman he could have had recourse to certain laws. So, let's make laws gender neutral and extend the same justice to men so lives can be saved."
There should also be stringent punishment for those who misuse the law, otherwise this will not be a deterrent, he adds.
Ms Chauhan agrees that women who misuse the law should be punished, but argues that any law can be misused. The Bengaluru case is in court and if it is proven that it's a false case, then she should be punished, she says.
"But I do not support it becoming gender neutral. The demand for that is regressive as it disregards the need for special measures that acknowledge that women are disproportionately impacted by violence."
Those going after Section 498A, she says, are "driven by patriarchy and because it's a law for women, attempts are made to strike it down".
"It came after years of societal patriarchal injustice. And this patriarchy remains the reality of our generation and will continue for generations to come."
Despite the law, she says, demand for dowry is rampant and thousands of brides continue to be killed over it.
The need of the hour, she adds, is to "make the law stronger".
"If three out of 10 cases that are filed are false, then it is for the courts to impose penalty on them. But women are still suffering very much in this country so do not ask to repeal the law."
Lev Tahor members tried to take back children rescued by authorities
Authorities in Guatemala have resisted efforts by members of a Jewish sect to recapture 160 children rescued from its premises.
The children were taken into care on Friday when police raided a farm used by the Lev Tahor movement, which is under investigation in several countries for serious sexual offences.
Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez said they were allegedly being abused by a member of the sect.
But on Sunday, sect members broke into a care centre where they were being held in an attempt to get them back, leading to scuffles with police.
The Lev Tahor sect is known for extremist practices and imposing a strict regime on its followers.
It advocates child marriage, inflicts harsh punishments even for minor transgressions and requires women and girls as young as three years old to completely cover up with robes.
The sect accuses the Guatemalan authorities of religious persecution.
The community settled in Mexico and Guatemala between 2014 and 2017. In 2022, members of the sect were arrested in a police operation in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, but they were later freed for lack of evidence.
The events began when police raided the sect's farm in Oratorio, south-east of Guatemala City, on Friday, taking the children into care.
Prosecutors said there were suspicions of "forced pregnancy, mistreatment of minors and rape".
But two days later, about 100 of the children's relatives - all members of the sect - gathered outside the centre where they were being held to call for their return.
Some sect members then forced open the gate and tried to abduct the children and adolescents sheltered there, the Attorney General's Office said.
But the children were intercepted by the authorities and put into a white minibus, local media reported.
With police help, the centre "managed to locate and protect everyone again", the Attorney General's Office added.
Officials had previously tried to check on the children's wellbeing, but were prevented from entering the farm by sect members.
Authorities estimate that the community is made up of about 50 families residing in Guatemala, the US, Canada and other countries.
The Jewish Community of Guatemala has issued a statement disowning the sect, describing it as foreign to its own organisation.
It expressed support for the Guatemalan authorities in carrying out necessary investigations "to protect the lives and integrity of minors and other vulnerable groups that may be at risk".
A long-awaited report into former Republican US Representative Matt Gaetz is expected to be released on Monday.
It follows an investigation by the House Ethics Committee into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use by Gaetz, who was briefly lined up for a top job in the cabinet of President-elect Donald Trump.
A draft of the report seen by the BBC's US partner CBS News - described as a final version - reportedly says there is "substantial evidence" that Gaetz broke state laws relating to sexual misconduct while in office.
Gaetz, 42, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, saying he is the victim of a smear campaign. He has not commented on the latest developments.
The 37-page draft seen by CBS is quoted as saying: "The committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favours or privileges, and obstruction of Congress."
From 2017 to 2020, Gaetz made payments totalling more than $90,000 (£72,000) to 12 different women "that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use", CBS quotes the draft as saying.
The draft also reportedly contains testimony that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old at a party in 2017, giving her $400 "which she understood to be payment for sex". Gaetz has denied having sex with a minor.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) - which Trump had initially planned for Gaetz to lead - also investigated an allegation that he had sex with a minor but ultimately did not file any criminal charges against him.
Gaetz represented Florida's first congressional district in the US House of Representatives, having come to power in the same election in 2016 that propelled his ally Trump to the White House the first time.
He was named last month as Trump's DoJ nominee. Gaetz promptly resigned from Congress, seemingly putting him out of reach of the ethics committee.
