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A top rebel leader of the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army has resigned, to protest infighting among rebel groups trying to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Outrage over the U.S. National Security Agency's widespread collection of telephone and Internet data from American allies could lead to a changed landscape for the spy agency.

Indonesia has summoned the Australian ambassador in Jakarta following reports indicating that Australia has allowed covert U.S. surveillance programs to operate in its embassies in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and East Timor.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier (r) and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ranko Krivokapic, Vienna, 31 October 2013.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara (centre-right), during a conference on confidence-building measures in the Transdniestrian settlement process, Landshut, 30 October

Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson (2nd left) chats with medical staff from the Ugandan contingent serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) during a visit on 27 October 2013.

A settler woman walks past an Israeli soldier standing guard in East Jerusalem.

Students at Cairo's al-Azhar University took over an administrative building Wednesday and university officials called on security forces to intervene. The incident came after Egyptian authorities detained a top Muslim Brotherhood political figure.

The head of the National Security Agency, Army General Keith Alexander, is defending U.S. surveillance programs amid a wave of outrage across Europe. Alexander faced a mixed reaction from lawmakers on Capitol Hill at a House hearing Tuesday.