The Dalai Lama’s envoys and Chinese officials are planning a second round of talks, China’s state-run news agency said today.

The Dalai Lama’s envoys met Chinese officials today – the first talks between the two sides have since violent anti-government protests erupted in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama insisted today he supports China’s hosting of the Olympics in August, despite international condemnation of the country’s handling of anti-government riots in his native Tibet.

About 30 Tibetan Buddhist monks at a monastery in western China staged an anti-government protest today in front of a group of visiting foreign journalists, according to South Korean media.

Diplomats are preparing to leave the Tibetan capital after a quick overnight visit in the latest move by China to show it is in control of the region.

THE Irish Government will not boycott the Olympic Games in China in protest against events in Tibet but may, like many other EU countries, stay away from the opening ceremony, Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said yesterday.

China today issued a “most wanted” list of 21 rioters pictured in Lhasa last week. Meanwhile thousands of troops continued to push into Tibetan areas of western China to contain unrest.

China tightened its grip on Tibet today as it insisted the unrest there would not stop the Olympic torch from being taken to the top of Mount Everest.

Internet users in China were blocked from seeing YouTube.com today after dozens of videos about protests in Tibet appeared on the popular US video website.

Tornados and torrential rains killed at least 30 people as storms battered eastern China earlier this week, with millions more affected by flooding and other storm damage, state media and officials said today.

Members of an Indonesian family who died of bird flu probably passed the disease among themselves, but world health officials said there was no evidence the virus had mutated and decided against raising the pandemic alert level.

NOT a lot of people know this, but Mount Everest is barely the size of a half-decent snooker table. Clare O’Leary discovered that for herself yesterday when she became the first Irish woman to scale the world’s highest peak.

Mountaineers from around the world and Nepal’s royal family were gathering in the capital Kathmandu today to join Sir Edmund Hillary in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest.