In a video clip shown to hundreds of monks, nuns and lay people in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala late on Saturday, the 73-year-old also said it was no longer essential to thrust spiritual and political leadership on one person.

“The Dalai Lamas held temporal and spiritual leadership over the last 400-500 years. It may have been quite useful. But that period is over,” the Nobel Prize winner said in the clip, according to a translated transcript.

“Today, it is clear to the whole world that democracy is the best system despite its minor negativities. That is why it is important that Tibetans also move with the larger world community,” he said.

The Dalai Lama has suggested before it is up to Tibetans whether they continue with the spiritual institution after he dies, and could order an election among Tibetans abroad.

The Dalai Lama could also choose a successor himself from members of his government-in-exile, or a college of senior lamas could pick someone from within its ranks, removing the mysticism of the traditional selection process.

“When we put the whole responsibility in the person of the Dalai Lama, it is dangerous … it is appropriate that a democratically elected leader lead a people’s movement,” he said.

“In reality, a change is happening in the responsibility of the Dalai Lama as the temporal and spiritual leader. This, I think, is very good … a religious leader having to assume political leadership, that period is over,” he said.

SENSITIVE ISSUE

The Dalai Lama’s succession is a sensitive issue as he ages and his health declines.

Many Tibetans fear that the death of the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since fleeing a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, could create a leadership vacuum that Beijing could exploit to tighten its grip.

China has said the Dalai Lama must follow “historical conventions,” including an endorsement from Beijing.

According to Beijing, the Dalai Lama’s incarnation must be chosen by drawing lots from a gold urn given to Tibetans by the ethnic Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty.

But the Dalai Lama has suggested his incarnation might be found outside China, or even that Tibetans themselves could order a vote on whether to continue an institution that once gave one monk both spiritual and temporal sway over Tibet.

He has also called for more democratic systems: Tibetans in exile first elected a prime minister, or Kalon Tripa, in 2001, which the Dalai Lama called a “magnificent achievement.”

The current prime minister, Samdhong Rinpoche, a Tibetan monk and a Buddhist scholar, has served two terms, and the Dalai Lama has often said he was in “semi-retirement” as a political leader, asking Rinpoche to take the lead in interacting with Tibetans.

“As election takes place every five years, irrespective of whether the Dalai Lama is there or not, the exiled political system will remain secure, stable and sustainable in the long term,” he said in the clip broadcast on Saturday.

Mr Ahmadinejad condemned the outside world for “psychological warfare” against Iranians during the election.

Thousands have protested against the result, burning barricades on the streets of Tehran and clashing with police, who responded with tear gas.

Reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi urged his supporters to avoid violence.

‘Down with the dictator’

Speaking on national television, Mr Ahmadinejad praised the Iranian people for choosing to “look toward the future” rather than returning to the past.

“This is a great victory at a time and condition when the whole material, political and propaganda facilities outside of Iran and sometimes… inside Iran, were total mobilised against our people,” he said.

He blamed “foreign media” for instigating a “full-fledged fight against our people”.

“Nearly 40 million people took part in a totally free election,” he said.

Mr Ahmadinejad is set to hold a press conference on Sunday, followed by a huge rally.

BBC Iranian affairs analyst Sadeq Saba says the margin of the win was so wide that it made a lot of people suspicious.

He says given the high turnout, it was expected that Mr Mousavi would have won at least half of the votes.

Millions of people, especially the young, voted for change through the ballot box and by peaceful means and now there is shock and disappointment, our analyst says.

The official result gave Mr Ahmadinejad a resounding 63% of the vote against 34% for Mr Mousavi and brought the worst violence seen in Tehran for a decade, correspondents said.

The BBC’s John Simpson saw secret policemen being attacked and chased away by protesters, which he says is extremely rare.

Some of the protesters in Tehran wore Mr Mousavi’s campaign colour of green and chanted “Down with the dictator”, news agencies report.

Four police motorbikes were set on fire near the interior ministry, where votes had been counted, our correspondent says.

One BBC News website reader, Xenia, went to Vanak Square in Tehran to express anger and said police fired plastic bullets.

“They fired tear gas to scare us away, but it would only be temporarily. We would hide in some corner and then re-emerge angrier than ever.”

