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In addition to shutdowns of national parks (including Alcatraz Island and Yosemite) and the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, the mandatory furloughs are affecting a wide range of government science and health agencies.

There isn’t even a glint of solution somewhere off on the horizon, NPR’s Mara Liasson says. On Morning Edition, she told host Steve Inskeep that as of Wednesday morning there was “no escape hatch.”

The Senate’s votes have been along party lines when it comes to the so-called shutdown showdown.

A team of chemical weapons experts has arrived in Syria, where they will begin the long and complicated task of destroying the country’s chemical weapons arsenal.

Scientists think they’ve identified the source of a massive volcanic eruption that occurred in A.D. 1257 and spread telltale traces across the globe.

He said he will not negotiate with Republicans when it comes to a cornerstone of his health care law, and he will not negotiate when it comes to another congressional battle to raise the debt ceiling in a little more than two weeks.

It’s happened: With lawmakers in Washington at loggerheads over the same issues they’ve been arguing about for more than five years, the federal government has partially shut down.

Canada is ushering in what it projects to be a $1.3 billion medical marijuana free market this week, as it replaces small and homegrown pot production with quality-controlled marijuana produced by large farms.

The Justice Department is preparing to sue North Carolina over that state’s restrictive new voting law. The lawsuit takes aim at provisions that limit early voting periods and require a government photo ID as an illegal form of discrimination against minorities at the ballot box, according to a person briefed on the Justice Department’s plans.

A spate of car bombs exploded during Baghdad’s morning rush hour Monday, killing at least 47 people and wounding dozens more.