The US has been courting India's soft power in the form of Bollywood as part of its plans to help usher in peace in war-torn Afghanistan and also help promote anti-extremism messages among the large Asian diaspora across the globe.

Twitter announced its list of the Top 10 most powerful tweets of the year on Tuesday, and TODAY show anchor Ann Curry’s 50-character message imploring the Air Force to allow physicians to land in Haiti to administer aid to the injured and dying came in No. 1.

Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli upset Egyptians when she called the country "primitive" in an interview after her most recent visit to the country a month ago, according to report in the Egyptian press.

There’s still considerable anxiety that the North, determined not to lose the three-quarters of the country’s oil that lies in the South, will find one means or another to block the vote or deny its legitimacy — and that the result will be the world’s worst war in 2011. That’s where George Clooney comes in.

Madonna, always the tough girl, did not let the news of drug-fueled beheadings and butchering in Mexico scare her off. The pop queen inaugurated her Hard Candy Fitness gym in a posh Mexico City neighborhood on Monday night, with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard in the crowd.

In 1941, celebrated animator Walt Disney went on a diplomatic mission to Latin America. The creator of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck became a good will ambassador. The U.S. had not yet joined its allies in war, but feared growing Nazi and Fascist influence in the Americas.

Leonardo DiCaprio braved scary skies to get to a summit devoted to saving the worlds' tigers, donating $1 million to the cause and earning high praise from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

George Clooney is the most persuasive voice for the independence of South Sudan. Last month he visited southern Sudan to draw attention to the dangers that the area could return to war over the issue of the independence of southern Sudan from the north.