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Thailand has sacked one of its most high-profile police officers over his alleged involvement in illegal gambling and financial fraud.Surachate Hakparn, who served as the kingdom’s deputy police chief, was formally dismissed on Tuesday, police said in a statement.Surachate, widely known by his nickname “Big Joke”, was snared in a series of raids in 2023 targeting an illegal online gambling network dubbed “Betflix”.He was charged with money laundering, which he has denied, and suspended from the force while an investigation was under way.Thai police said on Tuesday his dismissal was in line with “disciplinary procedures for officers under investigation”.Most forms of betting are illegal in Thailand, with authorities striving to shut down illicit gambling dens and websites, which are often foreign-owned.Long-serving Surachate has been linked to powerful figures in the previous army-aligned government.He was appointed by then-deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan as chief of the Immigration Bureau in September 2018.He disappeared in 2019 over unclear reasons, before then-prime minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha made him a special adviser on strategy to police in 2021.Surachate has 30 days to appeal against his dismissal.”He has the right to fight the case and appeal,” Aek Angsananont, a former deputy police chief and now a member of the national police committee, told public broadcaster Thai PBS.Surachate’s sacking comes days after the death of ex-policeman Thitisan Utthanaphon, nicknamed “Joe Ferrari” for his taste in flash cars, who was serving life in jail for the murder of a suspect during a brutal interrogation.Last month, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra urged the Royal Thai police to step up efforts to combat human trafficking and drug-related crimes.

Pakistan security forces were set to launch a “full-scale operation” on Wednesday to free train passengers taken hostage by militants, including suicide bombers, officials said. Separatist militants bombed part of a railway track and stormed the train with more than 450 passengers on board on Tuesday afternoon, in southwest Balochistan province where violence has been rising.Dozens of hostages have been freed and three people killed, including the train driver, since the attack erupted in Sibi district.”A full-scale operation is planned for the morning to rescue the train hostages and others,” a security official in the area told AFP. The official said that forces “faced challenges due to the darkness of night”.”We are taking precautions to avoid any actions that could endanger civilian hostages,” he added.Security sources said the “terrorists have positioned suicide bombers right next to innocent hostage passengers”. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced late Tuesday that “more than 100 hostages” have been free, while security sources said those included “58 men, 31 women and 15 children”.It was not immediately clear how many people remained on the train.The assault was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group behind rising violence in the province which borders Afghanistan and Iran.Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in provincial capital Quetta, told AFP that “over 450 passengers onboard” had been taken hostage. Hostages freed on Tuesday said they had to walk for hours through mountainous terrain to reach safety.”I can’t find the words to describe how we managed to escape. It was terrifying,” Muhammad Bilal who had been travelling with his mother on the Jafar Express train, told AFP.- Punjabis ‘taken away’ -The driver of the train, a police officer and soldier were killed in the assault, according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, both at Mach railway station.One passenger described gunmen sorting through identity cards to confirm who was from outside of the province, similar to a spate of recent attacks carried out by the Baloch Liberation Army. “They came and checked IDs and service cards and shot two soldiers in front of me and took the other four to, I don’t know where,” said one passenger who asked not to be named, after walking four hours to the nearest train station.”Those who were Punjabis were taken away by the terrorists,” he added.Around 80 of the released passengers were taken to provincial capital Quetta under “tight security”, said a police official who was not authorised to speak to the media.Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, but violence has soared in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from north to south, since the Taliban took back power in 2021. The BLA claim the region’s natural resources are being exploited by outsiders and have increased attacks targeting Pakistanis from other regions.In February, BLA militants killed seven Punjabi travellers after they were ordered off a bus. 

