North America

SAN JOSE, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- A small plane with five German nationals on board went missing near the Caribbean coast off Costa Rica on Friday afternoon, Public Security Minister Jorge Torres confirmed Friday night.

The minister said the plane was heading for the airport in Costa Rica's eastern province of Limon when it disappeared from the radar.

"Around 6:00 in the afternoon we received an alert about a private flight from Mexico to the Limon airport, this aircraft was traveling with five passengers of German nationality," Torres said in a video announcement.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced it would adjust many tax rules in a bid to curb skyrocketing inflation.

The measures range from individual income tax brackets to the standard deduction, which are expected to provide some limited degree of savings for taxpayers in 2023.

This comes at a time when the inflation has hit a 40-year high, and taxpayers are in need of relief, as many struggle to pay for food and gasoline.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants to tame inflation. He wants Congress to protect access to abortions. He wants to tackle voting rights. And he’s taking on China, promoting construction of new factories, addressing climate change, forgiving student debt, pardoning federal marijuana convictions, cutting the deficit, working to lower prescription drug prices and funneling aid to Ukraine.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A federal judge ruled Friday that relatives of people killed in the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max planes are crime victims under federal law and should have been told about private negotiations over a settlement that spared Boeing from criminal prosecution.

The full impact of the ruling is not yet clear, however. The judge said the next step is to decide what remedies the families should get for not being told of the talks with Boeing.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a Connecticut judge to throw out a nearly $1 billion verdict against him and order a new trial in a lawsuit by Sandy Hook families, who say they were subjected to harassment and threats from Jones’ lies about the 2012 Newtown school shooting.

Jones filed the requests Friday, saying Judge Barbara Bellis’ pretrial rulings resulted in an unfair trial and “a substantial miscarriage of justice.”

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Roslyn grew to Category 4 force on Saturday as it headed for a collision with Mexico’s Pacific coast, likely north of the resort of Puerto Vallarta.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Roslyn’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 130 mph (215 kph) early Saturday, and it was expected to grow still further.

The storm was centered about 170 miles (275 kilometers) south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes — the point of land jutting into the Pacific south of Puerto Vallarta — and moving north-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph).

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Inside the Minneapolis Police Academy’s sprawling campus on the city’s north side, six people sat soberly and listened to a handful of officers and city officials make their pitch about joining an understaffed department that is synonymous with the murder of George Floyd.

Officers would live in a bustling, vibrant metro area with a high quality of life, they said, working in a large department where they could choose a wide variety of career paths with comprehensive benefits.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — In a shelter on Mexico City’s east side, Venezuelan mechanic José Cuicas is waiting anxiously for an American friend to answer his request to sponsor him for one of the 24,000 visas the Biden administration says it will give to Venezuelans.

ATLANTA (AP) — Republican activists who believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump have crafted a plan that, in their telling, will thwart cheating in this year’s midterm elections.

The strategy: Vote in person on Election Day or — for voters who receive a mailed ballot — hold onto it and hand it in at a polling place or election office on Nov. 8.

Washington, Oct 21 (PTI) The US has alleged that Russian military personnel based in Crimea have been piloting Iranian drones and asserted that it will pursue all means to expose, deter and confront Iran's provision of these munitions against the Ukrainian people.

John Kirby, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, also claimed that there was clear evidence that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea.