Tibetan exiles rethink struggle against Chinese rule

DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) — Leading Tibetan exiles kicked off a week-long meeting in northern India Monday that could usher in a more radical approach to their long struggle against Chinese rule in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, called the gathering after admitting that his attempts to secure greater autonomy for the region through negotiation with the Chinese government had failed.

Before the talks began, he had urged the 500 participants to consider all aspects of policy regarding China — ensuring that the thorny issue of whether to push for full independence would be tackled.

The meeting should air “the real opinions and views of the Tibetan people through free and frank discussions,” said the Dalai Lama, who has expressed uncharacteristic frustration over failing to win concessions from Beijing.

McCartney hints at "mythical" Beatles track release

LONDON (Reuters) – An unreleased, experimental track by British band The Beatles could be made public 41 years after it was recorded at London’s Abbey Road studios, ex-member Paul McCartney has said.

McCartney, one of two surviving members of arguably the most successful pop band in history, told BBC Radio that “Carnival of Light” was The Beatles at their most free, “going off piste.”

“I said it would be great to put this on because it would show we were working with really avant-garde stuff,” McCartney told Radio 4’s Front Row culture show in an interview to be broadcast on Thursday.

He confirmed that he had a master tape of the track, which many Beatles fans assumed until now was a piece of musical myth, and added: “The time has come for it to get its moment.”