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  • EU may as well be ‘province of China’ due to reliance on imports, says industrialist | International trade

    EU may as well be ‘province of China’ due to reliance on imports, says industrialist | International trade

    The EU may as well “apply to be a province of China” such is its inability to wean itself off that country’s supply of critical raw materials used in everything from electric vehicles to smartphones and wind turbines, a leading German industrialist has said.

    As chief executive of AMG Lithium, the EU’s first factory to make the lithium hydroxide used in many car batteries, Stefan Scherer sits at the centre of what has been dubbed a new gold rush.

    But the chemist said China will continue to dominate battery technology and undercut EU rivals unless temporary protections on components are put in place, arguing that current Brussels policy and laws are failing to deliver results on the ground.

    “Europe has to become independent of China, otherwise it’s just blah blah blah,” said Scherer, speaking at the AMG plant in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, a town in the former east Germany.

    The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, promised as recently as March that the EU would “will promote domestic production to avoid strategic dependencies, especially for batteries”.

    Stefan Scherer, inside AMG Lithium’s factory, in 2023. Photograph: Kristin Bethge/The Guardian

    But the reality on the ground, Scherer said, is that many component manufacturers, known as other equipment manufacturers (OEMs), are faced with daily cheaper Chinese alternatives ranging from steel to whole batteries.

    Unless the EU addresses this in a meaningful way, this will not change and will imperil the bloc’s climate goals, he said, adding: “It might be better to apply to be a province of China. It’s an interesting thought if you think it through. We are really at a tipping point and it has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, it’s a complete change of global relationships.”

    Scherer said the world economy had been “lifted on the backs of people working hard for Europe in China, in India” and the new balance in the global supply chain was the western leaders’ own creation.

    Scherer said he was not pleading for special treatment and was confident AMG would succeed in the auto market’s green transition, but was not optimistic that Europe’s dependency on China would change.

    AMG Lithium in Bitterfeld-Wolfen in former east Germany opened last year and aims to produce 20,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide a year, enough to supply 500,000 EVs. It produced its first test batch last month and hopes to produce commercial quantities later this year.

    Scherer said he has “no doubts that we will be able to sell this [product] within Europe”, but added: “I’m talking more about the long term; about strategic investment in European resources, European refineries, this has to happen now, because it takes you five years if you are lucky to get this far.”

    Bitterfeld-Wolfen where AMG Lithium’s factory is situated. Photograph: Kristin Bethge/The Guardian

    It has taken the company five years and £150m to get to its current position, with no sign of a rival for two or three years. “It is a slow process,” he said.

    He was highly critical of the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act 2024 (CRMA), seen as the backbone of the EU’s strategy to reduce its reliance on China, arguing it fails to match US moves to push manufacturers to buy locally.

    “Unfortunately, the CRMA doesn’t hold you responsible for anything, for example, in the mining of raw materials there is no incentivisation or penalisation to do mining in Europe,” he said.

    “It is completely opposite to the US where they have a local content policy that sticks. There, they have to have a certain percentage of materials they see as critical to be produced on US soil.

    “We don’t have that. We have intentions, but nothing tangible. You don’t have to pay if you don’t buy from the EU, so why would you? Instead, you just continue purchasing from China.”

    China, by contrast, has a near 20-year start on Europe, having set the strategy to acquire stakes in mines and supply contracts all over the world as part of Xi Xinping’s 2013 belt and road initiative.

    It now refines 60% of the world’s supply of lithium on its own soil and controls 60% of the world’s production of battery components, giving it a dominant position across the markets.

    The consensus in his industry is that those in the critical raw material sector need protection while they go through the lengthy process of trying to grow to match Chinese state-backed rivals, Scherer said.

    “I don’t mean you have to support every investment with public grants,” he said. He suggested Brussels could offer temporary tariffs or tax incentives similar to the US’s Inflation Reduction Act, which incentivises those who buy home-produced lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite – all critical to creating green technologies.

    Brussels and Washington are still thrashing out trade negotiations before the 9 July deadline when a threatened 50% tariff could be imposed on all EU imports to the US. European negotiators are seeking to trim a possible 10% baseline levy and win concessions in key areas, including trying to reduce a 25% border tax imposed on cars and a 50% rate on steel and aluminium.