But an intense debate erupted over whether or not the report should be released. Gaetz then withdrew his name from consideration for the DoJ role, saying he hoped to avoid a "needlessly protracted Washington scuffle".
Gaetz's slated role as attorney general was one of those that required the confirmation of US senators - which looked increasingly unlikely.
The secretive ethics committee had investigated Gaetz on and off since 2021 - not only on the claims about sex and drugs, but also on allegations he accepted bribes and misused campaign funds. In all cases, he strongly denied any wrongdoing.
House Republicans previously blocked Democratic efforts to unveil the results of the report, but two of them later voted to do so, according to CBS.
Responding last week to news that the document would be released after all, Gaetz posted on X: "I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me."
He added: "Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body."
Gaetz also wrote: "It's embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanised, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now."
Morrisons customers have been unable to get discounts on their shopping ahead of Christmas after a problem with the More loyalty card.
The supermarket has been advertising heavy discounts on Christmas dinner food, including vegetables, in the last week.
But social media users say their discounts are not working at the till, with one person posting a photo of an error message at the self-checkout, which reads: "We are really sorry some promotions and discounts are not working at this time."
The Morrisons website also appears to be down, with a "502 bad gateway" error message on some pages.
Morrisons has been contacted for comment.
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The King will be giving his speech from a former chapel in central London
This year's Christmas message from King Charles will be delivered from a former hospital chapel, in a year in which the King has been undergoing cancer treatment.
The location for the traditional Christmas Day broadcast is the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London, which once served as the chapel of the Middlesex Hospital.
It's the first time in more than a decade that the Christmas speech has been recorded from a place that isn't in a royal palace or estate - and it's understood that the King wanted a location with a healthcare connection.
The ornately-decorated 19th Century former chapel building is now used for exhibitions and community events for people of any faiths and none.
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The Fitzrovia Chapel once served hospital staff and patients
As well as a link to the health services, the building also ties in with the King's interest in trying to build bridges between different beliefs, backgrounds and religions.
The traditional speech from the monarch, recorded earlier this month, will be broadcast as usual on television and radio at 15:00 on Christmas Day.
His regular sessions of treatment are continuing, as they have for much of this year, but as a sign of a positive response, he has plans for a busy schedule of engagements and overseas trips in 2025.
Setting the speech in this former hospital chapel, which was renovated and reopened in 2016, will be a reminder of those working in the health services and medical research.
The small chapel, decorated in the Gothic Revival style with shimmering mosaics and Byzantine influences, is tucked away in Pearson Square, in a quiet corner of London's West End.
It was built in the courtyard of what was the Middlesex Hospital, serving its staff and patients. When the hospital was demolished the chapel was retained and restored, with a new development built around it.
It's no longer regularly used for services, but is used for community events and concerts and is open to visitors wanting some quiet contemplation.
The run-up to Christmas has seen the King attending a series of seasonal events, including a Christmas market in Battersea, a service remembering those persecuted because of their religion and an event in Walthamstow celebrating the diversity of the local community.
Beijing's plan to build another dam on the Jinsha river, which runs through Tibetan territories, led to protests
Hundreds of Tibetans protesting against a Chinese dam were rounded up in a harsh crackdown earlier this year, with some beaten and seriously injured, the BBC has learnt from sources and verified footage.
Such protests are extremely rare in Tibet, which China has tightly controlled since it annexed the region in the 1950s. That they still happened highlights China's controversial push to build dams in what has long been a sensitive area.
Claims of the arrests and beatings began trickling out shortly after the events in February. In the following days authorities further tightened restrictions, making it difficult for anyone to verify the story, especially journalists who cannot freely travel to Tibet.
But the BBC has spent months tracking down Tibetan sources whose family and friends were detained and beaten. BBC Verify has also examined satellite imagery and verified leaked videos which show mass protests and monks begging the authorities for mercy.
The sources live outside of China and are not associated with activist groups. But they did not wish to be named for safety reasons.
In response to our queries, the Chinese embassy in the UK did not confirm nor deny the protests or the ensuing crackdown.
But it said: "China is a country governed by the rule of law, and strictly safeguards citizens' rights to lawfully express their concerns and provide opinions or suggestions."
The events took place in the southwestern province of Sichuan
The protests, followed by the crackdown, took place in a territory home to Tibetans in Sichuan province. For years, Chinese authorities have been planning to build the massive Gangtuo dam and hydropower plant, also known as Kamtok in Tibetan, in the valley straddling the Dege (Derge) and Jiangda (Jomda) counties.
