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Russia has refused to issue a visa to the Dalai Lama because a visit by Tibet's spiritual leader would violate agreements between Moscow and Beijing, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The British mission to Lhasa in August 1936 was modest. Headed by Sir Basil Gould, it consisted of eight men (plus attendants). However, it brought with it a huge assortment of technical equipment, drawn by several hundred yaks, much of which was photographic.

The late Panchen Rinpoche's daughter, Rinzin Wangmo la (age-20) is currently on a ten-day visit to Switzerland. Her mother, Mrs. Dechen Wangmo (Li Jie) and a Tibetan Nima Tsewang are accompanying her.

The identity of the next Dalai Lama -- and by extension the legitimacy of Chinese rule over Tibet -- may depend on a 20-year-old Tibetan-Chinese woman. Nothing makes China more internationally unpopular than its occupation of Tibet

Tom Waits performed with Jennifer Culp of the Kronos Quartet. (Jack Vartoogian for The New York Times)

Crowds gather in Central Park's East Meadow to hear the Dalai Lama speak, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003, in New York. The exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader was in New York for the last stop of a five-city tour. Photo by Joan K. Rosen Click for more photos

Slouched in a patio chair wearing a beach-bum cap and a stylish windbreaker, the software engineer rubbed his eyes and tried to shake off his hangover. The sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky and it was already well past 1 p.m., but the 33-year-old Beijing native had just ordered breakfast.

The Dalai Lama greets the crowd as he arrives to conduct a free lecture in New York's Central Park, Sunday Sept. 21, 2003. The exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader was in New York for the last stop of a five-city tour. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Tens of thousands of people flooded into New York's Central Park for a free public lecture by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The lecture, one of the highlights of the Dalai Lama's ongoing US tour, had all the trappings of an open-air rock concert

The Dalai Lama gestures while responding to questions during a news interview Sunday Sept. 21, 2003 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)