Global Briefing, Mar. 10, 2011: Broadcasters, Bordeaux and Big Change Afoot

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Tibetan Transition — The Dalai Lama announced today that he will relinquish his political role. TIME’s Hannah Beech explains what’s next for the leader and his people.

Libya’s Long Haul — As Gaddafi settles in, rebel forces realize they need help from overseas, writes Andrew Lee Butters in a dispatch from Benghazi; in Tripoli, Vivienne Walt witnesses Gaddafi’s surreal propaganda play.

Historical Fiction — Germany’s Interior Minister recently made headlines for saying the Islam was not, historically, part of German culture. Spiegal Online weighs in with dueling essays by Matthias Matussek and Yassin Musharbash.

Digital Dissent — The Atlantic profiles the citizen journalists and activists who get information in and out of North Korea. Let’s hope Kim Jong Il is too busy looking at stuff to notice their important but dangerous efforts.

BBC’s World — In the Independent, Peter Kampfner offers advice to the incoming chairman of the BBC Trust. Be bold, he says. Despite being “bloated,” the BBC’s “quiet authority” is still vital, especially overseas. The “cannibalisation” of the World Service, he warns, could “have a long- term detrimental effect on pro-democracy movements around the world.”

Left Behind —  It’s always ‘Women’s Day’ in the Armenian village of Dzoragyugh — 98% of the men have left to find work. Gayane Abrahamyan and Justyna Mielnikiewicz profile the town in words and bleakly beautiful pictures.

Bordeaux Bubble — You’d have to be drunk to spend $200,000 on a bottle of booze, right? Perhaps, but people are doing it. Chris Redman explores China’s new-found love for Château Lafite and other very expensive brews.

All That Glitters — Al Jazeera investigates Burma’s ruby industry, filing secret footage from the Mogok region.They document land expropriation and children as young as four cracking rocks in government-run mines.  For more on the rush to cash-in on Burmese resources read “The Scramble for a Piece of Burma.”