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TRENDING:

CDC recommends shorter COVID isolation, quarantine for all

US health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.
A person walks into a COVID-19 testing site on Tuesday.

Here are the new CDC recommendations for COVID-19 isolation and quarantine

In first COVID-19 report since Friday, Mass. reports 12,983 confirmed cases and 25 deaths

Two Boston researchers propose ‘circuit breakers’ to stem spread of COVID-19

Two Harvard-affiliated researchers are urging the CDC to consider the use of “circuit breakers,” which are temporary, local restrictions on “high-risk” activities like indoor dining, performances, or non-essential work outside of homes.
COVID-19: THE LATEST

US COVID cases surpass winter pandemic peak of early 2021

State Trooper fired for failing to comply with vaccine mandate for state employees, union says

One dead after Amtrak train from Boston to Maine collides with vehicle in Haverhill

Mass. coronavirus at a glance
Vaccinations
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Trend:
1+ dose received:
Fully vaccinated:
Cases and deaths
Total cases:
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Total deaths:
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Other resources:
Last updated: . NOTE: Mass DPH releases data Monday-Friday starting July 2021. Mass. population of 6,892,503 is used to calculate vaccination percentages. SOURCE: Mass. Dept. of Public Health
Kevin Lowther, also known as Big Lux, is a violinist, veteran, and BLM advocate.
A Beautiful Resistance | Jeneé Osterheldt

From bell hooks to Virgil Abloh to your local creatives, the arts contribute to radical change

Activism requires organizers, policy, and protest. But first, there is imagination.
Follow @abeautifulresistance on Instagram See more from A Beautiful Resistance
Opinion
People line up for food donated from a nearby church at a camp for migrants on May 14, 2021, in Reynosa, Mexico. The encampment, like others along Mexico's northern border with the United States, are temporary home for migrants hoping to seek asylum in the United States.
MARCELA GARCÍA

The most neglected story of 2021? Immigration.

In a year chock-full of urgent news stories, immigration got the least attention.
OPINION

Words of the Year
Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) gets stuck in the rain with her hot chef neighbor, Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), in the new season of "Emily in Paris."
Joan Vennochi

Sorry, but I don’t hate ‘Emily in Paris’
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, seen here giving a COVID-19 on Dec. 21, is behind legislation aimed at strengthening protections for survivors of abuse.
EDITORIAL

Victims make their case for better protections
A Ukrainian soldier on the front lines in Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine, earlier this month. At a traditional year-end news conference, President Vladimir Putin of Russia said, referring to the United States and NATO, "Do they really think we’ll sit idly as they create threats against us?"
JEFF JACOBY

As Russia gears up to invade Ukraine, the West faces a choice

Brandon Bolden (right) had two rushes for 4 yards and two receptions for 20 yards in Sunday's loss to the Bills.

Patriots remain in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot, but the road ahead is more complicated

The Patriots control their own destiny — two wins and they're in — but Buffalo has the inside track to the AFC East title.
Guests enjoyed the oceanside view from the front porch of the Chatham Bars Inn.

Chatham Bars Inn ranked among the world’s best hotels by Condé Nast Traveler

The magazine released its annual “Gold List” of the 45 best hotels and resorts in the world, and the local resort put New England on the map, making the ranks for the first time.
Boston city councilor and soon-to-be state senator Lydia Edwards.

With Edwards’ exit, a possible scramble for a Boston council seat

The District 1 council post will be vacated by Lydia Edwards, who is poised to become a state senator in the coming weeks after defeating Anthony D’Ambrosio, a first-term Revere School Committee member, in a primary this month.

More recent stories

After a century, Brattle Square Florist to close its doors

Rising costs and availability of flowers and materials, as well as a widespread labor shortage and deteriorating real estate contributed to the decision to close the 104-year-old floral shop.

Desmond Tutu left his mark on New England

Recalling five visits by the anti-apartheid hero and human rights giant.

E.O. Wilson, evolutionary biologist who changed how we look at the world, dies at 92

A Harvard biologist who pioneered the field of sociobiology, Dr. Wilson taught generations to look at the natural world and human behavior in novel and thought-provoking ways.

Comedian Tony V, shown onstage inside Giggles' outdoor tent in 2020, plays a pair of shows indoors at the Saugus comedy club on New Year's Eve.
On New Year’s Eve, a cautious return to comedy
On what would be the biggest night for comedy in a typical year, some Boston stand-ups aren't sure what to expect Friday, but they're happy to have the chance to get back onstage.

Six local New Year’s Eve comedy shows to help you get the last laugh on 2021

A rendering of the new Markforged headquarters in Waltham.
Bigger business, bigger space. 3D printing company Markforged moving HQ to Waltham
To unite employees that had been working out of separate buildings in Watertown, Markforged announced last week that it will relocate its headquarters next year to a 120,000-square-foot office in Waltham.

