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Nordic trust tarnished by money laundering scandal

Danske Bank sign is seen at the bank's Estonian branch in Tallinn
Danske Bank sign is seen at the bank's Estonian branch in Tallinn, Estonia March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

April 3, 2019

By Johan Ahlander, Esha Vaish and John O’Donnell

STOCKHOLM/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Money laundering allegations involving Sweden and Denmark have shattered faith in the open Nordic business culture, prompting demands for tighter controls on the banks held responsible.

Ranked among the least corrupt countries by anti-graft campaign group Transparency International, Sweden and Denmark have been rocked by investigations into Danske Bank and Swedbank, knocking billions off their value.

Politicians, regulators and investors now want closer policing and more stringent penalties, unwinding a system where the state largely trusted banks to keep themselves in check.

“Openness is key in our society. This is a system built on trust and that trust has decreased quite substantially,” Swedish financial markets minister Per Bolund told Reuters.

“It’s not enough to fire one person,” Bolund said of Swedbank’s dismissal last week of Birgitte Bonnesen as chief executive, adding that an overhaul of its controls was needed, in a clear signal of future government action.

“That has to go all the way from the top to the bottom.”

Sweden has yet to announce substantial reforms following the emergence of money laundering allegations against Swedbank which originated in Europe’s Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia.

Latvia, a former Soviet state with a large Russian-speaking minority, had modeled itself as a financial bridge for Russians moving money to Europe. Similar profitable activity took place in Estonia, but has now become a reputational liability.

Danske Bank has been ejected from Estonia after admitting 200 billion euros ($225 billion) of suspicious money movements flowed through its branch there between 2007 and 2015. And it is also pulling out of neighboring Baltic states.

Danish academic Gert Svendsen, author of ‘Trust’, says the scandals risk undermining a central tenet of Nordic culture.

“People become happier if you can do things based on trust. That explains why Swedes and Danes are quite happy,” he said.

WIDER WAVES

The money laundering scandals, which have been growing week by week, are shaking politics as well as the boardroom.

In Denmark, which was first to be hit by Danske Bank, the scandal bolstered support for a left-wing opposition bloc that some polls suggest could oust the right-wing coalition in elections expected by June.

In response, the Danish government plans to create what one minister dubbed a “more aggressive financial regulator”, doubling the officials fighting money laundering to 24, allowing it to fine banks for breaches or insert an observer on a board.

“In the case of Danske Bank, we’ve seen how authorities send letters back and forth for seven or eight years before it was stopped,” Danish business minister Rasmus Jarlov said, announcing the shift toward U.S.-style controls.

Sweden may follow suit, with prime minister Stefan Lofven last week saying he could “strengthen legislation” following criticism that regulators have been too lax.

Last year the management of Sweden’s financial watchdog went against its own experts’ recommendations that it should sanction several of the major bank for insufficient money-laundering controls, opting instead to send warning letters.

The FSA also had to tighten rules requiring banks to set aside more funds for home loan losses after the central bank said it was being too generous.

And Joacim Olsson, head of the Swedish Shareholders’ Association has criticized it for being tough on smaller banks but softer on large ones.

“We in Sweden as a whole, and other regulators, have done too little. That is the conclusion from Danske Bank,” Swedish FSA head Erik Thedeen told reporters last month.

Louise Brown of Transparency International said Sweden needed to reform, adding: “We need to upgrade both regulatory execution and corporate governance”.

REGULATORY RELATIONS

The Danske Bank and Swedbank scandals have also raised questions about often close relationships between regulators and the banks the oversee.

Former Danish FSA chairman Henrik Ramlau-Hansen, who had served as finance chief at Danske Bank for five years before joining the FSA in 2016, stepped down in May last year.

Denmark now prohibits the chairman and deputy chairman to have worked at financial institutions for five years prior.

Sweden’s FSA boss Thedeen had in previous roles worked with Swedbank’s board member Peter Norman, although there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by either.

The FSA has said that Thedeen earlier recused himself from the Swedbank investigation due to the conflict of interest, and that money laundering supervision, including the probe, were being handled by his deputy.

For some, such closeness is inevitable. “Sweden is quite a small country,” said Torbjorn Hallo, an economist at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. “Most people know each other.”

And some investors say it is time for change.

“We have had some concerns about the Nordic model … for some time. Often boards lack industry experience, and are instead pulled from a local pool,” the head of corporate governance at one London fund manager said, adding that the management often goes unchallenged as a result.