Once built, the dam's reservoir would submerge an area that is culturally and religiously significant to Tibetans, and home to several villages and ancient monasteries containing sacred relics.
One of them, the 700-year-old Wangdui (Wontoe) Monastery, has particular historical value as its walls feature rare Buddhist murals.
The Gangtuo dam would also displace thousands of Tibetans. The BBC has seen what appears to be a public tender document for the relocation of 4,287 residents to make way for the dam.
The BBC contacted an official listed on the tender document as well as Huadian, the state-owned enterprise reportedly building the dam. Neither have responded.
Plans to build the dam were first approved in 2012, according to a United Nations special rapporteurs letter to the Chinese government. The letter, which is from July 2024, raised concerns about the dam's "irreversible impact" on thousands of people and the environment.
From the start, residents were not "consulted in a meaningful way" about the dam, according to the letter. For instance, they were given information that was inadequate and not in the Tibetan language.
They were also promised by the government that the project would only go ahead if 80% of them agreed to it, but "there is no evidence this consent was ever given," the letter goes on to say, adding that residents tried to raise concerns about the dam several times.
Then, in February, officials told them they would be evicted imminently, while giving them little information about resettlement options and compensation, the BBC understands from two Tibetan sources.
This triggered such deep anxiety that villagers and Buddhist monks decided to stage protests, despite knowing the risks of a crackdown.
'They didn't know what was going to happen to them'
The largest one saw hundreds gathering outside a government building in Dege. In a video clip obtained and verified by the BBC, protesters can be heard calling on authorities to stop the evictions and let them stay.
Watch: Hundreds of Tibetan protesters call for end to evictions
Separately, a group of residents approached visiting officials and pleaded with them to cancel plans to build the dam. The BBC has obtained footage which appears to show this incident, and verified it took place in the village of Xiba.
The clip shows red-robed monks and villagers kneeling on a dusty road and showing a thumbs-up, a traditional Tibetan way of begging for mercy.
Watch: Residents in Xiba kneel and plead with officials to stop the dam
In the past the Chinese government has been quick to stamp out resistance to authority, especially in Tibetan territory where it is sensitive to anything that could potentially feed separatist sentiment.
It was no different this time. Authorities swiftly launched their crackdown, arresting hundreds of people at protests while also raiding homes across the valley, according to one of our sources.
One unverified but widely shared clip appears to show Chinese policemen shoving a group of monks on a road, in what is thought to be an arrest operation.
Many were detained for weeks and some were beaten badly, according to our Tibetan sources whose family and friends were targeted in the crackdown.
One source shared fresh details of the interrogations. He told the BBC that a childhood friend was detained and interrogated over several days.
"He was asked questions and treated nicely at first. They asked him 'who asked you to participate, who is behind this'.
"Then, when he couldn't give them [the] answers they wanted, he was beaten by six or seven different security personnel over several days."
His friend sustained only minor injuries, and was freed within a few days. But others were not so lucky.
Another source told the BBC that more than 20 of his relatives and friends were detained for participating in the protests, including an elderly person who was more than 70 years old.
"Some of them sustained injuries all over their body, including in their ribs and kidneys, from being kicked and beaten… some of them were sick because of their injuries," he said.
Similar claims of physical abuse and beatings during the arrests have surfaced in overseas Tibetan media reports.
The UN letter also notes reports of detentions and use of force on hundreds of protesters, stating they were "severely beaten by the Chinese police, resulting in injuries that required hospitalisation".
Tsering Woeser
The dam's reservoir would submerge the 700-year-old Wontoe Monastery...
Tsering Woeser
And its ancient, sacred murals
After the crackdown, Tibetans in the area encountered even tighter restrictions, the BBC understands. Communication with the outside world was further limited and there was increased surveillance. Those who are still contactable have been unwilling to talk as they fear another crackdown, according to sources.
The first source said while some released protesters were eventually allowed to travel elsewhere in Tibetan territory, others have been slapped with orders restricting their movement.
This has caused problems for those who need to go to hospital for medical treatment and nomadic tribespeople who need to roam across pastures with their herds, he said.
The second source said he last heard from his relatives and friends at the end of February: "When I got through, they said not to call any more as they would get arrested. They were very scared, they would hang up on me.
"We used to talk over WeChat, but now that is not possible. I'm totally blocked from contacting all of them," he said.
