USA

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A man seen on surveillance video wearing an American flag bandanna when he threw a Molotov cocktail into the headquarters of the county Democratic Party in Austin was arrested in Texas, a fire official said.

Ryan Faircloth, 30, was booked Friday in the Travis County jail. He was charged with arson and possessing a prohibited weapon — the Molotov cocktail — according to Austin Fire arson investigator Capt. Jeffrey Deane.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington’s tempestuous week of walking, chewing gum, juggling balls and spinning plates at the same time is giving rise to apocalyptic rhetoric about the state and future of the country.

Four big things are happening at once, all attended by hyperventilation.

The White House talks of a “cataclysmic economic threat” if Republicans don’t start cooperating. Republicans assail Democrats for unleashing a “big-government socialist nation.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says: “Insanity and disaster are now the Republican Party line.”

02 Oct 2021; MEMO: The US has urged Turkey on Friday not to buy more Russian S-400 air defence systems, warning of further risks if the purchase goes ahead, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told journalists.

02 Oct 2021; MEMO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday expressed his concerns about the expulsion of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah and increasing tension at Al-Aqsa Mosque, fearing that this could lead to a new war.

Speaking to Israeli Walla! news website, Blinken stated that the US understands the necessity to return Israeli soldiers captive in Gaza to their homes and that the US will help.

United Nations, Oct 2 (PTI) President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid has said that the long-pending reform of the Security Council is a membership-driven issue and he will soon appoint facilitators for the negotiating process.

India, currently in the Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term, has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Council.

HOUSTON (AP) — A former student of a Houston public charter school shot and wounded the campus principal Friday before quickly surrendering to police, authorities said.

The 25-year-old man shot through a locked, glass door at YES Prep Southwest Secondary, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said. No students were hurt.

Police initially identified the wounded as a school employee, but a statement from the YES Prep charter system later identified him as Principal Eric Espinoza.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief informed Ethiopia on Friday that it has no legal right to expel seven U.N. officials and warned that severe restrictions on desperately needed aid to the conflict-wracked Tigray region have created a humanitarian and human rights crisis that is “spiraling out of control.”

Tigray is facing a near-blockade by the government on deliveries of food, fuel and other humanitarian supplies, and children are reportedly dying of famine.

(AP) --- The House committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, with its latest round of subpoenas, may uncover the degree to which former President Donald Trump, his campaign and White House were involved in planning the rally — which had been billed as a grassroots demonstration — that preceded the riot.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alek Skarlatos, a hero soldier-turned-Republican congressional candidate, started a nonprofit shortly after his 2020 defeat in western Oregon, pledging to advocate for veterans “left high and dry” by the country “they put their lives on the line for.”

The group, which Skarlatos seeded with $93,000 in leftover campaign funds, has done little since then to advance that cause.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has pledged at the Capitol to “get it done” as Democrats strained to rescue a scaled-back version of his $3.5 trillion government-overhaul plan and salvage a related public works bill after days of frantic negotiations.

But it’s not getting done right now.