    As far as Scherer is concerned, Germany’s struggling auto industry may yet have further to fall before it improves. “You cannot wait for Brussels to make decisions,” he said.

    One of his biggest gripes is the price of energy in Germany, which Eurostat puts at 37% higher than the EU average. It is also the bugbear of the German steel industry with ThyssenKrupp warning last night that the sector could be wiped out by a combination of Trump tariffs, high energy costs and cheaper Chinese imports.

    Combining temporary tariffs and tax incentives with an invitation to the Chinese to invest in Europe on condition they employ Europeans could be the answer, Scherer said.

    “We have to create an environment which enables western companies to safeguard their investments, not for everything, but critical technology especially in the auto industry where you are replacing the internal combustion engine technology with a new one. This is highly strategic and important move.”

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  • New law in Kazakhstan restricts public wearing of face veils

    New law in Kazakhstan restricts public wearing of face veils

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    Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law prohibiting individuals from wearing clothing in public places that covers their faces, joining a trend in several Central Asian countries to restrict forms of Islamic dress.

    The text of the law says clothing that “interferes with facial recognition” will be banned in public, with exemptions for medical purposes, in adverse weather conditions and at sporting and cultural events.

    The legislation, one in a series of wider amendments signed into law on Monday, does not explicitly mention religion or types of religious dress.

    Tokayev has previously praised the legislation as an opportunity to celebrate ethnic identity in Kazakhstan, a majority-Muslim country and former Soviet republic.

    “Rather than wearing face-concealing black robes, it’s much better to wear clothes in the national style,” he was quoted by Kazakh media as saying earlier this year.

    Read: Kyrgyz body backs ban on niqab

    “Our national clothes vividly emphasise our ethnic identity, so we need to popularise them comprehensively.”

    Other Central Asian countries have introduced similar laws in recent years.

    Police in Kyrgyzstan have conducted street patrols to enforce their ban on the Islamic niqab face veil, according to local media reports.

    In Uzbekistan, violating the niqab statute carries a fine of over $250. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon signed a ban on wearing clothing in public that is “alien to national culture.”

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  • 5 storylines we’re excited about ahead of the 2025 British Grand Prix

    5 storylines we’re excited about ahead of the 2025 British Grand Prix

    The latest European double-header continues with a visit to a track that was the starting point for the Formula 1 World Championship, and a huge crowd awaits. Fresh from a thrilling battle between the McLaren drivers on Sunday, there’s plenty to look forward to as the paddock reconvenes at Silverstone…

    The McLaren title fight

    McLaren have enjoyed a clear advantage over most of the field at a number of races this season, leading to Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris sharing eight wins between them from the opening 11 rounds. But Austria was perhaps the longest in-race battle between the two so far, as Norris had to hold off Piastri’s attacks for the entire first stint at the Red Bull Ring.

    In the end, it was Norris who came out on top, converting a very impressive pole position into victory, closing the gap at the top of the championship to 15 points in the process.

    Although the Briton retired after running into Piastri in Canada, he has actually outscored his team mate by a point over the past five race weekends, with two wins and two second places in that time.

    Heading to a race where Norris is sure to have significant backing – although both McLaren drivers have received strong support in the past – we’re set for the next instalment of a championship battle that is ebbing and flowing in a manner that suggests it could go the distance to the final round this year.

    Ferrari’s upgrades

    The Austrian Grand Prix saw a number of the front-running teams introduce upgrades following the return to Europe, and McLaren cited their new parts as one reason why they enjoyed a good margin over the chasing pack.

    But that chasing pack was led by Ferrari on this occasion, following a floor upgrade from Maranello that Charles Leclerc says delivered a clear step forward. That progress helped Leclerc score his third podium in four races in Austria, with Lewis Hamilton following him home in fourth place for a strong points haul that moves Ferrari back into second place in the Constructors’ Championship.

    There is a promise of more upgrades to follow soon – perhaps as early as this weekend – and the recent step forward bodes well for Ferrari’s chances of having those work as intended, too. But Silverstone will provide another example of how much progress has been made with the latest car developments.

    Silverstone was not a happy hunting ground for Ferrari last year in changeable conditions, and they might face more of the same this weekend, providing opportunities to see if there have been improvements on multiple fronts.

    Red Bull and Mercedes looking to bounce back

    There was an enormous crowd of Max Verstappen supporters in Austria, at a track where the Dutchman has enjoyed significant success in the past.

    Qualifying had not exactly raised expectations of a sixth win at the Red Bull Ring, but there was still hope from the Orange Army that Verstappen could fight for the podium. Unfortunately, they never got the chance to find out, as the defending champion was hit by Kimi Antonelli at Turn 3 on the opening lap and retired.

    With Yuki Tsunoda finishing two laps down and last of those to complete the race, it was a tough day for Red Bull at their home race, but it came just two weeks after a strong showing in Canada.

    And they weren’t the only team to suffer a challenging weekend, as Montreal race-winner George Russell finished a distant fifth, over a minute behind Lando Norris. Coupled with Antonelli’s retirement, it was not the weekend Mercedes had been hoping for, either.

    But both teams have been extremely competitive at Silverstone in the past, and Mercedes will be hoping the forecast cooler temperatures hold, that would really play to their strengths after Hamilton’s victory here last year.

    Silly season warming up

    Prior to their respective disappointing Sundays, two major names in the driver market were central to a lot of the pre-race talking points in Austria, as George Russell suggested Mercedes are in discussions with Max Verstappen about a potential future seat.

    Russell is out of contract at the end of this season and says he has not yet started significant talks, but that he is comfortable in his position. His mention of talks with Verstappen – said during an interview with Sky Sports F1 – led to plenty of questions for Team Principal Toto Wolff last Friday, who talked up the pairing of Russell and Antonelli, but did not totally rule out a move.

    Until Russell has a new deal in place, speculation is likely to continue, not only about Verstappen and Mercedes but also where Russell himself could end up. And that’s before the knock-on impact on any other seats.

    For one, it would leave Red Bull needing a replacement for Verstappen, and home fans will get a look at a potential future star in the form of Arvid Lindblad. The Formula 2 title contender will make his FP1 debut this weekend, having been given a Super Licence at the age of 17 following a request made to the FIA.

    One of the biggest events of the year

    Silverstone was the venue for the first ever Formula 1 World Championship race 75 years ago, and as a venue it has grown into a special setting for a Grand Prix.

    The high-speed nature of the track makes it one that is enjoyed by the majority of the drivers, as it provides them with an opportunity to really push their machinery. The current generation of ground effect cars really come alive through corners such as Copse, Abbey and Stowe, and the rapid changes of direction through Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel.

    Similar to the last race in Austria, the huge numbers of fans that descend on Silverstone and stay in its many campsites give the whole weekend a real festival feel, as do the big-name acts that appear on the music stages throughout the four days.

    But never are the grandstands more energised than when there is racing taking place on track. With five British or part-British drivers on the grid in the form of Lando Norris, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman, plus three support categories – Formula 2, Formula 3 and Formula 4 – it’s sure to be an action-packed weekend with plenty for them to get behind.

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  • Climeworks raises USD 162M to scale up technology

    Climeworks, the global pioneer in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology and leading provider of holistic carbon removal portfolios, has achieved a significant milestone by securing USD 162 million in additional equity funding — marking the largest carbon removal investment of 2025 to date globally.

    This financing round underscores Climeworks’ commitment to scaling up and perfecting its cutting-edge technology to help significantly reduce the cost of carbon removals. This latest investment takes the company’s total funding since inception to over USD 1 billion, further solidifying its position as the industry leader.

    Main investors of the funding round were BigPoint Holding and Partners Group, with additional backing mainly from other existing investors, reaffirming their strong commitment to Climeworks. This unwavering support underscores deep confidence in the company’s technology leadership, commercial momentum, and ambitious long-term mission to revolutionize carbon removal.

    Developing best-in-class technology

    The new capital will fuel the continued development of Climeworks’ best-in-class DAC technology to bring down the cost of removals. Climeworks has achieved major milestones in scaling its groundbreaking technology. Its first plant, Orca, successfully validated the company’s approach. In addition, the second plant, Mammoth, is driving further advancements by enabling scaling and large-scale testing of new removal technologies.

    The company has already demonstrated significant advancements that will make its processes more efficient, including doubled energy efficiency, increased throughput, and a much longer filter material lifespan—key progress toward making the world’s first profitable direct air capture plant a reality.

