In a decade-long study, a ratio of serum acute tryptase to serum baseline tryptase above 1.74 showed superior diagnostic performance compared with the current consensus formula, which requires serum acute tryptase to be greater than a personalized cutoff value. The ratio correctly identified more than two thirds of true cases while ruling out the majority of false cases in children with suspected anaphylaxis.
METHODOLOGY:
Researchers reviewed medical records of 315 children (median age, 7.8 years; 56.2% boys) admitted to the emergency department with suspected anaphylaxis from January 2011 to December 2020 to assess the diagnostic performance of serum tryptase measurements.
The diagnosis of anaphylaxis was confirmed when children showed at least one extracutaneous systemic symptom and had evidence of systemic mast cell activation or allergic sensitization to a trigger allergen.
Those with a confirmed diagnosis constituted the anaphylaxis group (n = 175), while the remaining served as the control group (n = 142).
Researchers compared the diagnostic performance of the consensus formula with that of five alternative tryptase interpretation algorithms.
TAKEAWAY:
Food allergens triggered 82% of anaphylaxis reactions, with legumes, seeds, and nuts being the triggers in 36% of cases, followed by cow’s milk proteins in 28% of cases.
Epinephrine was administered in 96 children with suspected anaphylaxis (30.3%), including 14 children who were initially misdiagnosed as having anaphylaxis due to cardiovascular involvement and a credible history of allergen exposure.
The ratio of serum acute tryptase to serum baseline tryptase showed optimal diagnostic performance, with an area under the curve of 0.84, sensitivity of 66.7%, and specificity of 90% at a threshold of 1.74 — outperforming the current consensus formula, which has a sensitivity of 62.2% and specificity of 80%.
IN PRACTICE:
“Our study underlines the need for better implementation of both sAT [serum acute tryptase] and sBT [serum baseline tryptase] measurements at adequate sampling times in pediatric EDs [emergency departments] and contributes to the ongoing debate on the optimal interpretation of pediatric dynamic tryptase,” the authors wrote.
SOURCE:
Moïse Michel, PhD, with the Nîmes University Hospital, Nîmes, France, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published online on June 24 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: Global.
LIMITATIONS:
This study was limited by its retrospective design and the absence of grade 4 anaphylaxis cases in the cohort, limiting the evaluation of tryptase measurement performance.
DISCLOSURES:
This study did not receive any specific funding. One author reported receiving speaker or consultancy fees from various pharmaceutical manufacturers.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
The highly anticipated India-Pakistan showdown in the ACC Asia Cup 2025 is likely to take place on September 7 in Dubai, with Indian media on Wednesday revealing tentative dates and venue details for the tournament.
Despite India being the official hosts, the tournament is expected to be shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to ongoing political tensions between the two arch-rivals.
Reports suggest that the Asia Cup 2025 is likely to begin around September 4 or 5, with the final pencilled in for September 21.
The recurring deadlock between the BCCI and PCB has led to the “fusion formula,” under which both boards reportedly agreed not to visit each other’s home soil for multi-nation events for the next three years.
Instead, their matches would be staged at neutral venues. That’s why the 17th edition of the continental event will see the arch-rivals clash in Dubai.
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It’s worth noting that the Asia Cup 2025 will be played in the T20 format and is expected to see India and Pakistan face off at least twice, first in the group stage, and potentially again in the Super Four round, depending on results.
Six teams will participate in the tournament: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and the UAE. The structure will follow the traditional format of a group stage leading into the Super Four, similar to previous editions.
An official announcement from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) regarding the final schedule is expected in the second week of July.
Meanwhile, promotions are already in full swing, with teasers airing on Indian television and circulating across digital platforms.
It is worth noting that India are the defending champions, having crushed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the ODI-format final of the previous edition.
READ: Shubman Gill drops major hint on India Playing XI for second Test
Benoy celebrates the opening of WEAVE at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) — a bold new lifestyle destination that reimagines the guest experience through biophilic architecture, sensory immersion and sustainable design.
