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Your morning global affairs speed-read

The United Nations has until close of business to reach agreement on an arms trade treaty. President Obama has come under pressure from advocates to strengthen a draft that was floated earlier this week, notably on the issue of ammunition and the fact that it only applies to commercial export but not the transfer of weapons through aid.

Meanwhile, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) has managed to corral 50 senators against ratification if it includes provisions to regulate the sale of civilian arms, enough to kill it in the Senate. The draft does mention “small arms and light weapons.”

Romney at the Olympics: Mitt Romney attends the Olympics opening ceremony in London on the second day of a foreign trip that got off to a rough start Thursday. The Republican presidential candidate is also scheduled to meet with Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny and U.S. Olympic athletes.

Israel bill signed: President Obama signs the U.S.-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act in the Oval Office this morning, taking some of the political bite out of Romney's visit there this weekend. The bill restates the U.S. commitment to supply Israel with arms to defend itself, pledges to fight anti-Israeli resolutions at the United Nations and calls on the United States to produce an "Iron Dome" defense system for Israel, to intercept short-range missiles and to study how the United States could speed the sale of F-35 fighter planes to that country.

British PM David Cameron criticized Romney for suggesting the city wasn't ready for the summer Olympics.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's off-the-cuff admission that he met with Britain's secret service chief has sparked speculation that he was pressed to adopt a more interventionist U.S. policy in Syria if he becomes president.

Romney made the remarks outside the prime minister's office after meeting with David Cameron. After telling the media that the two talked “at some length” about Iran, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Romney proceeded to say he'd also met with John Sawers, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, the CIA equivalent. Read more...

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) corralled 50 lawmakers — including eight Democrats — to signal their opposition to a global United Nations arms treaty currently being negotiated.

The lawmakers signed onto a letter released Thursday from Moran, which lays out concerns that the U.N. treaty will infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights because it includes provisions to regulate civilian arms.

Moran’s lobbying effort against the treaty has the backing of the National Rifle Association, whose CEO touted Senate opposition to the treaty in a speech earlier this month.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will meet with Egypt's newly-elected president Mohamed Morsi during an official trip through North Africa, Pentagon officials said on Thursday. 

Former four-star general Wesley Clark joined the chorus of Democratic voices on Monday calling into question presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's credentials on foreign policy and national security. 

The State Department's latest travel warning for the Democratic Republic of Congo warns that Rwandan rebels are contributing to violence in the eastern part of the country, the latest sign of growing U.S. concern about the actions of a crucial ally.

The Obama administration announced over the weekend that it was suspending $200,000 in military aid to Rwanda because of United Nations accusations that the country is involved in the conflict in next-door Congo. And this week, the head of the U.S. Office of Global Criminal Justice, Stephen Rapp, told England's Guardian newspaper that Rwandan President Paul Kagame risks an international criminal indictment for "aiding and abetting" crimes against humanity.

“Renewed violence amongst foreign and Congolese rebel groups present in the northern part of North Kivu and former Rwandan militants in the southern part of the province and throughout South Kivu pose a serious and significant risk to travelers in the region,” the new travel warning states.

Two powerful congressional leaders appealed to each other on Thursday to quickly push through legislation to implement normal trade ties with Russia as the bill's prospects remain uncertain.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), whose panel easily approved a measure that would grant permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Moscow, called on the Senate Democratic leadership to "make room" on the Senate calendar for a vote on the bill. 

“I will continue to work with Democratic leadership to assure successful passage in the House, and urge the Senate to agree on a clear path forward," Camp said. 

"If Leader [Harry] Reid is willing to make room on the Senate calendar, there is no reason we cannot act quickly," he said.