Revised FEMA funds ease shutdown fears

The threat of a partial government shutdown appeared to ease today with the disclosure that money to aid victims of natural disasters may last through the end of the budget year.

Plymouth County district attorney Timothy Cruz spoke to the media in front of the apartment building where the murder occurred.

George Rizer for The Boston Globe

Manhunt, arrest follow fatal Marshfield stabbing

State and local police have located and taken into custody a suspect this morning in the fatal stabbing of a woman in a domestic violence incident.

Massachusetts community colleges to get $20 million

The federal government will give the funds to 15 colleges to increase their workforce training programs in industries facing a shortage of technically skilled employees.

Television Review

‘Terra Nova’ should mine present instead of past

The show, which debuts tonight on Fox with a two-hour episode starting at 8 p.m., isn’t exactly boring TV, but the writing needs to make sure the human drama is vital and distinctive amid all the digital dinosaurs.

Revolutionary engine may face uphill climb

The Massachusetts-designed "split-cycle" motor gets 65 miles per gallon, but selling the radical engine to the world’s automakers will be a challenge.

Distance from past decisions helps Romney frame message

During the 2008 White House campaign, Mitt Romney had to answer for decisions made during his 25-year business career and his four-year term as governor. But now, the questions have mostly faded.

Metro

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Former Massachusetts probation commissioner John O'Brien entered the courtroom for his arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court today.

Ex-probation chief O’Brien arraigned

The court slated a pretrial hearing for Nov.2 and a trial for Sept. 24, 2012, on charges John O’Brien traded political donations in exchange for a job for his wife.

Business

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A new home for sale in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Sales of new homes fell to a six-month low in August.

New home sales fall in August

The fourth straight monthly decline during the peak buying season suggests the housing market is years away from a recovery.

Nation

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Parts of Obama’s jobs plan “make complete sense to me,” said Senator Scott Brown.

Despite past support, GOP now skeptical of payroll tax cut

Extending the payroll tax cut is an idea that had once garnered bipartisan support but this year has received a tepid reception from many Republicans.

World

Photographer Yair Medina (left) shows Pnina Shor, curator and head of Dead Sea Scrolls Project at the Israel Antiquities Authority, scanned fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls on a computer screen.

2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls go online

Some of the world-famous Dead Sea Scrolls went online for the first time today in a project launched by Israel’s national museum and Google.

Sports

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Christopher L. Gasper

Chad Ochocinco dropped a likely touchdown against the Bills in the fourth quarter.

Chad Ochocinco is in over his head with Patriots

If this is Chad Ochocinco’s idea of heaven, then I’d hate to see how he pictures Hades. The Patriots receiver needs to prove he deserves Tom Brady’s trust.

Health and wellness

G Force

Memories that last a lifetime

James L. McGaugh, a memory researcher at the University of California Irvine, is studying people who have incredible recall for the details of their lives.

Ideas

“Could it be true, Pinker wondered, that humans had actually become less violent with time, as opposed to more? And if so, how had we done it?”

Leon Neyfakh,   on Steven Pinker’s new book about violence in history