Wednesday's global agenda: Time to arm Syria's rebels?

Your morning global affairs speed-read

The State Department's Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations is traveling to Turkey for meetings with Syria's opposition and Turkish government officials. Rick Barton is scheduled to meet with his British counterparts to discuss ways to further collaborate on aiding the unarmed Syrian opposition.

The trip comes as France on Tuesday became the first Western country to recognize a newly created opposition coalition as Syria's only legitimate authority, opening the door to possibly arming the rebels battling Bashar Assad. [The Wall Street Journal]

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues her week-long visit to Australia, where she called for more pressure on Syria and announced $30 million in humanitarian aid on Wednesday. [Bloomberg]

Capitol action: The House votes today on legislation to provide for direct appeals to the United States Supreme Court of decisions of the Virgin Islands Supreme Court. And in other congressional news, Senate Homeland Security Committee holds a classified briefing on Benghazi with officials from the CIA, the FBI and the State and Defense departments. This is the second of four briefings on Capitol Hill this week.

Treasury in Angola: Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin meets with oil-rich Angola's finance and petroleum ministers and the Central Bank governor. Wolin and his counterparts will explore how the country can use its natural resource revenues to sustain growth and address social needs and discuss Angola’s cooperation with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to implement measures to prevent money laundering and combat terrorist financing.


World population: The United Nations Population Fund releases its annual State of the World Population Report today, titled “By Choice, Not by Chance: Family Planning, Human Rights and Development.”

In other news: 

Iran is debating whether to enter into bilateral nuclear talks with the United States. [The Washington Post]

Russia's frosty relations with America are beginning to thaw after Obama's reelection, writes The New York Times. 

The U.S. military is behind a news website aimed at battling insurgents' message in the Horn of Africa. [Associated Press]

What you might have missed on Global Affairs:

Uphill battle for Rice to replace Clinton at State

UN votes 188-3 to condemn US embargo on Cuba

Rep. Kucinich champions a drone strike app that Apple has blocked

Do you have an event or upcoming report you'd like to share? Any comments / complaints / suggestions?

Please contact me at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / 202-628-8527

Follow me on Twitter @JPecquetTheHill

---