(Additional reporting by Teis Jensen in Copenhagen and Simon Jessop in London; Writing by John O’Donnell; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

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Beto O’Rourke calls out Obama and Trump administration’s immigration practices

Democratic presidential contender Beto O’Rourke criticized both the Obama and Trump administrations for their immigration practices Wednesday at the "She The People Forum" at Texas Southern University in Houston.

O’Rourke, 46, was asked if the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be disbanded. An audience member was heard replying, “Yes, come on.”

“I hear you on this,” the former congressman replied. “The practices under this president, the practices under the last president where families were broken up. Where you had internal enforcement I think in one year alone in the previous administration 400,000 deportations from inside the United States.”

O’Rourke was referring to 2012 where U.S. deportations reached 409,849 people, according to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations report. In 2015 and 2016, the numbers fell to 235,413 and 240,255, respectively.

BETO O'ROURKE COMPARES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RHETORIC TO NAZI GERMANY

The 2020 candidate continued to say: “Some people who had been here for decades who posed no threat to their families, to their communities to this country in fact in any way that you can measure are contributing fare more than they are taking.”

O’Rourke said he believed that “we don’t need those internal roundups and deportations and enforcement.”

“We do need to make sure that whoever threatens the lives of our fellow Americans or has used violence that there is accountability,” he continued.

He concluded his remarks by saying that the internal operations by ICE “is not the way to do it.”

When pressed on whether ICE would exist if he was president, O’Rourke replied, “Yes.”

“But it will not employ those practices we’ve seen not just under this administration but under the previous administration,” he said.

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ICE has become a topic for debate for presidential candidates. During the midterm elections, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is also running for president, said ICE should be disbanded and rebuilt.

"I believe that it has become a deportation force. And I think you should separate out the criminal justice from the immigration issues," she told CNN’s Chris Cuomo. "I think you should reimagine ICE under a new agency, with a very different mission, and take those two missions out. So we believe that we should protect families that need our help, and that is not what ICE is doing today."

In June 2018, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also called on replacing ICE “with something that reflects our morality and that works," according to The Hill. Warren is also part of the crowded field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Trump Backs Off Funding Cuts for Special Olympics

p>President Donald Trump says he is backing off a budget request to cut funding for the Special Olympics, after days of criticism.

Trump told reporters at the White House Thursday, "I've overridden my people for funding the Special Olympics."

The Trump administration's education budget proposal calls for the elimination of $17.6 million in funding for the Special Olympics, roughly 10 percent of the group's overall revenue.

Democrats pressed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on the topic during a Senate budget hearing Thursday, just days after House Democrats grilled her on the proposal and sparked criticism online.

DeVos said she "wasn't personally involved" in pushing for elimination of the funding, but she defended it as her agency seeks to cut $7 billion from the 2020 budget.

Source: NewsMax America

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StanChart suffers senior private banker exits in Asia as unit earnings sag: sources

FILE PHOTO: A Standard Chartered logo at its headquarters is seen through a window with raindrops in Hong Kong
FILE PHOTO: A Standard Chartered logo at its headquarters is seen through a window with raindrops in Hong Kong, China, Aug. 4, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

March 13, 2019

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Standard Chartered PLC <STAN.L> has seen the departure of at least four senior Asia-based bankers from its private banking unit in recent months, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said, amid growing earnings pressure at the business.

Among those who left the London-headquartered bank in the past six months include Teddy Kwong, managing director and market head for Hong Kong, and Peter Lam, managing director and team leader for Hong Kong, said the people.

Both Hong Kong-based Kwong and Lam joined StanChart in the first half of 2017 from the regional private banking unit of rival HSBC Holdings PLC <HSBA.L>. It was not immediately clear where the two are headed.

Ray Li, StanChart private banking managing director and head of relationship management, has also left after having worked at the bank for more than a decade, said the people and according to his LinkedIn profile.

The Asia, Africa and Middle East-focused bank has also lost India private banking head Sandeep Das, who joined Barclays PLC <BARC.L> last month as head of private clients India in private bank and overseas services, as per a Barclays announcement.

A StanChart spokeswoman in Singapore declined to comment on recent staff exits in Asia, but said the bank continued to invest in and hire for its private banking business in 2019.

Kwong, Lam, Li, and Das could not immediately be reached for comment. The people with direct knowledge of the matter were not authorized to speak with media and so declined to be identified.

