After a long wait and numerous postponements, the Cuban Communist Party has decided to hold its sixth congress in April 2011. The last was held in 1997, more than 13 years ago, writes Leonardo Padura Fuentes, a Cuban writer and journalist whose novels have been translated into more than fifteen languages. His most recent work is The Man Who Loved Dogs.

Costa Rica is seeking the support of the world to exercise its right to live in peace. The cause of respect for international law and for multilateral organisations as instruments of peace and sovereignty has received an important boost from the Organisation of American States (OAS), writes Rene Castro Salazar, is foreign minister of Costa Rica.

Is globalisation, which is shaping our societies whether we like it or not, a threat to identity? If we were to believe all that we hear, the winds of globalisation are wreaking havoc everywhere, uprooting identities and cultures which for centuries have been shaping human relations, sweeping away all local values and customs, writes Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

More than 250,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables released by online whistle- blower WikiLeaks include statements made behind closed doors that could prove embarrassing for Egypt’s government, say analysts.

It recently handed down two death sentences just a few days apart, leaving many of those against capital punishment upset. But legal experts say Japan’s lay-judge system is changing this country’s criminal justice process for the better, largely because it is making this process closer to the public.

The private central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve, has begun purchasing $600 billion of long-term U.S. Treasury Bonds, essentially subsidising the federal deficit for the year.

While the massive dump of some 250,000 internal U.S. diplomatic communications by Wikileaks includes none marked 'top secret', their dissemination is already causing considerable embarrassment and may well inflict longer-term damage on Washington's foreign relations.

The leaked reports sent by U.S. officials abroad to Washington reveal a treacherous playing field for the United States in the Middle East.

The Chilean government's commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights has been called into question by a new report by a university human rights centre.

Wikileaks' spectacular paper dump of U.S. diplomatic cables may not yet have produced any blockbusters, but many of the restricted or secret documents released to the world on Sunday have served to peel back the scabs of serious injuries inflicted by the administration of George W. Bush.