The Obama administration on Wednesday condemned Syria's reported use of short-range Scud ballistic missiles against rebel positions inside the country, noting the strikes were the "latest desperate act" by embattled president Bashar Assad to cling to power. 

A former al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group based in West Africa has become the latest member on the State Department's rapidly growing list of officially recognized terror organizations, according to recently released department documents. 

The retiring senator is floating legislation that would ensure the approval of natural gas sales to NATO allies

Your morning global affairs speed-read

All eyes are on the Syrian opposition today as the U.S.-backed Friends of Syria meet in Morocco to try to give added legitimacy to the newly formed Syrian National Coalition, which excludes al Qaeda-linked Islamists. President Obama recognized the group as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime in an interview on ABC News Tuesday.

Rocket launch: Expect political reaction to North Korea's latest rocket launch to trickle in throughout the day. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Ed Royce (R-Calif.) have already slammed Obama administration policies for the Hermit Kingdom's continued defiance.

Aid reform: Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the outgoing ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, unveils his foreign aid reform bill at a press conference on Capitol Hill today.

Cultural diplomacy: Italy's foreign minister, Giulio Terzi, is in Washington today to inaugurate The Year of Italian Culture in the United States with the loan of Michelangelo's David-Apollo sculpture to the National Gallery of Art. Terzi will also meet with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Capitol Hill.

The administration warned there would be "consequences" for the action, while GOP lawmakers pressed for a tougher approach.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said the administration's "policies of appeasement' have done nothing to deter North Korean aggression. 

The move represents a break from the administration's previous unwillingness to back any one of the various rebel groups.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle took turns Tuesday criticizing Rwanda's involvement in the crisis in eastern Congo, raising the pressure on the Obama administration to cut millions of dollars in foreign aid to one of America's closest African allies.

The bipartisan concerns come as Rwanda has come under increasing international criticism for allegedly supporting the rebel group M23 engaged in violence in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. European and other nations have slashed their aid because of the allegations, but the Obama administration has been reluctant to follow suit.

“In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, successive U.S. administrations have turned a blind eye to reports of Rwandan plundering of resources from the DRC and support for rebels who have devastated eastern Congo and its people,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs panel on Africa, said in his opening statement. “It seems that guilt over the Clinton Administration’s failure responding effectively to the genocide in Rwanda has led subsequent U.S. administrations to be reluctant to criticize the Government of Rwanda.”

Tunisia had refused for several weeks to grant the FBI access to a suspect in the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack.