The BBG said it would shut down VOA's Chinese radio and television broadcasts while making its Mandarin-language service available only on the Internet. Forty-five journalists, or more than half of the branch's full-time staff, will be let go.

The news transmitted by the U.S. government to Cuba via Radio/Television Martí is keeping pace with the times in its use of social networks and multimedia platforms. Internet, Facebook, Twitter and text messaging are the latest media being used to aid the free flow of news to the island.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu invited Palestinians back to the bargaining table Tuesday with a U.S. speech that promised “painful” Israeli concessions in exchange for peace but also outlined a tough negotiating stance that was immediately rejected by key Palestinian officials.

The Commission would like to express its appreciation to Judith McHale for her public service, her leadership and her contributions over the past two years as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

The tombs of seven men, including several who served King Tutankhamen and his father, the pharaoh Akhenaten, were opened to tourists yesterday after restoration, to draw more visitors to the site in South Saqqara which is better known for its pyramids.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Internet leaders gathered in Paris to work with governments and share fairly the benefits of a revolution he compared to the discoveries of Columbus, Galileo and Newton.

President Obama reassured a powerful pro-Israel group that America's support for the Jewish state's security is "ironclad" but insisted on a sense of urgency about reviving peace talks that he said would require both Israelis and Palestinians to make "hard choices."

President Obama landed in London on Monday night for a state visit at a time when Britain faces a reckoning over whether it can afford the global reach its allies in Washington have come to expect - an influence bought in large part through its strategic and military alliance with the United States.