GLOBE MAGAZINE
Dave Barry looks back at the newsmakers of 2021.
Dave Barry’s 2021 Year in Review: A variant of 2020, so to speak
Is there anything positive we can say about the year? Yes. We can say that it was marginally better than last year. Granted, this is not high praise.

Globe Santa

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a THANK YOU!

Thousands have made the decision to help Globe Santa, and the campaign is profoundly grateful.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GLOBE SANTA

 Read the latest stories Make a donation. Make a difference.

The holidays

People under the holiday lights on Boston Common.

9 places around Boston where you can get into the holiday spirit (for free)

Every holiday season comes with a gamut of things to do and gifts to buy, and it can take a toll on the old wallet. That got us thinking about some activities in and around the city where you can revel in the holiday spirit for free.
6 New Year’s Eve performances from Boston-bred artists

Recommended reads

Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, then president of Brigham Health, brought a Boston delegation in April 2018 to celebrate the opening of the Boao Evergrande International Hospital in China, constructed in a new medical tourism hub.
Spotlight team report

How Brigham Health helped create a Chinese hospital for elites — and almost nobody came

In a deal worth millions with Chinese developer Evergrande, a Harvard teaching hospital risked its reputation on what would become a near-empty shell.

Oliver Johnson from Milton held his drawing book and looked over his shoulder at gorilla "Little Joe." With indoor children's activities sidelined during the pandemic, Zoo New England had its highest-ever visitor count in 2021.
‘It’s so much more than what they expect to find.’ Zoo New England celebrates record year
It’s been an unusually busy year for Zoo New England: Amid cautious reopenings and surging variants, the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and Stone Zoo in Stoneham welcomed a combined 1 million visitors by late November — a record.

Pedestrians stood in line at COVID-19 mobile testing site at Columbus Circle in New York.
How to know if those are Omicron COVID symptoms, or just a common cold
With winter underway and cases of Omicron surging nationwide, you may be wondering if that runny nose or aching throat is a dreaded case of COVID-19 or merely a symptom of the common cold.

A 30-bed cottage community is under construction on the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital campus.
‘A sense of community’: Can the cabins at the Shattuck be an answer to the crisis at Mass. and Cass?
The pop-up community of cabins is just one piece of what state and city officials hope will be the solution to a sprawling tent encampment at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.

video

Culture & Lifestyle

The Main Stage cast at Improv Asylum will be performing three New Year's Eve shows.

Six local New Year’s Eve comedy shows to help you get the last laugh on 2021
A scene from “My Dad Is a Sausage,” one of the films to be shown at Belmont World Film’s 19th annual Family Festival.

At this family film festival, see the world through kids’ eyes
Getting fresh air is one way to stay sane during quarantine.

Found yourself in quarantine? We asked public health experts for suggestions on how to spend the time
If there is one thing we love, it's a good whoopie pie.

Where to find the best whoopie pies around New England

Special Projects

An older lobsterman passed by Tanner Lazaro as he hauled up his traps in his boat, Used N Abused, on Aug. 24. During the summer Tanner hauled his own traps on whatever days his mentor Frankie Thompson or another lobsterman didn't need his help.

The lobster trap

The plentiful catch that brought wealth to fishing families is at risk, as climate change warms the Gulf of Maine. A way of life is on the line, but lobstermen can't, or won't, imagine another.

The 2021 Top Places to Work in Massachusetts

Is your employer among the 150 companies to make the list?
Jeneé Osterheldt

A Beautiful Resistance

Black joy, Black lives, as celebrated by culture columnist Jeneé Osterheldt.

‘On the Street’: The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods

The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods.

Opinion, ideas, and commentary

MARCELA GARCÍA

In defense of materialism: Why shopping and holiday gift-giving is my love language
A utility crew places a toxic lead water pipe onto the road after extracting it from an apartment building and under the street in Newark, N.J., on Oct. 21. Newark city officials say crews have removed more than 22,000 lead pipes from private residential properties over the last few years and replaced them with new copper pipes.
Katherine Clark, Malden Community Organizing for Racial Equity, and Clean Water Action

Cleaning up America’s lead water pipes
A nurse from Brigham and Women's Hospital watches as demonstrators gather outside the Massachusetts State House in September to protest COVID-19 vaccination and mask mandates
Jeffrey L. Schnipper

Pandemic Christmas at the Brigham
Respiratory Therapist Angelika MacClellan (left) talks with nurse Natasha Cacciatore through a patients door in the Special Pathogens Unit ICU at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, on April 27, 2020.
EDITORIAL

The best tribute to health care workers? Follow the guidelines for staying healthy.
Joan Vennochi

A gift that touches the heart
IDEAS | ABDALLAH FAYYAD

Editing the Constitution

Metro

Gig worker petitions move one step closer to 2022 ballot

Four ballot measures, including two related to the status of app-based drivers, gathered more than the 80,239 required signatures to move toward voters’ hands.
Coronavirus Live Updates

US COVID cases surpass winter pandemic peak of early 2021

The latest news and guidance on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in New England and beyond.

