State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Mitt Romney on Thursday issued a sharply worded critique of the Obama administration's handling of the case of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, saying he was troubled by news reports that Chen felt pressure to leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing at a time when he feared for the safety of himself and his family. During an event in Portsmouth, Va., where he was endorsed by onetime rival Michele Bachmann, Romney said he was heartened that Chen, a blind activist lawyer, had sought shelter at the embassy for six days after escaping house arrest in his home province of Shandong.

NEW DELHI - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday urgedBangladesh's squabbling political factions to resolve their differences as she arrived in the country, which has been beset by weeks of general strikes, demonstrations and violence since an opposition politician disappeared last month. The government and the opposition declared a truce for Clinton's visit. Each side blames the other for the disappearance of Elias Ali, one of as many as 22 people, mostly politicians, who have gone missing this year, according to human rights groups.

NEW DELHI - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday urgedBangladesh's squabbling political factions to resolve their differences as she arrived in the country, which has been beset by weeks of general strikes, demonstrations and violence since an opposition politician disappeared last month. The government and the opposition declared a truce for Clinton's visit. Each side blames the other for the disappearance of Elias Ali, one of as many as 22 people, mostly politicians, who have gone missing this year, according to human rights groups.

NEW DELHI — Hopes were high after Congress passed a U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement in 2008 that the two countries would forge a close military and strategic partnership. But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's three-day trip to India, starting Sunday after a weekend stop in Bangladesh, comes amid reduced expectations and political distraction on both sides and a relationship increasingly marked by incremental movement on a variety of issues. Though India remains an important ally, few big-ticket nuclear and defense deals that the United States had hoped for have materialized.

FOREIGN MINISTER QURESHI: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. (Inaudible.) Let me welcome you, Madame Secretary, once again, to Pakistan to the Foreign Office. We're delighted to have you here because we know that you're a friend of Pakistan. We know what your views are for this region, for Pakistan, and certainly this visit of yours will build bridges and deepen our relationship further. I think this visit is well timed, and I said this to Secretary Clinton. Because Pakistan, as you know, ladies and gentlemen, has entered a critical phase in its fight against extremism and terrorism.

On a breezy summer night, behind the stone walls of a 106-year-old estate, hundreds of celebrities, dignitaries, family and friends gathered Saturday to witness Chelsea Clinton make Marc Mezvinsky the newest member of the Clinton political clan. Clinton and Mezvinsky wed just before sunset on the secluded Astor Courts estate after frenzied days of anticipation among a nation of wedding-watchers. On Saturday, townspeople and media hordes converged on sidewalks of this community north of New York City hoping for a glimpse of the festivities.

Amid rampant violence and growing doubts over the effectiveness of Mexico's war against drug cartels, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday pledged widened U.S. support for a battle she said must be shouldered by both nations. Clinton, leading an unusually large delegation of senior Obama administration officials, offered firm endorsement of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who declared war against drug cartels more than three years ago. More than 18,000 people have died since in drug-related violence.

After sharply escalating its criticism of Syria's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the Obama administration has abruptly scaled back its condemnations, showing fresh uncertainty about its willingness to confront President Bashar Assad's regime. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared last week that Assad's government had "lost legitimacy," diplomatic language that implied a break with the government in Damascus. Analysts said they expected the White House to demand Assad's ouster, as it did earlier this year with Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was "incredibly concerned" about the plight of two U.S. journalists who face trial in North Korea. North Korean authorities announced that Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were arrested three months ago on the Chinese-North Korean border, were about to go on trial. But it has provided no updates. In working for the release of the two women, Clinton said she has spoken with foreign officials with influence in North Korea and explored the possibility of sending an envoy, but suggested that no one would be sent during the trial.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expects to have surgery soon to repair an elbow she broke in a fall in the State Department garage. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters that no date for the surgery had been set, but that it would probably be scheduled "in the coming week." He said Clinton was working from home Thursday and had made no decision about whether to go ahead with planned overseas travel, including a scheduled trip next week to Italy and Greece.

Mitt Romney on Thursday issued a sharply worded critique of the Obama administration's handling of the case of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, saying he was troubled by news reports that Chen felt pressure to leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing at a time when he feared for the safety of himself and his family. During an event in Portsmouth, Va., where he was endorsed by onetime rival Michele Bachmann, Romney said he was heartened that Chen, a blind activist lawyer, had sought shelter at the embassy for six days after escaping house arrest in his home province of Shandong.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, recently depicted the conflict in Syria as "civil war. " Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton added that there was "every possibility" of civil war breaking out in Syria. Both of these portrayals of the conflict were meant to ratchet up pressure on the international community to prevent further violence. But in fact, describing a conflict as a civil war achieves exactly the opposite effect. It is not a call to arms; it is a call to inaction.

The United States and allied governments seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad were expected to exert new pressure Friday on Syrian authorities to agree to a cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid into besieged areas such as the battered central city of Homs. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the many diplomats scheduled to arrive Friday in Tunis, the Tunisian capital, with a goal of turning up the heat on Assad's government. "We've got to find ways to get food, medicine and other humanitarian assistance in to those affected by violence," Clinton said Thursday in London, where she and other diplomats discussed Syria, among other issues.

News that the World Bank is hunting for a new leader brought forth fresh denials that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is yearning for the job. Robert Zoellick, president of the international financial institution, announced in a statement Wednesday that he plans to step down at the end of June, when his five-year term ends. The U.S. president traditionally appoints the chief of the Washington-based global bank. In a letter to the World Bank's staff, Zoellick praised the organization for its work at a time of global economic turmoil.

  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on world leaders for the first time Tuesday to stop discrimination against gays and lesbians, announcing that the United States would use diplomacy and $3 million in aid to help expand the rights of gay people around the world. In a speech to mark Human Rights Day, which is celebrated Saturday, Clinton declared that protecting the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people is "now one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time" and compared it to the battles for women's rights, racial equality and religious freedom.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday for a landmark three-day visit to the long-isolated nation focused on encouraging further political reforms, assessing recent progress and providing a road map for forging closer ties with the United States and Europe. But the highest priority of a meeting with Myanmar's foreign minister, according to a senior State Department official traveling with Clinton, will be to seek assurances that the Southeast Asian nation will halt purchases of missile technology from renegade North Korea.

Dorothy Howell Rodham, whose daughter is Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and whose son-in-law Bill Clinton was president of the United States, died Tuesday morning, the Clinton family announced. She was 92. Born in Chicago on June 4, 1919, Rodham died shortly after midnight in Washington, surrounded by her family. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had canceled a trip to London and Istanbul, Turkey, to be with her mother. “Her story was a quintessentially American one, largely because she wrote it herself,” her family said in a statement emailed to reporters.