Federal government shutdowns mean the halting of several integral aid programs, but some departments in Connecticut wouldn’t experience an instant impact. Government shutdowns have negligible impact on federally-funded housing programs, according to the state Department of Housing. Many of the federal department of Housing and Urban Development programs are funded on a calendar year basis.

As lawmakers continue to try to avoid a government shutdown on Sunday, members of both parties, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are working to make sure members of the military — and, in particular, the U.S. Coast Guard — are not left out. Active duty military and some...

We turn now to Armenia, which continues to see refugees from the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan pour across the border. The ethnic Armenian enclave declared independence from Azerbaijan in the waning days of the Soviet Union and has been the scene of conflict ever since. An attack by Azerbaijani forces earlier this month led to the capitulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh government and the exit of most of the enclave's Armenian population.

And now for our weekly dose of wonder - black holes. Astrophysicist and NPR's scientist in residence, Regina Barber, reports how these mysterious objects can hold the mass of millions of suns and also a few lessons that we humans can apply to everyday life. REGINA BARBER, BYLINE: When I...

A government shutdown would spread grief way beyond Washington. Most federal workers live outside the D.C. area. For example, the federal government is the largest employer in greater Kansas City, where about 41,000 people stand to temporarily lose their livelihoods. And as Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports, they're hunkering down.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) The next marvelous advancement in robotics is artificial intelligence. SHAPIRO: NPR's Mandalit del Barco spoke to the writer director of "The Creator," a science fiction drama about AI. MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: The story is set on Earth in the year 2070. Humans in the...

The annual monarch butterfly migration is well underway. The insects are due to arrive in Mexico just in time for the Day of the Dead in early November. For decades, scientists with the nonprofit group Monarch Watch have relied on thousands of volunteers to try and figure out the mysteries behind this long-distance journey. Iowa Public Radio's Sheila Brummer has more.

A shutdown of the federal government could happen over the weekend, but the Department of Veterans Affairs said it would not have any impact locally. Sarah Robinson, a spokesperson for the VA in central and western Massachusetts, said the department's healthcare facilities in Northampton, Pittsfield, Greenfield, Worcester and Fitchburg will all remain open.

Parts of New York are swamped from a day of drenching rains that flooded roadways and inundated subways and street-level shops and apartments. The rain appeared to set a record at JFK Airport, and the governors of both New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency. WNYC's Charles Lane joins us from downtown Brooklyn. Charles, how wet are you? How's the city coping?

Today a man was charged with murder in a killing that took place nearly 30 years ago, a shooting that transformed the music world and became a defining moment in hip-hop. Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill announced the charges at a press conference in Las Vegas. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

Connecticut agricultural crops were devastated by a freeze on May 18. Now, it appears the state’s acorn crop was also negatively impacted, which could be bad news for dozens of animal species who depend on acrons as key food source in the fall. The majority of the state is...

Connecticut has consistently ranked in the top three-to-five states with the highest number of impaired driving fatalities each year. “It's a major issue in Connecticut,” said Eric Jackson, executive director of the CT Transportation Institute at the University of Connecticut. “And probably over the last 15 to 20 years, we've not had a noticeable decline in the number of impaired driving fatalities.”

If a federal spending package isn’t passed by Sunday, the government could shutdown. Thousands of Connecticut residents will be impacted if federal lawmakers can’t come up with a resolution to fund the U.S. government by Oct. 1. A small group of hard-right Republicans have sent the U.S. House...

On the very same day – Sunday, Oct. 1 – the machinery of the federal student loan program is officially set to crank back up to speed after three and a half years of dust-gathering, a smattering of House Republicans may well shut the entire U.S. government down.

House conservatives blocked a Republican bill to avoid a government shutdown, dealing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy another defeat with the clock ticking toward the midnight deadline on Saturday when federal agencies run out of money. The failure is the latest display of the dysfunction that has engulfed Congress in the...

Harry Hausler was speaking at an event a few months ago in Khayelitsha, a Cape Town township, where he ran into several people he knew but hadn't seen in years. Hausler, a family physician, had first met them back around 2007, a period when people living with AIDS in South Africa could not count on getting access to life-saving treatment. These patients were "really emaciated" at that time, says Hausler. "Their immune systems were completely depleted."

LONDON — The tree was special, giving visitors to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England, a magical backdrop for picnics, proposals and vacation photos — and supplying the rest of us with an image that looked to be a pinnacle of nature's timeless peace. But the famous Sycamore Gap...

New York City — Donald J. Trump's sprawling web of businesses in New York faces grave danger and could unravel swiftly after this week's fraud ruling by a state Supreme Court judge, legal and business experts say. The summary judgment issued Tuesdayconcluded that the former president and his associates,...

The United Auto Workers expanded its historic strike against General Motors and Ford by adding two additional assembly plants, ramping up pressure on the companies to come to a new contract deal. Workers at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant and GM's Lansing-Delta Assembly Plant walked off their jobs at noon. The...

Connecticut politicians are paying tribute to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who died Thursday night. U.S. Senator Chris Murphy said Feinstein, the oldest sitting U.S. senator, paved the way for the modern anti-gun violence movement. "As a first-term senator in 1994, she defied the odds, beat the NRA, and...