"The last person I spoke to was a younger female cousin. She said, 'It's very dangerous, a lot of us have been arrested, there's a lot of trouble, they have hit a lot of us'… They didn't know what was going to happen to them next."
The BBC has been unable to find any mention of the protests and crackdown in Chinese state media. But shortly after the protests, a Chinese Communist Party official visited the area to "explain the necessity" of building the dam and called for "stability maintenance measures", according to one report.
A few months later, a tender was awarded for the construction of a Dege "public security post", according to documents posted online.
The BBC has been monitoring the valley via satellite imagery for months. For now, there is no sign of the dam's construction nor demolition of the villages and monasteries.
The Chinese embassy told us authorities were still conducting geological surveys and specialised studies to build the dam. They added the local government is "actively and thoroughly understanding the demands and aspirations" of residents.
Development or exploitation?
China is no stranger to controversy when it comes to dams.
When the government constructed the world's biggest dam in the 90s - the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River - it saw protests and criticism over its handling of relocation and compensation for thousands of villagers.
In more recent years, as China has accelerated its pivot from coal to clean energy sources, such moves have become especially sensitive in Tibetan territories.
Beijing has been eyeing the steep valleys and mighty rivers here, in the rural west, to build mega-dams and hydropower stations that can sustain China's electricity-hungry eastern metropolises. President Xi Jinping has personally pushed for this, a policy called "xidiandongsong", or "sending western electricity eastwards".
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China has been building several dams on the Jinsha river, including the Wudongde Hydropower Station
Like Gangtuo, many of these dams are on the Jinsha (Dri Chu) river, which runs through Tibetan territories. It forms the upper reaches of the Yangtze river and is part of what China calls the world's largest clean energy corridor.
Gangtuo is in fact the latest in a series of 13 dams planned for this valley, five of which are already in operation or under construction.
The Chinese government and state media have presented these dams as a win-win solution that cuts pollution and generates clean energy, while uplifting rural Tibetans.
In its statement to the BBC, the Chinese embassy said clean energy projects focus on "promoting high-quality economic development" and "enhancing the sense of gain and happiness among people of all ethnic groups".
But the Chinese government has long been accused of violating Tibetans' rights. Activists say the dams are the latest example of Beijing's exploitation of Tibetans and their land.
"What we are seeing is the accelerated destruction of Tibetan religious, cultural and linguistic heritage," said Tenzin Choekyi, a researcher with rights group Tibet Watch. "This is the 'high-quality development' and 'ecological civilisation' that the Chinese government is implementing in Tibet."
One key issue is China's relocation policy that evicts Tibetans from their homes to make way for development - the same fate awaits the villagers and monks living near the Gangtuo dam. More than 930,000 rural Tibetans are estimated to have been relocated since 2000, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"These people will essentially lose everything they own, their livelihoods and community heritage," said Maya Wang, interim China director at HRW.
There are also environmental concerns over the flooding of Tibetan valleys renowned for their biodiversity, and the possible dangers of building dams in a region rife with earthquake fault lines.
Some Chinese academics have found the pressure from accumulated water in dam reservoirs could potentially increase the risk of quakes, including in the Jinsha river. This could cause catastrophic flooding and destruction, as seen in 2018, when rain-induced landslides occurred at a village situated between two dam construction sites on Jinsha.
The Chinese embassy told us that the implementation of any clean energy project "will go through scientific planning and rigorous demonstration, and will be subject to relevant supervision".
In recent years, China has passed laws safeguarding the environment surrounding the Yangtze River and the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. President Xi has personally stressed the need to protect the Yangtze's upper reaches.
About 424 million yuan (£45.5m, $60m) has been spent on environmental conservation along Jinsha, according to state media. Reports have also highlighted efforts to quake-proof dam projects.
Multiple Tibetan rights groups, however, argue that any large-scale development in Tibetan territory, including dams such as Gangtuo, should be halted.
They have staged protests overseas and called for an international moratorium, arguing that companies participating in such projects would be "allowing the Chinese government to profit from the occupation and oppression of Tibetans".
"I really hope that this [dam-building] stops," one of our sources said. "Our ancestors were here, our temples are here. We have been here for generations. It is very painful to move. What kind of life would we have if we leave?"
Additional reporting by Richard Irvine-Brown of BBC Verify
Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur began dating in March 2020
Published
British number one Katie Boulter has announced her engagement to Australian world number nine Alex de Minaur.