Hostages freed from a train siege in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday said they walked for hours through mountainous terrain to reach safety, forced to leave behind relatives from whom they were separated.Militants waging a war of independence against the Pakistani state set off explosions on the railway track in a remote area of Balochistan, forcing the train to a halt and taking more than 450 passengers hostage.”I can’t find the words to describe how we managed to escape. It was terrifying,” Muhammad Bilal told AFP.Bilal had been traveling with his mother on the Jafar Express train when it was caught in the explosive crossfire, leaving at least three dead, according to a railway official.More than 100 hostages have been freed from the train, which remains held up by rebel forces.”I heard an explosion followed by gunfire as militants boarded the train,” passenger Allahditta told AFP at the train station in Mach, where the waiting area has been transformed into a makeshift hospital to treat the wounded. “People began hiding under the seats in panic. The militants separated the men from the women. They allowed me and my family to go because I told them I’m a heart patient,” the 49-year-old said.- ID checks -“We walked for a long time through the mountains to reach the nearest station. I haven’t eaten since I began fasting this morning, but I still can’t bring myself to eat,” Allahditta added, in reference to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.One passenger described gunmen sorting through identity cards to confirm who was from outside of the province, similar to a spate of recent attacks carried out by the Baloch Liberation Army, which has claimed credit for the seige. “They came and checked IDs and service cards and shot two soldiers in front of me and took the other four to, I don’t know where,” said one passenger who asked not to be named, after walking four hours to the nearest train station.”They checked IDs and those who were Punjabis were taken away by the terrorists,” he added. The BLA claim the region’s natural resources are being exploited by outsiders and has increased attacks targeting Pakistanis from other regions.Late on Tuesday, survivors walked through rugged terrain to the nearest train station and travelled to Mach, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the Iran border. The first trains carrying survivors arrived late on Tuesday evening to be met by paramilitary forces and doctors. “I am treating two (police) officers, one was shot five times, while the other was wounded in his knee,” said paramedic Qazim Farooq.

Three people were killed and around a hundred hostages freed by Pakistani troops on Tuesday after armed militants attacked a train carrying over 450 passengers in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province.It was not immediately clear how many people remained on board the train as security forces continued operations overnight.Before seizing the train Tuesday afternoon, militants blew up the railway track, forcing it to a halt in a remote area.”People began hiding under the seats in panic. The militants separated the men from the women. They allowed me and my family to go because I told them I’m a heart patient,” 49-year-old Allahditta told AFP from a makeshift hospital at the train station in Mach.”I was on the train with my father and brother when militants took us hostage. They let me go but they are still there,” added a 32-year-old woman, who asked not to be named.Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi said security forces had rescued over 100 people, adding that 16 “terrorists” had been killed.Security sources told AFP that the “clearance operation is ongoing”, after reporting heavy gunfire between militants and security forces.The assault was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group behind rising violence in the province which borders Afghanistan and Iran.Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, earlier told AFP that “over 450 passengers onboard” had been taken hostage. Some of the passengers were freed by the militants and walked for hours to reach the nearest railway station, from which they boarded other trains to Mach.The driver of the train, a police officer and soldier were killed in the assault, according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, both at Mach railway station.- Decades-long insurgency -In a statement, the BLA said gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train. “The militants swiftly took control of the train and have taken all passengers hostage,” said the statement released to media. The incident happened around 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in rural Sibi district, near to a city station where the train had been due to stop. The train had left Quetta for Peshawar, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — a more than 30-hour journey — at around 9:00 am.The area is a mountainous region making it easier for militants to have hideouts and plan attacks. Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, which militant groups claim is being exploited by outsiders, with wealth from its natural resources syphoned off with little benefit to the local population.But violence has soared in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from north to south, since the Taliban took back power in 2021. Pakistan accuses the Taliban government in Kabul of offering safe haven to militants to plan attacks. The Taliban government denies the charge. The BLA have launched larger scale attacks in recent months, including holding a motorway overnight and identifying travellers from outside the province and shooting them dead. BLA militants also killed seven Punjabi travellers in February after they were ordered off a bus. In November, the BLA claimed responsibility for a bombing at Quetta’s main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.Last year was the deadliest year in almost a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed in attacks in Pakistan, mostly in the border regions, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.

