drumroll please...Harvard-educated Lobsang Sangay. He won 55% of the votes, over Tenzin Tethong (37.4%) and Tashi Wangdi (6.4%). During the Kalon Tripa elections, 83,400 Tibetan were eligible to vote and 49,000 ballots were cast. more ›

The Chinese government's BFF, the Dalai Lama, has just made it public that he is going to retire from his political post as leader of the Tibetan government in exile. The announcement was given in India on the 52nd anniversary of his fleeing China. He assured the crowds, "My desire to devolve authority has nothing to do with a wish to shirk responsibility. It is to benefit Tibetans in the long run. It is not because I feel disheartened. I am committed to playing my part in the just cause of Tibet." more ›

• Tibet's Tense Anniversary [Council on Foreign Relations] "China views Tibet as a backward, feudal, and superstitious society, which has progressed democratically and economically under Chinese rule. Yet human rights watchdog groups regularly cite Chinese abuses in Tibet."
• Lhasa peaceful and quiet on major Tibet anniversary [Xinhua] "The holy city of Lhasa was quiet and peaceful Tuesday, the day marking 50 years since Tibet's democratic reform and the 14th Dalai Lama's flee from his homeland... The life of the average Tibetans seems unaffected even under close watch by foreign press on this special date. There are as many taxies, pedicabs and buses on the roads as usual. Taxi and pedicab drivers, mostly migrants from the neighboring Sichuan Province and central Henan Province, would slam the horn when they saw a potential passenger at roadside."
• Heavy security as Tibetans mark Dalai Lama's exile [Reuters] "China tightened security across ethnic Tibetan areas on Tuesday, aiming to head off potential unrest on the sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed uprising that prompted the Dalai Lama's flight into exile."