Archive

July 6, 2025

Browsing

After a strong move in the week before this one, the Nifty spent the last five sessions largely consolidating in a very defined range. The markets traded with a weak underlying bias and lost ground gradually over the past few days; however, the drawdown remained quite measured and within the expected range. As the markets consolidated, the trading range got narrower. The Nifty moved in a 337-point range during the week. While the Index formed a near-similar high, it marked a much higher low. The volatility also retraced; the India VIX came off by 0.59% to 12.31. While showing no intention to trend higher, the headline Index closed with a net weekly loss of 176.80 points (-0.69%).

The Nifty has created an intermediate resistance zone between 25600 and 25650. A trending move on the upside would happen only if the Nifty is able to take out this zone on the upside convincingly. Until that happens, we will see the Nifty continuing to consolidate with 25100 acting as support. This is the prior resistance level, which is expected to act as support in case of any corrective retracement. So long as the Nifty is inside the 25000-25650 zone, it is unlikely to develop any sustainable directional bias on either side.

Friday was a trading holiday in the US. Because of this, we will not have any overnight cues to deal with on Monday. The Indian markets may see a stable and quiet start. The levels of 25650 and 25800 are likely to act as probable resistance points. Support levels come in at 25250 and 25000.

The weekly MACD is bullish and remains above its signal line. The weekly RSI is 62.40; it stays neutral and does not show any divergence against the price. No major formation was noticed on the candles.

The pattern analysis of the weekly chart reveals that after breaking above the rising trendline resistance and moving past the 25000-25150 zone, the Nifty consolidated after trending higher for four consecutive days. Over the past week, it gave up a portion of its gains and consolidated at higher levels. In the process, it has dragged its support level higher to 25000. As long as the Index remains above this point, the breakout and the resumption of the upmove observed in the preceding week remain valid and intact.

Overall, it is expected that the Nifty will remain within the 25000-25650 range over the coming week. The markets are unlikely to develop any directional bias unless they move past the 25650 level or violate the 25000 level. Sector rotation within the market is very much visible; it would be imperative to efficiently rotate sectors and stay invested in those that show improved relative strength and a promising technical setup. We are likely to see improved performance in the Auto, Energy, IT, and broader markets, among other sectors. It is also strongly recommended to protect profits here, where the stocks have run up hard. Any aggressive shorting should be avoided as long as the Nifty stays above the 25000 level. A cautiously positive approach is advised for the coming week.


Sector Analysis for the coming week

In our look at Relative Rotation Graphs®, we compared various sectors against the CNX500 (NIFTY 500 Index), representing over 95% of the free-float market cap of all the listed stocks. 

Relative Rotation Graphs (RRG) show that the Nifty PSU Bank Index and the Midcap 100 Index are the only two groups that are inside the leading quadrant. They are likely to outperform the broader markets relatively.

The Nifty Infrastructure Index is experiencing an improvement in its relative momentum while it remains within the weakening quadrant. Additionally, the PSE, Nifty Bank, and the Financial Services Index are located within the weakening quadrant. While individual stock-specific performance may not be ruled out, the overall relative performance may take a backseat.

The Commodities Index and the Services Sector Index have rolled into the lagging quadrant. The Consumption, Pharma, and the FMCG Indices also continue to languish inside the lagging quadrant. The Metal Index is showing a sharp improvement in its relative momentum against the broader markets, while staying within the lagging quadrant.

The IT, Energy, Media, Realty, and Auto Indices are inside the Improving quadrant. They continue to rotate firmly while improving their relative performance against the broader Nifty 500 Index.


Important Note: RRG charts show the relative strength and momentum of a group of stocks. In the above Chart, they show relative performance against NIFTY500 Index (Broader Markets) and should not be used directly as buy or sell signals.  


Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA

Consulting Technical Analyst

www.EquityResearch.asia | www.ChartWizard.ae

The stock markets had a dynamic start to the third quarter, pushing indices to new highs after earlier tariff concerns.

