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AP PHOTOS: Traditional autumn fair brings color and joy into everyday lives of Romania’s poor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

HAGIOAICA, Romania (AP) — It’s a festival of joy that offers an escape from everyday hardships for some of Romania’s poorest residents. The traditional autumn fair is again drawing huge crowds of visitors in the eastern European country after the event was suspended during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021.The fair near the central city of Titu, northwest of the capital of Bucharest, has existed for nearly 200 years — a testimony to its importance to the community.And though much has changed since the 19th century, when autumn fairs like the Titu Fair were the sole public events in rural Romania, the purpose of the tradition — bringing the local community together — has remained the same. Over the weekend, visitors flocked to the fairground, set up in a field in the small village of Hagioaica outside Titu, hungry for entertainment — smiling children clutched toys, men swirled on merry-go-rounds and families mingled.Deafening music blared from the fairground as amusement park...

Hays’ two homers lead Orioles to 9-5 win over slumping Astros

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

Baltimore Orioles' Cedric Mullins (31) celebrates with Austin Hays (21) after both scored on Mullins' three-run home run against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)(AP/David J. Phillip) Baltimore Orioles' Cedric Mullins (31) celebrates with Austin Hays (21) after both scored on Mullins' three-run home run against the Houston Astros during the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)(AP/David J. Phillip) HOUSTON (AP) — Austin Hays hit two homers and had four RBIs for the Baltimore Orioles in a 9-5 victory over slumping Houston on Tuesday night, cutting the Astros’ AL West ...

Russia shrugs as Azerbaijan attacks Nagorno-Karabakh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

While Armenia called on Russian peacekeepers to intervene after Azerbaijan launched “anti-terrorist” operations in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Dmitry Medvedev, the chairman of Russia’s security council, wrote cryptically on Telegram about someone from a so-called brotherly country who had flirted with NATO.“Guess what fate awaits him …” added Russia’s former President Medvedev.The thinly veiled verbal jab reflected Russia’s current stance as Turkey-backed Azerbaijan escalated a three-decades-old conflict with Armenia. With a military base in the ex-Soviet country, Russia has long held the role of Armenia’s security guarantor, including managing tensions around Nagorno-Karabakh, which is inside Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders and has been held by its ethnic Armenian majority since the fall of the Soviet Union. In 2020, Russia negotiated a ceasefire agreement, monitored by Russian peacekeepers, between the two South Caucasus co...

Red Sox might have something in outfield prospect Wilyer Abreu

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

We’ve been hearing all season about some of Boston’s top prospects. Ceddanne Rafaela regularly went viral for one spectacular defensive play or another. Roman Anthony put the baseball world on notice with his breakout summer. Everyone’s constantly keeping tabs on Marcelo Mayer, and Kyle Teel barely needed a month to put his stamp on the organization.Yet the prospect who might be best positioned to make an impact on next year’s team could turn out to be Wilyer Abreu.Acquired alongside Enmanuel Valdez in last summer’s Christian Vazquez trade, the 24-year-old outfielder quietly put together a spectacular season in Triple-A and has drawn rave reviews since being called up to the big leagues on Aug. 22. Red Sox manager Alex Cora frequently speaks about him in glowing terms, and he’s gotten more playing time since being called up than either Rafaela or Valdez, both of whom have generally held a higher profile.“We knew about the strike zone, we kne...

Chinese officials voice faith in economy and keep interest rates steady as forecasts darken

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

Leading Chinese planners voiced confidence on Wednesday in the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy, holding key interest rates steady amid signs of improvement in some areas such as services. The upbeat tone of officials speaking at a news conference in Beijing was in contrast to forecasts by the Asian Development Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which say weakness in the Chinese economy are expected to further dent global and regional growth. Cong Liang, vice chairman of China’s chief planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters that the country’s resilience during past crises was grounds for confidence and that improved factory output and tourism figures show the economy is on the mend. He and the other senior economic officials did not present significant new data. They acknowledged daunting challenges in reviving growth, but were united in predicting that the ruling Communist Party will ensure that ...

