“China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August that circled the globe before speeding towards it

, demonstrating an advanced space capability that caught U.S. intelligence by surprise,” the Financial Times reported over the weekend. Newsweek cannot independently verify the report but defense experts have raised concerns about what this means for U.S. foreign policy and the risks facing Western countries. “We have no idea how they did this,” a person briefed on the intelligence told the FT.

Hypersonic missiles are difficult to defend against because these “hypersonic glide vehicles” can be maneuvered in-flight, traveling around five times the speed of sound and, because of the way they move, difficult to trace with existing anti-missile defenses. That said, in this reported test, the missile missed its target by 24 miles so it is some way from being a functional weapon for now. “We don’t have a global strategy and plans of military operations like the U.S. does,” A Chinese official said. “And we are not at all interested in having an arms race with other countries.”

What happens now? Talk of the “new Cold War” is already extensively reported and, while Chinese officials say they are not in an arms race, Professor Jeffrey Lewis, known on social media as @ArmsControlWonk, says: “It will go on like this, at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, a forever race with no finish line.” Earlier this month, the CIA announced a new China Mission Center to gather intelligence so it feels like any race is just starting.

Deeper reading: China’s Hypersonic Missiles: How Worried Should the U.S. Be About Futuristic Weapons?

As the House and Senate return from recess, congressional Democrats are gearing up for a year-end sprint to unify their fractured caucus behind a spending bill that’s crucial to President Joe Biden’s agenda,and make deals on raising the debt limit and government spending to avoid a federal shutdown. The Democratic-controlled House and Senate will have only 10 legislative days to meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s October 31 deadline to pass both the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a multi-trillion-dollar spending bill known as the Build Back Better Act.

The infrastructure vote was delayed earlier this month amid a standoff between progressives and moderates in the party over the size, scope and priorities of the $3.5 trillion spending bill, which Biden expects to shrink to $2 trillion. Both sides are still yet to agree on a final price tag. Progressive leaders and moderates still need to iron out sticking points in the larger package, including health care expansion, funding to reduce climate change, and limits on the price of prescription drugs.

What happens now? The vote has already been delayed once and, while Pelosi was really clear about the end of October, if certain issues are not resolved, a further delay could be announced later in the week. If that does happen, it will be a particularly busy run-in to Christmas for officials, with January 6 Capitol Riots investigations (mentioned in World in Brief), further debt ceiling wrangling and this infrastructure bill all due before the festive period.

Deeper reading: Infrastructure Bill Live Updates: Democrats Return to Capitol for Showdown Over Multi-trillion Dollar Funding Packages