Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Egypt's major cities on Friday, prompting the government to deploy the army to keep the peace for the first time since unrest began Tuesday. Protesters are demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-rule. Here are the latest developments as confirmed by CNN.

Al-Jazeera has done a great service to Israelis, Palestinians: What our leaders have been hesitant to tell us, has been done for them...the Al-Jazeera leaks have been a remarkable and brilliant exercise in public diplomacy.

South Africa’s government called for calm today as beloved former President Nelson Mandela spent a second day in the hospital. Spokesmen for Mr. Mandela’s foundation said the elderly liberation fighter had gone to hospital for a “routine checkup,” but South Africans have been following news of his health closely nonetheless, and crowds have gathered outside of the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg where Mandela is seeking treatment.

Last week, China unveiled an ad campaign on the jumbotron screens in New York City’s Times Square to promote its national image. The two 30-second spots, titled “Experience China,” feature the country’s celebrities and luminaries from different walks of life.

A top U.S. State Department official says Iran's efforts to exercise "hard power" in Iraq have failed, prompting Tehran to try to influence its western neighbor through the use of "soft power," or more indirect means.

It will probably take many years and even decades before the real lessons contained in these informative cables may be drawn. However, African governments and citizens should at least begin to reflect and learn preliminary but valuable lessons from the contents and the style of these informative cables.

At this invitation-only policy roundtable, State Department Policy Planning Director Anne-Marie Slaughter shares her views on America's international engagement -- particularly regarding the world's crisis regions and those that are teetering on the edge.

252 years after the birth of Robert Burns – voted in a 2009 poll the greatest Scot of all time – I attend two very different events on a snowy Kyiv evening to mark Burns night.