The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Tehran says clashes continued late into Saturday evening and there are reports that a number of reformist leaders have been arrested.

Ayatollah’s call

Mr Mousavi urged calm in his website statement.

“The violations in the election are very serious and you are right to be deeply hurt,” he said.

“But I firmly call on you not to subject any individual or groups to hurt.”

Mr Mousavi earlier said the election was a “charade”.

“I personally strongly protest the many obvious violations and I’m warning I will not surrender to this dangerous charade.

“The result of such performance by some officials will jeopardise the pillars of the Islamic Republic and will establish tyranny.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power, urged all Iranians “including yesterday’s competitors” to support the re-elected president.

He described the count as a “real celebration”, praised the high turnout of 85% and called for calm. “Enemies may want to spoil the sweetness of this event… with some kind of ill-intentioned provocations,” the ayatollah said.

Mr Mousavi had been hoping to prevent Mr Ahmadinejad winning more than 50% of the vote, in order to force a run-off election.

Our correspondent, Jon Leyne, says the result has been greeted with surprise and with deep scepticism by many Iranians.

The figures, if they are to be believed, show Mr Ahmadinejad winning strongly even in the heartland of Mr Mousavi.

Our correspondent says Mr Ahmadinejad will feel emboldened in his global vision - one that foresees the death of capitalism - while at home many Iranians will fear a clampdown on society and cultural life.

Surge of interest

There had been a surge of interest in Iran’s presidential election, with unprecedented live television debates between the candidates and rallies attended by thousands.

There were long queues at polling stations on Friday, with turnout reaching 85%.

Four candidates contested the election, with Mohsen Razai and Mehdi Karroubi only registering about 1% of the vote each.

Iran is ruled under a system known as Velayat-e Faqih, or “Rule by the Supreme Jurist”, who is currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It was adopted by an overwhelming majority in 1979 following the Islamic revolution which overthrew the autocratic Western-backed Shah.

But the constitution also stipulates that the people are the source of power and the country holds phased presidential and parliamentary elections every four years.

All candidates are vetted by the powerful conservative-controlled Guardian Council, which also has the power to veto legislation it deems inconsistent with revolutionary principles.

Apple execs ticked off several of the new features in Snow Leopard (most of which we’ve seen before), including a slimmed-down QuickTime player (now called QuickTime X), support for Exchange servers, improved overall performance (courtesy of a “set of technologies” called “Grand Central”), and a rewritten Finder. Also nice: Snow Leopard only has half the installation “footprint” of Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard,” and should “recover” several gigs of hard drive space once installed, Apple claims.

Meanwhile, we also got a series of MacBook Pro announcements, including word that both the 15-inch MacBook Pro and 13-inch MacBook (now promoted to “Pro” status, incidentally) are getting the same built-in, non-removable battery that’s currently in the 17-inch MacBook Pro (which gets a $300 price drop today).

Apple promises a good seven hours of battery life from the “revolutionary” lithium polymer battery, which it claims will last for five years without any degradation in performance.

Also new: A built-in SD memory card slot for the 15-inch and 13-inch laptops. SD memory cards are incredibly common—indeed, if you’ve got a digital camera, it probably uses SD memory—and the addition of SD slots to the MacBook Pro line (they’ll be replacing the little-used ExpressCard ports) is long overdue. Both models will also get FireWire 800 ports.

Other new features: Upgraded, more vivid LCD displays (making for “the nicest display we’ve ever had in a notebook,” according to Apple SVP Phi Schiller), as well as mammoth hard drives—500GB, or a 256GB solid-state drive—and bumped up processor speeds (up to 3GHz for the 15-inch MacBook Pro) as memory capacities (up to 8GB of RAM).

Shipping now, the new, entry-level 15-inch MacBook Pro (with a 2.53Gz processor, 4GB of DD2 RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and discrete NVidia 9400M graphics) goes for $1699—a $300 price drop compared to the previous model—while the cheapest new 13-inch MacBook Pro will sell for $1199 (2.26GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and the NVidia 9400M graphics card).

