Early reports say nearly 100 people were killed
(Newser) -
A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 95 people in Tibet, per the AP . Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region. Rescue workers climbed...
2 more are missing, including sherpa who recently set record
(Newser) -
American mountaineer Anna Gutu and a Nepalese guide, Mingmar Sherpa, were confirmed dead Sunday after avalanches struck the slopes of a Tibetan mountain, while two others remained missing, according to Chinese media reports. The avalanches struck Tibet's Mount Shishapangma on Saturday afternoon at about 25,000 feet and about...
Top Tibetan official sees interaction with boy as innocent, suspects Beijing of viral campaign
(Newser) -
Earlier this week, the Dalai Lama made headlines for the wrong reasons—his office apologized after a video showed the Tibetan spiritual leader asking a boy to suck his tongue during a public greeting in India. Now, the leader of Tibet's government-in-exile is backing the explanation that the greeting...
Spiritual leader asked the child to 'suck my tongue,' now regrets the 'playful' exchange
(Newser) -
Creepy or "playful?" The Dalia Lama is apologizing after video emerged of him asking a small boy to "suck his tongue" during a public greeting, reports Reuters . “His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras,”...
Nation yanks bulk of actor's movies from streaming platforms after he did benefit concert for Tibet House
(Newser) -
Earlier this month, Keanu Reeves participated in an online benefit concert held by Tibet House, a nonprofit based in New York that's tied to the Dalai Lama. Now, the 57-year-old Canadian actor is seeing the repercussions, with the Los Angeles Times reporting that China's major streaming platforms yanked...
Sources say diplomatic boycott of Beijing Games has been formally recommended to Biden
(Newser) -
The Biden administration is likely planning a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics in February in response to human rights abuses in China, according to a report. Several sources tell Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin that a formal recommendation has been made to President Biden that the US refrain from...
Costly project in Tibet is now open
(Newser) -
The first bullet train went live in Tibet on June 25, and its speed—about 100 miles per hour—is pretty much the least fascinating part about it. CNN reports on some of the more notable and unusual features of the line, which links the Tibetan capital Lhasa with Nyingchi,...
Wang Xiangjun, 30, went missing while visiting a glacial waterfall
(Newser) -
A Chinese social media influencer is believed to be dead after vanishing on Dec. 20. Wang Xiangjun, known as "Glacier Bro" due to his penchant for exploring glaciers while talking about climate change, was at a glacial waterfall in Tibet when footage shows him apparently lose his balance near...
Beijing claims Gedhun Choekyi Nyima wants to be left alone
(Newser) -
China says a boy who disappeared 25 years ago after being picked by the Dalai Lama as Tibetan Buddhism’s second-highest figure is now a college graduate with a stable job. Very little information has been given about Gedhun Choekyi Nyima or his family since he went missing at age...
Terry Branstad is first US ambassador to make the trip since 2015
(Newser) -
The US ambassador to China is making a rare visit to Tibet to meet local officials and raise concerns about restrictions on Buddhist practices and the preservation of the Himalayan region's unique culture and language. The US Embassy in Beijing said Terry Branstad is visiting the Tibetan Autonomous Region...
Tourist ban aims to cut down on mountain trash
(Newser) -
China is making a move to help with the trash problem on Mount Everest. Bejing is closing the base camp on the Tibet side of the peak to everyone except those with climbing permits, reports the BBC . And China hands out only 300 of those permits a year. The Tibetan...
Steve Aisthorpe grateful that 2 friends who disappeared in Himalayas in 1988 have been found
(Newser) -
The bodies of those who succumb to the Himalayan mountains likely stay on the slopes forever—it's often too difficult, dangerous, and costly to retrieve them. That fact didn't stop Steve Aisthorpe of Scotland from his recent mission on the Nepal-Tibet border: to get "closure" on the...
Serious damaged feared at 1,300-year-old Jokhang monastery
(Newser) -
A 1,300-year-old monastery "considered the spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism" caught fire Saturday and may have suffered serious damage, the AP reports. Images on social media showed flames visible from hundreds of yards away covering a roof of the Jokhang monastery in Lhasa. According to Reuters , no casualties...
Little is known of Tibet's second-ranked monk 22 years after his detention
(Newser) -
This week marked the 28th birthday of Tibet’s Panchen Lama, reinvigorating calls for his release from detention by the Chinese government. Radio Free Asia reports that at just 6 years old, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family were detained when the exiled Dalai Lama named him the 11th reincarnation...
Criticism of China cost him mainstream roles, but he's happy with indie films
(Newser) -
Richard Gere was once on the Hollywood A-list, with blockbusters such as Pretty Woman, American Gigolo, and An Officer and a Gentleman. Not so much anymore. He's 67 now, but other actors in their 60s are still pulling down mainstream leading roles. So why not Gere? He tells the...
Tibet mountaineers didn't realize they had found long-lost men
(Newser) -
The mountaineers who discovered the bodies of long-lost American climbers Alex Lowe and David Bridges in Tibet left them untouched out of respect—and it took them days to realize who they were. Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck tells Reuters that he was on the way up Mount Shishapangma with German...
Alex Lowe, cameraman perished in Tibet avalanche
(Newser) -
The frozen remains of one of the greatest American mountain climbers who ever lived have been found on the mountain where he died. Alex Lowe was 40 years old and considered the best in the world when he died alongside cameraman David Bridges in October 1999, the AP reports. They...
2nd-highest Buddhist spiritual leader disappeared 20 years ago at age 6
(Newser) -
Twenty years ago this week, a 6-year-old Tibetan boy was cornered by Chinese authorities, then apparently fell off the face of the Earth. He wasn't just any grade-schooler, though: Gedhun Choekyi Nyima had just been declared the 11th Panchen Lama (second only to the Dalai Lama in the Buddhist...
Temperatures may have led to a civilization's downfall
(Newser) -
Civilization at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau fell apart—or at least changed very suddenly—4,000 years ago, and now, researchers believe they can explain why. In fact, it has to do with climate change, though not the way we currently think of it, Science 2.0 notes....
Press secretary mentions only Nepal, India, Bangladesh
(Newser) -
The Nepal earthquake also caused deaths in other countries, including dozens in Tibet—but Tibet didn't get the White House's condolences yesterday. During a press briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest noted that the US government offered its "deepest condolences to … the families of those who died...
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