On Monday (June 30), markets generally saw strong gains, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) and Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) reaching new record highs in the US while the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) climbed higher after a last-minute policy reversal to rescind a planned digital services tax targeting US tech firms.

Tuesday (July 1), Canadian markets were closed for Canada Day. As for US markets, following two consecutive days of highs, the S&P and Nasdaq declined on Tuesday (July 1) after a renewed feud between Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump sent Tesla shares down by over 5 percent.

However, tech stocks boosted the performance of both Canadian and US markets on Wednesday (July 2) and Thursday (July 3) after export restrictions to China were lifted and the US labor market reported better-than-expected unemployment data.

US markets were closed on Friday (July 4) for a holiday, while Canadian markets ended the day slightly positive.

1. Meta announces AI restructure, continues talent acquisition

Last weekend, reports surfaced that Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has hired four additional researchers from OpenAI, bringing the total number of high-profile AI talent poached from other tech labs to 13, according to a tweet from former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, who was recently recruited as Meta’s Chief AI Officer.

Then, in an internal memo to employees on Monday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the company was restructuring its AI division under the name Meta Superintelligence Labs. According to the memo, which was reviewed by Bloomberg, the new division will be led by Wang and one of its commitments is ‘developing AI ‘superintelligence’ or systems that can complete tasks as well as or even better than humans.’

Meta has reportedly offered researchers contracts and signing bonuses worth up to US$100 million; however, Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth has pushed back on those reports, claiming the figures are inflated.

Helen Toner, a former OpenAI board member and director of strategy at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, told Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin on Thursday that Meta’s bid to become an AI leader would be “difficult” considering its track record of internal dysfunction and questions around the return on its massive talent spending.

“Meta has started to get a reputation of having a little bit of a dysfunctional AI team, not really having its organizational structure set up in a way that really lets them succeed and innovate. And what I think we’re seeing here is CEO Mark Zuckerberg really stepping in and saying, well, we have to do something differently. We need a big new push, we need a big new effort,’ she said.

‘I think (Meta is) really trying to start something new, to pour enormous amounts of financial resources into that. So the question (to watch) is six months from now, 12 months from now, is that paying off for them?’

2. Apple considers third-party AI for Siri overhaul

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly in active discussions with Anthropic and OpenAI to integrate their foundation models into an overhauled version of its voice assistant Siri, a significant pivot from the company’s in-house approach to AI. According to people familiar with the discussions who spoke to Bloomberg, Apple has asked both companies to train versions of their models that could be tested on Apple’s infrastructure, the publication reported Monday.

Apple announced plans to release a new version of its voice assistant at its Worldwide Developers Conference in 2024. The release was slated for 2026, but the company has run into multiple engineering snags and delays, and ultimately replaced John Giannandrea with Mike Rockwell as the new Siri chief executive.

Rockwell and software engineering head Craig Federighi launched an evaluation, instructing staff to assess Siri’s performance using third-party tech, including Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Gemini.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, the team found Anthropic’s technology most promising for Siri, leading Apple’s vice president of corporate development to open discussions with Anthropic.

Bloomberg’s sources maintain that the development of an in-house model is still active, and Apple hasn’t made a final decision on using third-party models.

Apple shares closed up 6.24 percent for the week.

Apple’s share price performance, June 30 to July 3, 2025.

3. Oracle and OpenAI ink massive computing deal

OpenAI will rent roughly 4.5 gigawatts of computing power from Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) as part of the Stargate Project, according to sources for Bloomberg. The news follows a US$30 billion single cloud deal announced on Monday with an unnamed customer.

The Stargate energy deal is reportedly a component of that larger contract.

Sources added that Oracle will develop multiple data centers in the US, considering sites in Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming, and that the company will expand its recently built center in Abilene, Texas, to accommodate about two gigawatts of power capacity.

This collaboration underscores the escalating demand for high-performance computing necessary to train and operate advanced AI models. OpenAI, a leader in AI research and development, requires immense computational resources to fuel its projects, including large language models and other sophisticated AI applications.