Pope Francis remains stable after almost four weeks in hospital with pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, declining to speculate on when he might go home, the day after doctors indicated he was no longer in danger.The 88-year-old head of the world Catholic Church has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14 with pneumonia in both lungs, suffering several respiratory crises that sparked real fear for his life.But on Tuesday evening — a day after indicating that he was out of imminent danger — the Holy See said that the pope’s condition continued to be stable. “It is clear that the situation remains stable… and with these slight improvements within a framework for doctors that remains complex,” the Vatican said.On Monday, following a week of steady improvements in Francis’s condition, the Vatican said his prognosis was no longer considered “reserved”, or uncertain, meaning his life is no longer at imminent risk.But his condition remained complex and he would require hospital treatment for “several more days”, it said on Monday — with the implication that afterwards, he could go home to the Vatican.A Vatican source on Monday said that Francis still had pneumonia but confirmed there was “no imminent danger” to his life.Despite the improving scenario, the Vatican on Tuesday said that it was still unknown when exactly Francis might be released from hospital. The source denied reports that preparations were under way for Francis’s return to the Santa Marta residence.Francis missed the start of the Lent religious period last week but there are hopes he might be able to participate in celebrations for Easter, the holiest period in the Christian calendar, which culminates on April 20.- Prayers and meditation -Outside the Gemelli hospital, an employee of the Santa Marta, Simonetta Maronge, urged the pope to come home soon.”May he return to Santa Marta soon. We love him deeply and Santa Marta is empty without him,” she told AFP.The Vatican source said on Tuesday that the pope’s spirits were “good”. The press office said he had that morning prayed in the private chapel next to the papal suite on the 10th floor of the hospital, and that he had taken part remotely in Vatican prayers and meditation.”The improvements recorded in the previous days have been further consolidated, as confirmed by blood tests and clinical objectivity and the good response to pharmacological therapy,” the Vatican said in a statement on Monday evening.”For these reasons, the doctors have decided today to lift their reserved prognosis,” it added, although the Vatican said Francis still would need “pharmacological treatment in a hospital setting for several more days”.- Video games -The pontiff has been doing some work off and on during his hospital stay, making calls and having occasional visitors, according to the Vatican.Several of the children being treated in Rome’s Bambino Gesu hospital, which is also run by the Vatican, sent Francis messages and drawings offering other ideas for passing the time.”Dear Pope, I suggest you get someone to give you a PlayStation,” young Alex wrote, according to the artwork released by Bambino Gesu.Pilgrims visiting Rome for the 2025 Jubilee holy year celebrations have been praying every night for the pope, while special services have been held in churches around the world.”We are praying for the pope, for his recovery and that he will soon be with us, safe and well, so he can bless us all,” Jose Ochoa, 69, from Mexico, told AFP at the Vatican.Mimmo Laundando, an Italian pensioner praying outside the Gemelli hospital, said: “I am hopeful.”Laundando added that he had always dreamt of being the pontiff’s chauffeur.Pope Francis will on Thursday mark 12 years as leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.Despite his incipient recovery, his hospital stay — the longest and most serious of his papacy — has revived questions about his future.The Jesuit pontiff has always held open the possibility of resigning like his predecessor, the German Benedict XVI, although he also insisted he has no intention of quitting.

