Putin is known for the love of strong language and a questionable, if not inappropriate, sense of humor. This has not changed over his nearly 15 years in power. Russia’s head of state ascended to the presidency in 1999-2000 famously promising to “waste terrorists in the out house, ” and most recently dismissed Assad’s chemical attack claims as “utter nonsense,” raising some eyebrows in the West.

Richard Stengel, the managing editor of Time magazine, is leaving to become under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs at the State Department, according to people familiar with the appointment. Mr. Stengel replaces Tara Sonenshine, who held the post with Secretaries of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry before leaving in July.

Finding that his strategy of shirtless horseback diplomacy was proving ineffective, Russian President Vladimir Putin instead decided to appeal to the American people directly—with words—in our biggest newspaper today. It’s a nice article—refreshingly not-strongman-ish, pleasantly nostalgic. (Remember that time we beat the Nazis together? Putin does.)

Time managing editor Rick Stengel (pictured above) is leaving journalism to go work for the State Department, making him at least the 15th 21st reporter to go to work for the Obama administration. Stengel will be the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Politico and Capital New York report. The last high-profile journalist to leave Time for the Obama administration is Jay Carney, who is currently White House press secretary (pictured at right).

After two months of intensive planning, the day finally arrived for the start of a two-week law enforcement training seminar for 45 police officers, customs officials, and immigration specialists from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Co-hosted by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the Regional Security Office (RSO) at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, this course marked the first time INL would sponsor this type of training in the DRC.

When former NBA player Dennis Rodman returned last week from his second visit to North Korea to meet with leader Kim Jong-un, he announced the next step in his unofficial diplomacy: He would try to take other NBA stars to Pyongyang to train the North Korean basketball team. Then, he said, he would try to have an international basketball tournament in North Korea.

As news of the election of Tony Abbott spread around the world, many could not hold back their glee at being able to berate Australia. British comedian Bill Bailey was quick to jump on the bandwagon, tweeting "Abbott as PM, it MUST be TV reality show 'Faking It' where a hapless twonk passes himself off as a politician. Can't be real." Many others bandied around reworkings of the joke “And we thought America was stupid for electing George W Bush ... Australia was just 10 years behind as usual."

Signaling a possible thaw in long-frozen relations, the Obama administration and the new leadership in Iran are communicating about Syria and are moving behind the scenes toward direct talks that both governments hope can ease the escalating confrontation over Tehran's nuclear program.