fb-pixel Skip to main content
The Boston Globe
TRENDING:

The global death toll from the coronavirus has topped 2 million

The numbing figure was reached just over a year after the coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The number of dead, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Brussels, Mecca, Minsk or Vienna.

These 229 Massachusetts communities are at high risk for COVID-19

Sixteen communities have been added to the high-risk category since last week?s report and six were removed from it.
Town-by-town COVID-19 data in Massachusetts

For the first time in 6 years, state pardon board says a murderer?s life without parole sentence should be commuted

The recommendation by the board was made public Friday. Members pointed in their recommendation to the inmate's ?extraordinary commitment to self-improvement and self-development.?

Need a precedent for what?s going on in Boston politics? Look to 1993

President-elect Joe Biden choosing Mayor Martin J. Walsh to be his labor secretary has a striking precedent. In 1993, Raymond L. Flynn was tapped by Bill Clinton to become ambassador to the Vatican, setting up an open election to become the next Boston mayor.

Get takeout. Save restaurants you love.

Ordering dinner will help small local businesses survive the pandemic. But that?s just the start.

More about Project Takeout

The Globe is asking readers, if they can, to get takeout and help our local restaurants get through this dark winter.

Tell us your favorite restaurants

Explore a map of some local restaurants and submit your hometown favorites

Opinion

Scot Lehigh

The 14th Amendment offers an easier way than impeachment to ban Trump from future office

Congress could disqualify him by a simple majority vote.
EDITORIAL

Police departments must take a hard line on insurrectionist and white supremacist cops
Renée Loth

With Trump era ending, the unwinding begins

IDEAS | MONICA RODDEN

Would I have stormed the Capitol?
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG

An Amherst professor predicted exactly how Trump would try to overturn the election. Now he fears for 2024

Vaccine reserve was already exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it, dashing hopes of expanded access
When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced this week that the federal government would begin releasing coronavirus vaccine doses held in reserve for second shots, no such reserve existed.

Media to get a sneak peek at Gillette Stadium mass coronavirus vaccination site

Tracking who has been vaccinated in Massachusetts
With a limited supply of vaccine doses, almost seven million residents, and some hesitation among specific communities, Massachusetts? long-awaited end to the COVID-19 pandemic feels within reach, but we?re not there yet.

Charts: How many vaccine doses has Massachusetts received, and who has been vaccinated?

Dave Esptein | Weather
Early morning Saturday storm will be rain, not snow
If there was cold enough air in place, we might be looking at some significant snow, but with the milder air dominating, our weather will be wet, not white.

Massive renovation of Bunker Hill public housing wins a key approval
The Boston Planning & Development Agency signed off on zoning for the long-awaited $1.4b project, which includes 2,700 apartments and condos.

Reporter Nidhi Razdan claims she was the victim of a sophisticated ?phishing attack? that led her to believe she got a journalism job at Harvard

In a lengthy statement on Twitter Friday, Razdan, who spent 21 years as a reporter at New Delhi Television ? or NDTV ? a news network and online media company in India, said she was falsely led to believe that she had been offered a position teaching at Harvard beginning in the fall.

NBA fines Kyrie Irving $50,000 for violating COVID rules; Nets star eligible to return Saturday
Irving could return for Saturday's game as long as he keeps testing negative. He will need to forfeit his salary for each game he missed due to violating the league's rules. He's already missed two, which means he has lost more than $900,000 of his $33.5 million salary.

The $3,000-a-month toilet for the Ivanka Trump/Jared Kushner Secret Service detail
Instructed not to use any of the half-dozen bathrooms inside Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's house, their Secret Service detail spent months searching for a reliable restroom to use on the job.

Kyle Rittenhouse flashed hate symbols, posed with Proud Boys in a Wisconsin bar, prosecutors say
Shortly after pleading not guilty to murder and weapons charges earlier this month, Kyle Rittenhouse showed up at a bar in Mount Pleasant, Wis., clad in a T-shirt that said "Free as F***", prosecutors said.

Recommended Reads

KEVIN CULLEN

The gun nuts who stormed the Capitol proved that gun control works

The riot at the Capitol would have been infinitely worse if the gun-loving insurrectionists had carried weapons as openly as so many of them do in their home states.

?It was like looking at evil?: The Capitol attack through the eyes of the Massachusetts delegation
Some Massachusetts lawmakers and staff members said they felt unease Wednesday before the riot at the US Capitol, despite receiving assurances from police that security would be tight.

IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG
An Amherst professor predicted exactly how Trump would try to overturn the election. Now he fears for 2024
Lawrence Douglas says the American electoral system is still vulnerable to subversion.

metro

Watch live at 1:30 p.m.: Baker participates in bill signing
Governor Baker is expected to appear for a bill signing Friday.

