Terrorism

Former CIA Director David Petraeus agreed to testify before the House and Senate Intelligence committees on Benghazi attack this week.

There are no plans for one-on-one talks between the United States and Iran on Tehran's controversial nuclear-enrichment program, but the White House remains optimistic the issue can still be resolved through diplomatic means, President Obama said Wednesday.

In his first press conference since winning a second term in office, Obama dismissed claims that bilateral talks between Washington and Tehran were imminent.

The senators say a Select Committee is the only way for the truth about what happened to emerge.

Lawmakers have been clamoring for the testimony from Petraeus, who resigned last week.

Members of the House on Tuesday reiterated their call for the Obama administration to answer their questions about the September attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, and pressed for former CIA Director David Petraeus to testify on the matter.

"Congress still doesn't know why our people in Libya were left vulnerable," Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said on the House floor. "We still don't know why the U.S. military was not sent to their defense.

"It is of the highest importance that General Petraeus, who led the CIA at the time, be brought before Congress to testify as to what really happened in Benghazi, whether there was a security lapse or whether the administration temporized on security and stood down to mollify violent, disparate groups which have nothing in common with our nation," he said.

Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said Tuesday that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would be a better pick for secretary of State than Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Apple has blocked an app that adds a location to a map every time a drone strike is reported

Your morning global affairs speed-read

The sudden resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus last week is forcing the Obama administration to shake up its national team just days after the president won reelection.

The probe into Petraeus's affair with his biographer ensnared the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, following allegations that he had “potentially inappropriate” communications with the woman who sparked the inquiry into Petraeus. And Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is now in the running to become secretary of Defense, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, with chief counterterrorism adviser John Brennan the favorite to take over the CIA.

Back to Benghazi: Kerry's Senate Foreign Relations Committee takes the first post-election shot at finding out what happened at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11. Tuesday's closed briefing with State Department and intelligence officials is the first in a series of briefings and hearings throughout the week.

Trade with Russia: The House Rules Committee votes on how to handle legislation granting permanent normal trade relations to Russia later this afternoon, setting up a floor vote for later this week.

O Canada: Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman leads the U.S. delegation to the second meeting of the U.S.-Canada High Level Policy Review Group in Ottawa today (the first took place in Washington in May).

The surprise resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus could raise more questions about the Obama administration's account of the deadly consulate attack in Libya.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says the White House has not ruled out cooperating with a pending U.N. probe into the Obama administration's use of drone strikes.

“Well, we have questions about the appropriateness of that approach,” Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters on Monday. “But we will look at it on its merits, and as we do with all the work of the rapporteurs, we’ll judge their work on the substance of their products.”

Rice’s comments came after the U.S. won a second three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, beating out Greece and Sweden.

Two U.N. experts announced last month that a panel would likely investigate civilian deaths caused by the drone strikes, which are immensely unpopular in Pakistan and other countries where they're carried out.