The Stargate initiative positions Oracle as a crucial enabler of this next generation of AI innovation, solidifying its role in the evolving cloud and AI ecosystem. The long-term implications of this partnership could see a significant shift in how AI companies acquire and manage their computational infrastructure, potentially paving the way for more dedicated and extensive cloud partnerships in the future.

Oracle’s share price performance, July 1 to July 3, 2025.

4. CoreWeave deploys first Nvidia GB300-powered AI server

CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) said it has received the first AI server system built around NVIDIA’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) ultra-powerful GB300 Grace Blackwell AI chip.

The server is deployed within Dell’s (NYSE:DELL) integrated rack-scale system — a turnkey AI infrastructure platform combining compute, networking and cooling — and features 72 of Nvidia’s GB200 chips.

CoreWeave said it will install the cutting-edge hardware in the US and roll out more servers over time. The company will offer the server as part of its AI cloud platform, allowing clients like OpenAI to train and deploy massive, next-generation AI models with faster speeds and greater efficiency.

In the announcement, CoreWeave claimed the NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 significantly boosts AI reasoning performance, offering a 10 times improvement in user responsiveness and five times better throughput per watt than the Hopper server. This translates to an increase of fifty times in reasoning model inference output, enabling faster, more complex AI models.

5. US lifts EDA software export restrictions to China

License requirements for design software sales in China were lifted this week as part of a trade deal between the US and China.

On July 2, the US Commerce Department told Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS), Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) and Siemens (XETR:SIE), three of the world’s leading design software providers, that they would no longer need to seek government licenses to conduct business in China.

Official announcements from the companies confirmed they would be resuming business with Chinese counterparts, sending each of their stock prices up between 3 and 6 percent.

The US government restricted sales of electronic design automation (EDA) tools to China in late May as a response to China’s decision to limit shipments of essential rare earth minerals. Last week, the two countries reached a trade agreement that would re-allow shipments of EDA software after Beijing speeds up approvals of critical mineral exports to the US.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Ukraine said it struck a Russian air base on Saturday, while Russia continued to pound Ukraine with hundreds of drones overnight as part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that has dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the more than 3-year-old war.

Ukraine’s military General Staff said that Ukrainian forces had struck the Borisoglebsk air base in Russia’s Voronezh region, describing it as the home base of Russia’s Su-34, Su-35S and Su-30SM fighter jets.

Writing on Facebook, the General Staff said it hit a depot containing glide bombs, a training aircraft and “possibly other aircraft.”

Russian officials did not immediately comment on the attack.

Such attacks on Russian air bases aim to dent Russia’s military capability and demonstrate Ukraine’s capability to hit high-value targets in Russia. Last month, Ukraine said it destroyed more than 40 Russian planes stationed at several airfields deep in Russia’s territory in a surprise drone attack.

Russia fired 322 drones and decoys into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these, 157 were shot down and 135 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

According to the air force, Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region was the main target of the attack. Regional Gov. Serhii Tyurin said Saturday that no damage, injuries or deaths had been reported.

Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukraine. Waves of drones and missiles targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial assault since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. On Saturday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the number of people killed in the assault had increased to two. A further 31 people were wounded.

The fresh wave of attacks came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that he had a “very important and productive” phone call with US President Donald Trump.

The two leaders discussed how Ukrainian air defenses might be strengthened, possible joint weapons production between the US and Ukraine, and broader US-led efforts to end the war with Russia, according to a statement by Zelensky.

Asked Friday night by reporters about the call, Trump said, “We had a very good call, I think.”

When asked about finding a way to end the fighting, Trump said: “I don’t know. I can’t tell you whether or not that’s going to happen.”

The US has paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine’s main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack. Zelensky says plans are afoot to build up Ukraine’s domestic arms industry, but scaling up will take time.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 94 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday, along with 45 further drones Saturday morning and early afternoon. No casualties were reported, but local officials in the Saratov region said 25 apartments were damaged by Ukrainian drones in the city of Engels.

