Sen. Hillary Clinton told reporters Tuesday the Bush administration should be “much more forceful” in pressuring China to ease its crackdown on Tibetan activists. She said U.S. officials should not wait (Reuters) until the Olympics this summer to make their views known.

In a statement Tuesday on Greek Independence Day, Clinton said she remains “concerned over Cyprus’ continued division” and urged a “new impetus for a negotiated settlement with the goal of the island’s reunification.”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an antagonist of the Bush administration in Latin America, said U.S.-Venezuelan relations might worsen under a presidency of Republican John McCain. “Sometimes one says, ‘worse than Bush is impossible,’ but we don’t know. McCain also seems to be a man of war,” Chavez told foreign correspondents Tuesday. McCain has called for countering Chavez’s “nefarious” influence in part by rebuilding ties with democracies there and strengthening trade with the region.