Novelist Marilynne Robinson, economist Thomas Piketty and cartoonist Roz Chast are among the finalists for National Book Critics Circle prizes.

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison will receive a lifetime achievement award, while National Book Award winner Phil Klay has won the John Leonard Prize for the best debut release of 2014, the short story collection "Redeployment."

Bones from at least five people, including a baby and an elderly woman, were identified in a massive tomb in Greece dating back to the era of Alexander the Great, the culture ministry said Monday.

"A minimum number of five people have been identified from bone remains, four of whom were buried and one of whom was burned," the ministry said in a statement.

On the eve of his 90th birthday, storied Nicaraguan poet and priest Ernesto Cardenal laments what he calls the betrayal of the Sandinista revolution by President Daniel Ortega.

Ordained a Catholic priest in 1965, Cardenal left a mainly farming community he founded on the Solentiname Islands to join Sandinista rebels fighting against the Somoza family regime, which had ruled the country for nearly half a century.

Bones from at least five people, including a baby and an elderly woman, were identified in a massive tomb in Greece dating back to the era of Alexander the Great, the culture ministry said Monday.

"A minimum number of five people have been identified from bone remains, four of whom were buried and one of whom was burned," the ministry said in a statement.

A top anti-government composer's works removed from the repertoire. Sexual references expunged from a play. A new bill that would increase the government's influence on performances.

Cultural figures are complaining of increased political intervention that could undermine the quality of Western-inspired arts such as classical music, drama and ballet in Turkey.

In Juan Roberto Diago's studio at his remodeled 1920s house, five Americans scrutinized the Cuban artist's work, wearing baseball caps and sunglasses.

"That's a piece I bought last time I was here," said Robert Penta, a 33-year old attorney, pointing at a red and brown canvas leaning against the wall.

One of Ireland's most prominent politicians announced he is gay on Sunday, becoming the first openly homosexual cabinet minister in Irish history four months before a referendum on same-sex marriage in the traditionally Catholic country. 

Seen as a potential contender to succeed Prime Minister Enda Kenny as leader of the ruling center-right Fine Gael party, Health Minister Leo Varadkar made the announcement in an interview on national broadcaster RTE.

British Prime Minister David Cameron defended the right to speech that gives offense to others' religious beliefs, in a rebuttal to Pope Francis who said there should be limits.

In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation, Cameron said the West must show that its values, like free speech, are stronger than those of Islamist extremists pursuing a "poisonous death cult narrative."

U.S. experts are scratching their heads after finding a more than 130-year-old Wild West rifle leaning against a Juniper tree in a remote area of a national park.

The Winchester Model 1873 firearm was found in Great Basin National Park in Nevada by a park employee, Eva Jensen, who happened to be working in the area with an archaeology team.

Europe must do more to better integrate its Muslim communities, and not "simply respond with a hammer," U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday in the wake of last week's terror attacks in France.

"Our biggest advantage, major, is that our Muslim populations -- they feel themselves to be Americans," Obama told a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron.