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NEW YORK (AP) — Ayad Akhtar’s acclaimed novel “Homeland Elegies,” Ben Ehrenreich’s environmental warning “Desert Notebooks” and an illustrated edition of the late William Melvin Kelley’s postmodern narrative “Dunfords Travels Everywhere” are among this year’s winners of American Book Awards for works that highlight the country’s diversity. The awards are presented by the Before Columbus

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s state-owned oil company says five workers were killed, two workers are missing and six were injured in a massive fire at one of its oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The company says the the fire at the processing platform in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap field had been brought under control.

By MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press Two groups that work to overturn wrongful convictions are asking the Missouri Court of Appeals to reconsider the conviction of a Missouri man who has served more than 22 years in prison for the death of his mother. Michael Politte was 14 when his mother was burned to death inside

By DON BABWIN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The parents of two teenage boys have filed a lawsuit alleging their sons were sexually assaulted in a high school football team hazing ritual at a suburban Chicago high school. The parents contend that the three football coaches at Plainfield Central High School were not present during

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s government has agreed to pay tens of thousands of poor families cash assistance in U.S. dollars from a World Bank loan as the country’s economic crisis deepens. Monday’s decision comes as Lebanon is expected to end subsidies for fuel by the end of next month, which is expected to lead to

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A conservative group filed a redistricting lawsuit with the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday, an action that comes after Democrats filed their own legal challenge in federal court less than two weeks ago. A third lawsuit on behalf of voting rights advocacy groups was also filed

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group of Utah parents is suing the state over a law that bans school districts from approving mask mandates. It’s the latest U.S. legal challenge over rules for face coverings in the classroom. The lawsuit filed Monday seeking to overturn the law argues that

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ interior minister says 88 Syrians have been sent back to Lebanon  after trying to reach the east Mediterranean island nation aboard two boats. Minister Nicos Nouris told The Associated Press on Monday that rescue crews continue to search for one of five men who jumped

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Salvage crews have began cutting apart the final two sections remaining of a cargo ship that overturned along the coast of Georgia almost two years ago. Demolition of the South Korean freighter Golden Ray has been underway since November, when workers started using a length of anchor chain powered

ROME (AP) — Italy’s foreign ministry says an Italian-Moroccan student has been freed by Moroccan authorities after she was detained on blasphemy charges. The 23-year-old student, Ikram Nazih, was convicted in June of “offenses against religion” for having shared a satirical cartoon on Facebook in 2019. The Italian newspaper Domani, which had championed her cause, said

CHICAGO (AP) — Family members say the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his wife Jacqueline continue to be monitored by physicians at a Chicago hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. In a statement issued Monday, one of the Jacksons’ sons, Jonathan, says his parents’ status remains unchanged from a day earlier. That’s when he said they

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge has found that a part of Georgia’s sweeping new election law that broadly prohibits the photographing of a voted ballot is likely unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee on Friday granted a preliminary injunction on that section of the law, meaning it cannot be