Pakistani troops freed dozens of train passengers taken hostage by armed militants in the country’s southwest on Tuesday, with hundreds more still being held in the deadly siege.Security sources said that heavy gunfire was ongoing between security forces and the militants.Gunmen forced the train to a halt in a remote, mountainous area of Balochistan province on Tuesday afternoon, with the assault immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group behind rising violence in the province which borders Afghanistan and Iran.”Security forces have successfully freed 80 hostages, including 43 men, 26 women, and 11 children, from the terrorists,” security sources told AFP, adding that 13 militants had been killed. “Efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe release of the remaining passengers. The terrorists have been surrounded, and the operation will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized.”A nearby railway station in Mach has been turned into a makeshift hospital to receive some of the wounded. The driver of the train, a police officer and soldier were all killed in the assault, according to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, both at Mach railway station. Earlier in the day, Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, told AFP that “over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen.” In a statement, the BLA said gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train. “The militants swiftly took control of the train and have taken all passengers hostage,” said the statement released to media. The group “warned of severe consequences” if an attempt is made to rescue the hostages. The incident happened around 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in rural Sibi district, near to a city station where the train had been due to stop. The train had left Quetta for Peshawar, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — a more than 30-hour journey — at around 9:00 am.A senior police official from the area bordering Sibi, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that “the train remains stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains”.An emergency has been imposed at hospitals in Sibi, according to the government official.- Decades-long insurgency -The area is a mountainous region making it easier for militants to have hideouts and plan attacks. Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, which militant groups claim is being exploited by outsiders, with wealth from its natural resources syphoned off with little benefit to the local population.But violence has soared in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from north to south, since the Taliban took back power in 2021. Pakistan accuses the Taliban government in Kabul of offering safe haven to militants to plan attacks. The Taliban government denies the charge. The BLA have launched larger scale attacks in recent months, including holding a motorway overnight and identifying travellers from outside the province and shooting them dead. BLA militants also killed seven Punjabi travellers in February after they were ordered off a bus. In November, the BLA claimed responsibility for a bombing at Quetta’s main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.Last year was the deadliest year in almost a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed in attacks in Pakistan, mostly in the border regions, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.

Armed militants held hundreds of train passengers hostage on Tuesday in an ongoing siege claimed by a separatist group behind rising violence in southwestern Pakistan. The militants wounded the driver as they took control of the train in a remote, mountainous area of Balochistan province which borders Afghanistan and Iran.”Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen,” Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, told AFP.”Passengers include women and children,” he added.The attack was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) which is fighting for independence and accuses outsiders of profiting from the region’s wealth. In a statement, it said gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train. “The militants swiftly took control of the train and have taken all passengers hostage,” said the statement released to media. The group “warned of severe consequences” if an attempt is made to rescue the hostages. Pakistani sources who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity said an operation “to eliminate the terrorists is ongoing with extreme caution due to the difficult terrain”, adding that women and children are “being used as human shields”.The incident happened around 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in rural Sibi district, near to a city station where it had been due to stop. “A passenger train called the Jaffar Express was stopped by armed militants,” said a senior government official in Sibi, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.”The passengers are being held hostage, and the driver has been injured.”The train had left Quetta for Peshawar, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — a more than 30-hour journey — at around 9:00 am.A senior police official from the area bordering Sibi, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that “the train remains stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains”.An emergency has been imposed at hospitals in Sibi, according to the government official.- Decades-long insurgency -The area is a mountainous region making it easier for militants to have hideouts and plan attacks. Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, which militant groups claim is being exploited by outsiders, with wealth from its natural resources syphoned off with little benefit to the local population.Violence has soared in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from north to south, since the Taliban took back power in 2021. More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks in Pakistan in 2024 — the deadliest year in almost a decade — according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.BLA militants killed seven Punjabi travellers in February after they were ordered off a bus. At least 39 people were killed in coordinated attacks last year that largely targeted ethnic Punjabis. In November, the BLA claimed responsibility for a bombing at Quetta’s main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.

