Today’s Virginia Times Daily News Briefing covers new federal election-security measures ahead of the midterms, Jack Smith’s Senate testimony, deadly monsoon damage in Nepal, Washington’s RFK Stadium redevelopment plan, and major developments in the artificial-intelligence industry.
In This Roundup
- U.S. military cyber forces assigned to protect midterm election systems
- Jack Smith heads to Senate hearing over Trump investigations
- Floods and landslides kill 12 in Nepal’s Baglung district
- D.C. advances sweeping redevelopment vision for RFK Stadium site
- Anthropic warns of potentially catastrophic AI risks in IPO filing
1 U.S. military cyber forces assigned to protect midterm election systems
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed U.S. military cyber forces, including the National Security Agency, to help protect election infrastructure from foreign interference ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. An order dated Sept. 22 calls on Defense Department agencies to use available cyber capabilities to defend election systems and guard against foreign influence. Federal cybersecurity assistance for election infrastructure predates the current administration, but the announcement comes after the Trump administration dismantled the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Sources: U.S. Department of War · Associated Press
2 Jack Smith heads to Senate hearing over Trump investigations
Former special counsel Jack Smith is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his investigations of President Donald Trump. Smith is expected to defend his investigative decisions and the collection of phone and text toll records involving Republican lawmakers during the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In prepared remarks, Smith says his decisions were based on evidence and that threats of prosecution will not silence him.
Sources: U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee · Reuters
3 Floods and landslides kill 12 in Nepal’s Baglung district
At least 12 people have died after days of heavy rainfall triggered floods and landslides across Baglung district in western Nepal. Police said the deaths occurred Sept. 25-27 in Tarakhola, Tamankhola and Nisikhola rural municipalities. One person remains missing. Authorities reported 51 houses destroyed and another 51 partially damaged, along with three suspension bridges. Two police offices and two hydropower projects were also damaged.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
The continuing monsoon disruption has also cut all three major Nepal-China border crossings. Korala became inaccessible after flooding, landslides and road erosion along the Kali Gandaki corridor; Rasuwagadhi-Kerung has remained closed since the catastrophic Aug. 26 flood; and the Chinese side of Tatopani has been closed for about a month.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
4 D.C. advances sweeping redevelopment vision for RFK Stadium site
Washington’s government has unveiled a master plan for redevelopment of the former RFK Stadium property, one of the most consequential development projects underway in the Washington region. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan covers roughly 180 acres along the Anacostia River and envisions a Washington Commanders stadium surrounded by parks, shops and as many as 6,500 homes. City officials say one-third of the housing would be affordable.
Source: D.C. Office of Planning
5 Anthropic warns of potentially catastrophic AI risks in IPO filing
Anthropic has used its IPO filing to issue an unusually extensive warning about risks from increasingly capable artificial-intelligence systems. The Claude developer said advanced models could potentially resist shutdown, conceal information or manipulate people, while acknowledging significant uncertainty about how effectively such risks can be controlled. Roughly 80 pages of the 261-page prospectus are devoted to risk factors, according to Reuters.
Source: Reuters
The disclosure comes amid another significant AI-industry development: AMD announced an $8.2 billion all-stock agreement to acquire AI startup World Labs, founded by computer-vision researcher Fei-Fei Li. The deal is aimed at expanding AMD’s capabilities in spatial intelligence and so-called physical AI and is expected to close by the end of 2026.
Source: AMD Newsroom
Editor’s Note: This roundup was prepared with the assistance of AI tools. Virginia Times gathered the source material from multiple sources and thoroughly reviewed the information before publication.
