Reuters: Rice urges China to talk to Dalai Lama 24 March

The Nobel Laureate, who won the Peace Prize in 1989 for leading a non-violent struggle for the liberation of his homeland, reiterated his assertion that he was not for a separate Tibet, but, sought meaningful autonomy for Tibet within China. The Dalai Lama led an inter-faith prayer meeting at Rajghat on Saturday in remembrance of Tibetans who lost their lives during their recent protest against China.

China - which views the Dalai Lama as a separatist and traitor -condemned the Congressional award as interference in China's internal affairs. But at a news conference earlier in the day, President Bush said that he did not think his attendance at the ceremony would damage U.S. relations with China. Jon Decker reports.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao blamed what he called the 'Dalai clique' for orchestrating the unrest in Tibet and trying to sabotage the Olympics.

Pro-Tibet protests continue across Dharamsala with hundreds of local Tibetans taking to the streets demanding international action against China’s violent clamp down on demonstrators. Monks and ordinary people marched to the Dalai Lama’s residence and held a candle light vigil calling on China to disclose the number of deaths and arrests over the last 10 days.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Beijing to meet Chinese leaders to push the North Korea nuclear issue forward.

The Dalai Lama and about 100,000 Tibetans have lived in exile in India since fleeing their homeland in 1959. China says the door for talks with the Tibetan spiritual leader is always open as long as he recognises Tibet is part of China.

China's state-run television showed footage of riots in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa Saturday and squarely blamed the unrest on "splittist" elements loyal to the exiled Dalai Lama. The footage on China Central Television showed hundreds of angry rioters running amok in the streets of Lhasa, breaking into buildings and setting fire to vehicles and stores. A small group of monks were seen smashing a public telephone, while a group of men tore down the metal barrier to the door of a Bank of China in what appeared to be Lhasa's famous Barkor district. "There is plenty of evidence that shows that this is an organised and plotted attack carried out by the Dalai Lama clique," the voice over to the footage said. "The people of Tibet are incensed by this and strongly condemn these activities which are doomed to failure.", the voice over added. China said Saturday that 10 people had been burnt to death during the violent unrest, which has added to the pressure on Beijing just months before it hosts the Olympic Games. Witnesses said tanks and armoured vehicles were out in force in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Saturday morning, a day after the worst protests against China's controversial rule in the vast, mountainous region in nearly 20 years.

EU leaders urged China to respect human rights in Tibet, the scene of violent protests on Friday. Excerpts from the final summit press conference in Brussels from AFPTV.

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has appealed to the world community to "please help" resolve the crisis in his homeland that has been rocked by deadly anti-Chinese protests during a press conference today held in the Indian capital. "We have no power except justice, truth, sincerity... that is why I appeal to the world community to please help," the Buddhist icon told a news conference in the Indian capital where he was conducting meditation sessions. "I am here helpless, I just pray," said the exiled spiritual leader two weeks after anti-Chinese protests in the Himalayan region turned bloody, leading to calls for a boycott of the August Beijing Olympic Games.