Designed by Benoy, WEAVE sets a new benchmark for tropical, experience-led architecture in Singapore, a design-forward hub where architecture, nature and community seamlessly converge.
A living landscape inspired by nature
Spanning over 20,000 sqm across three interconnected levels, WEAVE blends lush greenery, organic forms and nature-integrated retail into a living environment that transforms throughout the day. Its architecture draws from the island’s natural topography and cultural richness, inviting guests on a journey that is both restorative and inspiring.
Azaria Lee stated, “WEAVE was envisioned as a living, breathing sanctuary, an architecture of movement, light and landscape. We sought to dissolve boundaries between indoor and outdoor, inviting guests to slow down, explore and reconnect with nature through spatial moments that surprise, shelter and inspire.”
A rainforest-inspired experience
Guided by a rainforest-inspired spatial concept, WEAVE unfolds from cool, shaded botanical valleys at the lower levels to vibrant floral terraces above. Natural textures, asymmetrical façades and open-air walkways foster a sense of fluidity and calm, while encouraging moments of community, rest and discovery.
Greening the guest experience
Sustainability is integrated in every level throughout WEAVE’s design, from ETFE canopies that reduce solar heat gain by up to 80%, to passive cooling, green walls, rainwater harvesting and recyclable structural materials. Together, these strategies support RWS’s ambition to become a carbon-neutral destination by 2030.
A gateway between nature, community and commerce
Strategically positioned within the wider RWS masterplan, WEAVE functions as a dynamic gateway, its central location linking key guest flows across the resort and iconic attractions, while shaping an immersive day-to-night journey through space, nature and experience.
Its distinctive Lifestyle Villas feature expansive glass façades and multi-storey decks that open to nature, overlooking lively corridors framed by greenery and seasonal activity. These spaces offer a vibrant platform where community and commerce meet, inviting both local and global brands to thrive.
Looking ahead
Benoy congratulates Resorts World Sentosa on the launch of WEAVE and is proud to have shaped its architectural vision. We look forward to seeing how this vibrant, nature-led destination invites people to explore, connect and linger.
NASA is exploring the properties of a metal alloy that shrinks as it is heated, as boffins in its Astrophysics Division think it may be needed if the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HBO) is to succeed.
Readers doubtless know that metals expand when heated. As explained in a NASA blog post that’s a problem for space telescopes because if their components warm and expand it can mean that the shape of their mirrors change in ways that make it harder to conduct observations.
NASA has already developed materials that compensate for those effects and used them in the James Webb Space Telescope and in the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope that the aerospace agency intends to launch in 2027.
The HBO, NASA’s next space ‘scope project after the Nancy Grace Roman, will need even more resilient materials.
To understand why, the post explains how to observe exoplanets.
“As light passes through a planet’s atmosphere or is reflected or emitted from a planet’s surface, telescopes can measure the intensity and spectra (i.e., ‘color’) of the light, and can detect various shifts in the light caused by gases in the planetary atmosphere. By analyzing these patterns, scientists can determine the types of gases in the exoplanet’s atmosphere.”
Observing those shifts is no easy matter, “because the exoplanets appear very near their host stars when we observe them, and the starlight is one billion times brighter than the light from an Earth-size exoplanet.”
That means the Habitable Worlds Observatory “will need a contrast ratio of one to one billion (1:1,000,000,000).”
To achieve that contrast ratio, the HBO will need to be 1,000 times more stable than the James Webb telescope.
Which is why NASA scientists and a company called ALLVAR are investigating a “negative thermal expansion” (NTE) alloy that shrinks when heated.
According to NASA’s post, “A 1-meter-long piece of this NTE alloy will shrink 0.003 mm for every 1° C increase in temperature.”
“Because it shrinks when other materials expand, ALLVAR Alloy 30 can be used to strategically compensate for the expansion and contraction of other materials,” NASA’s post states.
