Mitt Romney says he’s been paying 15% rate on taxes
Romney, who so far has declined to release his tax returns, said he has been paying “closer to the 15 percent rate” on his income taxes in recent years.
Probation Dept. charges could be imminent
Lawyers expect a grand jury to bring indictments soon against a dozen employees and legislators on charges related to favoritism.
Gardner Museum addition is a contemporary counterpoint
Architect Renzo Piano’s addition is set back from the faux Venetian palace, its sloping glass walls and copper-sheathed cubes lend it the air of a cutting-edge science lab.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
The new main entrance of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is on Evans Way.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
The upper portion is clad in corrugated pre-patinated green copper.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
The glass corridor connecting the palace to the new wing.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
The palace seen from the central staircase.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
The museum was able to restore the largest palace chamber, the Tapestry Room, which for decades housed concerts and lectures.
Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, right, bowed with pianist Vlad Iftinca, after her encore performance in the Calderwood Hall on Jan. 12, 2012.
Charles Krupa/AP
Dan Shaughnessy
Wishing for Patriots vs. Giants in Super Bowl
It’s the matchup in the back of your mind. The Patriots have a chance for that elusive fourth ring, and it could come against the team that broke New England’s heart in 2008.
Con man ‘Rockefeller’ told FBI he was a ‘pathetic nothing’
As the man known as Clark Rockefeller prepares to face murder charges in California, an August 2008 interview reveals a sad father, unsure of himself.
Former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor had US spy agency ties
Taylor, who escaped from prison in Plymouth in 1985 before becoming president of Liberia and the first African leader tried for war crimes, worked with US spy agencies.
Editorial
Down syndrome: A model ad
Two retailers are rightly earning praise for including six-year-old Ryan Langston, who has Down syndrome, in photo shoots — and not making a big deal about it.
“It begs the question: How do you walk out of a prison? It seems someone looked the other way.”
Former war crimes prosecutor David M. Crane, on Charles Taylor
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Special section
With Gardner museum’s new wing, landscaping makes a statement
With fresh plantings, the museum grounds are treated like an art form.
Metro
Those inspired hail King legacy
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s spiritual journey passed through Boston when he studied at BU, and his legacy was honored yesterday across the region.
Nation & World
Five more bodies found in Italian shipwreck
Divers discovered five more bodies today, and new recordings released indicate the ship’s captain ignored orders to return to the ship.
Politics
Political Notebook
For Paul, travel to home state has been largely first class
GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul has been spending large amounts on airfare as a congressman, flying first class on dozens of taxpayer-funded flights to his home state.
Business
Holiday sales up a 2d year in Mass.
Holiday sales increased 5.1 percent for Massachusetts merchants in 2011, another sign that the state’s economy is recovering at a faster pace than the nation’s.
Sports
Thunder 97, Celtics 88
Celtics’ comeback fizzles in loss
The Celtics melted in the final five minutes and allowed the Thunder to launch a long-range barrage and coast to a 97-88 win in Kendrick Perkins’ return to Boston.
Arts
FRAME BY FRAME
Picabia’s mischievous postcard view of Nice
Francis Picabia’s “Midi (Promenade des Anglais)’’ leapt out at the Globe’s Sebastian Smee while on show at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven.
Lifestyle
G cover
Learning to restore balance
With advancing age come problems of unsteadiness and dizziness. Researchers are looking for ways to stop the falls.
Opinion
“What if we had fewer presidential elections? What if we freed the president from the pressures of politics? What if we had a single six-year presidential term?”
Farah Stockman
Ideas
“The problem, as Shoup and his allies see it, is that parking on the street is simply too desirable. Because spaces are so cheap, drivers have a powerful incentive to spend time hunting for them.”
Leon Neyfakh on the case for the $6 parking meter