Congress passes a short-term funding bill with just hours left to avoid a government shutdown. And Japan looks to be the next country to land on the lunar surface with its ‘moon sniper’ explorer. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Friday, Jan. 19. Congress passes short-term funding bill to avert government shutdown…

The new year came with a new, staggering milestone for the U.S. The national debt breached $34 trillion. The latest spending package from Congress won’t help chip away at the mounting total, which has doubled in the last decade. Who buys all of the debt? Here’s a look at the lenders to the United States.…

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has officially terminated efforts for reunification with South Korea, citing the nation’s bolstered defense capabilities and strengthened ties with Russia. The announcement, made through the state-run Korean Central News Agency, emphasized Pyongyang’s view of Seoul as its primary adversary, attributing the decision to Seoul’s strengthened joint military exercises with…

A driving force in the U.S. military is preparing for competition with near-peer adversaries like China and Russia. But as it turns out, perhaps those peers aren’t so near. For decades, Russia said it controlled the world’s “second army.” However, current events in Ukraine are punching plenty of holes in that argument. This leaves China…

A Japan Airlines plane with nearly 400 people aboard caught fire as it skidded down the runway after local media reported it crashed into Coast Guard aircraft while landing at Haneda Airport. All passengers and crew members escaped unscathed, according to the airline. I felt a boom like we had hit something and jerked upward…

An attacker stabs the leader of South Korea’s opposition party during a press event. And a plane with nearly 400 people on board catches fire while landing in Japan. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. Political leader in South Korea stabbed on livestream The leader of South Korea’s…

It’s the end of an era dating back to World War I. The United States Marine Corps isn’t training scout snipers anymore. On Dec. 15, the last eight graduated from the Marines’ scout sniper training school in North Carolina. The decision to phase out scout snipers is part of the Corps’ Force Design 2030, a…

The U.S. military’s X-37B robot space plane blasted off on another secretive mission Thursday night, Dec. 28, this time with the help of SpaceX. The plane, resembling a mini space shuttle, has no crew on board and carries classified experiments. This was the first time the plane was launched atop SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from…

The United States Air Force is rebuilding the airfield used to launch the nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II, reclaiming Tinian Island’s north field from the jungle — just in case it’s needed in a war with China. Diplomatic efforts to prevent a conflict notwithstanding, the U.S. and China are on a path…

A U.S. military ship is recovering wreckage believed to be from a crashed U.S. Air Force V-22 Osprey off the southwestern coast of Japan. The Osprey, based at Yokota Air Base and carrying eight passengers, crashed on Nov. 29 during routine training in Kagoshima Prefecture. The crash killed all eight passengers. Seven of the crewmen…