US Domestic News Roundup: Factbox-US government shutdown: What closes, what stays open?; California escapes fire season mostly unharmed, but danger could lie ahead and more

The deal reached between congressional Republican leadership and his administration in May would have funded essential domestic and national security priorities and still cut the budget deficit by $1 trillion over the next 10 years, Biden said at a congressional awards dinner on Saturday. Republicans appeal to far-right conservatives to avert US government shutdown With just a week before Washington runs out of money to keep the federal government fully operating, warring factions within the Republican Party in the U.S. Congress on Sunday showed no signs of coming together to pass a stopgap funding bill.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Factbox-US government shutdown: What closes, what stays open?

U.S. government services would be disrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed without pay if Congress fails to provide funding for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Workers deemed "essential" would remain on the job, but without pay. Many government agencies have not updated shutdown plans they have prepared in the past. Here is a guide to what would stay open and what would shut down:

California escapes fire season mostly unharmed, but danger could lie ahead

California is on the verge of recording a second straight year of relatively mild wildfire damage, after historic rains put the state on track to avoid the calamities of recent fire seasons. The state of nearly 40 million people has received 141% of average precipitation over the past 12 months, according to the state Department of Water Resources, ending a two-decade drought.

Weakening Ophelia brings more rain and flood risk to U.S. East Coast

Ophelia, downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, brought more rain and wind as it moved along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, forecasters said on Sunday. The weather system came ashore near Emerald Isle, North Carolina on Saturday where it doused the region with torrential downpours and unrelenting winds that caused flooding and widespread power outages.

Molotov cocktails thrown at Cuban embassy in Washington

An assailant attacked the Cuban embassy in Washington with two Molotov cocktails on Sunday night, Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said on X, adding that nobody was hurt. The attack occurred just hours after Cuba's leader Miguel Díaz-Canel returned to the island, having attended events at the United Nations in New York last week.

Striking Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studios

Hollywood's writers union reached a preliminary labor agreement with major studios on Sunday, a deal expected to end one of two strikes that have halted most film and television production and cost the California economy billions. The three-year contract still must be approved by leadership of the Writers Guild of America (WGA,) as well as union members, before it can take effect.

US House to press forward with spending cuts despite shutdown risk

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is due to try to advance steep spending cuts this week that stand no chance of becoming law and could force a partial shutdown of the U.S. government by next Sunday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sought to avoid that scenario when he hammered out a spending agreement with Democratic President Joe Biden this spring. But some members of his own party have threatened to depose him if he does not support steeper cuts that are sure to be rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Exclusive-U.S. exploring potential space force hotline with China, U.S. commander says

The United States Space Force has had internal discussions about setting up a hotline with China to prevent crises in space, U.S. commander General Chance Saltzman told Reuters on Monday. The chief of space operations said a direct line of communication between the Space Force and its Chinese counterpart would be valuable in de-escalating tensions but that the U.S. had not yet engaged with China to establish one.

Biden says Republicans should live up to budget deal

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday rebuked what he called "extreme Republicans", saying the party's lawmakers needed to take immediate steps to prevent a government shutdown ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline. The deal reached between congressional Republican leadership and his administration in May would have funded essential domestic and national security priorities and still cut the budget deficit by $1 trillion over the next 10 years, Biden said at a congressional awards dinner on Saturday.

Republicans appeal to far-right conservatives to avert US government shutdown

With just a week before Washington runs out of money to keep the federal government fully operating, warring factions within the Republican Party in the U.S. Congress on Sunday showed no signs of coming together to pass a stopgap funding bill. Congress so far has failed to finish any of the 12 regular spending bills to fund federal agency programs in the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1.

How DeSantis' early missteps hobbled his U.S. presidential bid

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had a chance in April to address Donald Trump's growing momentum toward the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Like several such opportunities, he let it pass him by. DeSantis was in Japan at the time on an international tour – a step often taken by presidential hopefuls to burnish their foreign policy credentials. Trump had launched his own candidacy five months earlier and had spent much of that time attacking the governor, who was considered his most formidable potential challenger but had yet to declare.