    Building the market with a more diverse removals portfolio

    The funding will also allow Climeworks to continue expanding its carbon removal portfolio, providing tailored, blended solutions that help companies begin investment in removals, spread risk and progressively move up the quality curve.

    Climeworks continues to expand its carbon removal portfolio offering as the number one carbon removal player. As demand grows, companies increasingly rely on nature-based and hybrid engineered solutions for near-term removal needs while increasing their focus on technical removals over time. Climeworks is uniquely positioned to meet both short- and long-term demand with a global portfolio that already includes > 6 million tons of secured supply. According to analysts, the carbon removal market is poised for a potential to reach 80 billion USD by 2030, growing to a trillion USD by 2050.

    Christoph Gebald, co-CEO and co-founder of Climeworks says: “Direct Air Capture has gone from experiment to essential—and we’re focused on scaling it by driving down costs and pushing innovation. Our hybrid model builds long-term demand while generating cash flow today, helping us grow a market that investors now see as inevitable. Crossing the $1 billion equity mark isn’t just a milestone—it shows that carbon removal is real, needed, and here to stay.”

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  • Ecotones: Investigating Sounds and Territories | Edited by Valentin Bansac, Mike Fritsch, Alice Loumeau and Peter Szendy – Announcements

    Ecotones: Investigating Sounds and Territories | Edited by Valentin Bansac, Mike Fritsch, Alice Loumeau and Peter Szendy – Announcements

    Edited by Valentin Bansac, Mike Fritsch, Alice Loumeau and Peter Szendy

    Published by Spector Books

    The Luxembourg Pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale is an invitation to close our eyes and actively listen. The installation hosted in the pavilion, Sonic Investigations, operates a radical shift away from the visual: it offers a cartography of various environments exclusively through sound. The volume, conceived as a companion to the sound installation in Venice, has a broad ambition: it argues for a counter-project to the hegemony of images.

    Since the climate crisis can also be understood as a crisis of sensory perception and representation, it is all the more urgent to find new ways of approaching the ongoing environmental transformations. The act of listening allows for different forays into both anthropic and natural ecosystems. It directs our attention toward the vocality of other-than-human agencies; it empowers them with a voice of their own.

    Field recording can thus be the prelude to another mapping of the world, attuning our ears to its various fault lines, to its tensions. And sounding becomes a powerful investigative tool, a way of auscultating the infrastructures of the present as well as the times to come. The concept of ecotone, a transitional space between two ecosystems, is a guiding thread for the authors of this volume as they listen to boundaries between territories, to urban patterns, to natural balances and imbalances, or to political fractures.

    The book includes contributions by Peter Szendy, Shannon Mattern, Tim Ingold, Soline Nivet and Ariane Wilson, David George Haskell, Ludwig Berger, Philip Samartzis and Madelynne Cornish (Bogong Centre for Sound Culture), Nadine Schütz, Laure Brayer (AAU-CRESSON), Julia Grillmayr, Christina Gruber and Sophia Rut (Lobau Listening Comprehensions), Yuri Tuma (Institute for Postnatural Studies), Emma McCormick Goodhart, as well as a fiction piece by Xabi Molia and poems by Laura Vazquez and Cole Swensen. The graphic identity is designed by Pierre Vanni.

     

    Public events of Sonic Investigations, Luxembourg Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
    The activations extend the reflection on embodied practices and sensorial approaches to space through sound, offering a unique exploration of the performer’s and the audience’s body within soundscapes. The events will create a dialogue between the space of the pavilion and the infrastructural apparatus of the Venetian lagoon, together with local Italian sound artists and researchers.

    October 7–10, 2025
    Ecotongues (Residency and Performance inside the pavilion): Gaia Ginevra Giorgi (author, sound artist and performer)
    Ecotongues explores mediumship as the ability to inhabit the threshold between the visible and the invisible, the audible and the inaudible, as a performative practice of interspecific intimacy between human and more-than-human entities.

    October 25–26, 2025
    Attunement Exercises: Nicola Di Croce (researcher and sound artist)
    The two public exercises address the idea of ‘attunement’ as the possibility of entering ‘into resonance with’ the non-human, through an investigation of the sound sources of the Venice lagoon taking particularly into account the infrastructure systems and their relation to wilder ecosystems.

