Getting In
Popularity matters in school lottery
The lottery system for Boston public schools has created a group of prized schools and a group perpetually relegated to second-rung status.
Christmas attacks in Nigeria kill 39
Terror attacks across Nigeria by a radical Muslim sect killed at least 39 people today, with the majority dying at a Catholic church after celebrating Christmas Mass.
Eduardo Munoz/REUTERS
knicks 106, Celtics 104
Celtics lose see-saw season opener
The Celtics had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter but couldn’t hold off the Knicks in the season opener for both teams.
Michael J. Lutch
2011: The year in arts
Past made a comeback in 2011
The occupation of the artistic past by the artistic present has shaped so much of cultural life in 2011. This idea was a flashpoint in the ART production of “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.’’
2011: The year in television
Cable creates drama
In 2011, HBO, AMC, and Showtime were busy making superb dramas, while networks provided the laughs.
Joanna Weiss
Hope in Holyoke
The city's optimistic new mayor, all of 22 years old, aims to push the troubled city to see itself in a more positive way.
“If they’re ever going to have a real future, it’s through education. If we cry over these issues, we can’t help them.’’
Teresa Harvey-Jackson, principal of Marshall Elementary
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Metro
163-year-old church reopens after blaze
Last night, parishioners attended a Christmas Eve service at the Central Congregational Church, marking its reopening after a Memorial Day fire in 2009.
Business
Moynihan has not met bank’s goals
Brian Moynihan’s two-year tenure as CEO of Bank of America has been marked by slow progress as the bank untangles itself from its past.
Politics
Gingrich attacks Virginia for keeping him off ballot
The state party said that presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich had failed to submit the required 10,000 signatures to appear on the ballot.
Nation & World
Nine die in Yemen protests; president vows he will leave
Forces commanded by President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s son and nephew opened fire on an estimated 100,000 protesters marching into the capital, killing at least nine.
Sports
Celtics get boost in signing Mickael Pietrus
The Celtics received a roster boost when the versatile swingman agreed to a one-year contract for the league minimum.
Travel
travel
Beauty out of hiding
Myanmar, the former Burma, is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia and has been accused of being among the most corrupt. But for travelers it is reminiscent of what Vietnam was 50 years ago.
Books
Book review
'The Third Reich' by Roberto Bolano
Roberto Bolano’s latest posthumously published novel, “The Third Reich,” is a good book with a great premise.
Arts
2011: the year in movies
A time for anxiety and comfort
Ty Burr’s annual Top 10 movies list is a Top 20 this year and making the cut was harder than usual with 2011 being the most unsettled, questioning and disturbing time for movies.
Ideas
The practice of sending commercially printed cards soon became wildly popular. It reached the United States in 1875…By 1958, the average US family mailed 100 Christmas cards.
Mark Feeney on the history of Christmas cards