Meanwhile, Apple’s thin-and-light MacBook Air got a serious price drop: Just $1,799 for a 2.13GHz Air with 2GB of RAM and a 128GB solid-state hard drive, $700 cheaper than before, while the entry-level air now goes for $1,499 (1.86GHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB hard drive).

Also, those hoping for a cameo by the recovering Steve Jobs left the keynote disappointed.

So, without further ado, on with the details …

Price and availability
Look for the iPhone 3G S to arrive in stores June 19, two days after iPhone Software update 3.0 (which adds features such as picture messaging, cut-and-paste support, and stereo Bluetooth) arrives on iTunes. Available in both black and white, the 16GB version of the 3G S will sell for $199 (the same initial price as the old 8GB iPhone 3G), while a 32GB model will go for $299. Meanwhile, we’re finally getting a $99 iPhone—the old 8GB 3G, as it turns out.

Look and feel
The iPhone 3G S comes with an impressive set of new features, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the new handset, which looks exactly the same as last year’s iPhone 3G.

Better camera
The iPhone’s old 2-megapixel camera gets a bump up to three megapixels, at last, along with an auto-focus lens, auto exposure, improved low-light sensitivity, and—here’s the big one—video recording, including on-the-fly touch editing and the ability to send video clips via MMS (more on the iPhone’s picture messaging features in a moment). Still no LED flash, though.

Speedier performance
Apple claims that the 3G S runs faster than the iPhone 3G—up to twice as fast, in fact, which means speedier app launching and Web browsing.

Voice commands
In a first for the iPhone, the 3G S will finally be able to make voice-activated calls, as well as play songs and playlists at your command—not bad, although voice commands have long been standard issue on many other existing cell phones.

Improved battery life
Poor battery life has been the bane of many an iPhone owner’s existence, but Apple promises that the 3G S will get you three more hours of Web browsing (over Wi-Fi) and six more hours of audio, although talk time on AT&T’s 3G network remains five hours.

Digital compass
Finding your way on Google Maps for iPhone can be a chore if you don’t know what direction you’re facing, but the new 3G S should fix that with it’s new digital compass, which will give you your longitude, latitude, and precise direction (not to mention better controls on games that rely on the iPhone’s accelerometers).

Picture messaging
As announced back in March, both the iPhone 3G S and the iPhone 3G will finally support MMS—one of the biggest missing features on the iPhone—via the iPhone Software 3.0 update, due to hit iTunes on June 17. That’s the good news; the bad news is that AT&T won’t support MMS on the iPhone until “later this summer.” Ugh.

Laptop tethering
Also included in the iPhone Software 3.0 update: Laptop tethering, which will let you share the iPhone’s 3G data connection with your laptop (via USB or Bluetooth) while you’re out and about. Pretty cool … but while tethering will be available for iPhone users on several worldwide carriers, we won’t be able to tether on AT&T, or at least not for now. Double-ugh. Update: I followed up with AT&T on their iPhone tethering plans, and here’s the response I got: “We plan to offer a tethering plan but we don’t have an announcement to make at this time.”

Other upcoming features in iPhone Software 3.0
Get ready for direct downloads of TV shows and movie rentals/purchases on the iPhone (perfect for grabbing some videos before boarding a flight), stability and speed enhancements for the mobile version of Safari, and a “Find My iPhone” feature (which tracks down your lost iPhone, provided you’re subscribed to Apple’s MobileMe service).

What we didn’t get:
No Steve Jobs, although he’s said to be “on track” to return to Apple by the end of the month. No talk of discounted iPhone service plans, as has been rumored. No Mac tablet (although many believe that we will see one before the year is out). No front-facing camera for video conferencing. And for AT&T subscribers, no MMS until later this summer, and no laptop tethering until … who knows?

So, what do you think: Impressed by the 3G S? Feeling underwhelmed? Plan to trade in your iPhone 3G (or original iPhone) for the new one? Do you think the iPhone 3G S beats the Palm Pre, or vice versa?

Update: The Unofficial Apple Weblog is reporting that AT&T subscribers who bought the iPhone 3G (myself included) last year may not be eligible for discounted pricing on the iPhone 3G S—and that means prices of up to $599 for the 16GB 3G S or a whopping $699 for the 32GB version. (There’s also an “early” upgrade option for $399/$499.) More details to come … Another update: Yep, I checked with AT&T, and it’s true.

