Hope of political reforms dismissed as Benedict XVI meets Raul Castro on tour of the island

Anders Behring Breivik 'wants to explain himself', say police. Neightbours describe him as 'just an ordinary guy '

It's a curiosity that so many memoirs by runners emphasise the pain rather than the pleasure of an activity that is, after all, wholly optional.

Every so often, a book comes along that challenges our beliefs and shakes our world view. So what does it take for literature to make history, asks Boyd Tonkin

A career-spanning collection of essays by our most eminent Marxist historian is cause for celebration. But it has its blind spots

The deficit remains the defining issue in British politics. Those who worry about the pace and depth of cutting do not have an ally in the Business Secretary

His two sons are currently battling it out for the Labour leadership. But who was Ralph Miliband – and how would he have cast his vote? Andy McSmith investigates an inspirational political parent

I was standing on a beach in Siberia when this book was recommended to me. The wavelets of a small artificial ocean made by damming the river Ob were splashing on the sand, and I was wondering out loud about the roots of the Soviet passion for making grand modifications to nature. "You need to read Kolakowski," said the person I was with. "He's got a great chapter about what he calls 'the Promethean motif' in Marxism – the idea that it's the destiny of humanity to steal fire from the gods and make the world whatever we want it to be."

Zionists, the Left, French post-war intellectuals and Marxists collectively lost one of their most acerbic critics over the weekend with the death of the British historian Tony Judt.

The Director of ResPublica and author of Red Tory, answers your questions, such as Are you just a Marxist in denial? And do you want to be an MP?

Men can feel out of place at mother-and-toddler groups. But male-only parenting events are proving hugely popular. By Heather Bateman

Jyoti Basu, who has died aged 95, was a staunch Marxist and a towering figure in Indian politics for six eventful decades. In 1997, he came close to becoming the county's first Communist Prime Minister. But the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo decided against participating in the United Front government, a decision Basu later described as an "historic blunder". Others felt it was a manifestation of the insecurities of the Indian Left typical since the fall of the Soviet Union. In the end, H.D. Deve Gowda, of the Janta Dal party, became the premier.

Among people who claim to know the future of journalism a consensus is forming. Western democracies stand on the brink of the decade in which professional reporting will die.

The way a section of the crowd rise in their pews like a gospel choir tells you how fervently Frank Turner is loved by his fans. With his checked shirt and beard, he is no one's normal idea of a protest hero.