In first COVID-19 report since Friday, Mass. reports 12,983 confirmed cases and 25 deaths

Here’s a look at the latest coronavirus numbers in Massachusetts, including case numbers, deaths, demographics, and more.

The TikToker, the bear hunter, and the dog controversy that has embroiled Vermont

When hounds chased a bear into a tree on a Vermont farm owned by a social media star, it led to an online war that has dragged an ancient hunting tradition into the modern spotlight.

Sports

Jayson Tatum will miss Monday's game against the Timberwolves.
live updates

COVID-19 sports updates: NFL returns a record-high positive tests on Monday

We’ll be tracking the latest news, including postponements, positive tests, and other adjustments.
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was added to the COVID protocol list Monday.
COVID ROUNDUP

NBA reduces COVID-19 isolation restrictions

The rule changes provide a quicker path to return to play.
Matt Judon has 12.5 sacks so far in his first season with the Patriots.
Patriots notebook

Patriots place LBs Matt Judon, Ja’Whaun Bentley on COVID-19 list after positive tests

If Judon and Bentley are unvaccinated, they automatically will be sidelined 10 days — which means they're in jeopardy of missing Sunday's game against the Jaguars.
BOYS' BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Georgetown boys’ basketball following the lead of its seniors as an early riser in the Cape Ann League
bruins notebook

Had NHL participated in Olympics, says Patrice Bergeron, he was on board
bruins

Bruins use time off to work on digging deeper around the net

Business

Expect more shipping chaos as Omicron forces transport workers to quit

From seafarers refusing to get back on ships to truck drivers whose concern over COVID-related border closures trumps the lure of higher pay, the transport industry is bracing for another roller coaster year of supply chain disruptions.

China imposes curbs on foreign IPOs from restricted sectors

China will impose new restrictions on offshore listings by firms in sectors that are off-limits to foreign investment, a move that could plug a loophole long used by the country’s technology industry to raise capital overseas.

Boston Public Market is nearly full again, but foot traffic is taking much longer to rebound

Storms caused $170 billion in damage this year

STAT

Dr. Monica McLemore, Associate Professor in the Family Health Care Nursing Department at UCSF, stands for a portrait at the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Friday, September 10th, 2021 in Oakland, Calif.
‘Health equity tourists’: How white scholars are colonizing research on health disparities
A STAT investigation shows that researchers with little or no background or training in health equity research are rushing in to scoop up grants and publish papers.

Covid winter illustration
Winter is coming, again: What to expect from Covid-19 as the season looms
STAT spoke with infectious disease experts and others about what to expect from Covid-19 as the seasons change.

Funeral goers sing during a service for Daisy Pace at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in January 2021.
DISTANCED: Pandemic stories of Black life in the rural South
Photographer Bethany Mollenkof spent six months documenting the impact of Covid-19 on residents of rural Black communities in the South.

Boston, MA -- 05/12/21 -- Dr. Matthew Carty examines patient Jerry Majethic at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital on May 12, 2021, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Kayana Szymczak for STAT)
Groundbreaking arm amputation surgery makes a ‘phantom’ hand seem real
The procedure aims to restore proprioception, the ability to sense where our limbs are in space and how fast and forcefully they’re moving.

magazine
Dave Barry looks back at the newsmakers of 2021.
GLOBE MAGAZINE

Dave Barry’s 2021 Year in Review: A variant of 2020, so to speak
Jonathan Way plays with two coyotes he helped raise at the Stone Zoo in Stoneham in 2004.
GLOBE MAGAZINE

This scientist bottle-fed and bayed with coyotes. Was he sidelined for loving them too much?
MISS CONDUCT

Advice: Life isn’t getting back to normal. This is what can you do about it
PERSPECTIVE

We’re all feeling fine. We really are. Except we’re not.

metro

Boston police are investigating after a man was killed and two women were injured in a shooting on Schuyler Street in Roxbury on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.

Man dead, two women injured in Roxbury shooting

Two Boston researchers propose ‘circuit breakers’ to stem spread of COVID-19

Desmond Tutu left his mark on New England

sports

Brandon Bolden (right) had two rushes for 4 yards and two receptions for 20 yards in Sunday's loss to the Bills.

