Police in China's Tibet region have arrested 59 people suspected of "spreading rumours" in the nine months since Tibetans staged violent protests against Chinese rule in the regional capital

Police in China's Tibet region have arrested 59 people suspected of "spreading rumours" in the nine months since Tibetans staged violent protests against Chinese rule in the regional capital of Lhasa, state media said on Friday.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski held a private meeting with the Dalai Lama Wednesday, the IAR news service reported.

New Delhi - More than 600 exiled Tibetan leaders gathered in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala Monday to air their views and aspirations on the best course of action for the Tibetan cause.

The situation in Tibet was serious and at this "critical stage" all Tibetans had to come together to discuss their views on what future action needed to be taken, Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile said in his opening speech.

Severe snowstorms have left at least nine people dead and trapped hundreds in China's Tibet region, state media said on Saturday.

Rescuers had evacuated 1,892 people in the worst-hit counties of Lhunze and Cuona in Tibet's Shannan district and were trying to reach some 250 people still trapped by heavy snowfall, the semi-official China News Service said.

International activist groups urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday to raise the issue of Tibet during her visit to China.

China plans to build homes in towns and villages for nearly 500,000 members of Tibetan herding families in the south-western province of Sichuan, state media said on Saturday.

The Sichuan provincial government said it will help 470,000 Tibetans to "settle down in permanent brick houses" in the next four years, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Tourism revenue fell by nearly 40 per cent in China's Tibet region over the week-long National Day holiday because of rioting and unrest in the region earlier this year, state media said on Monday.