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Gov. Chris Christie moved Monday to block same-sex marriages that are supposed to begin in late October after a judge’s ruling last week that the New Jersey Constitution requires the state to allow them.
US government is shutting down in fiscal impasse
WASHINGTON — A flurry of last-minute moves by the House, Senate and White House late Monday failed to break a bitter budget standoff over President Barack Obama’s health care law, setting in motion the first government shutdown in nearly two decades.
Al-Qaida plot leak has undermined US intelligence
WASHINGTON — As the nation’s spy agencies assess the fallout from disclosures about their surveillance programs, some government analysts and senior officials have made a startling finding: The impact of a leaked terrorist plot by al-Qaida in August has caused more immediate damage to U.S. counterterrorism efforts than the thousands of classified documents disclosed by Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor.
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Backed by near-unanimous critical praise, insistent social media conversation and intense coverage on every form of talk show, “Breaking Bad” soared to its highest ratings ever — and one of the top ratings all time for a drama on cable television — in its finale Sunday night on AMC.
Another sunny week
High pressure remains over Cambridge, bringing with it another week of pleasant weather. High temperatures this week will be around 10 degrees higher than average for early October. Sunny skies will prevail, with no precipitation likely through Saturday.
North Carolina governor assails suit on new voting laws
Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina pushed back hard against the Obama administration Monday, saying that a lawsuit by the Justice Department over the state’s restrictive voter identification laws was a politically influenced overreach.
Russian court orders Greenpeace activists held
MOSCOW — A Russian court ordered Thursday that 10 Greenpeace activists, including a U.S. ship captain and a photographer who was accompanying the group, be held in custody for two months while the authorities investigate whether a demonstration at an offshore oil rig in the Arctic was an act of piracy.
Detroit manager seeks to freeze pension plan
On Thursday, the emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, issued the preliminary results of a three-month investigation that identified diversions of shared money into individual accounts, real estate investments that lost millions of dollars and “disconcerting administrative protocols” for handling health care and other benefits.
Security council agrees on resolution to rid Syria of chemicals
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agreed on a resolution that will require Syria to give up its chemical weapons, but the text will not threaten the use of force for a failure to comply, officials said.
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NAIROBI, Kenya — Only days after heavily armed assailants stormed a crowded mall and killed scores of people in the capital, militants killed three people near the border with Somalia, Kenyan officials said Thursday, putting this country even further on edge.
Quiet, sunny weather persists
It will be a pleasant early fall weekend, thanks to a high pressure system that will remain in control of our weather. The high temperatures will be near or slightly above the climatological normal value of 69°F, while the low temperatures will likely be slightly cooler than the climatological normal value of 54°F, thanks to mostly clear skies that allow for strong radiative cooling at night. It is unlikely we will receive rain before the end of the month on Monday, so we will fall far short of the 3.44” that is the climatological average for September precipitation (so far, we’ve received 2.21”). Looking farther ahead, a coastal low will pass to our east on Monday night. There is significant model spread in the position of the low, but there is a chance that rain will impact the Cape and Islands.
Davis is expected to run for Texas governor
HOUSTON — Wendy Davis, the Texas state senator whose filibuster in June against an abortion bill backed by the state’s powerful Republicans catapulted her to national political prominence, has told supporters and potential donors that she plans to announce next week that she will run for governor, according to Democrats in Texas and Washington.
EA sports settles lawsuit with college athletes
EA Sports and the Collegiate Licensing Co., two defendants in a lawsuit filed by student-athletes seeking to be paid, have settled their roles in the case, according to a federal court filing Thursday.
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BOSTON — Edward Davis, the Boston police commissioner who rose to national prominence after the marathon bombings in April, said Monday that he was stepping down voluntarily from his job in the next month or two.
Pakistan Christians demand protection after church bombing
LONDON — With its Muslim-style minarets topped by a large black cross, the All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, has for more than a century offered a daring architectural expression of Muslim-Christian harmony and cohabitation.
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ATYRAU, Kazakhstan — On the northern reaches of the Caspian Sea, not far from this old Soviet town known for its oil and sturgeon, lies a vast new oil find, the biggest outside the Middle East. China was rebuffed when it asked for a stake 10 years ago.
Eternal sunshine of the Fall semester
The Institute will once again experience a string of sunny days this week, with light winds and seasonable temperatures. This weather pattern will be quite similar to that of last week, in which a high pressure system was situated over New England for a majority of the week. Last week’s high pressure system resulted in sunshine from Tuesday through Saturday, before a cold front came through on Saturday night. Likewise, that cold front has ushered in a new high pressure system, which is expected to remain in place through the weekend and potentially into next week. The result will be clear skies, with temperatures reaching the upper 60s (°F) in the afternoon, and falling into the low-to-mid 50s (°F) overnight.
Former FBI agent pleads guilty in leak to the AP
WASHINGTON — A former FBI agent has agreed to plead guilty to leaking classified information to The Associated Press about a foiled bomb plot in Yemen last year, the Justice Department announced Monday. Federal investigators said they identified him after obtaining phone logs of Associated Press reporters.
Egyptian court bans Muslim brotherhood
CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Monday ordered the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and the confiscation of its assets, sharply escalating a broad crackdown on the group in the three months since the military ousted its ally, Mohammed Morsi, from the presidency.