Pope Francis was reported to be in good spirits on Tuesday, a day after the Vatican indicated he was out of danger and could be discharged in the near future after almost one month in hospital with pneumonia.The 88-year-old head of the world Catholic Church has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14 with pneumonia in both lungs. He has suffered several respiratory crises that sparked real fear for his life.But after a week of steady improvements, the Holy See said on Monday his prognosis was no longer considered “reserved”, or uncertain, meaning his life is no longer at imminent risk.The pope’s condition remains complex and he will require hospital treatment for “several more days”, it added — with the implication that after that, he could go home to the Vatican.A Vatican source added later on Monday that Francis still had pneumonia but confirmed there was “no imminent danger” to his life.On Tuesday, however, the same Vatican source denied reports that preparations were under way for Francis’s return to the Santa Marta residence, indicating his discharge was not imminent.Up until Monday at least, the pope had been switching from the oxygen mask he uses nightly to a cannula — a plastic tube tucking into the nostrils — which delivers high-flow oxygen.Francis missed the start of the Lent religious period last week but there are hopes he might be able to participate in celebrations for Easter, the holiest period in the Christian calendar, which culminates on April 20.- Prayers and meditation -Simonetta Maronge, an employee of the Santa Marta, urged the pope to come home soon.”May he return to Santa Marta soon. We love him deeply and Santa Marta is empty without him,” she told AFP outside the Gemelli hospital.The Vatican source said on Tuesday that the pope’s spirits were “good”. The press office said he had that morning prayed in the private chapel next to the papal suite on the 10th floor of the hospital, and that he had taken part remotely in spiritual exercises — prayers and meditation — in the Vatican.The Vatican has been giving twice-daily updates on the pope’s health but these have been reduced since the pontiff’s health improved and no formal bulletin was expected on Tuesday evening.”The improvements recorded in the previous days have been further consolidated, as confirmed by blood tests and clinical objectivity and the good response to pharmacological therapy,” the Vatican said in a statement on Monday evening.”For these reasons, the doctors have decided today to lift their reserved prognosis.””Given the complexity of the pope’s clinical picture and the severe infection present at the time of hospitalisation, it will still be necessary to continue pharmacological treatment in a hospital setting for several more days,” it continued.- Video games -The pontiff has been doing some work off and on during his hospitalisation, making calls and having occasional visitors, according to the Vatican.Several of the children being treated in Rome’s Bambino Gesu hospital, which is also run by the Vatican, sent Francis messages and drawings offering other ideas for passing the time.”Dear Pope, I suggest you get someone to give you a PlayStation,” young Alex wrote, according to the artwork released by Bambino Gesu.Pilgrims visiting Rome for the 2025 Jubilee holy year celebrations have been praying every night for the pope, while special services have been held in churches around the world.”We are praying for the pope, for his recovery and that he will soon be with us, safe and well, so he can bless us all,” Jose Ochoa, 69, from Mexico, told AFP at the Vatican.Mimmo Laundando, an Italian pensioner praying outside the Gemelli hospital, added: “I am hopeful. I think there is really a need for a pope like Francis for all of us, for the whole world.”Laundando added that he had always dreamed of being the pontiff’s chauffeur, adding: “Now I am here with the car with the idea that maybe if he needs to, I can drive him back.”Pope Francis will on Thursday mark 12 years as leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.Despite his incipient recovery, his hospitalisation — the longest and most serious of his papacy — has revived questions about his future.The Jesuit pontiff has always held open the possibility of resigning like his predecessor, the German Benedict XVI, although he also insisted he has no intention of quitting.

The arrest on Tuesday of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, by police acting on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs, marks a success for the ICC, which has been struggling for almost 23 years against a lack of recognition and enforcement power.Backed by 125 member states, the jurisdiction seeks to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s gravest crimes when countries are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.  The wheels of international justice grind slowly, as evidenced by the court’s low conviction rate.However, it’s not all about the final judgement, experts say. The mere fact of pursuing alleged perpetrators of atrocities sends a message that the international community is determined to fight impunity.- Catch me if you can -Since it began work in 2002, the ICC has opened 32 cases for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and offences against the administration of justice. Fourteen of them, or roughly 40 percent, are ongoing, in most cases because the suspects are still at large. Without a police force, the Hague-based court is unlikely to catch them soon. Of the 60 arrest warrants issued since 2002, only 21 had been carried out before Duterte’s arrest.The ICC relies on states to apprehend suspects.But the incentive for them to cooperate is low because the court has “nothing to offer in return, except a commitment to seeing justice served”, former ICC adviser Pascal Turlan said.  The court’s wanted list includes Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. All three are accused of war crimes.Russia is one of dozens of nations, including the United States, Israel and China, that do not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC, hampering its ability to investigate their nationals.But some member states also defy its authority by, for instance, refusing to hand over suspects.”When states don’t like what the ICC does, they don’t often cooperate,” said Nancy Combs, professor of law at William & Mary Law School in the United States. – 11 convictions, all Africans -ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah stressed that the court’s role is not to go after all suspected war criminals but to “encourage nations to deal with their own cases”.Each case comes with a unique set of challenges, from interference by national governments to witness intimidation.The latter caused the case against Kenya’s former deputy president William Ruto to fall apart in 2016, according to a former chief prosecutor.These challenges partly explain the court’s low conviction rate.Since its inception it has handed down 11 guilty verdicts, mostly against officials from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and four acquittals.All those judged were Africans, leading to accusations that the ICC is unfairly targeting the continent.Combs pointed out that some African countries, including Uganda, Ivory Coast and the DRC, had referred their own wars to the court for investigation in the early days, while other cases had been instigated by the United Nations Security Council.”The ICC has diversified a lot but non-African states have resisted ICC jurisdiction more fiercely,” she pointed out, citing Russia as an example.

