Inflation drops to a two-year low in Europe

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation that has plagued Europeans declined sharply in September to the lowest level in two years, strengthening hopes that consumers will get relief from costlier groceries, vacations and haircuts — and that the European Central Bank won’t have to further restrict the economy by raising interest rates from already-record highs. The annual rate was 4.3% this month, a drop from 5.2% in August, and the lowest since October 2021, the European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat, said Friday. But recently higher oil prices are casting a shadow over prospects for quickly beating inflation down to the central bank’s target of 2%.

Mexico’s president slams US aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president on Friday slammed U.S. aid for Ukraine and economic sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and other nations as the first of two high-level U.S.-Mexico meetings got underway in Washington. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a broad criticism of U.S. foreign policy, saying U.S. economic sanctions were forcing people to emigrate from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The harsh comments came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai met their Mexican counterparts at the State Department.

More than 80% of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population flees

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The exodus of more than 80% of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh raises questions about Azerbaijan’s plans for the ethnic Armenian enclave following its lightning offensive last week to reclaim the breakaway region. The Armenian government said Friday evening that more than 97,700 people, from a population of around 120,000, had fled to Armenia since Azerbaijan attacked and ordered the region’s militants to disarm. The enclave’s separatist government said it would dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence.

Dozens dead after blast in southwestern Pakistan at a rally

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of people celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 52 people and wounding nearly 70 others, authorities said, in one of the country’s deadliest attacks targeting civilians in months. An open area near a mosque was left strewn with the shoes of the dead and wounded, TV footage and videos on social media showed. Bodies lay covered with bedsheets. Residents and rescuers were seen rushing the wounded to hospitals.