Reuters: Dalai Lama supports Olympics 23 March

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has appealed to the world community to "please help" resolve the crisis in his homeland that has been rocked by deadly anti-Chinese protests during a press conference today held in the Indian capital. "We have no power except justice, truth, sincerity... that is why I appeal to the world community to please help," the Buddhist icon told a news conference in the Indian capital where he was conducting meditation sessions. "I am here helpless, I just pray," said the exiled spiritual leader two weeks after anti-Chinese protests in the Himalayan region turned bloody, leading to calls for a boycott of the August Beijing Olympic Games.

The Dalai Lama will undergo surgery to remove a gallstone according to a spokesman for the Tibetan spiritual leader. (Oct. 9)

Tibet’s spiritual leader in exile, the Dalai Lama, has accused the Chinese government of committing “cultural genocide” in his homeland. Speaking on the sidelines of an interfaith conference of world religious leaders in Amritsar, India, the 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner also fueled speculation that he will name his successor before his death, breaking with Buddhist tradition.

Pro-Tibet protests continue across Dharamsala with hundreds of local Tibetans taking to the streets demanding international action against China’s violent clamp down on demonstrators. Monks and ordinary people marched to the Dalai Lama’s residence and held a candle light vigil calling on China to disclose the number of deaths and arrests over the last 10 days.

On the hot, dusty streets of Delhi, Tibetan refugees desperate to attract attention to their cause go on hunger strike. After 49 days the Tibetans are on death's door as the Indian riot police arrive to stop the strike. From the madness a human flame emer

Paris city council voted on Monday to award honorary citizenship to the Dalai Lama, amid a chill in relations between France and China after the chaotic Olympic torch relay in Paris two weeks ago.

UN's Ban says will meet Myanmar junta leader BANGKOK UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he would meet Myanmar's junta leader Senior General Than Shwe during a visit starting Thursday to convince the generals to accept a wider cyclone relief effort. "I will meet with senior government officials, including Senior General Than Shwe," Ban told reporters shortly after landing Wednesday in neighbouring Thailand. Images and soundbites

There are just six months until China hosts its first-ever Olympic Games. Beijing is working hard to disprove doubters who say it isn't ready to host the world's most prestigious sporting event. The city has undergone enormous changes in its seven-year buildup to the event. But the government is still criticized for failing to live up to other Olympic promises, particularly in the realm of human rights reform.

Chinese and Tibetan climbers bearing an Olympic torch reached Mount Everest's summit on Thursday, exactly three months ahead of the Beijing Games. Tibetan female climber Cering Wangmo reached the top of the world's highest peak ---8,848 metres (29,028 feet) high, bearing a special extreme-altitude torch.

EU foreign ministers, meeting in Slovenia from Friday, are divided over whether to stage a symbolic boycott of the Beijing Olympics in protest against China's crackdown on Tibet. Images and soundbites from AFPTV.