Four Ukrainian drones were shot down while approaching Moscow on Saturday, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Air traffic was briefly halted as a precaution at one of Moscow’s airports, Sheremetyevo, Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended a religious gathering on Saturday, according to Iranian state media outlet Press TV, the first time he has appeared in public in several weeks.

Khamenei had not made a public appearance since his country was plunged into conflict on June 13, when Israel unilaterally bombed Iranian military and nuclear sites. The US later joined in, bombing three key Iranian nuclear sites before US President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire.

In video posted by Press TV on X, Khamenei waves to a crowd of black-clad worshippers marking the eve of Ashura, when Shia Muslims commemorate and mourn the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn ibn Ali. The crowd greeted the cleric in turn with cheers and chants.

Weeks in hiding

Khamenei, the longest-ruling leader in the Middle East, reportedly spent the 12-day conflict with Israel and the US hiding in a bunker with little access to outside communications. During the conflict, both Israeli politicians and Trump openly discussed overthrowing Khamenei’s government and deposing him by force.

After reportedly rejecting an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei, Trump stated in late June that the cleric was an “easy target.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out targeting Khamenei either, saying that his death would “not … escalate the conflict,” but rather “end” it.

In a recorded statement posted from an undisclosed location days after the ceasefire began, Khamenei was defiant, declaring victory over both Israel and the US. Khamenei took time to respond directly to US President Donald Trump, who had called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” shortly before ordering US airstrikes.

“This (conflict) is not about our nuclear program,” Khamenei said. “This is about Iran surrendering … in his statement, (Trump) revealed the truth, he showed his hand. The Americans have had a fundamental issue with Islamic Iran since our revolution.”

“And it will never happen,” Khamenei said of Trump’s demand.

“The Islamic Republic had one social contract with society, which is that it deprived them of all freedoms … in return for providing security,” said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. “Now, that image has been shattered in the eyes of the Iranian people.”

US ‘won’t allow’ Iranian nuclear program

Khamenei’s new public appearance comes a day after Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the US won’t allow Iran to restart its nuclear program.

“If they did start, there’d be a problem. We wouldn’t allow that to happen,” Trump said Friday.

Trump said he would discuss the previous strikes with Netanyahu, who is due to visit Washington on Monday.

The comments echo remarks made earlier on Friday by Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, who said his country must maintain “aerial superiority” over Iran to ensure it cannot rebuild its nuclear or missile production programs.

Trump reiterated his claim that Iran wants to meet with the US for talks, a statement Iranian officials have repeatedly denied.

The Trump administration has discussed possibly helping Iran access as much as $30 billion to build a nuclear program for civilian energy production, easing sanctions, and freeing up billions of dollars in restricted Iranian funds – all part of an intensifying attempt to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, four sources familiar with the matter said.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

A summit of leaders from the BRICS group of major emerging economies kicks off in Brazil Sunday – but without the top leader of its most powerful member.

For the first time in more than one decade of rule, Chinese leader Xi Jinping – who has made BRICS a centerpiece of his push to reshape the global balance of power – will not attend the annual leaders’ gathering.

Xi’s absence from the two-day summit in Rio de Janeiro comes at a critical moment for BRICS, which owes its acronym to early members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and since 2024 has expanded to include Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran.

Some members are up against a July 9 deadline to negotiate US tariffs set to be imposed by US President Donald Trump, and all face the global economic uncertainty brought on by his upending of American trade relations – putting the club under more pressure show solidarity.

Xi’s absence means the Chinese leader is missing a key opportunity to showcase China as a stable alternative leader to the US. That’s an image Beijing has long looked to project to the Global South, and one recently elevated by Trump’s shift to an “America First” policy and the US decision last month to join Israel in bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.