     

    19th International Venice Architecture Biennale, Luxembourg Pavilion, Arsenale, Sale d’Armi, 1st floor / May 10–November 23, 2025.
    Valentin Bansac, Mike Fritsch, Alice Loumeau with Ludwig Berger, Peter Szendy: Sonic Investigations

    Commissioners appointed by the Luxembourg Ministry of Culture: Kultur | lx—Arts Council Luxembourg, LUCA—Luxembourg Center for Architecture / Curators: Valentin Bansac, Mike Fritsch, Alice Loumeau / Exhibitors: Valentin Bansac, Ludwig Berger, Anthea Caddy, Mike Fritsch, Alice Loumeau, Peter Szendy / Visual identity: Pierre Vanni.

    Press contact: Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg
    Emilie Gouleme, emilie.gouleme [​at​] kulturlx.lu,  T +352 621 680 028

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  • Clashes and arrests in Turkey over magazine cartoon allegedly depicting prophet Muhammad | Turkey

    Clashes and arrests in Turkey over magazine cartoon allegedly depicting prophet Muhammad | Turkey

    Clashes erupted in Istanbul with police firing rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a mob on Monday after allegations that a satirical magazine had published a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad.

    The clashes occurred after Istanbul’s chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors at LeMan magazine on grounds it had published a cartoon that “publicly insulted religious values”.

    The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Tuncay Akgun, said the image had been misinterpreted.

    “This cartoon is not a caricature of prophet Muhammad in any way,” he told Agence France-Presse. “In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments of Israel is fictionalised as Muhammad. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Muhammad.

    “[It] has nothing to do with prophet Muhammad. We would never take such a risk.”

    As the news broke, several dozen angry protesters attacked a bar often frequented by LeMan staffers in downtown Istanbul, provoking angry scuffles with police, an AFP correspondent said.

    The scuffles quickly became clashes involving between 250 to 300 people, the correspondent said.

    Founded in 1991, LeMan is famed for its political satire and has long been the bane of conservatives, especially following its support for France’s Charlie Hebdo after its Paris offices were attacked in 2015 by Islamist gunmen who killed 12 following the magazine’s publication of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad.

    The interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said on that X police had arrested the cartoonist responsible for the image as well as LeMan’s graphic designer.

    “The person named DP who made this vile drawing has been caught and taken into custody,” he wrote, adding: “These shameless individuals will be held accountable before the law.”

    Others named in the arrest warrant were LeMan’s editor-in-chief and its managing editor, media reports said.

    In a string of posts on X, LeMan defended the cartoon and said it had been deliberately misinterpreted to cause a provocation.

    “The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, he never intended to belittle religious values,” it said. “We do not accept the stigma imposed on us because there is no depiction of our prophet. It takes a very malicious person to interpret the cartoon in this way.”

    “We apologise to our well-intentioned readers who we think were subjected to provocations.”

    The justice minister, Yilmaz Tunc, said an investigation had been opened on grounds of “publicly insulting religious values”.

    “Disrespect towards our beliefs is never acceptable,” he wrote on X. “No freedom grants the right to make the sacred values of a belief the subject of ugly humour. The caricature or any form of visual representation of our prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace.”

    Istanbul’s governor, Davut Gul, also lashed out at “this mentality that seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values”.

    “We will not remain silent in the face of any vile act targeting our nation’s faith,” he said.

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  • Dalai Lama defies China to say successor will be chosen by Tibetan tradition | Dalai Lama

    Dalai Lama defies China to say successor will be chosen by Tibetan tradition | Dalai Lama

    The Dalai Lama has declared in a direct challenge to China that the centuries-old spiritual institution bearing his name will continue after his death and that only his inner circle, not Beijing, will have the authority to identify his successor.

    In a video message played on Wednesday during prayer celebrations ahead of his 90th birthday this weekend, the 14th Dalai Lama said the Gaden Phodrang Trust, which manages his affairs, would oversee the search for his reincarnation.

    “No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” he said in Dharamshala, the northern Indian hill town that serves as the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. “In accordance with past tradition, the search for my reincarnation and the naming of a 15th Dalai Lama will be carried out.”

    The Dalai Lama had previously hinted he might be the last in the line, but he said consultations with senior spiritual leaders and appeals from the Tibetan public, including in Chinese-ruled Tibet, had persuaded him otherwise.

