Even as it seeks to influence events in Libya and the rest of the Middle East, the United States is losing the crucial war for world opinion, its message distorted by popular culture and drowned out by Arab-language news media, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday.

I recently took part on Monday in emergency meetings in Geneva to discuss the unfolding events in Libya, and I’d like to begin by offering you a brief update. We have joined the Libyan people in demanding that Colonel Qadhafi must go now, without further violence or delay.

“Equally important is our assistance to Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation with strong ties and interests in Afghanistan,” Secretary Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee while urging lawmakers earlier not to reduce US aid to Kabul. “We are working to deepen our partnership and keep it focused on addressing Pakistan’s political and economic challenges as well as our shared threats,” she said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on Internet freedom on February 15 has been criticized by the Chinese media as hypocritical. However, I think it should be seen as a wake-up call for Chinese policymakers to prepare a Web-based public diplomacy with the US.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on Bahrain to show restraint when responding to peaceful protests by its citizens. Speaking to reporters Thursday on Capitol Hill, she urged Bahrain to keep its commitment to hold accountable those who have used excessive force against peaceful demonstrators.

The Obama administration will pump $25 million this year into helping cyber dissidents foil Internet repression in autocratic states and plans to broaden the reach of its online mini-appeals for human rights and democracy by creating Twitter feeds that cater to audiences in China, Russia and India.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has chosen Marc Grossman, a retired senior diplomat and former ambassador to Turkey, as the Obama administration’s new special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, a senior State Department official said Monday.