The extra power isn’t life changing. Subjectively, the Cayman S PDK we drove (Porsche didn’t let us drive any other setup) felt about as quick as the 2008 model. Porsche claims a PDK-equipped Cayman S will accelerate to 62 mph in 4.9 seconds when performing a start in sport plus mode with launch control, a feature only available with the optional Sport Chrono package. We’d call that an extremely conservative estimate, considering the 4.8-second sprints we’ve whipped out of a 295-horse, manual-transmission S model and that launch-control starts are engineered to allow the car to accelerate as quickly as physics will allow. We’ll have to wait to test both transmissions to see which is ultimately quicker, but for now our money is on the PDK, with the manual a 10th or two behind.

Shift Buttons Bad, Limited-Slip Good
The ZF-supplied, dual-clutch gearbox works flawlessly in automatic mode, with barely noticeable shifts, like other well-developed dual-clutch setups. Unfortunately, Porsche didn’t fit dedicated paddle shifters for the manual operation. Instead, what rests on both the left and right steering-wheel spokes are sliding buttons that one pushes to upshift and pulls to downshift. Although this system works if you are a drink-my-coffee-and-talk-on-my-phone-while-I-shift-in-traffic kind of person, it tends to confuse drivers accustomed to the internationally recognized, “right paddle up, left paddle down” setup. It took the better part of a day to break our hands of that custom.

A notable first for the Cayman is the availability of an optional limited-slip differential. It can be coupled to the standard six-speed manual or the PDK gearbox. Both transmissions also have a hill-start assist feature.

Driving Pleasure at Its Best
The Cayman S remains a delight to drive and is one of the few cars that really can deliver complete driving bliss. Those who think mid-engine Porsches are not real Porsches clearly have never driven a Cayman S. The car delivers 90 percent (if not more) of the joy one gets in a 911. The ride and handling balance has always been near-perfect, and it’s even better now, thanks to a retuned suspension. Top it off with the Porsche Active Suspension Management variable-shock system, and it just gets better.

Porsche has also tweaked the steering slightly on 2009 models. It’s still direct and communicative — we have described the Cayman’s steering as “far from numb” in the past — but it seems as though artificial weight has been introduced into the system, although we might be splitting hairs.

Like applying just a bit of makeup, Porsche lightly restyled the exterior of the Cayman S. The headlights now feature an LED strip similar to those found on the latest 911s and many Audis. They serve as the daytime running lamps. The front fascia is modified as well, and the trapezoidal grille’s orientation is changed. The taillights are more sculpted, too. Inside, there’s the latest version of the Porsche Communication Management system. The new touch-screen navigation system reduces the button count from a busy 32 to a manageable 16. The controls are far better than the old system that used a spinning wheel to select commands.

As with the updated Boxster, the 2009 Cayman S takes a great car and makes it even better. What’s not to like about that?