Tests have delivered promising results: ALLVAR apparently built a test mirror mounted on struts of a titanium alloy that expands when heated and struts made with Alloy 30. Both alloys performed as expected, with Alloy 30 offsetting the expansion in the titanium alloy to produce a stable mirror.
NASA thinks the tests also showed Alloy 30 “enabled enhanced passive thermal switch performance and has been used to remove the detrimental effects of temperature changes on bolted joints and infrared optics.”
Space boffins are therefore considering how to use Alloy 30 in many other space scenarios.
You might want to consider using it, too, as NASA wrote “ALLVAR developed washers and spacers are now commercially available to maintain consistent preloads across extreme temperature ranges in both space and terrestrial environments.” ®
France records second-hottest June since 1900, minister confirms
France registered its second-warmest June since records began in 1900, the country’s ministry for ecological transition said in comments reported by AFP.
“June 2025 has become the second hottest June since records began in 1900, behind June 2003,” said France’s minister for ecological transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
People cool off with water from Varsovie fountain by the Eiffel Tower during a heatwave in Paris, France. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA
Spain and Portugal also reported the hottest June temperatures in history.
Morning opening: How can we live with that?
Jakub Krupa
As the European heatwave continues and expands east – with Paris, Rome,Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Warsaw all expecting temperatures in the 30s – there are growing debates about how do we adapt to deal with these temperatures.
People find shade to cool off next to a fountain in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, Italy. Photograph: M Scott Brauer/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
The World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations’ weather and climate agency, said yesterday that we will have to learn to live with the new normal of extreme heatwaves, which will occur more often and be more intense as the time goes.
And the issue of how do we respond to this increasingly becomes a political issue, too, as parts of the European electorate continue to express their doubts about the cost of climate policies.
EU’s green transition chief Teresa Ribera told my colleague Sam Jones that political cowardice is hindering European efforts to face up to the effects of the climate crisis, even as the continent is pummelled by a record-breaking heatwave.
Ribera said that although the effects of the climate emergency were becoming increasingly obvious, they were still not translating into proper action as some political parties “continue to insist, quite vehemently, that climate change does not exist”, or else say that taking decisions to adapt to environmental realities is too expensive.
You can read the interview here:
I will bring you all the latest updates from across Europe on how the continent is coping with the heat, but also on these debates as the public’s attention turns to another question: how can we live with that?
Italy offers one solution as it introduces limits on outdoor work, but surely that’s not enough and doesn’t address the underlying issues. What else, then?
It’s Wednesday, 2 July 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
The 2025 edition of the Asia Cup is expected to take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with Indian media reporting that the tournament will begin around September 4 or 5 and conclude on September 21.
According to the reports, the group-stage fixture between India and Pakistan is likely to be held on September 7 in Dubai. The 17th edition of the tournament will be played in the T20 format and will follow the established format of group stages followed by a Super Four round.
There is a strong possibility that India and Pakistan could face each other more than once, depending on results, with a potential second meeting in the Super Four stage.
The participating teams are expected to include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the UAE.
While the Asian Cricket Council has not yet issued an official schedule, an announcement is anticipated in the second week of July. Promotional teasers for the event have already started airing on Indian television and circulating across social media.
Speculation that India might withdraw from the tournament due to political tensions was dismissed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which confirmed that no such decision had been made.
Media sources indicated that both countries are expected to continue participating in ICC and ACC tournaments without any official restrictions on fixtures against each other.
India are the defending champions, having won the previous Asia Cup—held in the 50-over format—with a comprehensive 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the final.
Yanagita is from Gunma, a sleepy prefecture to the north of Tokyo. His parents were in track and field, and he followed suit when he was in elementary school – but more as a long jumper than a sprinter.
The awakening, ironically, began for Yanagita during the global pandemic. As meets were cancelled, he began running more to stay in shape which gradually made him faster and faster.
After placing third at the 2022 national championships (10.19), Yanagita made his World Championships debut that year in the 4x100m relay but was disqualified in the heats.
The following season led to better results. He was runner-up at the nationals (10.13) then won his first Asian championship in Bangkok, where he recorded his PB of 10.02.