But the Chinese leader’s decision not to attend – sending his No. 2 official Li Qiang instead – doesn’t mean Beijing has downgraded the significance it places on BRICS, observers say, or that it’s less important to Beijing’s bid to build out groups to counterbalance Western power.

“(BRICS) is part and parcel of Beijing’s effort to make sure it isn’t hemmed in by the US allies,” said Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

But that pressure may have lessened with Trump in office, Chong added, referencing the US president’s shake-up of relations even with key partners, and for Xi, BRICS may just not be “his greatest priority” as he focuses on steering China’s domestic economy. Beijing may also have low expectations for major breakthroughs at this year’s summit, he said.

BRICS attendance sheet

Xi is not the only head of state expected to be absent in Rio.

The Chinese leader’s closest ally in the group, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, will only attend via video link, for the same reason he also joined a 2023 BRICS gathering in South Africa remotely. Brazil, like South Africa, is a signatory to the International Criminal Court and so would be obligated to arrest Putin on a court charge alleging war crimes in Ukraine.

The absence of two global heavy hitters leaves ample limelight for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will visit Brazil both for the summit and a state visit. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is also expected to attend.

Some new club members have yet to announce their plans, though Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto is expected in Rio after Southeast Asia’s largest economy officially joined BRICS earlier this year. BRICS partner countries, including some who aspire to join the group, will also send delegations. Uncertainty remains over whether Saudi Arabia has accepted an invitation to become a full member.

The sting of Xi’s absence for Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva may be blunted by the fact that the Chinese leader visited Brazil in November for the G20 summit and a state visit, when he and Lula inked a raft of cooperation agreements. The Brazilian leader also visited China in May, after attending a military parade in Moscow alongside Xi.

That recent diplomacy, low expectations for major breakthroughs at this year’s summit, and a heightened focus on domestic issues all likely factored into Xi’s decision to send Li, a trusted second-in-command, observers say.

China is facing steep economic challenges in the face of trade frictions with the US – and its leaders are busy charting a course for the five years ahead of a key political conclave expected this year.

In Rio, Li will likely be charged with advancing priorities like shoring up energy ties between Beijing and BRICS’ major oil-exporting members, while pushing for the expanded use of China’s offshore and digital currency for trade within the group, according to Brian Wong, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong, who added that Xi’s absence shouldn’t be interpreted as a snub to BRICS.

“Whether it be the Sino-Russian partnership or Beijing’s desire to project its purported leadership of the Global South, there is much in BRICS+ that resonates with Xi’s foreign policy worldview,” said Wong, using a term for the extended group.

De-dollarization?

Launched in 2009 as an economic coalition of Brazil, Russia, India and China before South Africa joined a year later, BRICS roughly positions itself as the Global South’s answer to the Group of Seven (G7) major developed economies.

It’s taken on greater significance as countries have increasingly pushed for a “multipolar world” where power is more distributed – and as Beijing and Moscow have looked to bolster their international clout alongside deepening tensions with the West.

But BRICS’ composition – a mix of countries with vastly different political and economic systems, and with occasional friction between each other – and its recent expansion have also drawn criticism as leaving the group too unwieldy to be effective.

The disparate group’s efforts to speak with one voice distinct from that of the West often become mired in opposing views. A statement last month expressed “grave concern” over the military strikes against BRICS member Iran, but stopped short of specifically naming the US or Israel, the two countries that carried out the strikes.

Nonetheless, the US will be watching how the countries talk about one issue that has typically united them: moving their trade and finance to national currencies – and away from the dollar. Such de-dollarization is particularly attractive to member countries such as Russia and Iran, which are heavily sanctioned by the US.

Earlier this year, among the goals of Brazil’s host term, Lula included “increasing payment options” to reduce “vulnerabilities and costs.” Russia last year pushed for the development of a unique cross-border payments system, when it hosted the club.

What’s unlikely to be on the negotiating table, however, is the lofty goal of a “BRICS currency” – an idea suggested by Lula in 2023 that has drawn ire from Trump even as other BRICS leaders have not signaled it’s a group priority.