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in DUBAI and Anshuman Daga in SINGAPORE; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Source: OANN

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Brazil’s Bolsonaro eyes new body for environmental policy

The administration of President Jair Bolsonaro is considering a dramatic change in the council that oversees Brazil's environmental policy, replacing a broad-based panel of independent voices with a small group of political appointees, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Activists say they fear the move, which reflects Bolsonaro's oft-stated skepticism about environmental organizations, could lead to more deforestation and less oversight in the nation that holds about 60% of the vast Amazon rainforest, which scientists see as crucial for efforts to slow global warming and for the world climate systems.

A policy roadmap drafted by Bolsonaro's transition team before he took office Jan. 1 proposes a decree creating a "government council" to replace Brazil's National Council of the Environment, which has almost 100 members, including representatives of independent environmental and business groups. The new body would consist of five presidential appointees plus Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, who is one of the authors of the plan.

The documents, first published by the Brazilian Climate Observatory environmental group, were obtained and verified by the AP.

Brazil's Environment Ministry did not reply to a request for comment.

Part of the transition plan has already come into force. The country's forestry service, aimed at promoting "knowledge, sustainable use and widening of forestry coverage," was transferred to the Agriculture Ministry on Bolsonaro's second day in office. On the same day, the Agriculture Ministry was given the power to determine the limits of indigenous lands, rather than Brazil's official indigenous rights agency.

As a congressman and candidate, Bolsonaro often questioned the reality of climate change and cast environmental groups as foreign-influenced meddlers restraining Brazil's economic growth by holding back mining and agriculture — stances that resemble those of U.S. President Donald Trump, who before taking office described the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a "disgrace" that largely should be dismantled.

The authors of Bolsonaro's transition plan say the current Environment Council, known as CONAMA, is a "confusing" body that "acts emotionally, without due technique, being subjected to ideological interference."

In another transition team document, lawyer Antonio Fernando Pinheiro Pedro argues that CONAMA's decisions have led to "the emission of norms and standards that are far from reality."

In an interview shortly after his election, Bolsonaro complained that it could sometimes take a decade to get an environmental license. "That will not continue," he said.

While officials haven't yet formally proposed the smaller council, there has already been increased friction over CONAMA. Security guards blocked alternate members of the council from joining the main meeting at a March 20 session in the capital of Brasilia, breaking a long tradition of wide-open debate in Brazil's top environmental council.

Carlos Rittl, executive secretary of the Brazilian Climate Observatory, which includes several nonprofit groups, said he believes that chaotic meeting was "more evidence that the plan (for a smaller council) is indeed being implemented."

"Deforestation ended 2018 on the rise. It is on the rise in 2019, but we haven't heard a word from the minister about that. We have heard about limiting the access to civil society so we can't have a fair discussion," Rittl said.

Former Environment Minister Rubens Ricupero speculated the new administration may have delayed creating the new council due to public anger over the collapse of a mine dam near the city of Brumadinho in January that killed at least 223 people, with 70 still missing.

Ricupero noted that Bolsonaro's chief of staff suggested closing the environmental ministry during the campaign, but said that the powerful agribusiness lobby is afraid such a move would damage trade and has prevented any such move.

"Then Brumadinho showed that our problem is not excessive care in environmental licensing — it is the lack of it," Ricupero said.

He added that hopes Bolsonaro would engage with environmentalists have not come to pass.

Bolsonaro recently defended his environmental ideas at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying that Brazil "is the country that most preserves the environment" and that "those that criticize us actually have a lot to learn from us."

The Bolsonaro transition plan also suggested closing the federal agency that oversees conservation zones such as national parks and biological reserves and issues fines for violation of environmental laws there. Many of those penalties are never paid, but several Brazilian agribusiness leaders have complained about them over the years.

Pinheiro Pedro, the transition team lawyer, wrote that the agency should be folded into the Environment Institute, which enforces other environmental legislation and aims to promote the sustainable the use of natural resources. He said the two have "the same objective" and streamlining environmental governance is key to "avoid international interference."

Rittl, of the Brazilian Climate Observatory, said he believes that change would reduce oversight in key areas by diluting the focus of regulators.

Environmentalists also took umbrage at the language used in the transition documents, though the tone echoes Bolsonaro's own pronouncements.

