WORLD IN BRIEF

Dalai Lama quits pursuit of autonomy

The Dalai Lama said Saturday that he has given up on efforts to persuade Beijing to allow greater autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule. “I have been sincerely pursuing the middle-way approach in dealing with China for a long time now, but there hasn’t been any positive response from the Chinese side,” he said at a public function Saturday in Dharmsala, the Indian town that is home to Tibet’s government-in-exile. “As far as I’m concerned I have given up. The issue of Tibet is not the issue of the Dalai Lama alone. It is the issue of 6 million Tibetans. I have asked the Tibetan government-in-exile, as a true democracy in exile, to decide in consultation with the Tibetan people the future course of action.”

Adoption lands bishop in hot water

The Vatican has suspended a Roman Catholic bishop in southern India after he adopted a 26-year-old woman, a senior church official said Saturday. Bishop John Thattungal, 58, faces a formal inquiry into his conduct, said the Rev. Stephen Alathara, a spokesman for the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council.

Italians protest Berlusconi policies

Tens of thousands of Italians marched in Rome on Saturday to protest the conservative policies of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government, including plans to:

> Cut funding for public universities and also fail students for poor conduct.

> Require separate classes for immigrant children until they learn to speak Italian satisfactorily.

> Fingerprint Gypsy children.

Former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, whom Berlusconi beat soundly in elections last spring, rallied the crowd, which filled the vast, grassy expanse of Circus Maximus, the ancient Roman entertainment space. There was no official crowd estimate, but the field and sloping sides of Circus Maximus can accommodate about 200,000 people.

Blast kills mayor in separatist region

An explosion killed the mayor of a small town near the separatist region of Abkhazia on Saturday, Georgia’s Interior Ministry said. Mujhava Mayor Gia Mebonia was inspecting a house damaged by overnight shelling when he was killed. A villager also died, and a local police officer was seriously injured. A ministry spokesman said authorities found an antenna near the blast site and suspect the explosives were detonated by remote control. “We are working now only on one version, and this is the Abkhaz and the Russians,” the spokesman said. “Nobody else.”

Poor regulation tied to milk scandal

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday that a failure of regulation lay behind the tainted milk believed to have killed four babies and sickened thousands of children. Speaking at a 43-nation Asia-Europe Meeting summit, Wen said the milk scandal will spur the introduction of China’s first major food safety law and China’s food exports will meet international standards. More than 3,600 children remain sick in China from milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, used in plastics and fertilizer.

Abbas moves to strengthen hand

Nearly 600 newly trained Palestinian troops took up positions in the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday as part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ attempt to expand his control in the West Bank and keep the Islamic militant Hamas in line. Hebron, a former Hamas stronghold, is the third Palestinian city to be reinforced with Abbas’ forces. In recent months, Abbas has tried to take over more areas of the once unruly West Bank, though Israel retains overall security control. Abbas’ forces deployed first in Nablus and Jenin, and now in Hebron, targeting local thugs, criminals and Hamas supporters.

Military talks set to begin

South Korea accepted a North Korean proposal to hold military talks, a Defense Ministry official said Saturday. Ties between the two countries, which are still technically at war, have soured since South Korea’s pro-U.S. president, Lee Myung-bak, took office in February with a pledge to get tough with North Korea. In protest, North Korea suspended reconciliation talks. But South Korea agreed to a meeting Monday, the Defense Ministry official said.

Storm creates deadly flooding

Floods swept through southern Yemen after a tropical storm slammed into the impoverished country, leaving 49 people dead. Hamid el-Kharashi, a police chief in the southern province of Hadramut, said Saturday that the death toll is expected to rise as scores of people are still missing and hundreds of families are homeless or trapped by the rising waters. More than 638 houses have been demolished by the flash floods in Hadramut alone, he added. The tropical storm formed out in the Indian Ocean earlier in the week and headed north, hitting the remote province on Thursday.