Reporter Nidhi Razdan claims she was the victim of a sophisticated ?phishing attack? that led her to believe she got a journalism job at Harvard

How many coronavirus cases have been reported in Mass. schools? Check our map

Sports

NBA fines Kyrie Irving $50,000 for violating COVID rules; Nets star eligible to return Saturday
Irving could return for Saturday's game as long as he keeps testing negative. He will need to forfeit his salary for each game he missed due to violating the league's rules. He's already missed two, which means he has lost more than $900,000 of his $33.5 million salary.

Chad Finn I Sports media

Tom Brady boosts Bucs? local ratings by 28 percent, while 7-9 Patriots drop 26 percent in market

Oliver Ames girls? basketball sweeps back-to-back against Foxborough

business

Massive renovation of Bunker Hill public housing wins a key approval
The Boston Planning & Development Agency signed off on zoning for the long-awaited $1.4b project, which includes 2,700 apartments and condos.

Beloved restaurant Peach Farm used to be open until 3 a.m. ? now it struggles to stay open at all

US retail sales fell 0.7 percent in December as shoppers kept away from stores amid rising COVID-19 cases

politics

Trump to leave Washington, D.C., Wednesday morning, before Biden?s inauguration
President Trump will leave Washington next Wednesday morning, ahead of President-elect Joe Biden?s inauguration.

Watch live: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds press conference

Justice Department watchdog opens probe of response to riot

lifestyle

IN THE FAMILY WAY
How to talk to your kids about what happened in Washington
As parents, we need to project calm and reassurance, even if we?re faking it.

2020's Most Asked Questions

Boston artist Kofi Lost writes the Google Year in Search
FOOD

Ghost King Thai opens in the South End, Gepetto arrives in Cambridge, and Yellow Door does brunch

arts

ART
At Peabody Essex, a reset on South Asian art
A new gallery puts the museum's deep collection to dazzling use.

ASK MATTHEW

A reader looks to lasso more upbeat TV shows

In ?Land,? Simon Winchester looks at what the hunger for land ownership has wrought

rhode island

RHODE MAP
How the United Way plans to spend $100 million helping Rhode Island
An ambitious 5-year plan will tackle critical issues including affordable housing, education, and racial equity

RI POLITICS

McKee takes center stage, emphasizing local control

Rhode Island?s refugee communities react to rioting at the US Capitol

Newton

Special Projects

A beautiful resistance | JENEÉ OSTERHELDT

With every sip, a labor of love

In Vermont, a winemaker is cultivating a legacy that pays homage to the Black folk who built this country and is celebrating life and the future of farming.
See more from 'A Beautiful Resistance' Follow on Instagram

On the Street

In tackling the pandemic, Chelsea finds new strength

Brockton offers a gateway to a new generation

This time, Quincy Center?s revival looks legit

Revere was going through a revival before COVID-19. Can it stay on track?

See more from our business series ?On the Street?: The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods

More

2020 Bostonians of the Year: The Front Line
They stood up to fight the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice. Meet the people leading us through a harrowing year.

Last Words: Is death the great equalizer?
Quite the contrary, a Spotlight investigation shows. Death exposes in high relief the layers of inequities, in race and income, care and opportunity, that shape life down to its final hours. It is a truth the pandemic has only underscored ? one hard to see, because it is so much easier to look away.

I knew getting prostate cancer at 48 would change me. I had no idea how much
For the past year, Mark Shanahan has been working on Mr. 80 Percent, a six-episode podcast miniseries about his experience with prostate cancer. It?s a deeply personal, sometimes harrowing, often funny story about a disease that affects millions of men. The heroes are his doctors and family, who put up with some appalling behavior. You?ll hear from both.

Comfort Zone

ASK MATTHEW

A reader looks to lasso more upbeat TV shows

Our critic has some ideas for comedies that offer a perfect escape from the real world.
IN THE FAMILY WAY

How to talk to your kids about what happened in Washington

As parents, we need to project calm and reassurance, even if we?re faking it.
WINTER GETAWAYS

The lush life, close to home: Hotel deals in and around Boston

If you?re looking for a home away from home, at least for a night or two, check out these local hotels.
TRAVEL

3 quick escapes that can add a little fun and adventure to your life this winter

These destinations offer beauty and recreation, and a brief relief from the day-to-day.

?Suitcase Stories? zooms into the lives of Boston?s immigrant neighbors

The popular spoken word event goes digital with stories from the year 2020.

Thinking about not drinking? These authors can inspire your journey

Moderate drinkers looking to quit can find inspiration in the burgeoning quit-lit genre.

