WASHINGTON - It isn't the first time that the federal government has been caught spying on Americans or that classified government information has been leaked to the news media or otherwise widely distributed. The Vietnam War and civil-rights protest movements of the 1960s and 1970s generated plenty of surveillance and secrecy. And leaks.

But with the rise in Internet usage, there's a far bigger audience now.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's decision to authorize lethal aid to Syrian rebels marks a deepening of U.S. involvement in the two-year civil war. But U.S. officials are still grappling with what type and how much weaponry to send the opposition forces and how to ensure it stays out of the hands of extremists battling for control of Syria.

TEHRAN, Iran - In the end, Iran's presidential election may be defined by who doesn't vote.

As polls opened early Friday, arguments over whether to boycott the ballot still boiled over at coffee shops, kitchen tables and on social media among many liberal-leaning Iranians. The choice — once easy for many who turned their back in anger after years of crackdowns — has been suddenly complicated by an unexpected chance to perhaps wage a bit of payback against Iran's rulers.

TEHRAN, Iran - In the end, Iran's presidential election may be defined by who doesn't vote.

As polls opened early Friday, arguments over whether to boycott the ballot still boiled over at coffee shops, kitchen tables and on social media among many liberal-leaning Iranians. The choice — once easy for many who turned their back in anger after years of crackdowns — has been suddenly complicated by an unexpected chance to perhaps wage a bit of payback against Iran's rulers.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Former President Carlos Menem was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for illegally smuggling weapons to Ecuador and Croatia in violation of international embargoes in the 1990s, but he won't be going to jail soon.

An Argentine court also banned Menem, now a senator, from holding elective office for 14 years, and asked the Senate to vote to remove the immunity he enjoys as an elected member of Congress.

WILMINGTON, Del. - Federal authorities have recovered about 400 handwritten pages from the wartime diary of a key Nazi adviser to Adolf Hitler after a 17-year search for the documents, officials said Thursday.

Alfred Rosenberg played a significant role in the slaughter of millions of Jews and other non-Aryans considered inferior under the Third Reich. He was convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials after World War II and executed in 1946.

JOHANNESBURG - Nelson Mandela's health is improving but the 94-year-old beloved anti-apartheid hero remains in serious condition, South Africa's president said Thursday.

Jacob Zuma paid a visit to Mandela in a Pretoria hospital, where the former president has been treated for six days, according to a statement released by the presidency.

"We continue to appeal to people to keep Madiba in their prayers and wish him a speedy recovery," Zuma said, referring to Mandela by his clan name.

LONDON - An influential committee of British lawmakers accused search company Google of dodging its taxes on Thursday in a scathing report that said the U.S. Internet company took on highly contrived arrangements serving no purpose other than to avoid paying its fair share.

WASHINGTON - FBI Director Robert Mueller on Thursday defended a pair of controversial government surveillance programs, telling Congress that leaking information on them harms national security.

In his last appearance as FBI director before the House Judiciary Committee, Mueller said that terrorists track leaked information "very, very closely" and that because of leaks "we lose our ability to get their communications" and "we are exceptionally vulnerable."

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's president officially announced Thursday that elections will go ahead next month despite opposition from the prime minister, setting the stage for a political standoff between the longtime rivals.

In an official government notice Thursday, President Robert Mugabe said that he was empowered to set the presidential election for July 31.