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"In remarks that have astonished his followers round the world, the 80-year-old Buddhist has said that while he would be happy for a female to take over his role, a plain or ugly candidate would not be suitable. "That female must be attractive, otherwise it is not much use," he told a startled BBC interviewer."

NEW DELHI — A crowd of Tibetans came here to India’s capital last week, bearing flags and political banners and a bittersweet mixture of hope and despair. A grim countdown was under way: The number of Tibetans who have set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule in Tibet had reached 99, one short of an anguished milestone. Yet as that milestone hung over the estimated 5,000 Tibetans who gathered in a small stadium, so did an uncertainty about whether the rest of the world was paying attention at all. In speeches, Tibetan leaders described the self-immolations as the desperate...

Chinese security forces continue to surround the Kirti Tibetan monastery in Sichuan after local residents tried to stop them from arresting the 2,500 monks holed up inside. The standoff began earlier this week, when hundreds of people living in Sichuan's Aba region converged on the monastery determined to stop police from removing the monks for reeducation. The monks could soon face food shortages because they depend on offerings from locals, the Voice of America reports. A U.S. State Department spokesman said the U.S. is concerned about China's actions in Aba, which it called it inconsistent with the internationally recognized principles...

Remember the HOPI ELDERS? Well, they're baaaack and this time they are fortified with 1200 year old Tibetan Prophecy. I don't know about the Hopis but it wouldn't surprise me a bit if the ancient Tibetans had predicted a bizarre tribe called the Dopis who posted this laughable THREAD titled, "Att: DU Buddhists - Tibetan Prophecy Shared With Hopi people." So let us now watch the DUmmies be awed once again by Hopi and Change in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, donning his Billy Jack hat, is in the [brackets]: Att: DU Buddhists - Tibetan...

China has sentenced a Tibetan Buddhist lama to more than eight years in jail for illegal possession of ammunition and embezzlement. The monk, Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, denies all charges, his lawyer said. The man described as a Living Buddha was arrested after nuns at his temple protested against a crackdown on Tibetan Buddhism. This had followed anti-China riots that erupted in Lhasa in 2008 and spread through the Himalayan region. Delay Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche "was charged with illegal possession of ammunition and embezzlement, but he denied all charges," lawyer Jiang Tianyong told AFP. He had been arrested on 18 May...

Situation "very tense", unrest possible in Tibet: Dalai Lama AFP[Wednesday, February 11, 2009 23:00] BADEN BADEN, Germany - The Dalai Lama warned Wednesday of a fresh uprising in Tibet in the "very tense" run-up to the 50th anniversary of the failed rebellion against Chinese rule that prompted his flight into exile. "Today there is too much anger... The situation is very tense," said the 73-year-old Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader during a visit to the German spa town of Baden Baden. "At any moment there can be an outburst of violence," he told a group of journalists. "This is my worry...