Yanagita got as far as the semi-finals at the World championships in 2023, when he also helped Japan finish fifth in the 4x100m. At Paris 2024, his first Olympic Games, he ran the heats in the relay but was not picked for the final (Japan wound up fifth).
Yanagita has been on a roll this year, winning the Golden Grand Prix and then defending his Asian title in Gumi, Republic of Korea. He perhaps faces his sternest test yet at these Japanese championships starting on Thursday (4 July), and seems to be fully aware of the mounting challenges lying before him.
His goal is to reach the 100m final at the National Stadium in September – something only Abdul Hakim Sani Brown has done for Japan at the World championships – but first things first.
“You can bet the house everyone will bring it this summer,” Yanagita said. “I have to keep working and start with making the team for Worlds.”
The Dalai Lama confirmed on Wednesday that he will have a successor to carry on the role of spiritual leadership to Tibetan Buddhists, in a statement issued during continuing celebrations to mark his 90th birthday.
He said that leaders of Tibet’s spiritual traditions, members of the Tibetan parliament and government in exile, both of which are in the Indian district of Dharamshala, and Buddhists from around the world, including mainland China and Tibet, had written to him, requesting that the institution continue.
“In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” he said.
His statement was issued as Buddhist scholars and revered monks from around the world have converged on McLeodganj town in Dharamshala, where the Dalai Lama lives, to participate in his 90th birthday celebrations. The town, also known as “Little Lhasa” because it is in effect the capital of Tibetan Buddhists in exile, will also host an intense three-day religious conference that the Dalai Lama will preside over.
But the occasion isn’t only religious. How the next Dalai Lama is chosen, and by whom, carries deep geopolitical significance.
For centuries, Tibetan Buddhist leaders have chosen and enthroned a new Dalai Lama only after an intense quest and subsequent schooling after the incumbent passes away. If the current Dalai Lama, the 14th, offers any more details in the coming days about how his successor might be chosen, or who it might be, that would represent a dramatic break with tradition.
What he says, and doesn’t say, will be closely watched in Washington, New Delhi and Beijing.
The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who fled Tibet for India in 1959, is seen as a separatist by Beijing, which was quick to push back against the spiritual leader’s comments on Wednesday, insisting that it had a veto over the choice of the next Dalai Lama.
India, as his host for 66 years, also has deep stakes in the future of the institution of the Dalai Lama, who has known every Indian prime minister since the country gained independence. And the United States, which has long cited the Tibetan movement in exile as evidence of China’s human rights excesses, will want to make sure that the glue that binds it all – the institution of the Dalai Lama – continues.
So, who will choose the next Dalai Lama? Can the incumbent Dalai Lama stump the Chinese government? And could there be two Dalai Lamas?
How is a Dalai Lama chosen?
Choosing the next Dalai Lama, who will be enthroned as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, is a process rooted in centuries-old traditions, spiritual beliefs, and rituals.
Traditions consider the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and each Dalai Lama is believed to be the successor in a line of reincarnations.
Traditionally, the search for the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation typically begins after a period of mourning. High-ranking lamas (spiritual leaders) form a search committee to identify the next Dalai Lama, based on signs such as the direction of the smoke blowing from his cremation, the direction where he was looking when he died, and oracles’ visions, including at Lhamo Latso, a lake considered holy in Tibet.
Once potential candidates are identified, they undergo a series of tests to confirm their identity as the reincarnation. Candidates are usually young boys born at about the time of the previous Dalai Lama’s death. But the current Dalai Lama has said that there is no reason why a woman cannot be the next reincarnation.
After a candidate is chosen, the child begins a rigorous education in Buddhist philosophy, scriptures and leadership responsibilities, preparing them to assume the role of both a spiritual and, historically, political leader of the Tibetan people.
Who is the current Dalai Lama and how was he chosen?
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama, was born as Lhamo Dhondup on July 6, 1935, to a farming family in a region now in Qinghai province. He was identified as a reincarnation when he was barely two years old.
