Foreign News
Thousands turn out to mark Dalai Lama’s 90 birthday
Thousands of Tibetan Buddhists streamed into India’s Himalayan town of Dharamshala on Sunday to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Dalai Lama.
Ferocious monsoon rains did not dampen the spirits as the Tibetan spiritual leader appeared in traditional robes and a flowing yellow wrap, smiling and walking with the aid of two monks.
The hilltop temples echoed with chants, while dance troupes performed with clanging cymbals and bagpipes.
Indian ministers, long-time followers including Hollywood actor Richard Gere and thousands of devotees gathered to honour the exiled leader, revered as an advocate for peace.
Gere took to the podium at the celebrations with a smile on his face to declare what a “joyous, joyous day” it was “to celebrate this extraordinary life.” He then embraced the Dalai Lama, who he said “totally embodies selflessness”, and kissed his hand.
Sunday’s festivities mark the culmination of a week of long-life prayers that began on Monday, aligned with his birthday on the Tibetan lunar calendar.
At a ceremony on Saturday, the Dalai Lama assured followers of his “great physical condition” and said he would live for another 40 years – to 130 – two decades beyond his previous prediction.
Though he said he typically avoided birthday celebrations, the Dalai Lama thanked followers for using the occasion to reflect on peace of mind and compassion. He referred to himself as a “simple Buddhist monk” and said he had no regrets as he looked back on his life at 90.
“While it is important to work for material development, it is vital to focus on achieving peace of mind through cultivating a good heart and by being compassionate, not just toward near and dear ones, but toward everyone,” he said in his birthday message.
This week, the Dalai Lama confirmed plans for a successor, putting to rest long-standing speculation over whether the 600-year-old institution would end with him.
According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Dalai Lama is reincarnated after death – a process deeply rooted in spiritual customs, not political authority.
Living in exile since fleeing Chinese rule in 1959, the Dalai Lama has previously said his reincarnation will take place in the “free world”, meaning outside of China.
But Beijing, which considers him a separatist, swiftly rejected his authority to determine a successor.
Chinese officials insist that any succession must follow Chinese laws, religious rituals and historical conventions – and ultimately be approved by the government in Beijing.
The announcement has reignited fears among Tibetans in exile that China will attempt to name a successor to tighten control over Tibet, the region it occupied in 1950 and has ruled ever since.
The Dalai Lama has long guided the Tibetan diaspora in their struggle for autonomy and resistance to Chinese domination.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended birthday wishes on Sunday, calling him an “enduring symbol of love, compassion, patience and moral discipline”.
Former US President Barack Obama also sent greetings, calling him “the youngest 90-year-old I know” and thanking him for his friendship.
[BBC]
At least 21 people have been killed after a bus overturned in the south of Iran, state media has reported.
Masoud Abed, the head of Fars province’s emergency organisation, said 34 other people were injured in the accident on Saturday south of Shiraz, the province’s capital.
Abed said rescue operations are ongoing, and additional information and final figures will be released to the public after the operation is complete and detailed investigations have been carried out.
The cause of the incident is under investigation.
With nearly 17,000 casualties annually, Iran is among the countries most affected by road and street accidents. The high toll is attributed to lax application of safety measures, the widespread use of old vehicles and depleted emergency services.
[Aljazeera]
Sectarian clashes have continued in southern Syria despite an “immediate ceasefire” announced by the country’s president.
Over the past week fighters from the minority Druze community have been battling armed Bedouins in Suweida Province, with both sides accused of atrocities.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa deployed troops but the government forces were accused of joining in attacks on the Druze. More than 900 people are reported to have been killed in the violence.
Israel declared support for the Druze earlier this week and intervened, hitting government forces and the defence ministry in the capital Damascus.
Sharaa announced the ceasefire on Saturday as Syrian security forces were deployed to Suweida to end the clashes. The deal included a halt to Israeli military strikes and was approved by Israel as part of US-brokered pact, as long as the Druze citizens were protected.
Government troops have set up checkpoints to try to prevent more people joining the fighting. But gunfire was reported from inside the city of Suweida later on Saturday.
