The U.N. ambassador said she "relied solely and squarely on the information the intelligence community provided" in her initial description of the attack.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) said in Jerusalem on Friday that the world needs to work together to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of Iran and said failing to achieve this would be tantamount to sending Jews "back to the gas chambers."

"I have a problem with the approach that says 'Israel will take care of the Iranian threat,' " Franks said at the International Israel Allies Caucus Foundation convention in Jerusalem, according to Israel National News.

Conservatives fought hard to try to put the Export-Import Bank on the road to extinction last spring and they are now clamoring for a progress update from the Obama administration on talks to end global export subsidies.

A conservative Catholic group is making an issue out of the almost 18 months it took President Obama to pick an ambassador for international religious freedom after his inauguration.

In a “Religious Freedom” scorecard unveiled Friday, The Catholic Association gives Obama an “F” on seven religious issues, including support for religious liberty around the world. Republican challenger Mitt Romney gets “A+”s across the board, notably for vowing to “stand up and protect religious freedom wherever it is threatened.”

The group's main focus is the healthcare law's contraception mandate, but the lengthy time it took the president to nominate the country's top advocate for religious rights across the world has long been a sore point for conservatives. Obama finally nominated Suzan Johnson Cook, the president of the Hampton Ministers Conference, in June 2010.

The European Union is no longer investigating whether the United States illegally subsidized and dumped bioethanol on the European market, Reuters reports.

The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, ended its 11-month investigation after finding no evidence that the United States had taken such action. However, EU trade spokesman John Clancy said that “investigations in both [anti-subsidy and anti-dumping] cases are still ongoing and so no conclusions have been drawn yet.”

American special operations forces are on the ground in Libya and neighboring countries, collecting intelligence on terror cells tied to the Sept. 11 raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. 

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) urged his fellow Ohioan Speaker John Boehner (R) to have the House take up his bill that punishes China for flouting trade laws.

“The manufacturing industry in central Ohio and across our state is bouncing back, but challenges remain — and that’s why we can’t turn a blind eye when countries like China cheat trade laws,” Brown said in a statement Thursday.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

Iran has proposed a nine-step plan to gradually suspend the production of uranium that could be used for a nuclear weapon in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions, The New York Times reports. While the Obama administration has rejected the proposal as unworkable, it's further proof that the record spike in food prices over the past few days is creating openings for a deal with Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons program. [The Washington Post] 

Under pressure to fix the dismal economy, the Iranian government arrested 16 people for alleged currency manipulation. [CNN]

Netherlands on notice: Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on human rights, is calling on the Netherlands to conduct a thorough investigation of allegations that the secretary-general of the Dutch Ministry of Justice, Joris Demmink, was involved in child sex trafficking offenses involving Turkish children.

Free speech in the Middle East: The Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus is sponsoring a Capitol Hill briefing at 11:30 this morning on “Freedom of Speech vs. Freedom of Religion in the Islamic World and Western Democracies:A Clash of Civilizations?” Speakers include Andrew Rabens, special adviser for Youth Engagement at the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. The event is hosted by the American Islamic Congress.

House conservatives ask Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if her goal is to help Islamists take over the country.