She said administration officials were given "speaking points" by intelligence adviser James Clapper in the immediate aftermath.

The Afghan president said his government will be "happy" to take over security if coalition leaves before end of 2014.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make the case Thursday that “energy diplomacy” is central to U.S. foreign policy.

The Wall Street Journal got a look at the speech that Clinton will give Thursday afternoon at Georgetown University.

“Today, energy cuts across the entirety of U.S. foreign policy. It is a matter of national security and global stability. It is at the heart of the global economy. It's an issue of democracy and human rights,” Clinton intends to say, the paper reported. “It has been a top concern of mine as secretary. And it is sure to be the same for the next secretary of State.”

Clinton is “expected to stress the role that U.S. energy production, coupled with U.S. diplomatic efforts, has played in ratcheting up sanctions on Iran,” the Journal reports.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

A newly released Congressional Research Service report on sanctions in Iran says they have so far failed to stop the country's quest for a nuclear weapon, raising new doubts about President Obama's approach. The report comes as the European Union is set to decide today whether to send a delegation to Iran, a trip strongly opposed by U.S. lawmakers and Israel.

Energy diplomacy: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to map out a plan for making energy a centerpiece of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy during a speech at Georgetown today. [The Wall Street Journal] 

Next week's debate on foreign policy will give each candidate a final chance to shape opinion on the Benghazi attack.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday strongly urged their European Union counterparts to nix a planned trip to Iran, saying it would send “the wrong message at this particularly sensitive time.”

“As you know, we strongly support increased ties between the United States Senate and the European Parliament, and we believe it is critical that we work together to present a strong, united front in our efforts regarding Iran at this critical juncture,” Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) wrote in a letter to European Parliament President Martin Schulz. “With these concerns in mind, we respectfully ask that the delegation reconsiders its visit and that you do what you can to indefinitely postpone this ill-advised trip to Iran at this sensitive time.”

Fourteen members of the European Parliament are planning an annual trip to Iran later this month. The Conference of Presidents of the EU Council is expected to decide whether to approve the seven-day trip on Thursday.

The visit is organized by the parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iran, which bills itself as seeking to build bridges between Europe and Iran. The trip is controversial within the European Union itself, with European Parliament Vice President Alejo Vidal-Quadras calling it “extremely counterproductive” on Tuesday, one day after the EU slapped tough new sanctions on Iran to curtail its alleged nuclear weapons program.

Israel also objected to the visit on Tuesday, according to a report by Kol Yisrael radio.

The gun-for-hire Manssor Arbabsiar contacted in Mexico was really a confidential informant for the DEA.

A report from government news agency Xinhua said the debate had "turned into a vanity fair for China-bashers."

Both sides are fighting for an advantage over a dramatic moment Tuesday when the moderator corrected an assertion by Romney.