After the death of the 13th Dalai Lama, the search party concluded a four-year-long quest after the toddler identified belongings of his predecessor with the phrase, “It’s mine, it’s mine.” While the majority of Dalai Lamas have been born in Tibet, one was discovered in Mongolia, and another in a region that today lies in northeastern India.
In March 1959, after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese control, the Dalai Lama fled Lhasa in disguise, crossing the Himalayas on horseback and foot, eventually reaching India on March 31 that year. Nearly 100,000 Tibetan refugees live in different parts of India today, the community’s largest exile population.
His escape marked the end of traditional Tibetan governance and the beginning of a life in exile, from where he led the Tibetan struggle for autonomy.
A painting by Kanwal Krishna, probably dated in the 1930s, of a young Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso, born in 1935), the traditional religious and temporal head of Tibet’s Buddhist clergy [Kanwal Krishna/AFP]
What has the 14th Dalai Lama said about his successor?
Addressing a beaming crowd of followers and monks in McLeodganj on Monday, June 30, the Dalai Lama, clad in his traditional red robes and yellow scarf, said: “As far as the institution of the Dalai Lama is concerned, there will be a framework for it to continue.
“I think I have been able to serve the Dharma and sentient beings and I am determined to continue to do so,” he added, noting that at 90 years old, he feels “physically healthy and well”.
He has also hinted about where to look for the next Dalai Lama. Noting that the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor, the 14th Dalai Lama wrote in his book, Voice for the Voiceless, published in March 2025, that “the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world”.
In effect, that has meant that the Dalai Lama has decreed that the reincarnation would not be in China or China-controlled Tibet. He had earlier said that his incarnation could be found in India.
For Tenzin Jigme, a 39-year-old who lives in McLeodganj and works with the Tibetan government-in-exile, the mere thought of the Dalai Lama passing away is heavy. His voice broke as he said, “We live in a free world because he led us here.”
“For all of us, living as refugees, His Holiness Dalai Lama is a fatherly figure,” Jigme told Al Jazeera. “We need his reincarnation; look at the world, we need someone to teach us compassion.”
Was there a risk that there wouldn’t be a successor?
The 14th Dalai Lama has suggested in the past that there may not be a successor at all.
In 2011, he said that when he turned 90, he would consult his fellow lamas and the Tibetan public and “re‑evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not”.
In 2014, during a visit to the 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome, the then-79-year-old spiritual leader said that whether another Dalai Lama would be enthroned after him would depend on the circumstances after his death and was “up to the Tibetan people”.
“The Dalai Lama institution will cease one day. These man-made institutions will cease,” the Dalai Lama said in an interview with the BBC. “There is no guarantee that some stupid Dalai Lama won’t come next, who will disgrace himself or herself. That would be very sad. So, much better that a centuries-old tradition should cease at the time of a quite popular Dalai Lama.”
Dibyesh Anand, a professor of international relations at the University of Westminster and the author of Geopolitical Exotica: Tibet in Western Imagination, said the institution of the Dalai Lama will face immense uncertainty in the coming decades.
But, he said, “the history shows that this institution has been more protean and resilient than politically power-based states.”
Subsequent exiled Dalai Lamas “will not have political power in conventional sense”; however, the institution will remain “symbolically the heart of the Tibetan nation and the most respected authority in Tibetan Buddhism,” he said.
A Chinese soldier mans a checkpoint near the Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lama, on October 24, 1989 [Guy Dinmore/Reuters]
What is China’s position on this?
China insists that only its government has the authority to approve the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, treating it as a matter of national sovereignty and religious regulation. This position was cemented in a 2007 law, which mandates that all reincarnations of Tibetan “living Buddhas” must be approved by the state and must follow Chinese laws, religious rituals and historical precedent.
Chinese officials have repeatedly stated that the next Dalai Lama must be born inside China, and any foreign-born or exile-appointed successor would be considered “illegitimate”.
A key element of China’s proposed process is the golden urn system, an 18th-century Qing Dynasty method in which the names of candidates are placed in a golden vessel and one is selected by lot.
On Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs doubled down on its position regarding the pick of the next Dalai Lama. “The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and other great Buddhist figures must be chosen by drawing lots from a golden urn, and approved by the central government,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular news briefing. The Panchen Lama is the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
“The Chinese government implements a policy of freedom of religious belief, but there are regulations on religious affairs and methods for managing the reincarnation of Tibetan living Buddhas,” Mao said.
The current Dalai Lama doesn’t favour the golden urn method, arguing that it lacks “spiritual quality”.
In March 2015, then Tibet Governor Padma Choling accused the Dalai Lama of “profaning religion and Tibetan Buddhism,” adding that the Dalai Lama was trying to usurp Beijing’s right to decide.
“If he says no reincarnation, then no reincarnation? Impossible. Nobody in Tibetan Buddhism would agree to that,” said Choling.
While talks over finding the next Dalai Lama traditionally occur after the death of the incumbent, the Chinese position has left monks and Tibetans in exile worried that Beijing might try to hijack the institution.
The centrality of the Dalai Lama to the Tibetan national movement and his stature as a global icon are irritants for Beijing, said Anand, the professor.
“This is a battle over legitimacy and not actual rule over territorial Tibet. Beijing seeks to win that battle of legitimacy but faces an institution and person in the 14th Dalai Lama that is beyond its control,” he told Al Jazeera.
Robert Barnett, a scholar of modern Tibetan history and politics and founder of Columbia University’s Modern Tibetan Studies Program, said that some “Chinese strategists see the succession issue purely as an opportunity to frustrate the exile project”.
Another reason could be the Chinese leaders’ anticipation of another plausible Tibetan uprising. It helps Beijing to “have a ‘tame’ Dalai Lama to dissuade Tibetans from protest,” Barnett told Al Jazeera.
Has China hijacked a selection before?
Yes. In 1995, the Dalai Lama recognised a young boy in Tibet as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. He was a six-year-old, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the son of a doctor and a nurse from the Tibetan town of Naqchu.
Soon after, Chinese authorities took the boy into custody and relocated the family. Their whereabouts are not known since.
In his place, Beijing appointed its own candidate, a move widely rejected by Tibetan Buddhists in exile and many inside Tibet, who view the Chinese-selected Panchen Lama as illegitimate.
The disappearance of the Panchen Lama in 1995 was a turning point in Chinese-Tibetan political history, said Barnett.
“The Chinese side decided that it has to control not just which child should be chosen, but whether a lama can reincarnate, where he or she can reincarnate, who should search for them,” he said. The Chinese were clear that the Dalai Lama needed to be excluded from the process.
That episode is a key reason why the current Dalai Lama and Tibetans in exile are opposed to the selection of any future reincarnation inside China, including Tibet. The chosen child might simply be abducted, as happened 30 years ago.
Anand said that China’s goal is to dishearten and divide Tibetans. “If [China] cannot achieve it through winning hearts and minds, they’d do it through divide and rule, and this is how we should see the battle over reincarnation,” he told Al Jazeera.
Tibetans in New Delhi carry pictures of Gedun Choekyi Nyima, the Panchen Lama reincarnation recognised by the Dalai Lama, and shout anti-Chinese slogans to mark their protest on December 8 against the enthronement of another Panchen Lama recognised by the Chinese government in Tibet today [Reuters]
A case of two rival Dalai Lamas
Tibet observers and scholars believe that after the 14th Dalai Lama’s death, Tibetan Buddhists might well find a scenario where two rival successors jostle for legitimacy – an exiled leader, appointed by the lamas faithful to the incumbent Dalai Lama, and one appointed by the Chinese government.
It would be unprecedented in the history of Tibetan Buddhism, but “is highly likely to occur,” said Barnett.
While the reality of two Dalai Lamas may not matter to exiled Tibetans from a religious perspective, it “makes life very difficult for Tibetans inside Tibet who will be forced in huge numbers to publicly declare their loyalty to China over and over again”.
