10 things you need to know today: December 4, 2017

Tensions rise as the U.S. and South Korea start military drills, Congress faces another tough week with a shutdown looming, and more

Fighter jets on an air base in South Korea
(Image credit: Senior Airman Colby L. Hardin/U.S. Air Force via Getty Images)

1. North Korea threatens response to U.S.-South Korea military exercises

Hundreds of South Korean and U.S. military aircraft, including two dozen stealth jets, started five days of war games on Monday, a week after North Korea test-fired its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile ever — one that could target the U.S. East Coast. The U.S. Seventh Air Force said the timing was not in response to any provocation by Pyongyang. The training exercises are held each year in the late fall. North Korean state media said the drill pushed the Korean Peninsula "to the brink of nuclear war" and that the U.S. and South Korea would "pay dearly for their provocations." On Saturday, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said the risk of war with North Korea is "increasing every day."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.