North America

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Pamela hit Mexico’s Pacific coast just north of the port city of Mazatlan Wednesday at hurricane force, bringing high winds and rain to the city.

Pamela regained hurricane strength just before it hit the coast 40 miles (65 kms) north of Mazatlan, which also serves as a resort for Mexican tourists.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Pamela had maximum winds of about 75 mph (120 kph) at landfall, though it is expected to quickly weaken as it moves inland.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of retirees on Social Security will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022. The biggest cost-of-living adjustment in 39 years follows a burst in inflation as the economy struggles to shake off the drag of the coronavirus pandemic.

The COLA, as it’s commonly called, amounts to $92 a month for the average retired worker, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Social Security Administration. That marks an abrupt break from a long lull in inflation that saw cost-of-living adjustments averaging just 1.65% a year over the last 10 years.

13 Oct 2021; MEMO: The United States yesterday condemned cross-border attacks on Turkish soil and offered condolences for the killings of two Turkish police officers in northern Syria, Anadolu reported.

"We condemn the cross-border attack against our NATO ally Turkey," State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a news conference. "We express our condolences to the families of the Turkish national police officers who were killed in Syria."

13 Oct 2021; MEMO: US Speaker of the Congress Nancy Pelosi said that bipartisan support for Israel in the US is a source of pride, the Jerusalem Post reported.

"It is a privilege to talk about the importance of the US-Israel bond, one based on our mutual security, mutual values, and is again something that is a source of pride to all of us in the Congress who work on this," Pelosi said in a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two U.S. Postal Service workers were fatally shot Tuesday at a postal facility in Memphis and a third employee identified as the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot, authorities said. It was the third high-profile shooting in or near that west Tennessee city in weeks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the House on Tuesday pushed through a short-term increase to the nation’s debt limit, ensuring the federal government can continue fully paying its bills into December and temporarily averting an unprecedented default that would have decimated the economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the country moves to require all international visitors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 12 (APP): Noting that the global arms control order is in a state of “virtual demise”, Pakistan Tuesday called for a new order to counter the growing challenges stemming from deep divisions in approaches, perspectives and priorities.

WASHINGTON, October 12. /TASS/: The average oil price in 2021 is expected to be almost 60% higher than in 2020 and reach $65.68 per barrel, according to the October report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The top one percent of American earners now holds a bigger share of U.S. wealth than all of the country's middle class, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

America's super rich held 27 percent of national wealth as of June, a figure for the first time higher than that of the U.S. middle class, or the middle 60 percent of households regarding income distribution by economists' definition, which saw their combined assets drop to 26.6 percent of national wealth, Bloomberg cited Federal Reserve data as saying.