The US president in January threatened to place “100% tariffs” on “seemingly hostile” BRICS countries if they supported a BRICS currency, or backed another currency to replace “the mighty U.S. Dollar.”

As countries convene in Rio, observers will be tracking how strident their leaders are in promoting the use of national currencies at a meeting of a group where China is the leading member, but US global economic clout still looms large.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Thousands of people gathered in India’s Dharamshala on Sunday to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Dalai Lama – a key milestone in the life of the spiritual leader and Nobel Peace laureate known for his message of compassion and his quest for greater freedoms for Tibet under Beijing’s rule.

Undeterred by heavy monsoon rain and thick fog, crowds dressed in their finery packed the narrow streets from early morning and queued in droves hoping to catch a glimpse of the Dalai Lama at the Tsuklakhang Tibetan Buddhist complex.

Hundreds of hopeful attendees were left waiting to see if they would be allowed into the temple which reached full capacity before the festivities began, and was heavily manned by Indian police and security personnel.

Masked dancers in traditional outfits twirled to the sounds of gongs, pipes and horns as the Dalai Lama was led into the complex by two attendants.

Indian government ministers were set to attend the cutting of the celebratory cake, as well as Hollywood actor Richard Gere, a longtime supporter of the Dalai Lama.

The gathering marked the culmination of a days-long celebration that brought supporters and spiritual heads to the small city in India’s Himalayan foothills, which has served as the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile and home of the Dalai Lama since he fled Tibet during a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese communist rule.

Many had traveled far to join the celebration, such as Namgyal Dorjee Gongpa, from New Jersey in the United States.

“Every year, we take trips to India, which is the epicenter of the exile Tibetan setup so that my kids who are born in a foreign country… get back to their roots and learn and live their culture. So this is a great occasion because we can all take part in the celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday.”

In a birthday message on X, the Dalai Lama emphasized the importance of “achieving peace of mind through cultivating a good heart and by being compassionate.” Woven into his reflections was a pledge to continue promoting human values, religious harmony, ancient Indian wisdom and Tibetan culture, which “has so much potential to contribute to the world.”

At a ceremony on Saturday, as attendees prayed for his long life, he assured them of his “great physical condition” and raised his longevity goal to 130, two decades beyond his previous prediction.

While crowds gathered to celebrate his life, this year’s festivities carry heightened significance as a stage for the charismatic leader to address the looming question of what happens after his death.

Reincarnation

In a video message to religious elders on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama announced that he will have a successor after his death, and affirmed that his office has the “sole authority” to recognize his future reincarnation.

“No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” the Dalai Lama said in his recorded message.

The statement sets the stage for a struggle over his succession between Tibetan Buddhist leaders in exile and China’s atheist Communist Party, which insists it alone holds the authority to approve the next dalai lama.

The Dalai Lama’s announcement was welcomed by many Tibetan Buddhists, who had been waiting for his decision on whether the centuries-old institution would end with his death – a question he had earlier said he would re-evaluate around his 90th birthday.

“I feel that he has thoughtfully considered the future and made it clear that the decision will be guided by the Tibetan people and Buddhist traditions and not by any external political interference,” she added.

“At the same time, like many Tibetans, I do have concerns about China’s attempts to politicize the reincarnation process by potentially appointing its own dalai lama… Their appointment of a dalai lama would not only be a distortion of our faith but also a strategy to undermine Tibetan identity.”

Tibetan Buddhists believe in the circle of rebirth, and that when an enlightened spiritual master like the Dalai Lama dies, he will be able to choose the place and time of his rebirth through the force of compassion and prayer.

But the religious tradition has increasingly become a battleground for the control of Tibetan hearts and minds, and experts expect that Beijing will seek to establish its own dalai lama after the current one – part of the party’s campaign to “sinicize” religion to ensure it aligns with Communist Party leadership and maintain its tightening grip over Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has previously stated that his successor will be born in the “free world” outside China, urging his followers to reject any candidate selected by Beijing.