The couple, who met on the tennis circuit, have been dating for almost five years.
Announcing the news on Instagram, external with a photo of the ring, world number 24 Boulter wrote: "We've been keeping a small secret."
Great Britain face Australia in the United Cup, external in Sydney on 1 January, with Boulter, 28, and 25-year-old De Minaur named in their respective teams.
With two singles matches and a mixed doubles tie in every fixture, Boulter and De Minaur could play against each other if selected for the doubles.
"I wouldn't say I was thrilled at the idea of playing him all over again," Boulter said before news of the engagement.
"He's a top-10 player and he knows how to play tennis, so there's one side of it.
"Then there's the personal side of it, which is difficult but also great for bragging rights."
Playing together, Boulter and De Minaur reached the second round of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon last year.
For safety reasons, a fake version of Burt (pictured with Hogan) was used for some of the promotional photographs
The crocodile who starred in 1980s hit film Crocodile Dundee has died in Australia.
Burt, who was thought to be over 90 years old, appeared alongside Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski in the 1986 movie.
News of his death was confirmed by staff at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, a reptile and aquarium attraction where Burt had lived since 2008.
In a statement posted on Instagram, the wildlife centre wrote: "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Burt, the iconic saltwater crocodile and star of the Australian classic Crocodile Dundee.
"Burt passed away peacefully over the weekend, estimated to be over 90 years old, marking the end of an incredible era."
Shutterstock
Burt, pictured with Hogan on set, had lived at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin since 2008
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Crocodile Dundee was a box office hit in 1986
In the film, character Mick Dundee (Hogan) swaps the Australian outback for the jungle of New York after meeting American reporter Sue Charlton (Kozlowski), who eventually falls in love with him.
The croc is famously seen in the scene where Kozlowski's character is attacked as she kneels next to a creek.
Burt, who was captured in the 1980s in the Northern Territory's Reynolds River, was described by Crocasourus Cove as having a "bold" personality.
"Burt was a confirmed bachelor - an attitude he made clear during his earlier years at a crocodile farm," the centre's statement continued.
"His fiery temperament earned him the respect of his caretakers and visitors alike, as he embodied the raw and untamed spirit of the saltwater crocodile."
"Burt was truly one of a kind. He wasn't just a crocodile; he was a force of nature and a reminder of the power and majesty of these incredible creatures.
Getty Images
"While his personality could be challenging, it was also what made him so memorable and beloved by those who worked with him and the thousands who visited him over the years.
The statement concluded: "Visitors from around the globe marvelled at his impressive size and commanding presence, especially at feeding time."
It's not unusual for saltwater crocodiles to live beyond 70 years old, especially in captivity.
Burt will be honoured with a commemorative sign at the attraction.
Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar were stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane
An investigation has opened into allegations Ministry of Justice (MoJ) staff illegally accessed computer files related to the Nottingham attacks.
Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar were fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane in the city in June 2023 along with school caretaker Ian Coates.
Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, received a hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Now the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit is examining whether case files were accessed illegally by government employees.
In a statement, the unit said it was "currently investigating allegations under the Computer Misuse Act in relation to members of staff from His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service and His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service".
It said: "This is in relation to individuals accessing case files for the investigation into the deaths of Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, who were killed in an attack in Nottingham in June 2023.
"No arrests have been made at this time as part of this investigation."
PA Media
Emma Webber (right) and other victims' family members have been highly critical about how the case has been handled
The unit said the probe was "completely independent from any previous investigations in relation to the original incident, to ensure the families of the deceased and injured can have full trust and confidence in the process".
Barnaby's mother Emma Webber said her family had received a letter notifying of them of the investigation.
She said: "So many individuals and organisations failed Barney, Grace and Ian. It's an utter disgrace.
"Leicester and Nottingham police forces, the NHS, the CPS and now the wider courts and prison and probation service. When will it ever stop?"
In February a special constable with Nottinghamshire Police was sacked for viewing bodycam footage showing the aftermath of the attacks.
Police were called to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station in Brooklyn after a woman on a subway car was set on fire
A suspect has been arrested in New York over the death of a woman who was set on fire on a subway train in Brooklyn.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the incident on Sunday as "one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being".
She said the woman was sleeping on a stationary F train to Brooklyn when she was approached by the suspect who used a lighter to ignite her clothing.
