China arrests more members of Christian 'doomsday' sect

BEIJING (AFP) - China has detained more than 100 more members of a Christian sect accused of predicting doomsday, state media said on Friday, taking the total held beyond 1,000 as officials denied cold weather was apocalypse-related.

More than 90 members of "Almighty God", a Christian sect the government accused of spreading rumours that three days of darkness would begin on Friday, were detained in the central province of Henan, the state-run China News reported.

State media also reported 17 were held in Beijing, in a wave of detentions that began last week.

The group told believers that a new era presided over by a "female Jesus" had arrived, and that tsunamis and earthquakes would rock the world, the state-run Global Times daily said previously.