UK inflation in surprise fall in August, though Bank of England still set to raise rates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in Britain fell unexpectedly in August to its lowest level since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to sharp rises in energy and food costs.The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index was 6.7% in the year August, down from 6.8% in July. The decline took inflation to its lowest level since February 2022.It said that lower hotel and air fare costs and a moderation in food price rises. They helped offset an increase in energy prices on the back of higher crude oil prices.The decline was unexpected. Most analysts had expected an increase to around 7%.Though the surprise decline was encouraging, inflation remains way above the Bank of England’s target rate of 2% and most economists think it will raise its main borrowing rate once again on Thursday by a quarter of a percentage point to a near 16-year high of 5.5%. Like other central banks around the world, the Bank of Engla...

Pope goes to Marseille to talk migration, but will Europe listen as it scrambles to stem an influx?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Ten years after Pope Francis made a landmark visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa to show solidarity with migrants, he is joining Catholic bishops from the Mediterranean this weekend in France to make the call more united. The question is whether anyone in European corridors of power will listen, as they scramble to stem a new tide of would-be refugees setting off from Africa.Francis’ overnight visit Friday to the French port city of Marseille to close out a meeting of Mediterranean bishops was scheduled months ago. But it comes as Europe’s migrant problem is once again making headlines, given the nearly 7,000 migrants who came ashore on Lampedusa within a day last week, briefly outnumbering the resident population.The drama has sparked another round of hand-wringing and pledges of solidarity from European capitals, with even talk of a naval blockade to prevent departures. It’s a policy Francis has long condemned given that an EU-funded operation to ret...

France is rolling out the red carpet for King Charles III’s three-day state visit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

PARIS (AP) — King Charles III of the United Kingdom starts a three-day state visit to France on Wednesday meant to highlight with great pomp both nations’ friendship, after the trip was postponed in March amid widespread demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension changes.Charles and Queen Camilla will be greeted by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne at Paris-Orly airport, before heading to the city center for a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in the presence of Macron and his wife, Brigitte. The visit shows “the deep historical ties that unite our two countries. It is also an opportunity to showcase France’s cultural, artistic and gastronomic excellence,” the French presidency said. At the Arc de Triomphe, both nations’ hymns will be played before a review of French troops and a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to “mark the shared sacrifices of the past and an enduring legacy of cooperation,” according to Buckingham Palace.The jet fighters of the Pa...

Prosecutors set to lay out case against officers in death of unarmed Black man in Denver suburb

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Prosecutors are expected to present opening statements after jury selection wraps up Wednesday in the trial of two police officers charged in the 2019 death of an unarmed Black man who was forcibly detained while walking on a Denver suburb. In the first of several trials stemming from the death of Elijah McClain, lawyers for the two sides are expected to paint contrasting pictures of the deadly struggle between the officers and the 23-year-old man, who was stopped by police as he walked home from a convenience store. One question jurors could be asked to decide is whether it was lawful for officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt to detain and use force against McClain, who a 911 caller had reported as being suspicious. If prosecutors can convince jurors the stop was unjustified, that would undermine any argument that McClain’s injuries were a result of the officers just doing their jobs.Roedema and Rosenblatt are both charged with criminally negligent homi...

At least 6 Palestinians are killed in latest fighting with Israel, Palestinian health officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:19 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank and unrest in the Gaza Strip have killed six Palestinians, Palestinian health officials said Wednesday, the latest spike in a wave of violence that has roiled the region for more than a year.The death toll from the most recent flare-up stood at four late Tuesday. But on Wednesday the Palestinian Health Ministry raised it, saying an Israeli raid into the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank killed four people and wounded some 30 others, while a raid in a separate refugee camp killed another Palestinian. A sixth Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire in unrest in the Gaza Strip, officials said.The deadly violence between Israel and the Palestinians over the last year and a half has surged to levels unseen in the West Bank in some two decades. Israel has stepped up its raids on Palestinian areas and Palestinian attacks against Israelis have been mounting. Tensions also appear to be spreading to Gaza.T...