Barnett noted that Beijing could also use the succession issue as leverage to get foreign governments to marginalise organisations of Tibetans in exile in those countries.
Anand said that Beijing’s insistence on its candidate “will be a source of instability in China-Tibetan relations” and “may come back to haunt the Chinese Communist Party”.
In an interview in March 2019, the Dalai Lama acknowledged that following his death, there could be two rival Dalai Lamas. “In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect [the one chosen by China],” he said.
“So that’s an additional problem for the Chinese! It’s possible, it can happen,” the Dalai Lama added, laughing.
This photo taken on September 17, 1959, shows Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (R) and the Dalaï Lama in a Buddhist salutation [Punjab/AFP)
Is the selection also a geostrategic issue?
It is, mainly for India and the United States.
For India, which hosts the Tibetan government-in-exile, the succession of the Dalai Lama intersects with national security and its fraught border relationship with China.
New Delhi will want to carry on giving hospitality and refuge to the Dalai Lama and his followers, said Anand. He added that the “Tibetan exiles in India offer a leverage and buffer to India vis-a-vis China’s influence in the Himalayan region”.
The US’s interest in Tibet dates back to the Cold War era, when the CIA backed Tibetan resistance against Chinese occupation, in the 1950s, including after the Dalai Lama’s exile.
Washington has long shown bipartisan support for the religious autonomy of Tibetan Buddhists, including in choosing the next Dalai Lama.
In 2015, when China claimed authority to select the next Dalai Lama, US officials publicly rejected this, asserting that Tibetan Buddhists alone should decide. The most forceful position came in 2020 with the passage of the Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) under President Donald Trump.
The new US position explicitly supported the Dalai Lama’s right to determine his own reincarnation and authorised sanctions on Chinese officials who interfered in the process.
The international support for the Tibetan right to decide on the institution of the Dalai Lama, Anand said, “is going to play out in geopolitical rivalry between the US and China as well as China and India in the future”.
Kamran Akmal, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter, has expressed his disappointment with the Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to stick with Azhar Mahmood as interim coach, citing the move as “illogical and reflective of poor management.” Mahmood, appointed assistant coach for all formats in 2024, has now taken over as acting head coach of the Pakistan national team. He is expected to remain in the role until his current contract ends in March 2026.
Kamran Akmal wasn’t too happy with PCB’s recent decision(Getty Images)
Speaking on The Game Plan Podcast on YouTube, Kamran Akmal expressed his frustration over the Pakistan Board’s decision, stating, “I just don’t understand the logic behind this decision. It’s exactly like the time PCB made Mickey Arthur director of cricket while allowing him to continue working with a county team. I couldn’t understand it then, and I can’t understand it now.”
Since 2021, Azhar Mahmood has been the seventh head coach appointed by PCB, succeeding yet another interim coach in Aaqib Javed, who had previously taken over from Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie. Akmal criticised the PCB for its erratic decision-making, asserting that these appointments have caused long-term problems.
“Lack of seriousness”
Akmal further took aim at PCB’s decision, saying, “That role (Mickey Arthur) has continued, and it has brought many issues into Pakistan cricket. The same thing is now happening with the interim coaching setup. Before this, it was Aaqib Javed, then Mohammad Hafeez and now Azhar.”
“These decisions reflect a lack of seriousness. When the PCB starts thinking seriously and acting professionally, it won’t have to make such compromises or temporary appointments”
Arthur returned to the Pakistan setup in 2023 as team director while still coaching Derbyshire in England, a dual arrangement that Akmal believes led to structural problems in the team. Mahmood, now acting as Test coach, is not expected to retain his role as white-ball assistant coach during this tenure, and he was notably absent from the coaching staff during Pakistan’s recent white-ball series against Bangladesh.
Kamran Akmal finally emphasised the situation by stating, “Everyone has been appeased, and now Azhar has also been rewarded. If you’ve made him head coach, then give him the full time and responsibility. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