The Dalai Lama published a book Tuesday that he says is a “framework for the future of Tibet”, to guide compatriots in relations with Beijing after his death.China — which says Tibet is an integral part of the country — has responded by saying the Dalai Lama “has no right to represent the Tibetan people”.Many exiled Tibetans fear Beijing will name a successor to the Dalai Lama when he dies, bolstering control over a land it poured troops into in 1950.The book, “Voice for the Voiceless”, describes the Dalai Lama dealing with successive leaders of the People’s Republic of China on behalf of Tibet and its people.”The right of the Tibetan people to be the custodians of their own homeland cannot be indefinitely denied, nor can their aspiration for freedom be crushed forever through oppression,” the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader writes.”One clear lesson we know from history is this: If you keep people permanently unhappy, you cannot have a stable society.”Asked about the book at a regular press briefing on Tuesday, Beijing’s foreign ministry dismissed the Dalai Lama as “a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion”.The Dalai Lama’s lineage, status and title “have been determined by the central government for hundreds of years”, spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters. “The reincarnations of living Buddhas, including the Dalai Lama, should abide by national laws and regulations, follow religious rituals… (and be subject to) the approval of the central government”, she added.- ‘Persistent efforts’ -Over centuries, Tibet has alternated between independence and being controlled by China, which says it “peacefully liberated” the rugged plateau and brought infrastructure and education.Celebrating his 90th birthday in July, the Dalai Lama is among a fading few who can remember what their homeland was like before the failed 1959 uprising.He fled to India that year, and said the book details the “persistent efforts” he has made to over seven decades to “save my homeland and people”.”Tibetans have spent nearly 75 years fighting for freedom,” he wrote in the Washington Post this month, ahead of the book’s publication. “Their struggle should continue beyond my lifetime.”Talks between Beijing and Tibetan leaders have been frozen since 2010.”Despite all the suffering and destruction, we still hold fast to the hope for a peaceful resolution of our struggle for freedom and dignity,” the Dalai Lama said in a statement about the book.”From a 19-year-old negotiating with Chairman Mao at the height of his powers in Beijing to my recent attempts to communicate with President Xi Jinping, I convey in this book the sincerity of our efforts.”My hope is that the book will… provide a framework for the future of Tibet even after I am gone.” The Dalai Lama stepped down as his people’s political head in 2011, passing the baton of secular power to a government chosen democratically by about 130,000 Tibetans around the world.Penpa Tsering, the sikyong or head of that government, has said it does not seek full independence for Tibet, but rather to pursue a long-standing “Middle Way” policy seeking greater autonomy.China calls the India-based Tibetan administration a “puppet government”.But the Dalai Lama said any resolution had to involve talks in which each side can talk openly.”One thing is for sure: no totalitarian regime, whether headed by an individual or a party, can last forever, because they abuse the very people they claim to speak for,” he adds.