Amnesty: More than 1,000 Unaccounted for in Tibet

Does anyone care? The issue has died lately--just in time for a peaceful Olympics game. No boycott, no more protests:

More than 1,000 protesters detained during anti-government riots in Tibet three months ago have not been accounted for, a human rights group said Wednesday.

Amnesty International said a quarter of about 4,000 people detained by police during the riots in Tibet in March are unaccounted for. The others have been either released or placed under formal arrest.

The Olympic torch will pass through the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on Saturday, and Amnesty's Asia-Pacific director, Sam Zarifi, said the event should draw attention to the missing and those in prison.

"There is very little information coming out of Tibet, but the information we have paints a dire picture of arbitrary detentions and abuse of detainees," he said. "With the torch relay about to enter Tibetan areas, this should be an opportunity to shine some light on the situation there."

It's all about those profits for big business:

The United States and China, concluding high-level economic talks, agreed to launch negotiations on an investment treaty that holds out the promise of greatly expanded opportunities for U.S. companies in China's vast market.

The two countries also pledged greater cooperation to deal with energy shortages and global pollution.

The agreements were announced Wednesday by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., who said he believed the initiatives would produce "significant progress" on two priorities both nations share.

The announcements came as the two countries concluded two days of talks aimed at defusing simmering economic tensions. Paulson and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan participated in a joint signing ceremony in the Treasury Department's ornate Cash Room to wrap up the fourth round of a series of talks known as the Strategic Economic Dialogue.

The announcement Wednesday represented a fleshing out of details of an agreement that was initially announced at the last round of talks in Beijing in December. Paulson said the framework would focus on five major areas -- electricity, air, water, transportation and conservation of forest and wetland ecosystems.