    “In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” he told the gathering of senior Buddhist monks. He said clear written instructions would be left behind, but did not elaborate on their contents.

    China annexed Tibet in 1951 and has retained tight control over the region ever since. It has said the choice of the next Dalai Lama lies only with Beijing, and has enshrined state assent for all senior Tibetan religious leaders in law. It insists the golden urn – a Qing dynasty ritual in which names are drawn by lot from a ceremonial vessel – is the only legitimate method for recognising reincarnated lamas. The Communist party must approve the final selection.

    Beijing has already used this approach to assert control. After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second-highest spiritual authority, in 1995, the Dalai Lama recognised a six-year-old boy as his reincarnation. The boy and his family vanished into Chinese custody days later and have not been seen since. China installed its own candidate, widely rejected by Tibetans. According to Chinese state media, the Beijing-backed Panchen Lama met President Xi Jinping just last month and pledged loyalty to the Communist party.

    The Dalai Lama has said his successor will be born in a free country, raising the possibility that the next reincarnation could emerge from among the Tibetan diaspora, which numbers about 140,000 globally, half of them in India. He has also said the next Dalai Lama might be an adult and not necessarily male.

    “Today’s message is that the Dalai Lama institution will continue,” Lobsang Tenzin, the trust’s second-most senior leader and known by his religious title Samdhong Rinpoche, told a news conference in Dharamshala. “There will be a 15th Dalai Lama. There will be a 16th.” He said the Dalai Lama would issue detailed instructions on how the search for the next reincarnation should proceed.

    Beijing swiftly rejected the Dalai Lama’s statement. “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,” said the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning.

    “Tibetan Buddhism was born in China and is a religion with Chinese characteristics,” she told a news briefing.

    The clash underscores a long-running power struggle between Beijing and the Dalai Lama over who controls Tibetan Buddhism’s most sacred office. Most Tibetan Buddhists, in Tibet and in exile, oppose China’s tight control of the region.

    Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama is the earthly manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, a revered figure in Buddhism known as the bodhisattva of compassion – a spiritual being who remains in the world to guide others on the path to enlightenment.

    By tradition, only the current Dalai Lama, or those he appoints, can identify his successor, using visions, omens and consultation with senior lamas and protectors of the faith.

    Tenzin Gyatso was recognised the 14th reincarnation at the age of two. He assumed full authority at 15 and fled Tibet four years later when Chinese troops crushed an uprising in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, in 1959. He has been living in exile in Dharamshala since.

    He was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1989 “for advocating peaceful solutions based upon tolerance and mutual respect”.He wrote in a recent book: “The purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor. The new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world.”

    The deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament in exile, Dolma Tsering Teykhang, said: “The world needs to hear directly from His Holiness. China tries to vilify him at every chance … It is trying to frame rules and regulations on how to have the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in their hand.”

    The succession dispute has also sharpened tensions between China and India, which granted asylum to the Dalai Lama after he fled Tibet. More than 100,000 Tibetans live in exile in India. Delhi officially recognises Tibet as part of China, but it also allows the Tibetan government in exile to operate from Dharamshala.

    The reincarnation issue has drawn global attention. The US passed the Tibetan Policy and Support Act in 2020, threatening sanctions on Chinese officials who interfere in the selection process. The EU has voiced support for religious freedom in Tibet, but it has stopped short of taking a formal position on reincarnation.

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  • Brazilian who stole ball signed by Neymar gets 17 years prison

    Brazilian who stole ball signed by Neymar gets 17 years prison

    BRASÍLIA, July 2 — A Brazilian accused of stealing a football autographed by Neymar from Congress during the 2023 riots by supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment for the theft and other charges.

    The Supreme Court on Monday night convicted Nelson Ribeiro Fonseca Junior, 34, over the robbery of the ball.

    He was also convicted of violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, armed criminal association and attempting a coup over his participation in the riots in Brasilia.

    More than 500 people have been convicted over the events of January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace to protest his election loss to left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

    Ribeiro confessed to taking the ball, which Neymar’s boyhood club Santos — to which he returned this year — gifted to the Chamber of Deputies in 2012.

    His lawyers claimed that he found it on the floor of Congress during the unrest, took it away to protect it and handed it in 20 days later to the police.

    Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that Ribeiro had “actively participated” in events leading to the storming and sacking of Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace.

    Moraes described the ball which he took, which had been on display in a corridor, as a “public good belonging to the public heritage” of Brazil.

    The riots came a week after Lula was sworn in after narrowly defeating far-right incumbent Bolsonaro in October 2022 elections.

    The demonstrators called for the military to intervene to oust him.

    Bolsonaro, a former army captain who served a single term from 2019 to 2022, is accused of instigating the riots, although he was in the United States at the time.

    He is on trial for allegedly plotting to wrest power from Lula in the event of his victory.

    Prosecutors claim the plot only failed due to a lack of military backing.

    Bolsonaro denies the charges. — AFP

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  • Wimbledon: Jannik Sinner crushes Luca Nardi; Barbora Krejcikova overcomes Alexandra Eala challenge | Tennis News

    Wimbledon: Jannik Sinner crushes Luca Nardi; Barbora Krejcikova overcomes Alexandra Eala challenge | Tennis News

    Jannik Sinner and Luca Nardi (AP Photo)

    The Times of India at Wimbledon: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner is on flight mode, having locked out all distractions. The 23-year-old demonstrated it effectively on a blazing hot day at Wimbledon, when his serve rocked. The Italian dropped just four points on his first serve against compatriot Luca Nardi in the first round. Sinner won 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 in one-hour and 49-minutes.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The three-time major winner, whose best result here is a semifinal in 2023, has been working on his serve, which can be a weapon at a whole different level on this surface. Sinner has been watching other players. John Isner, who has the most aces in a tournament with 214 during the 2018 Wimbledon, and also the most career aces at 14,470, has been someone the top-seed is looking at.

    Poll

    Who do you think will win the Wimbledon title this year?

    Sinner, who goes up against Aussie Aleksandar Vukic in the second round on Thursday, didn’t face a breakpoint in the match. “I feel quite comfortable at the moment,” he said of his serve. Sinner’s quick result was a relief for the tournament as top players struggled with the muggy conditions on the opening day and again on Tuesday.
    The Italian, who tested positive twice in March last year for the banned steroid Clostebol, but was cleared of fault or negligence, is playing here for the first time after the news of the positive tests became public. “I think people have forgotten already a little bit what happened,” said Sinner, who had his fair share of support on Court No. 1 on Tuesday. The Italian explained that the situation in the locker-room had also changed, with a lot of players, who had issues with the way the world No. 1 was treated, have put the situation behind them.

    ‘Jay Shah Deserves Credit for How He Ran BCCI’ | Arun Dhumal on BCCI’s Commitment & Leadership

    Perricard serves fastest; Fritz winsIn the opening game of a first-round match, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard thumped a 153 mph first serve. It was five miles per hour faster than the previous Wimbledon speed record of 148 mph by American Taylor Dent hit 15 summers ago.That was the Frenchman’s takeaway from the three-hour 25-minute clash against the fifth-seeded American Taylor Fritz. Fritz, who didn’t face a single breakpoint in the match, broke at love in the tenth game to close out 6-7 (6), 6-7 (8), 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-4.In other first-round matches, defending champion Czech Barbora Krejcikova, playing just her seventh match of the season, beat Philippines’ Alexandra Eala 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in two hours and 10-minutes.


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  • BBVA’s Investor Relations Team Honored by the Global Institutional Investment Community

    BBVA’s Investor Relations Team Honored by the Global Institutional Investment Community

    In addition, BBVA secured Top 10 rankings across other relevant categories,  such as, Best CEO, Best CFO, Best IR Program, Best Analyst Event, Best Company Board and Best ESG Program, underscoring the team’s strong leadership built on credibility and clear communication.

    Building on these achievements, BBVA’s IR team has been awarded Best Buy-Side Management among European companies by IR Impact. This award recognizes the team’s ongoing commitment and efforts to maintain an open, transparent, and close engagement with institutional investors, always striving for excellence and value creation.

    Patricia Bueno, BBVA’s Global Head of Shareholder & Investor Relations, stated:  “It is a true privilege to have been acknowledged by the market for our efforts—especially in a year marked by intense activity, where the team demonstrated exceptional professionalism and unwavering dedication. We extend our deepest gratitude to all the investment professionals who participated in these surveys and to our entire team for their dedication and hard work.”

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