Mongolian-American boy unveiled as the third most important spiritual leader
Good evening,
One of the Dalai Lama's many teachings is that "it is wise to prepare for death while you are living". While the 87-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism believes he will live to 113, preparations for his passing are already proving controversial.
The question of who can determine his successor, and those of other high-ranking leaders within the faith, is turning into a tense geo-political battle.
| Hollie Clemence
Executive Editor |
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| GETTING TO GRIPS WITH . . . | | An American-Mongolian boy has been identified as the tenth incarnation of the Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché, the third highest-ranking spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism.
According to The Times, the boy, believed to be around eight years old, was pictured for the first time participating in a ceremony alongside the 87-year-old Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, earlier this month.
It was during this ceremony that the Dalai Lama announced to some 600 Mongolian followers and 5,000 monks and nuns that the tenth reincarnation of the Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché had been found.
Outside Buddhist and diplomatic circles the news went almost "unnoticed", but in Mongolia it "provoked intense excitement among Buddhists, contempt among secular nationalists and alarm among those who fear that it will provoke the rage of the country's huge and powerful neighbour, China", said the paper. |
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TODAY'S BIG QUESTION | | Major cities across France have erupted in protest and riots in recent weeks after President Emmanuel Macron pushed a highly controversial reform of the pension system through parliament, leaving many political analysts speculating that France may be about to lurch dramatically right or left come the next election.
Barred by the French constitution from campaigning for a third term, Macron will bow out in 2027, creating "a power vacuum" that leaders from across the political spectrum will be "itching to fill", said Politico, among them the three-time presidential contender Marine Le Pen.
Certainly the 54-year-old leader of the right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN) has been in a "cheerful mood" recently, said Spiegel International, speaking confidently about her electoral chances. |
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profile | | Broadcaster and comedian has died at the age of 67 |
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WHAT THE SCIENTISTS ARE SAYING… | | Monkeys in southern Thailand have been observed creating shards of rock that could easily be mistaken for prehistoric tools. The long-tailed macaques produced the shards while using rocks to smash palm oil nuts, raising the possibility that some of the flakes found at sites in Africa, and presumed to have been created deliberately by early hominins, could also have been made unwittingly. Dr Tomos Proffitt and his colleagues identified some 200 stone flakes at 40 locations where macaques crack nuts, and compared them with stone tools dated to between 1.5 million and three million years ago. They found that the monkey's shards looked remarkably similar to the ancient ones; however, some of the latter did show signs of having been used for cutting. The team suggest that early hominins used rocks to smash nuts or bones, and at some point, they started picking up the flakes they'd inadvertently created, and found a use for them. They also call for archaeologists to take more care in distinguishing between ancient shards that were created deliberately, and those that were mere byproducts.
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T H E W E E K M A G A Z I N E |
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| Take a step back from the noise of the news and enjoy a fresh perspective with The Week magazine. Start your trial today and enjoy your first six print and digital issues for free, then continue to save 60%. Sale ends 6 April. |
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poll watch | | More adults in Great Britain believe the BBC has a right-wing bias (24%) than a left-wing bias (21%). A quarter (26%) think it is "generally neutral". BBC News has a net trust rating of +14% (40% trust it, 26% distrust it) down from +21% in August. ITV's is +23.
Opinium/The Observer
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| picture of the day | | Protesters clash with Kenyan police officers in Nairobi. Demonstrators are questioning last year's presidential election results and calling on President William Ruto to lower the cost of living.
Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images |
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Good week for... | Tracey Emin, who opened her new Margate art studio and announced plans to turn a dilapidated waterfront building at Westbrook Bay into a swimmer and surfer club. | |
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Bad week for... | UK tenants, after Zoopla found that the number of homes available to rent had fallen by a third in 18 months, while the cost of renting increased by 20% on average over the past three years. | |
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PUZZLES | | Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section |
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instant opinion | | Your digest of analysis from the British and international press from the past seven days
Embroiled in a highly publicised legal battle in Park City, Utah, actor and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow has created "a new style subgenre that ought henceforth to be known as courtcore", said Vanessa Friedman in The New York Times. Paltrow "has been using her wardrobe as a tool in her performance of persuasion" in the courtroom, "a complicated role" to get right, says Friedman. The "wellness guru" can't look "too much of an entitled, out-of-touch rich person", and though "she can't deny her own profile", neither can she "lean into it". Paltrow is walking "the fine line between obviously rich" and "respectful", Friedman says, "playing to the local crowd" by dressing "a lot like the people walking down Main Street". That might "make her version of events just that much more believable" to the public. "When it comes to image-making in court, 'know your audience' is as much a legal maxim as a Hollywood one." |
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| Motoring review | | The new Suzuki's S-cross models are well-priced but the hybrid steering is 'disconcertingly light' |
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DOWN TO BUSINESS | Wednesday afternoon markets | Shares in Next dropped by 7.44% this morning after the high street retailer said it was prepared for a "difficult" year. Overall, the FTSE 100 was up, with Ocado and Prudential leading the riser board.
FTSE 100: 7,555.06, up 0.95%
Dax: 15,299.09, up 1.04%
Dow: 32,566.30, up 0.53%
Dollar: £1 = $1.2318, down 0.18%
Euro: £1 = €1.1370, down 0.06%
Brent crude: $78.79, up 0.18%
Gold: $1,965.25, down 0.34% | |
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WIT & WISDOM | "Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination." | Immanuel Kant, quoted on Jezebel | |
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