Opinion, ideas, and commentary

Renée Graham

Weeping for my country, again
EDITORIAL

One red hot mayoral race is enough
Rania Batrice

Call them white supremacists. Call them fascists and traitors. Don?t call them terrorists
EDITORIAL

Mitch, please
Joan Vennochi

Trump and his mob still terrorize the GOP
IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG

?I was shaking. And I didn?t want my kids to see me.?

STAT

The Road Ahead: Charting the pandemic over the next 12 months ? and beyond
In this project, STAT describes 30 key moments, possible turning points that could steer the pandemic onto a different course or barometers for how the virus is reshaping our lives.

From a small N.C. town to big-city hospitals, how software infuses racism into U.S. health care
The racial bias can produce huge differences in assessing patients? need for special care to manage conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, or depression, a STAT investigation found.

Covid-19?s wintry mix: Dry indoor air helps the virus spread
The worry is not just that people might mingle more closely inside, but that the air they breathe will make the virus more dangerous.

In the Covid-19 death of a hospital food worker, a microcosm of the pandemic
The hospital's first employee to die of Covid-19 was a kitchen worker named Marie Deus ? and her illness sparked a question. Why weren't bedside clinicians getting sick at the highest rates?

magazine
On the Cover

Jujubee?s fierce optimism is what we all need right now

Connections

Growing up, I thought my brother was the selfish one. Not any more.
Exclusive Excerpt

How many friends do we really need to be happy?
Dinner With Cupid

What happened next? Did these Cupid daters find love?

sports

Joaquin Niemann finishes with an eagle and a share of the Sony Open lead

Bradie Tennell?s rollicking short program leads at US Figure Skating Championships

For openers, Bruins? refashioned defensive unit stood up to the task in shootout win over Devils

metro

Media to get a sneak peek at Gillette Stadium mass coronavirus vaccination site Friday

Early morning Saturday storm will be rain, not snow

For the first time in 6 years, state pardon board says a murderer?s life without parole sentence should be commuted

Nation

Watch live: Federal officials to discuss Capitol investigation

Trump to leave Washington, D.C., Wednesday morning, before Biden?s inauguration

Capitol mob aimed to ?assassinate? elected officials, federal prosecutors say

World

The global death toll from the coronavirus has topped 2 million

US down to 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, as ordered by Trump

?The world is watching?: Ugandans vote in tense election

politics

Biden picks David Kessler, Deanne Criswell, David Cohen for top roles

Senate plans trial for Trump as GOP weighs risks of convicting

Capitol rioters included highly trained ex-military and cops

business

Biden team starts @PresElectBiden while clashing with Twitter

A look at what?s in Biden?s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan

Legislators lobby to add small-business franchisees to COVID grant program

lifestyle

Has he developed a work crush?

Project Takeout

Get takeout. It?s your civic duty.

marijuana

Healey appoints new commissioner to Mass. marijuana agency

Study: smoking pot raises level of harmful chemicals in body but smoking tobacco is more harmful

Q&A with outgoing cannabis commissioner Shaleen Title

opinion

Police departments must take a hard line on insurrectionist and white supremacist cops

With Trump era ending, the unwinding begins

Weeping for my country, again

food & dining

Ghost King Thai opens in the South End, Gepetto arrives in Cambridge, and Yellow Door does brunch

Project Takeout

Get takeout. It?s your civic duty.

travel

Looking for wild snow? Here are 6 backcountry skiing tours to explore

One pandemic perk? Plenty more volunteers at Unity Farm Sanctuary

Nantucket hoteliers buy a private Caribbean island for their latest resort

Books

In ?Land,? Simon Winchester looks at what the hunger for land ownership has wrought

Essays on the magic and poetry of art and place by André Aciman

Paulette Jiles on reading about crime, action, and exploration

Movies

Regina King on making ?One Night? memorable

12 activities to quell your nerves in these dark times

Doc Talk: Day care around the clock; a dad who was never on the clock

Television

A reader looks to lasso more upbeat TV shows

Inauguration events will be all over TV and the Web

More ?Sex and the City?? Not tonight, we?re tired

music

What it takes to build a ?modular? opera

Passim sends grants totaling $40,000 to 24 project-minded musicians

Celebrity Series offers home concerts recorded around the world

Theater/Dance

Theater leaders lean into 2021 with plenty of programming and a measure of optimism

For some arts venues, a lifeline

Boston record label Dead & Mellow marks a first year in which nothing went according to plan

globe local

?They are our family?: Neighborhood bars struggle to survive during pandemic

Should the federal government cancel all student loan debt?

It?s not every day you see someone driving with a bird in the vehicle

Obituaries

Harold Bornstein, Trump?s former personal physician, dies at 73

Siegfried Fischbacher, magician of Siegfried & Roy, dies at 81

Barry Goldsmith, who escaped, dropped out, and came back