A correspondent for AFP news agency said they had seen armed men looting shops and setting fire to them.
Also on Saturday, Israel’s foreign minister cast doubt on the renewed pledge by the president to protect minorities and all Syrians.
Suweida’s Druze community follows a secretive, unique faith derived from Shia Islam, and distrusts the current government in Damascus. They are a minority in Syria, as well as in neighbouring Israel and Lebanon.
In a social media post, Gideon Saar said it was “very dangerous” to be part of a minority in Syria, and “this has been proven time and again over the past six months”.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to prevent harm to the Druze in Syria because of their ties to those living in Israel.
Long-running tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes in Suweida erupted into deadly sectarian clashes last Sunday Sunday, following the abduction of a Druze merchant on the highway to the capital, Damascus.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), 940 people have been killed since then.
The ceasefire between Israel and Syria on Friday was announced by US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack on Friday.
“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours,” he said.
The BBC’s Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab, reporting from Syria, said violence towards the Druze has been spreading across the country.
Earlier this week, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said his office had received credible reports indicating widespread violations and abuses during clashes, including summary executions and arbitrary killings in Suweida.
Among the alleged perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim government, as well as local Druze and Bedouin armed elements, Türk said in a statement. “This bloodshed and the violence must stop,” he warned, adding that “those responsible must be held to account”.
In his comments on Saturday morning, the Syrian leader said that his government “is committed to protecting all minorities and sects in the country and is proceeding to hold all violators accountable from any party. No-one will escape accountability.”
[BBC]
Indian tax authorities and market regulator are considering widening their probe of United States trading giant Jane Street Group to investigate it for tax evasion in addition to an earlier charge of price rigging in the Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark Sensex, according to media reports.
The tax evasion charge comes on the heels of market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), seizing 48.43 billion rupees ($570m) and banning four Jane Street-related entities from operating in the market for alleged price manipulation in the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
SEBI’s order has roiled the Indian markets, raising questions about regulator surveillance and investor protection in the world’s largest options trading market. Trading in India’s weekly equity index options has slumped by a third on the ban on Jane Street, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday.
Trading of equity options lets investors buy or sell a stock at a predetermined price and date. As the Indian market rapidly grew to handle more than half of all global options trades, retail investors entered the market too.
Questions of price manipulation have dogged this rapid rise but remained vacuous until a New York court case in April 2024, where Jane Street alleged that its rival, Millennium Partners, had stolen its algorithms that helped it make in the Indian options market. A whistleblower, Mayank Bansal, then made presentations to SEBI showing Jane Street’s trading patterns. Bansal had agreed to speak to Al Jazeera about his interaction with SEBI on the matter, but then backtracked.
On July 3, in a detailed interim order, the regulator said that “by preponderance of probability, there is no economic rationale that can account for this sudden burst of large and aggressive activity, other than the intent to manipulate the price of securities and index benchmark”.
SEBI has alleged that Jane Street accumulated large long positions in stocks that are a part of the NSE’s Bank Index and built large short positions in index options at the start of trade. Around market closing time, it would reverse its trades in the cash and futures segments, pushing down the index and earning large profits in the options segment.
This activity was blurred by its offshore entities making some of these trades.
“Lawyers [can] push back with SEBI on jurisdiction-related issues, but when underlying [Indian] securities are issued, SEBI can take action,” Joby Mathew, managing partner at the law firm Joby Mathew and Associates and a former legal officer at SEBI, told Al Jazeera.
Jane Street has disputed SEBI’s findings and has hired lawyers to represent it before SEBI in the case. It has deposited the 48.43 billion rupees ($563m) of allegedly ill-gotten gains in an account pending the investigation and final report.
[Aljazeera]
Bus crash in southern Iran kills at least 21, injures 34
The goal is to limit the number of students in a classroom to 25 or 30- Prime Minister
Navy rescue three fishermen 2 nautical miles off Palliyawatta, Wattala
Showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Sabaragamuwa province and in Nuwara-Eliya, Kandy, Galle and Matara districts
CaFFE tells Prez: Hold provincial council polls or abolish PC system
GI pipe case against Rambuweklla, others: Examination of witnesses to resume
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