The plan says NGOs involved in climate change discussions are "uncontrollable organisms" that need to be stopped so the system is "closer to ministerial control." It also contends Brazil's environmental governance is crafted to give jobs to political appointees, describing that as "a risk to national sovereignty."

Emilio Bruna, a tropical ecologist focused on the Amazon who is based at the University of Florida, said the transition plan shows the "worst fears" about Bolsonaro's presidency "are starting to come true."

"Scientists are not only concerned about the government not creating new protected areas, but also the downgrading of existing protections in the rainforest," he said. "There was already a culture of impunity, but now it's being reinforced."

___

Associated Press science writer Christina Larson and EPA reporter Ellen Knickmayer in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Trump: I Told GOP Leadership to Vote for 'Transparency' on Mueller Report

President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted that he told Republican leadership to allow all GOP House members to vote in favor of releasing Special Counsel Robert Meuller's upcoming report in a vote taken Thursday.

"On the recent non-binding vote (420-0) in Congress about releasing the Mueller Report, I told leadership to let all Republicans vote for transparency," Trump tweeted Saturday morning. "Makes us all look good and doesn’t matter. Play along with the game!

The House voted unanimously to pass the resolution to ask the Department of Justice to release Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election once it is complete. Four Republicans voted present.

Later, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham blocked the resolution in the Senate.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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MLB notebook: Kershaw set for return to Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw salutes children at the Latinoamericano stadium in Havana
FILE PHOTO: Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw salutes children at the Latinoamericano stadium in Havana, December 16, 2015. Cuban baseball defectors joined a Major League Baseball goodwill tour offering clinics for children in an unprecedented act of baseball diplomacy. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

April 11, 2019

Left-hander Clayton Kershaw came out of Tuesday’s rehab start healthy and his next appearance will be with the Los Angeles Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday.

Kershaw will start either Sunday at home against the Milwaukee Brewers or on Monday against the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

The Dodgers ace, working his way back after dealing with left shoulder inflammation during spring training, threw six innings on Tuesday night for Double-A Tulsa. He gave up five hits and two runs — both on home runs — in six innings. He struck out six and walked none.

His first rehab start came with Triple-A Oklahoma City, when he tossed 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits, including a home run, with two walks and six strike outs.

–St. Louis Cardinals leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter has signed a two-year contract extension, the team announced in a news conference at Busch Stadium.

The extension runs through the 2021 season and includes a possible option for a third season.

The team did not announce financial terms, but Mark Saxon of The Athletic reported the deal is worth a combined $39 million for the next two seasons. If he reaches 1,100 plate appearances over the next two seasons, the deal will be worth $18.5 million for 2022.

–The hunt continues for the person responsible for the theft of five firearms and $20,000 from the home of Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported someone broke into Markakis’ home in the Buckhead section of Atlanta on March 29 and walked off with the money, weapons and a luxury watch.

A neighbor called police after spotting someone in the home. The Braves were in Philadelphia that night.

–Forbes estimated the New York Yankees to be worth $4.6 billion, a 15 percent increase from 2018, in its annual list of team values.

Rounding out the top five were the Los Angeles Dodgers ($3.3 billion), Boston Red Sox ($3.2 billion), Chicago Cubs ($3.1 billion) and San Francisco Giants ($3 billion).

–Wednesday’s game between the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies was postponed due to a blizzard warning in Denver.

A storm moving through the area could bring 2 to 6 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 65 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The game was rescheduled for Monday, Aug. 26, at Coors Field.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Multiple people died Thursday when a semitrailer plowed into stationary traffic that resulted in explosions and flames on a Colorado freeway, authorities said.

The incident occurred just before 5 p.m. in the Denver suburb of Lakewood when a truck driver lost control while traveling east on Interstate 70, according to a preliminary investigation. The collision started a chain reaction and a diesel fuel spill, Lakewood police spokesman Ty Countryman told the Denver Post.

“This is looking to be one of the worst accidents we’ve had here in Lakewood,” he said.

The driver of the runaway truck survived. At least one truck was carrying lumber, another was hauling gravel and the third may have been carrying mattresses, KDVR-TV reported.

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Lakewood police tweeted there were multiple fatalities but did not give a specific number. Six people were taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not released, according to the paper.

Lanes in both directions were closed and expected to remain so into Friday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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President Trump will address members and leaders of the National Rifle Association on Friday at the group’s annual convention in Indiana.

