US Web-Based Companies’ Foreign Operations Probed
Global Internet use continues to expand, with the highest growth rates in countries like China that restrict their citizens' access to the Web. U.S. lawmakers are pressing American Internet-related companies to take stronger steps to fight Web censorship by foreign governments, and have crafted legislation to that end.

US Official Affirms Need for International Broadcasting
The top official for U.S. government international broadcasting says threats to press freedom around the world are boosting the need for accurate, objective transnational news sources. James Glassman is chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which overseas the Voice of America and more than half a dozen other U.S. international broadcasting agencies.

The U.S. and the U.N.
Jon Kyl
When the United Nations was first conceived after the end of World War II, its purpose was to maintain international peace and security. Unfortunately, the U.N. today is spending very little time devoting its resources to these noble goals, and seems more interested in rhetoric without action. The U.S. is by far the largest contributor to the U.N.’s budget -- it pays roughly 22 percent of the cost for most U.N. agencies, and 27 percent of all peacekeeping costs -- but this substantial contribution has yet to earn the U.S. its fair share of goodwill.

Colombia Free Trade
Jon Kyl
History has taught us that other than raising taxes, nothing can be more damaging to the United States than assuming a protectionist posture during a time of economic downturn. But that’s exactly the situation after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to bar a vote on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. It is important the United States gains equitable access to the markets of fast-growing developing nations like Colombia.

World Food Crisis Worsening
Increasing food prices have sparked protests in five African nations and several more countries worldwide. United Nations officials are warning that food prices are likely to keep rising. Humanitarians worry about the effect on lives, while some terrorism experts caution about an increase in violence and a situation ripe for terrorism recruitment. One sees the faces of the hungry in many areas of the world, where food costs too much to afford.

US Accuses Syria of Clandestine Nuclear Effort, Assisted by North Korea
The White House says Syria was covertly building a nuclear reactor, with clandestine North Korean assistance, capable of producing plutonium. A statement from the White House, and an unusual release of photographic intelligence, followed briefings for members of Congress about what the White House says were Syria's illicit nuclear activities.

Colombia Free Trade Agreement
George W. Bush
Next week, I will be hosting the North American Leaders' Summit in New Orleans. This event will give me an opportunity to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calder n to discuss some of the most significant issues facing our hemisphere and the world. One of the issues that I'll be discussing with these leaders is the importance of expanding trade in our hemisphere.

New Report Finds Global Media Freedom Down in 2007
The U.S.-based organization Freedom House says media freedom declined in many parts of the world last year. The group's annual study of reporters' freedom says 42 percent of the world's people live in countries without basic freedom of the media. The report is titled A Year of Global Decline. Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor says that decline continued a six-year trend, and setbacks in media freedom outnumbered advances two-to-one.