This is The Guardian.

Today, the battle to choose the Dalai Lama's successor.

20 years ago on July 7th, 2005, the 7-7 bombings rocked London.

It changed the way Londoners looked at their city. I actually encountered three of the perpetrators of 7-7 in late 2002.

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Music wherever you get your podcasts. Every year, the Dalai Lama's birthday draws thousands to Daramshala,

the mountain town in northern India that's become the center of Tibetan life in exile.

This year, as ever, the streets were packed with Buddhist followers and monks in orange

robes, there to mark the 90th birthday of the spiritual leader.

But this year, there was a palpable sense of anticipation.

As the Dalai Lama gets older, the battle to choose his successor is underway, and it's no longer just a spiritual matter for one religion

in one part of the world. It's a geopolitical standoff. The Dalai Lama says only his trusted Tibetan inner circle can decide who comes next.

But China says it's their decision, meaning the outcome could reignite a decades-long conflict over Tibet, borders, and the future of Buddhism itself.

From The Guardian, I'm Lucy Hoth, today in focus,

why there could soon be two Dalai Llamas and what that means for the world.

Hannah Ellis Peterson, you're the Guardian South Asia correspondent. First of all, can we take stock of

this colossal figure of the Dalai Lama as he marks his 90th birthday? So yeah, so the Dalai Lama

occupies a kind of very unique position as this globally recognized, both cultural and religious

icon, I think we can say. You know, he is head of the Tibetan Buddhists,

...