Around 80,000 gun enthusiasts and more than 800 exhibitors are expected to pack the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis for the three-day event, the Indianapolis Star reported. It will mark the third straight year that Trump will deliver the keynote address, where he is expected to champion the rights of gun owners.

“Donald Trump is the most enthusiastic supporter of the Second Amendment to occupy the Oval Office in our lifetimes,” Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (ILA), said in a statement. “President Trump’s Supreme Court appointments ensure that the Second Amendment will be respected for generations to come. Our members are excited to hear him speak and thank him for his support for our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.”

“Donald Trump is the most enthusiastic supporter of the Second Amendment to occupy the Oval Office in our lifetimes.”

— Chris Cox, executive director, NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action

COLORADO ENACTS ‘RED FLAG’ LAW TO SEIZE GUNS FROM THOSE DEEMED DANGEROUS, PROMPTING BACKLASH

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Dallas last year. (Associated Press)

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Dallas last year. (Associated Press)

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at last year’s convention in Dallas. During his speech, Trump assured gun owners that he would protect their Second Amendment rights, according to the paper.

“Your Second Amendment rights are under siege,” Trump told the cheering audience in Dallas. “But they will never, ever be under siege as long as I am your president.”

Trump has supported some gun control measures in the past. Last year, his administration imposed a ban on bump stocks, attachments that enable semiautomatic rifles to fire in rapid bursts. Although, he most recently threatened to veto two Democratic gun control bills.

This year’s convention comes as the NRA faces outside pressure and internal problems. The group has seen its legislative agenda stall amid a series of mass shootings — including a massacre at a Parkland, Fla., high school in February 2018 that left 17 dead and launched a youth movement against gun violence.

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It’s also grappling with infighting in its ranks, money problems and investigations into whether Russian agents courted officials and funneled money through the group.

“I’ve never seen the NRA this vulnerable,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control measure.

The convention will run through the weekend and conclude Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk past the Debenhams department store on Oxford Street in London
FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk past the Debenhams department store on Oxford Street in London, Britain December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Ailing British retailer Debenhams said two proposed company voluntary arrangements (CVA) could see all its stores remaining open during 2019, with 22 closures planned for next year, putting about 1,200 jobs at risk.

Debenhams’ lenders took control of the retailer earlier this month in a process designed to keep its shops open at the expense of shareholders.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Xiaomi branding is seen on a carrier bag at a UK launch event in London
FILE PHOTO: Xiaomi branding is seen on a carrier bag at a UK launch event in London, Britain, November 8, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville

April 26, 2019

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Chinese brands controlled a record 66 percent of Indian smartphone market in the first quarter, led by Xiaomi Corp, a report showed, with volumes rising 20 percent on the back of popularity for brands like Vivo, RealMe and Oppo.

Xiaomi’s India shipments fell by 2 percent over last year, but the Beijing-based company was still the biggest smartphone brand in the country, followed by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, according to Hong-Kong based Counterpoint Research.

Shipment volumes for Vivo jumped 119 percent, while those of Oppo rose 28 percent.

“Vivo’s expanding portfolio in the mid-tier range ($100 to $180) drove its growth along with aggressive Indian Premier League cricket campaign,” Counterpoint analysts said.

India is the world’s fastest growing market for smartphones, where affordable pricing coupled with features like “selfie” cameras and big screens have popularized Chinese brands.

Video streaming services like Netflix Inc and Hotstar, as well as heavy usage of messaging apps like Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp have further spurred demand.

“Data consumption is on the rise and users are upgrading their phones faster as compared to other regions,” Counterpoint’s Tarun Pathak said.

“As a result of this, the premium specs are now diffusing faster into the mid-tier price brands. We estimate this trend to continue leading to a competitive mid-tier segment in coming quarters.”

(Reporting By Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Source: OANN

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The Dalai Lama has returned to his headquarters in the north Indian hill town of Dharmsala after a brief stay in a hospital in the capital for treatment of a chest infection.

Hundreds of exiled Tibetans lined the streets of Dharmsala carrying ceremonial scarves and incense sticks to welcome the Dalai Lama on Friday.

The 83-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters that he had fully recovered, but that the illness had been “a little bit serious.” He did not give any details.

The Dalai Lama usually spends several months a year traveling the world to teach Buddhism and highlight Tibetans’ struggle for greater freedom in China. But he has cut down on his travels in the past year to take care of his health.

Source: Fox News World

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