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

"At this critical juncture in relations between Europe and China, Chancellor Merkel must press Chinese President Hu Jintao for tangible results from the dialogue between the Dalai Lama's representatives and Chinese officials," said Kate Saunders of the London-based International Campaign for Tibet.

Beijing - A court in China's Tibet Autonomous Region has sentenced eight Tibetan monks to between five years and life in prison after convicting them of bombing a local government office, the London-based Free Tibet Campaign said on Tuesday.

The group identified the eight monks from the Thangkya (Tongxia) monastery in Tibet's Gyanbe township and said they were sentenced on September 23 after a secret trial by the court in Chamdo prefecture.

New Delhi - Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is recovering from gallstone surgery and was likely to leave a hospital in New Delhi this week, a senior aide said Tuesday.

"His Holiness Dalai Lama is recovering steadily and is doing fine," his spokesman Tenzin Takhla said.

"He is likely to be discharged towards the end of the week since doctors want to keep him under observation for a few more days as a precautionary measure," he said.

Beijing  - 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.

The province will invest some 5 billion yuan (735 million dollars) in the project, which will include new primary schools, clinics, offices and "other public service infrastructure", the agency said.

New Delhi, Oct. 10 : A surgery on the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama to remove a gallstone, has ended successfully, his spokesman said.

Chhime Chhoekyapa said the surgery was a "simple routine procedure".

The Dalai Lama was admitted to hospital in New Delhi on Thursday, days after a medical check-up cleared him to resume foreign travel.

In August, the 73-year-old Dalai Lama was admitted to a Mumbai hospital and underwent tests for abdominal discomfort.

Beijing  - An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale hit China's Tibet Autonmous Region on