On this day in 1971, President Richard Nixon, to the complete surprise of the American public, announced that he would be visiting communist China in 1972. It was an abrupt, about-face departure from a stance the vehemently anti-communist Nixon had campaigned upon. But the lost lives and political costs of the Vietnam war—as well as the insistent advice of Nixon’s Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger—led Nixon away from his intransigence and into a momentous meeting that would shape the course of American diplomacy and international affairs for decades.

Two teenage sons of a Canadian diplomat allegedly walked into a drug deal in Miami on Monday. But only one walked out, and now he's facing murder charges.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met and agreed on a plan this afternoon that aims at de-escalating the rising war of words over Ukraine, backing off of military options, and letting the nation determine its own destiny.

Two nations came together today during the men's cross-country semifinals when a Canadian coach came to the rescue of a Russian skier struggling to finish after he crashed and broke his ski.

Two top diplomats were caught discussing less-than-diplomatic thoughts about the EU this week, a leak the State Department is blaming on the Russians.

It took four trips to North Korea and a drunken CNN interview defending his "best friend" Kim Jong Un, but Dennis Rodman appears to have hit his rock bottom. The 52-year-old former NBA star checked into rehab this week. A State Department official told CNN that Rodman's latest visit was "marginally unhelpful."

This probably doesn't bode well for the international community's upcoming Iran settlement talks, unless Bill Walton and Charles Barkley are mediating. Which would be fun, until the nuclear holocaust started.

Although a federal grand jury indicted Indian consulate head Devyani Khobragade for visa fraud and making false statements today, she probably won't be tried for it — instead the State Department has decided to grant her diplomatic immunity.

US Attorney Preet Bharara took to the internet today to clarify a few things about Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat who got arrested and strip searched last week for lying about paying her nanny only $3.31 an hour.

Tensions are high right now with India following the arrest of their consulate's acting head, who was handcuffed over visa fraud charges as she dropped her daughter off at a Manhattan school.

An Indian diplomat who championed women's rights is being criminally charged in New York for paying her female nanny $3.31 an hour and lying about it on the woman's visa application.

After weeks of negotiations between diplomats from Iran, US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany, Iran has agreed to temporarily freeze its nuclear program while a larger deal is negotiated.

The leader of the Taliban in Pakistan has been killed by a U.S. drone strike on the eve of peace talks between Pakistan and the Taliban.

For the first time since 1979, the leaders of the United States and Iran talked on the phone, President Obama told reporters today. Obama and newly elected Iranian president Hassan Rouhani talked briefly on Friday afternoon.

Iran may be winning over doubters with the diplomatic, moderate tone of its new president Hassan Rouhani—but Israel just struck an epic blow in an even more important war: the war for social media buzz.

Russian President Vladimir Putin shook hands (and smiled) with President Obama on Thursday morning at the 2013 G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, where leaders of major countries were ostensibly meeting to discuss the stability of the global economy. The tense handshake — a controversial trope during Obama’s previous visits to Russia — underscored Putin’s interference with American foreign policy. Up until yesterday, Russia supplied arms to the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad, and Putin has helped stanch a United Nations resolution to sanction military intervention in Syria, while demanding that such a resolution pass before Russia would support a U.S.-led strike.

Yesterday came news that Russian president Vladimir Putin possibly stole one of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's Super Bowl rings during a 2005 meeting. Or at least, that's what Kraft told attendees at a gala on Thursday. Today, president Putin is denying that he stole the ring, saying it was a great gift.

On Monday night, Dennis Rodman celebrated his 52nd birthday at Cheetahs, a gentleman’s club in Times Square. One press release advertised the event, part of an extended birthday tour, as “a no-holds barred birthday with topless dancers, thongs, and naked sushi.” Another cheekily teased that the NBA Hall of Famer might bring along a certain famously despotic guest, one Kim Jong-un, so that "maybe the Cheetah Strippers and Rodman can secure what our government has failed to do."

"Which camel, Monsieur Président? Oh, that camel? Ah, yes. We ate it."

President Obama arrived in Israel today on his first state trip to the country and the first leg of his tour of the Middle East. He is expected to discuss the crisis in Syria and Iran's disputed nuclear program with the leaders of Israel. He also plans to go to the West Bank on Thursday to meet with Palestinian officials, but there are not many expectations for progress towards peace.