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A Las Vegas wannabe in a sequined suit is shaking his hips on stage. In the audience, Chinese businessmen crack open cans of Budweiser and half-drunk Tibetan truck drivers look for dance partners.

A Committee monitoring the implementation of the UNESCO Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage has urged the Chinese authorities to review its urban development plan for Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

China has allowed 18 Tibetans deported from Nepal in May to return to their everyday lives of farming and herding, a top Chinese official in the restive region said on Monday.

The two envoys at a press conference in June 2003, file photo

The members of the Task Force on Negotiations under the auspices of the Kalon Tripa Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, held a meeting from August 23 to 24 at the Kashag Secretariat.

A local child waits for visitors to beg some money from near colorful prayer's cloths Sunday, Aug. 24, 2003 at the peak of Mount Kamala, about 100 kilometers (62.5 miles) from Lhasa, Tibet, far west of China. The picturesque site is overlooking Yamdrok-tso Lake where is very popular among adventurous tourists. Photo by Eugene Hoshiko

Beijing has agreed to let Nepal's state carrier double its flights to China to 14 a week and begin service to Tibet, Nepal's aviation minister said Saturday. Nepal hopes the agreement will expand the number of tourists using it as a conduit to Tibet

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The Tibetan Youth Congress is holding a crucial meeting in the north-eastern Indian town of Shillong from August 27 to review developments on the Tibet front, including the Tibet-China contact, and to decide on a one-year action plan.

Young monk guards a temple at Tashilhunpo Monastery Saturday Aug. 23, 2003 in Shigatse, about 200 kilometers from Lhasa, Tibet, far west of China. (Associated press)