Five Things to Know, Sept. 25, 2023
1. Nine U.S. and South Korean navy vessels began three days of live-fire and antisubmarine exercises Monday in the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, according to the South Korean military. The maritime warfare exercise answers North Korean threats, including the regime’s failed satellite launch on Aug. 24 and the unveiling of a new submarine on Sept. 6, the Ministry of National Defense said in a news release.
2. Government operations will begin to shut down at midnight on Saturday unless lawmakers this week can reach an agreement on how to extend the current federal budget, a compromise that has been elusive for months. The fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, and with it so does the budget plan to keep almost all federal operations active. Fights between Democrats and Republicans on future federal spending levels — and fights within the House GOP caucus itself — have not produced any likely plans so far to stave off an appropriations lapse.
3. Medical care and burials at its cemeteries would continue at the Department of Veterans Affairs in the event of a government shutdown, as would benefits such as disability compensation, pensions, education and housing assistance, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said Friday. But the department would still feel the effects of federal closures, with workers furloughed and some offices shuttered, McDonough said during a press conference. Still, as a result of advanced appropriations that the VA receives each year from Congress, he said much of the department will continue operating.
4. A Russian drone and missile strike near Odesa damaged port infrastructure, a grain silo and an abandoned hotel and injured one person, as attacks on Ukraine killed four civilians and wounded 13 in the past day, Ukrainian officials said Monday. Ukraine’s air force reported downing all Russian drones overnight, but one of 12 Kalibr missiles and two P-800 Oniks cruise missiles apparently made it past air defenses the day after the war in Ukraine entered its 20th month.
5. Los Alamos was the perfect spot for the U.S. government’s top-secret Manhattan Project. Almost overnight, the ranching enclave on a remote plateau in northern New Mexico was transformed into a makeshift home for scientists, engineers and young soldiers racing to develop the world’s first atomic bomb. Dirt roads were hastily built and temporary housing came in the form of huts and tents as the outpost's population ballooned. The community is facing growing pains again, 80 years later, as Los Alamos National Laboratory takes part in the nation's most ambitious nuclear weapons effort since World War II. The mission calls for modernizing the arsenal with droves of new workers producing plutonium cores — key components for nuclear weapons.