TULTEPEC, Mexico — Every year, in the first week of March, hundreds of giant paper-mache bulls stuffed with fireworks are erected in the front yards of the Mexican town of Tultepec. Thousands of restless fingers carefully cut, pasted and painted the colorful patterns that brought the “toritos” to life on Friday, during an annual celebration … Read more
COMANESTI, Romania — A small industrial town in northeast Romania may seem like an unlikely tourist destination, but Comanesti is where huge numbers of visitors from as far away as Japan choose to spend part of the winter holiday season. They converge here to see an annual event that grew out of a millennia-old tradition … Read more
COMANESTI, Romania — Centuries ago, people in what is now northeastern Romania donned bear skins and danced to fend off evil spirits. That custom is today known as the Dancing Bears Festival, drawing crowds of tourists every December. Hundreds of people of all ages, clad in bear costumes, dance every year around Christmas to the … Read more
JERUSALEM — There was no trace of Hanan Yablonka — not on the 42-year-old Israeli’s social media accounts nor on his phone, found in the bullet-riddled car he and three friends tried to flee in after Hamas militants attacked the music festival they were attending in southern Israel. The friends were killed in the Oct. … Read more
LUCKNOW, India — Millions of Indians celebrated Diwali on Sunday with a Guinness World Record number of bright earthen oil lamps as concerns about air pollution soared in the South Asian country. Across the country, dazzling multi-colored lights decked homes and streets as devotees celebrated the annual Hindu festival of light symbolizing the victory of … Read more
When Hamas unleashed its attack on thousands of Jews attending a music festival in southern Israel earlier this month, an Israeli Arab paramedic insisted on staying at the scene to try to save lives. In the end, he gave his own. Awad Darawshe was 23, single, handsome — but he wasn’t at the Tribe of … Read more
KIBBUTZ RE’IM, Israel — The two militants were just ahead of him, spraying gunfire from their motorcycle at passing cars. One militant was driving, the 50-year-old man said, and the other sat behind, shooting at any target he saw. At least one wore body armor. “He didn’t see me,” Michael Silberberg said. So Silberberg made … Read more