Spending Showdown, Armenia, and Wisconsin Flamingos

Spending Showdown

House Republicans will begin debate this week on four separate funding bills ahead of a looming Sept. 30 deadline to avert a federal government shutdown. The bills, only a part of the 12 annual appropriations bills, cover the Defense, Agriculture, Homeland Security, and State Departments. 

Negotiations to date have almost entirely been held within the House GOP conference. With a slim 221-212 seat advantage in the chamber—and needing a simple majority to pass a bill—at least seven conservative lawmakers have told Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R, CA-20) they will oppose any short-term stopgap funding measure. 

The bloc has instead pushed for consideration of each individual spending bill, a promise McCarthy made during his run for speaker, along with deeper spending cuts and other provisions. Any bills would require approval from the Democratic-controlled Senate.

See a history of shutdowns over the past five decades here.

Armenian Evacuation

Roughly 120,000 ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a contested enclave in southwestern Azerbaijan, are likely to evacuate and move to Armenia. The announcement follows Azerbaijan's decisive, daylong takeover of the roughly 2,000 square mile mountainous territory last week.

The tensions stem from territorial divisions since at least 1923 when the nascent Soviet Union established Christian Nagorno-Karabakh as an oblast within the mostly Muslim Azerbaijan Soviet Republic. In 1991, Armenian separatists declared independence and increased their territory amid the Soviet Union's collapse, but the region—called the Republic of Artsakh by Armenians—failed to gain international recognition. Short but deadly flare-ups in 2016 and 2020 strengthened Azerbaijan's position, while Armenia's major ally, Russia, has had limited resources to contribute to the region's defense amid its foray into Ukraine.

Long-blockaded humanitarian aid has begun to arrive in the region. Azerbaijan announced it would guarantee protection for ethnic Armenians in the enclave, but Armenians have expressed concerns over ethnic cleansing. 

Pig Heart Transplant (Part II)

Surgeons successfully transplanted a modified pig heart into a human patient Friday, the second time in history the groundbreaking procedure has been performed. The recipient, 58-year-old Lawrence Faucette, was said to be awake and recovering, with the organ fully functioning absent any supportive devices. 

Known as xenotransplantation, the approach relies on pigs genetically engineered to not possess a specific sugar molecule, whose presence leads to organ rejection by the human body (see history). Doctors successfully carried out the first such procedure last January. The patient died two months after the surgery—not due to organ rejection but because of a number of factors, including the presence of a latent animal virus in the heart. The news follows the successful transplants of pig kidneys into brain-dead patients. 

Researchers hope such surgeries will eventually provide a source of viable organs for those awaiting transplants. More than 6,000 patients die each year while waiting for donors.

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

Help share 1440

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if more people read fact-focused, unbiased news? Take a minute to share this digest with your friends—They’ll thank you for it!

Half of US adults support prenuptial agreements. 

Ranking the best pumpkin beers. 

Wisconsin records its first flamingo sighting. 

Deep sea cam captures rare "Dumbo" octopus.

Airport worker steals—and then swallows—cash from passenger.

Live groundhog found wedged in car's wheel well. 

Somber photos of wandering icebergs.

Mexico's "aliens" are now claimed to have been pregnant.

Clickbait: Race winner gives very powerful kiss. 

Historybook: US Congress passes the Bill of Rights (1789); "Superman" actor Christopher Reeve born (1952); The Little Rock Nine integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas (1957); Will Smith born (1968); Catherine Zeta-Jones born (1969).