Brief Highlights - Tibet Post International

Heavy Snow Paralyzes Traffice on Road in Eastern Tibet

Dharamshala: - A heavy snow fall in eastern Tibet region Saturday (23rd April) caused traffic to come to standstill on Saturday with thousands of drivers trapped their vehicles.

According to Chinese state controlled media 'Xinhua', Up to 80 centimeters of snow fell in Karze, (Chi: Ganzi), and around 20 centimeters of ice was found on the highways.

"Two hundred soldiers were deployed to help those stuck in their vehicles, by delivering food and drinks. It took eight hours to clear the snow and for traffic to resume," Xinhua further reported.

The snow has covered national road linking Karze County and Dege County in Kham region of Tibet (Chi: Southwest China's Sichuan Province), April 23, 2011. Due to the continuous snowfall, the Karze-Dege section of National Road 317 which was covered with snow of over 50 cm in thickness, causing many vehicles stranded for hours.

Live Webcasts: His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Ireland

Dharamshala: There will be live webcasts of events featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama from Ireland on 13 and 14 April 2011. The events are being coordinated with "Children in Crossfire", an organisation founded by His Holiness's friend Richard Moore.

13 April: "Possibilities 2011 - National Civic Summit" from Dublin, Ireland. Webcast will start at 9:45am (UTC/GMT +1 Hour). His Holiness is scheduled to speak from 10:30am to 12 noon. View the live webcast here.

13 April: His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give a talk on "The Spirituality of Compassion" at St. Brigid's Catholic Church in Kildare, Ireland, starting at 1:45pm (UTC/GMT +1 Hour). View the live webcast here.

14 April: Public address by His Holiness the Dalai Lama entitled 'The Power of Forgiveness' from the University of Limerick. The webcast will start at 9:20am (UTC/GMT +1 Hour). The address will be part of a 2-hour event including performances by students and faculty of local schools. View the live webcast here.

Audio and video for streaming and download will be available several days after the events at http://dalailama.com

China Suspected of Hacking Aust Govt. Emails

Dharamshala: A US Intelligence tip-off has given the Australian government a strong suspicion that the computer of current Prime Minister Julia Gillard as well as those of Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Defence Minister Stephen Smith, within the Australian Parliament House email network, have been hacked.

According to Intelligence, thousands of emails of up to ten ministers may have been illegally accessed, with the goal allegedly being to obtain confidential information on Australia's mining industry.

Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph quoted four unnamed government sources as pointing the finger in China's direction, though the government has said it will not comment on specific intelligence matters and has not confirmed or denied the reports.

Although China routinely denies accusations of hacking coming from major corporations, such as Google who has complained several times of the Chinese regime hacking the Gmail accounts of human rights activists, the US has recently called its cyber-warfare capabilities 'formidable'.

'Disappeared' Chinese Rights Lawyer Wins London Award

Dharamshala: Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer and pro-democracy advocate Gao Zhisheng has been awarded the Bindman's Law and Campaigning Award at the Index on Censorship: Freedom of Expression Awards in London, in recognition of his work for vulnerable individuals and groups facing persecution by the Chinese regime.

Those represented by Gao included medical malpractice victims, religious minorities and practitioners of Falun Gong, the peaceful movement frequently attacked by the Chinese government through vicious abductions and torture and hateful propaganda.

Gao has been missing ever since his abduction in 2007 by Chinese authorities. His wife accepted the ward on his behalf via video, praising her husband's honourable actions and courageous refusal to back down, even when threatened by the government, saying "My husband's case is a true presentation of China's ongoing human rights crisis".

Google Accuses Chinese Government of Gmail Interference Again

Dharamshala: Google has once again complained about Chinese authorities' alleged interference in its services, as over the past several weeks Gmail users have reportedly encountered difficulties accessing and managing their email accounts.

Google has directly accused the Chinese government of manipulation, saying in a written statement released by a Google spokesperson, "There is no technical issue on our side-we have checked extensively. (...) This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail."

Proxy servers which many people use to circumvent the infamous Great Firewall have also been disrupted, coinciding suspiciously with the recent pro-democracy 'Jasmine Uprising' against authoritarian one-party rule and lack of press freedoms in China, which has been gathering steam across the nation.

The 'highly sophisticated' attacks are thought to be targeting the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, according to a Google blog posting of 11 March.

Tibetan MPs Attend Intl. Conference on Buddhism

Dharamshala: - Two members of the Tibetan Parliament in exile were recently invited to join a two-day international conference on the "Relevance of Buddhism in Present Era" held in Amravati on 11 and 12 March. Hosted by an Amravati-based UCG-affiliated Budhist Studies Center, the conference concentrated on eradicating hatred and greed by learning about the Buddhist path of selflessness, compassion and dedication to the well-being and happiness of others.

Organisers stated that "Buddhism does not attach much importance to how many people go to the monasteries, or how many Buddhist books published and read or how many ceremonies performed etc. In Buddhism, service to the people of their overall development and making them enlightened is important".

Tibetan MP Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok and member of the Standing Committee of the Tibetan Parliament Geshey Thupten Phelgyel participated in the conference, speaking of the relation between Buddhism and issues like world peace, science, ecology and democratic values. Women empowerment and the Buddhist ways of combatting mateialism were also topics of the MPs speach, while on the opening day Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok chaired a session on global peace and Buddhism.

During the conference an array of researchers and academics also presented their papers.

UFO Photographed in Eastern Tibet

Dharamshala: The photograph above (see a zoomed in image of the UFO below) comes from the Karze, eastern region of Tibet. A group of friends were on their way to a nearby airport when the car they were travelling started having engine problems.

According to "All News Web," the group got out to move the car off the road when one of the group spotted a UFO hovering overhead and managed to take a photo of it.

This UFO event occurred on February 20 of this year. The UFO seen in the photo is a classic metallic flying saucer. The witnesses have submitted the photo to researchers for analysis.

Tibet has had an association with UFOs that might well go back thousands of years, "All News Web," reported. It has long been rumored that a secret UFO base exists in the area. It is also believed that a giant UFO is buried somewhere under mountains in the region. In the 10th century AD, Tibetan monks adorned pages of sacred Buddhist manuscripts with depictions of metallic flying saucers they had seen in the skies above the area.