AP News in Brief
Gay couples in NJ in final hours of wedding planning after ruling permits same-sex marriages
• TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Several gay couples in New Jersey are expected to gather late Sunday to wed in ceremonies to be held shortly after midnight.
• The last-minute weddings were planned after the state Supreme Court last week refused to delay a lower court order for the state to begin recognizing same-sex marriages at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
• Gov. Chris Christie's administration has a pending appeal, but justices said they would not hold up marriages while they consider it. The justices said they did not think the state's arguments were likely to prevail and that delaying the lower court's order would hurt couples who would not become eligible for certain federal benefits until they could legally marry in New Jersey.
• Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Lambertville Mayor David DelVecchio both plan to lead ceremonies for gay couples at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
• Hoboken, Collingswood and a handful of other towns opened municipal offices Saturday to accept applications for marriage licenses from same-sex couples.
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Arab League chief says Syria peace conference to be held in Geneva on Nov. 23 and 24
• CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Arab League chief Nabil el-Araby says a key international conference aimed at ending Syria's civil war will be held in Geneva on Nov. 23 and 24.
• El-Araby made the announcement at a news conference Sunday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after talks with the Arab League-U.N. envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi.
• The Geneva conference is an attempt to get sides to agree on a transitional government in Syria based on a plan adopted in that city in June 2012.
• Syria's conflict, now into its third year, has left over 100,000 dead.
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