Asked about the Dalai Lama’s latest statement on his reincarnation, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday reiterated Beijing’s long-held stance that the spiritual leader’s reincarnation must comply with Chinese laws and regulations, with search and identification conducted in China and approved by the central government.

Beijing has long sought to discredit the Dalai Lama and claims he is a dangerous “separatist.”

Since the 1970s, however, the Dalai Lama has maintained that he no longer seeks full independence for Tibet, but “meaningful” autonomy that would allow Tibetans to preserve their distinct culture, religion and identity. His commitment to the nonviolent “middle way” approach has earned him international support and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

As China’s political and economic clout has grown, however, the Dalai Lama’s global influence appears to be waning, especially as old age makes it difficult to sustain his extensive globe-trotting. The spiritual leader has not met a sitting US president since Barack Obama in 2016, after numerous visits to the White House since 1991.

On his birthday, however, heartfelt messages poured in from world leaders, politicians, lawmakers and artists in a video compiled by Tibet TV, run by the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Obama wished a “very happy birthday to the youngest 90-year-old I know,” and thanked the Dalai Lama for his friendship.

“You’ve shown generations what it means to practice compassion and speak up for freedom and dignity. Not bad for someone who describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk,” he added.

Former US President Bill Clinton described the Dalai Lama as “one of the world’s greatest voices for peace, for dialogue, for understanding” whose teachings have “inspired millions to follow in your footsteps.”

He added: “In a time when we see the forces of division tearing at the fabric of our common humanity, we need your wisdom more than ever to remind us that what we share is more important than our interesting differences.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement on X: “I join 1.4 billion Indians in extending our warmest wishes to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his 90th birthday.

“He has been an enduring symbol of love, compassion, patience and moral discipline. His message has inspired respect and admiration across all faiths. We pray for his continued good health and long life.”

But in Dharamshala, the Dalai Lama’s life and legacy were center stage on Sunday, a day Nyidon said “holds deep spiritual and emotional meaning for our community, symbolizing resilience and hope.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now Germany’s largest opposition group and even topped several opinion polls – briefly putting it ahead of now-Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right party – in the weeks after February’s federal election.

At the same time, the AfD is facing growing calls for an outright ban, most recently from another major political party.

In May, the country’s domestic intelligence agency formally classified the AfD as an extremist entity that threatens democracy. In a 1,100-page report, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, also laid out its findings that the party was racist, anti-Muslim, and devaluing of “entire segments” of Germany’s population.

That move, which enables the BfV to better monitor the group , has reignited attempts to impose a ban, despite the party claiming a significant 20.8% of the vote in February’s national election – the best performance by a far-right party in the country since World War II.

The AfD has also enjoyed very vocal support from the Trump administration, with Tesla billionaire Elon Musk – who has since left his position in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – urging Germans to vote for the party in the run-up to the election. More recently, both US Vice President, JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have criticized Germany’s decision to classify the AfD as extremist.

On Monday, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is currently serving as the junior coalition partner in Berlin’s conservative-led government, voted unanimously to begin efforts to outlaw it.

Yet the legal path to banning the AfD is lengthy – and largely unprecedented.

Set up to avoid a repeat of Nazi rule, Germany’s political system operates on the basis of streitbare Demokratie, or “militant democracy,” meaning it is a democracy “determined and able to defend itself.”

In other words, the German state can actively defend itself against internal threats to its democratic principles and constitutional order, including through the banning of political parties.

However, two criteria must be met by Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court to form a legal basis for a ban.

Firstly, the party in question must be found to work against the country’s free democratic order, demonstrating an “actively belligerent, aggressive stance.” Secondly, the party must be popular enough to pose a tangible threat to democracy, a provision created in 2017 and called “potentiality.”

Parties found to meet the first criterion, but not the second, can be prohibited from accessing public campaign financing, but are allowed to continue with other activities.

