Panel backs federal review of BU biolab
An independent panel of scientists reported today that a federal safety assessment of Boston University’s controversial research laboratory was on solid ground.
Congress passes $662 billion defense bill
The bill would authorize money for military personnel, weapons systems, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and national security programs.
GOP DEBATE | 9 p.m. | Fox News
Republicans meet for last time before Iowa caucuses
Seven of the party’s presidential hopefuls will gather tonight in Sioux City, Iowa, capping an extended series of lively debates.
New York Times CEO Janet Robinson to retire
Janet L. Robinson, who led the media company through some of its most challenging times, will retire at the end of the year.
Mass. jobless rate falls to 7%; lowest in three years
The Massachusetts unemployment rate fell in November, remaining well below the national rate of 8.6 percent, as the state added nearly 5,000 jobs.
JACK ENGLISH/studio canal
Exclusive Friday Preview | Movie Review
‘Tinker Tailor’ as compelling as the original
The stillness of Gary Oldman as George Smiley is magnificent to behold.
Firefighter mourned in Worcester
Thousands of firefighters gathered to pay their respects to the man who died last week searching for a tenant in a burning building.
With little fanfare, US ends Iraq war
As the US officially announced the close to the war today, it leaves behind a nation free of Saddam’s tyranny but fractured by violence and fearful of the future.
“I wasn’t worried about breaking the Facebook rule because my daughter wasn’t old enough according to ‘Facebook law.’ I was worried about the appropriateness and the vulnerability.”
Kimberly Jackson
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Metro
Markey asks government to tackle alarm fatigue
Representative Edward Markey asked the top US health official to look into the problem of nurses becoming desensitized to constant hospital sounds.
Business
Genzyme plans to grow in Mass.
Drawing on resources from its new parent company, Genzyme Corp. plans to grow over time in Massachusetts and increasingly apply its business model to drugs that serve larger patient populations.
Politics
GOP’s new rules set up long slog to nomination
New election rules make it mathematically impossible for any candidate to clinch the nomination before April 24.
Nation & World
US to adopt strict new limits on chimp research
The National Institutes of Health agreed that science has advanced enough that chimps seldom would be needed to help develop new medicines.
Sports
Chad Finn
Time for Jason Varitek to become a special memory
For Varitek, integral to two Red Sox championship teams, it was a special run. And it will be strange not seeing him on the roster when Opening Day comes around.
Style
STYLE
How to survive the holiday buffet
“The Biggest Loser” trainer Cara Castronuova offers tips for surviving those holiday party buffets
Arts
Movie review
Castro’s ‘Unfinished’ business
Directors Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray show how artistry can withstand wear and tear better than brick and mortar.
Fall All-Scholastics
All-Scholastics
Fall All-Scholastics: Honoring the area’s best
A Boston Globe tradition continues as we toast local athletes from Barnstable to Georgetown for their achievements this fall.
Opinion
“Visas are not even a blip in employment statistics; the fear that these highly skilled workers will take jobs from Americans is remote.”
Juliette Kayyem
Ideas
The ability to coordinate among the different senses seems to be something the brain learns; we’re not born being able to do it.
Courtney Humphries