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The Nobel Peace Prize laureates have a role to play in the current debate about reform to the United Nations and the international system, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday.

The European Union has opened human rights talks with China, with torture, the death penalty and political prisoners on the agenda, sources close to the discussions said.

A 66-year-old Tibetan man who refused to denounce a condemned Tibetan monk was tortured by the Chinese authorities to the point of mental and physical handicap before his release, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

Pope John Paul II talks with the Dalai Lama during an audience at the Vatican, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2003. (AP Photo/Osservatore Romano)

Pope John Paul II received the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, in an audience Thursday that the Vatican kept extremely low-key to avoid a further chill in its icy relations with China.

US President George W Bush has offered his strong support to Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and his efforts to initiate a dialogue with the Chinese government. White House officials outlined Mr Bush's

The Dalai Lama says he is extremely eager to negotiate with China about the treatment of Tibet and is optimistic about the outcome even though Beijing remains suspicious.

Pope John Paul has met the Dalai Lama but the Vatican, which has very thorny relations with China, gave the visit a low profile. The name of the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet did not appear on the list of people received by the pope in the Vatican's daily bulletin on Thursday

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