Patriots remain in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot, but the road ahead is more complicated

NFL Week 16: Order has been restored to the NFL universe

With another game postponed, Bruins not set to play again until Jan. 1

business

MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace, shown in 2018. Like other cable news outlets, MSNBC's ratings saw a sharp decline in 2021.

Cable news lost plenty of viewers in 2021

Bigger business, bigger space. 3D printing company Markforged moving HQ to Waltham

After a century, Brattle Square Florist to close its doors

politics

The combat ship USS Milwaukee arrives in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for a brief stop for fuel and provisions, Dec. 20, 2021.

Nearly 25 percent of Navy warship crew has COVID-19, officials say

As prices rise, President Biden turns to antitrust enforcers

Bidens mark Christmas with holiday calls to service members

Nation

The USS Milwaukee on June 27, 2019, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Navy to offer booster shots for ship hobbled by coronavirus outbreak

US COVID cases surpass winter pandemic peak of early 2021

In first COVID-19 report since Friday, Mass. reports 12,983 confirmed cases and 25 deaths

World

Somalia's Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble in London on July 29.

Somalia’s president suspends prime minister over corruption allegations

Iraq confirms election gains for Shiite leader seen as potential US ally

Iran presses on oil exports as nuclear talks resume

opinion

A detail of a first printing of the Constitution is seen on display at Sotheby's auction house in New York on Nov. 5.

Readers’ turn at editing the Constitution

In defense of materialism: Why shopping and holiday gift-giving is my love language

Pedestrians, bicyclists share responsibility for safety on streets

lifestyle

Guests enjoyed the oceanside view from the front porch of the Chatham Bars Inn.

Chatham Bars Inn ranked among the world’s best hotels by Condé Nast Traveler

6 New Year’s Eve performances from Boston-bred artists

Jean-Marc Vallée, director of ‘Dallas Buyers Club,’ dies at 58

food & dining

Bartender Lillian Ferranti pouring a Manhattan inside Hyde, a new speakeasy in Providence, Rhode Island.

Top places to ring in the New Year in Rhode Island

Where to find the best whoopie pies around New England

Wusong Road softly opens in Harvard Square; Vermont’s Spruce Peak serves comfort food, slope-side

travel

Guests enjoyed the oceanside view from the front porch of the Chatham Bars Inn.

Chatham Bars Inn ranked among the world’s best hotels by Condé Nast Traveler

New Year’s at the Mystic museum, curling at the Liberty Hotel, and a test lab in the palm of your hand

Jenna Rubaii seeks out parks and the unexpected when traveling

Arts

Visitors at "Imagine Van Gogh" at the SoWa Power Station.

‘Imagine Van Gogh’ doesn’t leave much to the imagination

Adria Arch, known for airborne sculptures, grounds herself with ‘The Visitors’

Italy obscura: Photographer Abelardo Morell opens the mind’s eye

Books

Away in a manger in ‘The First Christmas’

She reads about politics — and everything else

Examining truth and consequences in ‘Trust’

Movies

A scene from “My Dad Is a Sausage,” one of the films to be shown at Belmont World Film’s 19th annual Family Festival.

At this family film festival, see the world through kids’ eyes

Movies set in the ’70s: Getting beyond disco and double knits

A Boston woman posted to TikTok offering to swap homes with a stranger like the movie ‘The Holiday.’ She leaves for England next week

Television

Issa Rae, left, and Yvonne Orji.

Fans thank Issa Rae, ‘Insecure’ for its portrayal of growth — and its representation of Black women

10 New Year’s Eve-themed sitcom episodes to ring in 2022

‘The Chair’ got academia right, romance wrong

music

The 2022 sign that will be lit on top of a building on New Year's Eve is displayed in Times Square, New York, last week. "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" with Ryan Seacrest broadcasts musical performances from Times Square to ring in the new year.

6 New Year’s Eve performances from Boston-bred artists

It didn’t take a lot for drummer Billy Conway to make a big impression

A Far Cry makes space for complex grief with ‘Flames to Ashes’

Theater/Dance

The Main Stage cast at Improv Asylum will be performing three New Year's Eve shows.

Six local New Year’s Eve comedy shows to help you get the last laugh on 2021

On New Year’s Eve, a cautious return to comedy

Enter, stage left: Omicron

globe local

Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke to students and staff at Epiphany Middle School in Dorchester in 2002.

Desmond Tutu left his mark on New England

Big Brother mentors sought for growing waitlist of young boys

Coming to a city or town near you: Projects funded by the state’s $4 billion COVID-19 relief bill

Obituaries

Dr. Wilson (left) and German zoologist Bert Holldobler were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for "The Ants."

E.O. Wilson, evolutionary biologist who changed how we look at the world, dies at 92

Desmond Tutu, whose voice helped slay apartheid, dies at 90

Joan Didion, peerless prose stylist, dies at 87