Let me tell you something. They could not be more wrong. The biggest problem these available women have is not their age but their mindset. There are tons of potential mates out there for you to meet.
Here are five essential steps for meeting more single men if you are over 35:
1. If you believe it, then it’s true. Do you remember the famous Henry Ford quote “Whether you think you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right?” I have found that you can meet great singles anywhere and at any age. It’s all about having an abundance mindset. So many people listen to their friends or the monkey chatter in their own head telling them all the obstacles that stand in their way as a middle-aged woman. Many times this notion of difficulty comes from other single friends.
I don’t listen to friends like this, because I find that many singles have attitudes that are just ridiculous. They love to buy into the negative instead of the positive. What happens is that people will manifest the things on which they focus. If women are focusing on disappointment, scarcity, and failure in their dating life, then that’s what they are going to experience. I have found that you can always find someone who will agree with you when you are looking for confirmation about something negative, because most people are negative. Most people love to commiserate, and most people really like having others commiserate with them. So the first thing you need to do is to change your mindset.
2. Take a good look at yourself. I want to give you a little bit of a wake-up call. I want to challenge you to look deep inside your life. If you have had trouble meeting men, ask yourself if you’ve really done enough on your part to meet them.
Like I tell singles of any age, your perfect person is not just going to show up at your doorstep one day with flowers and a bottle of wine in hand. You need to be proactive. So I want you to ask yourself if you’ve done enough. Have you really networked as much as you can? Have you joined Yahoo! Personals, written a really good profile, and started contacting some single men online? Have you looked into events and activities going on in your area?
3. Do your research. Take the time to do some research and find out what events are happening near you. Choose activities that are interesting to YOU. Don’t go to events or classes that you have no personal interest in just because you think there might be men there. You’ll have more fun, and be more successful at meeting people, when you are enjoying your life and creating good energy. At the same time, though, be open to lots of possibilities.
Try finding out about happy hours for people in their 40s. Consider speed dating events. Have lunch in areas where there are hospitals so you can meet doctors. Go where lawyers are hanging out at lunchtime or during happy hour. Have you thought about visiting car dealerships? Many of the high-end ones actually have parties. There are fundraising events, and networking events like Toastmasters. Think outside the box and get researching.
4. Make a list. I’m challenging you right now to put together a list. Find at least 10 places you can go or 10 things you can do in your town (other than what I’ve suggested). I had a client who went to a hospital for lunch every day because she wanted to meet a doctor. Sure enough, after two and a half months she did meet a doctor. It’s all about pursuing what you want and taking the steps to get it.
5. Get out there! The only thing left to do is to actually get yourself out of the house and start meeting people. Life is in the field. Life is about enjoying the moment. Nothing happens for those who sit and wait. Challenge yourself to take action every day. You won’t believe what is waiting out there for you!

As he sported a black cowboy hat and a huge grin, 23-year-old Neal Wanless accepted his giant-sized Powerball check at a ceremony Friday.

Wanless, who is single and lives with his mother and father on the family’s 320-acre ranch near Mission, said he’s going to buy himself a bigger spread, repay the kindness other townspeople have shown his family and spend his newfound fortune wisely.

“I want to thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity and blessing me with this great fortune. I will not squander it,” he said.

Wanless bought $15 worth of tickets to the May 27 30-state drawing at a convenience store in Winner during a trip to buy livestock feed. He will take home a lump sum of $88.5 million after taxes are deducted — an astonishing fortune, even more so in rural Todd County, the nation’s seventh-poorest county in 2007, according to the Census Bureau.

Arlen Wanless, the winner’s father, has been buying and selling scrap metal to make a living in recent years, but his fortunes dropped with the price of iron, said Dan Clark, an auctioneer from Winner and a friend of more than two decades.

Dave Assman, who owns farmland next to the Wanless ranch, said he is happy they won’t have to worry about money any more. “They’ve been real short on finances for a long time,” Assman said. “They are from real meager means, I guess you’d say.”

“I hope they enjoy their money,” said county assessor Cathy Vrbka, a family friend. “They work hard, backbreaking hard work.”

Neal Wanless’ winnings are certainly enough to set him and his family up for life, but past lottery winners have burned through vast fortunes in spectacular fashion or found that they were better off before they struck it rich.

Evelyn Marie Adams won the New Jersey lottery twice in the mid-1980s but still managed to lose the entire $5.4 million.

And there’s West Virginia’s Jack Whittaker, who won $315 million on Christmas day, 2002, and five years later was blaming the money for causing his granddaughter’s fatal drug overdose, his divorce, his inability to trust and hundreds of lawsuits filed against him.

“I don’t have any friends,” he told The Associated Press in 2007. “Every friend that I’ve had, practically, has wanted to borrow money or something and of course, once they borrow money from you, you can’t be friends anymore.”

Susan Bradley, whose company in Palm Beach, Fla., the Sudden Money Institute, provides financial planning to the abruptly wealthy, said it’s a good sign that Wanless took his time to come forward.

“No opportunity to buy or invest in all that is going to go away, she said. “They have plenty of time.”

But she said Wanless will likely experience the same sense of isolation that many other large jackpot winners do.

“They’ve lost their peers. They are substantially different from everyone that they know,” she said.

Bradley said lottery winners should make sure they have enough money to live a modest lifestyle and take a year or two before deciding to buy real estate or make risky purchases. It’s important that the winners communicate that strategy to others hoping to direct their financial planning, she said.