Source : phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, June 22: The Italian city of Milan has withdrawn plans to bestow an honourary citizenship on Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, reportedly under pressure from the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Rome.

Italy’s second largest newspaper La Repubblica on Thursday reported that Milan city leaders came under direct pressure from the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Chinese ambassador to drop the idea to honour the Tibetan Nobel Laureate.

“In a decision that outraged supporters of the Tibetan cause, Milan has backed away from plans to give the Dalai Lama honourary citizenship because of concerns about upsetting China,” the paper said.

Source : phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, June 20: In reports coming out of Tibet, two young Tibetans set themselves on fire today in Zatoe town of Keygudo, Kham, eastern Tibet calling for Tibet’s independence and long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 

Ngawang Norphel, 22 and Tenzin Khedup, 24, set themselves ablaze at about 3.30 pm (local time).Both of them were carrying Tibetan national flags in their hands at the time of their self-immolation protest. Tenzin Khedup passed away in his fiery protest while the condition and whereabouts of Ngawang Norphel is not yet known.

Source : tibet.net, June 20th 2012

London, England, 19 June 2012 - As His Holiness received Burmese leader and fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, who had come to visit him privately this morning, he told her,  “I have real admiration for your courage. I am very happy we’ve been able to meet”

After more than half an hour’s close conversation, during which His Holiness told her that just as her late father had shown great dedication, he was confident that she too would be of great service to humanity, he wished her every success in fulfilling her life’s goals. He also said he looked forward to meeting her again.                
A short drive through London’s sunlit streets brought His Holiness to the University of Westminster where he had been invited to give the CR Parekh Lecture on the Values of Democracy and Tibet. He began,
“The twenty-first century is still young, there are almost 90 years to go, so we still have an opportunity to work to create a new, better world.”

Source : tibet.net, June 20, 2012

Rio de Janeiro: EDD staff continues to raise pressing issues concerning Tibet’s environment during the events and activities of UNCSD Rio+20 conference being held in Brazil.

Mr Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, a researcher at the Environment and Development Desk (DIIR) of Central Tibetan Administration has been taking active participation in several events and activities of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) commonly called Rio+20 being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The conference focuses on two main themes:  a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and the institutional framework for sustainable development.

Source : phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, June 19: A group of young Tibetans in Los Angeles came up with a ‘meritorious’ idea of observing the Tibetan Buddhist holy month of Saka Dawa as well as ‘Father’s Day’ by serving up food to the homeless in the second most populous city in the United States.

The group of seven young Tibetans decided to serve homemade food to the homeless in the infamous 50 block area of downtown Los Angeles, considered of having the largest concentration of transient people in the US.

Source : tibet.net

MANCHESTER, 17 June: As a light Mancunian drizzle fell outside, His Holiness began the day with a couple of extensive newspaper interviews. In the light of his specifically addressing youth later today, His Holiness was asked what he thought about the riots that took place in Britain last year. He replied, 'When I heard about those riots on the BBC I was surprised. I had always thought of the people of Britain as a mature people, a law abiding people. I wrote to your Prime Minister expressing my concern and suggesting that it was important to really look into the root causes of this violence.” Elaborating on the theme, he pointed out that although people are nominally equal under the law, sometimes the poor are treated less well.

Therefore, their voice needs to be heard. If leaders fail to pay attention, it may be necessary to organize a protest or demonstration, with the stipulation that it must be peaceful and non-violent. If violence breaks out, it inevitably detracts from your goal. On the other hand, His Holiness said that while he was shocked by the violence that had taken place, he was impressed to learn that in many places people voluntarily came out to take part in the clean up.