Middle East/North Africa

The Senate Foreign Relations panel on Tuesday cleared President Obama's choice to be ambassador to Libya, setting up a full Senate vote. Read more...

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) will introduce legislation Wednesday calling for increased drilling on U.S. federal lands to displace Iranian oil on the world market, according to a copy of the bill obtained by The Hill.

The bill requires the president to establish enough “Iranian Oil Replacement Zones” on federal lands to produce 1.25 million barrels of oil per day — approximately the amount Iran exports every day.

An Inhofe aide told The Hill that would divert oil the U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere to nations that still buy Iranian crude, such as China, India and Japan. The goal is to give President Obama wiggle room to enforce full sanctions on Iranian oil by ending waivers awarded to some nations. 

The Syrian regime has responded to last week's U.S.-Russian call for peace talks, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday, bringing the distant prospect of a negotiated end to the 26-month civil war one step closer to reality.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has shared with the Russians a list of Syrian officials it wants invited to the conference, Kerry announced during a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. Kerry would not share the names on the list but said the talks, under the auspices of the United Nations, appeared on target to take place in early June.

If Assad “decides not to come to the table,” Kerry said, “it will be another one of President Assad’s gross miscalculations.

“Now, I don’t believe that that is the case at this moment. The Russians – Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has informed me that President Assad has already given him the names of people who will negotiate.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said House Republicans needed to “look in the mirror” on who is to blame for the “Benghazi scandal.”

“Start by looking in the mirror,” Boxer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “Admit that you cut too much from embassy security.”

Obama rejected allegations his administration sought to cover up the truth and said GOP lawmakers had "political motivations."

At a joint press conference, Obama said Russia had an "obligation" to broker a peaceful transition of power in Syria.

Retired U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering, who led the State Department’s internal audit of the Benghazi attack, defended their efforts on Sunday, saying they had completed a thorough review and saw no reason to reopen the investigation.

“I don’t see yet any reason why what we did at the Accountability Review Board should be reopened,” said Pickering on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Issa said the White House "effectively lied" to the public about the nature of the attack

The House Intelligence chairman said committees had been contacted by additional whistleblowers.

ABC News reviewed 12 versions of talking points on Benghazi indicating extensive editing after they were written by the CIA.