Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has confirmed that he will have a successor after his death. He said only the Gaden Phodrang Trust, which he founded, had the authority to recognise his future reincarnation – “no one else has any such authority to interfere”.
He made the long-awaited announcement in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala, where he lives in exile from Chinese rule. Hundreds of followers have gathered in Dharamshala to celebrate his 90th birthday this week.
China, which annexed Tibet in the 1950s, regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist. It says it has the right to choose his successor. (BBC)
