USA

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.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With many Americans who got Pfizer vaccinations already rolling up their sleeves for a booster shot, millions of others who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine wait anxiously to learn when it’s their turn.

Federal regulators begin tackling that question this week.

12 Oct 2021; MEMO: A US official said yesterday that the White House stands by its calls for oil-producing countries to "do more" to support the global economic recovery, as crude prices recorded their highest levels in years, Reuters reported.

The official said the administration was closely monitoring the cost of oil and gasoline and "using every tool at our disposal to address anti-competitive practices in US and global energy markets to ensure reliable and stable energy markets."

12 Oct 2021; MEMO: Rare gifts awarded by Saudi Arabia to former US President Donald Trump during his first official visit to the kingdom in 2017 are fakes according to an investigation into their origins and whereabouts by the State Department.

SANTEE, Calif. (AP) — A twin-engine plane that killed at least two people and left a swath of destruction in a San Diego suburb nose-dived into the ground after repeated warnings that it was flying dangerously low, according to a recording.

The Cessna 340 smashed into a UPS van, killing the driver, and then hit houses just after noon Monday in Santee, a suburb of 50,000 people. The pilot also is believed to have died, and at least two people on the ground were hurt, including a woman who was helped out the window of a burning home by neighbors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund expressed “full confidence” in its managing director Tuesday in response to allegations that World Bank staff were pressured to change business rankings for China in an effort to placate Beijing.

The IMF’s 24-member executive board said in a statement that its review “did not conclusively demonstrate that the managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, played an improper role” in the situation in her former role as a top official of the World Bank.