“The opposite is true: its size demonstrates that it fulfills the criterion of ‘potentiality.’”

To begin the process of banning a party, a formal request must be made to the federal court. This request can only be made by either the government itself, the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, or the Bundesrat, the legislative body that represents the country’s 16 regional states.

The court then decides whether to begin proceedings or throw out the application as unsubstantiated.

It must hold a full trial, examining thousands of pages of evidence and hearing witnesses, and considers whether the party violates the constitution in practice, Holterhus explained.

The court can then declare a party unconstitutional. The party would then be dissolved and banned from all political activity. It would also be prohibited from creating any substitute organizations.

At least two-thirds of the court’s justices must be in agreement in order to make the declaration.

In practical terms, if the AfD were to be banned, its sitting lawmakers would receive an automatic loss of mandate at the regional and federal level as well as in the European parliament.

Of the 152 seats the AfD currently has in the Bundestag , 42 are direct seats, where the respective candidates individually won the districts by majority. These 42 districts would need to vote again to fill the seats with new candidates from other parties. The other 110 AfD seats, which are allocated using a party list system, would remain vacant until the next election cycle. Similarly, the AfD’s seats in the European Parliament would remain vacant.

In either case, this would result in a shifting of the majority ratio, meaning that the seats of all other parties would gain a higher significance.

The German Federal Constitutional Court has only banned two parties in the country’s history – and both were in the early postwar years. The Socialist Reich Party (SRP), a successor to the Nazi Party, was outlawed in 1952. Four years later, in 1956, the far-left Communist Party of Germany (KPD) was also banned.

Repeated attempts – in 2003, 2016 and 2021 – to ban the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) have failed. Although the court in 2017 openly acknowledged the party was unconstitutional, it found that it didn’t pose a significant threat to the constitutional order. In January 2024, the court approved the freezing of the NPD’s state funding for six years.

Overall, Holterhus believes that it is difficult to impose a ban on a political party in Germany. “A party ban is considered a measure of last resort against the enemies of a democracy,” he said.

Adding fuel to the fire?

The rise of the AfD has triggered widespread unease, with protesters calling for it to be outlawed – most notably in early 2024, when tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on cities across Germany after it emerged that senior AfD party members had discussed a plan to deport migrants en masse.

Yet German lawmakers remain divided over the issue, with some fearing the move could backfire and fuel far-right sympathies.

Pointing to its classification as a right-wing extremist organisation, SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil told party members at a conference Monday that efforts to ban the AfD should begin.

“The moment the domestic intelligence agency says this is a confirmed right-wing extremist party, there can be no more tactics,” he said.

Yet Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – which leads Germany’s coalition government – is hesitant.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) – the CDU’s Bavarian sister party – poured cold water on the SPD’s motion. Speaking to German news podcast “Table. Today,” he said that “decisions made at the SPD party conference are not yet a mandate for the interior minister.”

Merz has himself expressed caution over the move, telling newspaper Die Zeit in May that he is “skeptical” of procedures to ban political parties.

The AfD’s unparalleled public approval, not to mention support from the Trump administration, a powerful transatlantic ally, means its prohibition could have significant reverberations.

Some opinion polls found that, in the weeks after the Germany’s election , support for the AfD had crept up even higher than its 20.8% official result, briefly making it the most popular party in the country.

National polling agency Forsa in April found that the AfD was polling at a record 26% – putting it two percentage points higher than the CDU, on 24%. Currently, Forsa shows the AfD at 24% – four points behind the CDU.

With the AfD’s support reaching such heights, Holterhus sees a risk of creating a “martyr effect” in the case of a ban, with the AfD “staging itself as a victim of political opponents.” This, he said, could result in further radicalization of some of its supporters and even politically motivated violence.

Lengthy legal proceedings, he said, could further heighten the AfD’s platform while the move also risks the “wrath” of the Trump administration and could play into the populist narrative of an “undemocratic Europe.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com