The victim died at the scene, she said, adding that the suspect had been taken into custody after he was detained on another subway train.
Police said the woman, who has not been named, was sleeping in a subway carriage at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn at about 07:30 local time (12:30 GMT) when a man approached her.
There was no interaction before the attack, police said, adding that they did not believe the two people knew each other.
The man got off the train as police officers on patrol in the station rushed to the fire.
"What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames," Ms Tisch said.
Police are still working to identify the victim and the motive for the attack.
People have been leaving floral tributes for the victims of Friday's attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany
The Saudi authorities, I am told, are currently working flat out to collate everything they have on the Magdeburg market suspect, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, and to share it with Germany's ongoing investigation "in every way possible".
Inside the imposing sand coloured and fortress-like walls of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh there is a perhaps justifiable sense of pique.
The ministry previously warned the German government about al-Abdulmohsen's extremist views.
It sent four so-called "Notes Verbal", three of them to Germany's intelligence agencies and one to the foreign ministry in Berlin. There was, the Saudis say, no response.
Coming from a country where Islam is the only religion permitted to be practiced in public, al-Abdulmohsen was a very unusual citizen.
He had turned his back on Islam, making himself a heretic in the eyes of many.
Born in the Saudi date palm oasis town of Hofuf in 1974, little is known about his early life before he decided to leave Saudi Arabia and move to Europe aged 32.
Active on social media, on his Twitter (later X) account he labels himself as both a psychiatrist and founder of Saudi rights movement, together with the tag @SaudiExMuslims.
He founded a website aimed at helping Saudi women flee their country to Europe.
The Saudis say he was a people trafficker and the Ministry of Interior's investigators, the Mabaatheth, are said to have an extensive file on him.
There have been reports in recent years of dissident Saudis coming under hostile surveillance from Saudi government agents, in Canada, the US and in Germany.
There is no question that the German authorities, both federal and state, have made some serious errors of omission in the case of al-Abdulmohsen.
Whatever their reasons for not responding, as the Saudis claim, to the repeated warnings about his extremism, he was clearly a danger to his adopted host country.
There is also, separately, the failure to close off, or at least guard, the emergency access route to Magdeburg Alter Markt that allowed him to allegedly drive his BMW into the crowds.
German authorities have defended the market's layout and said an investigation into the suspect's past is ongoing.
But a complicating factor here is that Saudi Arabia, although considered a friend and ally of the West, has a poor human rights record.
Until June 2018 Saudi women were forbidden to drive and even those women who publicly called for that ban to be lifted before then have been persecuted and imprisoned.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, still only in his 30s, just, is immensely popular in his own country.
Reuters
The Saudi crown prince pictured in Riyadh during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in October
While Western leaders largely distanced themselves from him after his alleged involvement in the grisly murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, which the crown prince denies, at home his star is still in the ascendant.
Under his de-facto rule, Saudi public life has transformed for the better, with men and women allowed to associate freely, and cinemas reopening, along with big, spectacular sports and entertainment events, even gigs performed by Western artists like David Guetta and the Black Eyed Peas.
But there is a paradox here.
While Saudi public life has flourished there has been a simultaneous crackdown on anything that even hints at more political or religious freedom.
Harsh prison sentences of 10 years or more have been handed down for simple tweets.
No-one is permitted to even question the way the country is run.
It is against this backdrop that Germany appears to have dropped the ball with Taleb al-Abdulmohsen.
Robert Fico has previously reiterated his opposition to the West's policy of arming Ukraine
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico has made a surprise visit to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin - becoming only the third Western leader to meet the Russian leader since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Fico - a vocal critic of the European Union's support for Kyiv in the war - said they discussed supplies of Russian gas to Slovakia - which his country relies on.
A deal with Russian gas giant Gazprom to transit energy through Ukraine to Slovakia is due to expire at the end of this year.
"Top EU officials were informed about my journey and its purpose... on Friday," Fico wrote on Facebook.
Fico said the meeting in Moscow was a reaction to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky telling EU leaders that Ukraine remains opposed to Russian gas being piped through its territory.
The Slovakian PM, who survived being shot earlier this year, also said he had a "long conversation" with Putin and the two "exchanged views on the military situation in Ukraine".
Both discussed "the possibilities of an early, peaceful end of the war" and mutual relations between Russia and Slovakia, Fico wrote on Facebook.
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