Rebkong, China - "We are not celebrating the New Year this year," said a burgundy-clad Tibetan monk at the Rongwo Buddhist monastery in China's western province of Qinghai.

"We don't have a happy life. We have no freedom," the monk told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa to explain why he was boycotting the festivities to mark the start of the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, in late February.

He left the conversation to speak to his two companions, who knew little Chinese.

"They said they daren't speak the truth. They should say, 'Everything's OK,'" the monk said, referring to recent propaganda trips organized by the Chinese government to monasteries in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Beijing - When Herge's Adventures of Tintin spread from Belgium across Europe in the 1960s, Tintin's fictional travels in Tibet featured in one of the most popular strip-cartoon stories.

So influential was Tintin in Tibet that in June 2006 it won the International Campaign for Tibet's Light of Truth award, presented by the Dalai Lama, for its "significant contribution to the public understanding of Tibet."

"For many, Herge's depiction of Tibet was their introduction to the awe-inspiring landscape and culture of Tibet," the campaign's Tsering Jampa said at the time.

Hongya, China - "Get out of here! They will arrest anyone who looks in there," cried a middle-aged woman standing near the closed red doors of a small temple in China's north-western province of Qinghai.

The nervous taxi driver jumped into his car and started rolling downhill with the doors still open and his two passengers stranded.

Dharamsala - Amid growing anger among Tibetan exiles at China's subjugation of Tibet and its monasteries, bitter memories of a failed armed struggle haunt former guerrilla fighter Lhasang Tsering.

Over five decades, the Tibetan movement has drawn international attention and support for being among the world's rare non-violent struggles, which has been credited to the Dalai Lama's "middle way" approach, which stresses conciliatory negotiations with China.

Although the policy has made little headway with Beijing, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
1989 for leading Tibet's non-violent struggle.

Dharamsala, India - Tibet faces a new wave of violence, warned Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, who worried that Tibetans might be targeted by Chinese forces as the Asian giant seeks to deflect attention from the economic hardships the global economic turmoil is bringing upon its people.

Although the Tibetan government adheres to its "middle way" approach, which renounces independence in favour of greater autonomy within China, Rinpoche, also known as the "Precious One," admitted that the policy was unlikely to succeed with the Chinese leadership.

Bhubaneswar, Mar 8 : Biju Janata Dal chief and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday claimed support of 76 MLAs.

Orissa Governor M. C. Bhandare has asked Patnaik to seek a vote of confidence in a special assembly session on March 11.

"There will be a vote of confidence in the state assembly on March 11 during a special session," Patnaik told reporters here.

According to the party sources, 59 BJD MLA accompanied the Chief Minister to the Rajbhavan.