Axios

Afro-Brazilian authors are making a mark on bestseller lists with works centering on race and the country's Black population.

Why it matters: Brazil, where most enslaved people were taken to starting around 1540, was the last country in the Americas to ban slavery. Brazil is only now reckoning with this history, and Black authors are helping.

Novelist and journalist Cristina García is set to publish next year a sequel to her National Book Award-nominated "Dreaming in Cuban."

Why it matters: "Dreaming in Cuban," a novel about three generations of a Cuban American family separated by the Cuban revolution, became a classic when it was published in 1992.

A slate of recent books that tell immigrant stories and interrogate the American dream using innovative literary styles are resonating with readers, selling well and showing up in best-of lists.

The big picture: The publishing boom for diverse authors comes after decades of writers being told by largely white publishers their stories were "unmarketable," novelist Angie Cruz tells Axios Latino.

The U.S.-Mexico borderlands have historically been a region of myth and romance, but the reality of their past is much darker, as two new books are showing.

Why it matters: Historic violence in the borderlands contributed to systemic socioeconomic and racial inequalities that persist today, scholars write.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of a Chinese student in Boston who allegedly stalked and harassed someone who put up posters calling for democracy in China.

Why it matters: The arrest demonstrates that U.S. law enforcement is taking action to support the rights of Chinese people living in the U.S., including on campuses, where many Chinese students have said they feel at risk of being surveilled or reported to Chinese authorities if they engage in anti-Beijing organizing.

After years of holding the virus at bay, the Chinese government is now facing the same dilemma governments around the world have faced for the past three years: how to let people get back to normal life while preventing COVID cases from overwhelming the health care system.

Why it matters: Up to a million people in China might die from COVID next year, according to new projections from the U.S.-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday unexpectedly visited soldiers defending the eastern frontline city of Bakhmut that's been besieged by Russian forces, including mercenaries from the Wagner private military company, for months.

Why it matters: Fighting around the industrial Donbas city has been raging for several months, but it has recently been the site of some of the fiercest battles so far in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

President Biden said on the sidelines of a Nov. 4 election rally that the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is “dead,” but stressed the U.S. won’t formally announce it, according to a new video that surfaced on social media late Monday.

Why it matters: It's the strongest confirmation so far that the Biden administration believes there's no path forward for the Iran deal, which leaves key questions about the future of Tehran's nuclear program.

A 97-year-old former Nazi secretary was convicted Tuesday of being an accessory to murder in more than 10,000 cases during World War II, AP reports.

Driving the news: A German court gave Irmgard Furchner, who was a secretary for the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp, a two-year suspended sentence.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte formally apologized on Monday for the Netherlands' role in the slave trade, but many activists said the speech did not go far enough.

The big picture: The Netherlands played a key role in the transatlantic slave trade during the 17th to 19th centuries, with Dutch slave traders shipping an estimated 600,000 African men, women and children mostly to former colonies.

A shooting just north of Toronto, Canada, left five people dead and another person with serious injuries in a local hospital Sunday evening, police said.

Details: The suspect, a 73-year-old man, also died in the shooting that happened at a condo in the city of Vaughan around 7:20 p.m., per a statement from York Regional Police.

The FBI issued a public safety alert Monday about an "explosion" of financial "sextortion" schemes targeting children and teens.

Why it matters: The agency said it has received more than 7,000 reports of financial sextortion against minors over the past year and has recorded at least 3,000 victims of the crime — primarily boys. It also linked more than a dozen suicides to such schemes.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday evening FIFA prevented a message he wanted to have broadcast before the soccer World Cup Final in Qatar about his proposed Global Peace Formula Summit this winter.

Driving the news: Zelensky wanted his video message to be broadcast before the final that Argentina won against France in a penalty kick shootout, which was watched by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, CNN first reported. But Zelensky said his message still got through.