Shutdown fight reveals deeper splits within GOP

Top leaders are fighting amongst themselves over the pending double-barreled threats of a government shutdown and debt default.

Thomas M. Damigella (right), striking up a conversation with his friend, John Rosato, in the North End.

2006 file/globe staff

Tupperware party pioneer Thomas Damigella dies at 97

Mr. Damigella’s business launched generations of salespeople and introduced homemakers to the wonders of a bowl with an airtight seal.

Bill de Blasio’s 1979 yearbook identified him as “future president of the U.S.A. — the Untied Sneakers Association.’’

NYC mayoral favorite Bill de Blasio has Mass. roots

Decades before his surprising political success, he was making his mark on a smaller stage, as a student activist in Cambridge.

Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib makes a game-saving play by breaking up a Matt Ryan pass intended for Falcons wide receiver Roddy White late in the fourth quarter.

BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF

Christopher L. Gasper

Patriots’ defense is the real thing

The Falcons were able to move the ball against the Patriots, but the doubted defense clamped down like a vise in the red zone.

Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork was transported out of the Georgia Dome after the game.

Wilfork has torn Achilles’ tendon, source says

Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork tore his right Achilles’ tendon, according to a league source, and will likely be placed on season-ending injured reserve.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/09/30/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/sox150-12599.jpg Red Sox have decisions to make for postseason

Sunday’s 7-6 loss to the Orioles gave GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell a chance to make some final evaluations.

Craig Mello, holding his daughter after a press conference in October 2006 announcing that he shared the Nobel Prize in medicine,  said the honor didn’t alter his life much.

Science in Mind

For Nobel laureates, prize is heady, but life goes on

Three local laureates recount their experiences, including an MIT scientist who remembers, “I got out of the stall, naked and dripping wet, to take the call. It was the Nobel Prize.”

Opinion

JAMES CARROLL

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/09/30/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/james_carroll_150px-2612.png Women are key to pope’s reforms

The church of justice for the poor must be the church of equality for women — inside the church as well as out.

Sports

Tags in this section:

Business

Tags in this section:

Blood tests in minutes, not days or weeks

The Gene Radar device, created by Cambridge biotech firm Nanobiosym, could be a game changer, especially where labs are scarce.