Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) will use his ceremonial appointment to the United Nations to urge rejection of a proposed arms trade treaty, he said Wednesday.

“It's an opportunity for me to follow up on some issues I've addressed with [U.S.] Ambassador [Susan] Rice in the U.N. and some issues I have with the U.N.,” Isakson told The Hill in a phone interview from his home state. “So it gives you a chance to at least speak on behalf of the people you represent and on behalf of the country.

“Of what's going on in the U.N. right now, to the rank-and-file American citizen, the arms trade treaty agreement is probably the paramount issue. The message should be strong that we disagree with any U.N. resolution that might infringe upon the Constitution of the United States and the rights that are granted to our people in the Bill of Rights. I think that would be the consensus of the country.”

The United States is beefing up its counterterrorism presence in northern Africa to deal with the Islamist threat in Mali and the surrounding region, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.

“The United States is stepping up our counterterrorism efforts across the Maghreb and Sahel, and we’re working with the Libyan government and other partners to find those responsible for the attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi and bring them to justice,” Clinton said. 

“But we are also expanding our counterterrorism partnerships to help countries meet their own growing threats.”

The lawmakers said they were "disturbed" by administration accounts suggesting the attack grew out of a protest.

The U.S. delegation left the floor before the Iranian leader delivered a tirade against America and Israel.

German lawmakers said they could block a planned merger between European companies BAE Systems and EADS after EADS CEO Tom Enders addressed the parliament Wednesday.

Kerstin Andreae, a member of the German parliament's economic committee, said lawmakers were raising questions over whether the merger should proceed due to disagreements between the government and EADS, the Guardian reported.

"More questions were left open than answered," she said. "There are disagreements between the government and Tom Enders on the question of the valuation of the golden share,” referring to state holdings in the companies.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is expected to deliver another anti-American and anti-Israeli diatribe when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly today. His speeches to the world body have caused walk-outs by Israel's delegation in the past.

While his speech is largely aimed at a domestic audience, Ahmadinejad's trip to the U.N. is not without critics inside Iran. Prominent conservatives are attacking him for taking 120 people with him on a “picnic” and staying at New York's luxurious Warwick hotel while the country is suffering from unprecedented U.S.-led sanctions, London's Guardian newspaper reports.

In the United States, meanwhile, Iranian-American groups are planning a rally in New York and urging the media to “blacklist” the Iranian leader.

Also speaking on Wednesday: Egypt's president, Mohammed Morsi; Great Britain's prime minister, David Cameron; and Japan's prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda.

Sens. Isakson and Corker want "all communications" between State and the U.S. Mission to Libya on security in Benghazi.

Obama called on the gathered leaders to “seize this moment” and “speak out forcefully against violence and extremism.”

The Palestinians' envoy to the United States said Tuesday he was unimpressed by President Obama's renewed call for peace with Israel in his address to the United Nations, which got just 86 words in a 4,000-word speech devoted to progress in the Middle East.

"Evidently, the president is not totally focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Ambassador Maen Rashid Areikat, the chief representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, told The Hill in an email. “The root cause is Israel's continued military occupation, preventing us from practicing our right to self-determination. Once the conflict is over, the entire region will enjoy peace, security, and prosperity."

In his remarks, Obama reserved his criticism for groups that reject Israel's right to exist.

“Among Israelis and Palestinians, the future must not belong to those who turn their backs on the prospect of peace,” Obama said in a thinly veiled jab at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Romney was caught on video at a Florida fundraiser telling donors that the conflict would “remain an unsolved problem” because “the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace.”