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The monks of Kirti monastery in Aba, Sichuan, western China, are said to have found a 16-year-old schoolgirl among up to 23 Tibetan protesters killed when Chinese police opened fire last Sunday. Lhundup Tso, the youngest reported victim of the Chinese crackdown, still had her school satchel strapped to her back. Her body was taken to the monastery with the other dead to document what Tibetan officials claim was a massacre. They fear it may be one of several carried out by Chinese armed police in an attempt to put down the largest Tibetan uprising in almost 20 years. Tso...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali police began hunting on Saturday for a teenaged boy who some people believe is an reincarnation of Buddha after he disappeared from the site where he had been meditating for almost 10 months. Fifteen-year-old Ram Bahadur Bamjon has not been seen since early Saturday, said Hari Krishna Khatiwada, a district official of Bara, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Kathmandu. The boy had been meditating there without food or water since May. Some of his followers are also missing. "So far we have found no trace of them," Khatiwada said. Sitting cross-legged beneath a "pipal" tree,...

DHARMSALA, India - The Dalai Lama said Friday that he has asked China to let him to visit the country for the first time since he fled Tibet nearly a half-century ago. His comments came in an address to thousands of followers on the anniversary of the 1959 uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule, which marked the beginning of his exile. The supreme Tibetan spiritual leader, 70, did he did not specify an itinerary, but said he wanted to make a pilgrimage. His envoys, who recently returned from talks with officials in China, had conveyed his request to the Chinese...

Kidding. But this video clip hosted on Sundance Film's website is both laughable and frightening. A little on the long side, but fascinating. Link

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Chinese influence is increasing in Latin America and Africa, a phenomenon that could have substantial bearing on America`s foreign policy on these regions, say analysts. 'America`s influence could be seriously eroded,' while Chinese influence will only increase, said Stephen Johnson, senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Referring to the 'plantation economy' being created in Latin America as a result of China`s substantial influence on the economy, he said that the United States should rely more on competition in order to get a foot back in the door as a major player....

Frontpage Interview's guest today is Gordon G. Chang, the author of The Coming Collapse of China (Amazon link). FP: Gordon G. Chang, welcome to Frontpage Interview. Chang: Thank you very much. FP: You believe that the Chinese Communist Party will fall from power by the end of this decade. We are talking about just a few years. What do you see here and why? And how is this compatible with the fact that China is getting more prosperous? What will replace the Party? Chang: As China gets more prosperous, it is becoming less stable. Senior Beijing officials now face the...

China issued Thursday the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2005 (read full text) in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005 issued by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday. Released by the Information Office of China's State Council, the Chinese report listed a multitude of cases to show the serious violations of human rights both in and outside the United States. "As in previous years, the U.S. State Department pointed the finger at human rights situations in more than 190 countries and regions (including China) but kept silent on the violations of human...

China has hit back at US criticism of its human rights record by releasing its own document of alleged US abuses. Washington said in its annual rights report that China was one of the world's "most systematic" offenders. In return Beijing urged the US to "look squarely" at its own problems, such as a high murder rate and jail population. While China often rejects US criticism of its rights record, this exchange is especially sensitive due to President Hu Jintao's visit to the US next month. The report issued by China's cabinet, the State Council, on Thursday listed "a multitude...

Jerusalem, March 6: Against the backdrop of the recent Indo-US nuclear deal, the Israeli defence industry has expressed concern that the United States' tightening security ties with India will adversely affect their prospects in one of their key markets. "The Americans understood Israel is taking a huge market away from them. It took them time to respond, but they eventually did," a source at Israel's defence industries told local daily 'Yediot Ahronoth'. "From now on it will be much harder to carry out arms deals in India," the source added. "The US plans on turning India into one of its...