Boston Globe Today | October 18, 2023

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Palestinian Americans in Mass. worry for loved ones in Gaza

WATCH: As the war escalates between Israel & Hamas, metro digital editor Sahar Fatima shares how local families are living in fear for their loved ones abroad. Watch →

How to identify abuse by a doctor

WATCH: 100+ women are accusing a former Brigham & Women’s doctor of sexual assault. Reporter Felice Freyer explains what patients can look out for. Watch →

Nation

Suspect admits he murdered Natalee Holloway on Aruba in 2005, pleads guilty to extorting her mom

The chief suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway has admitted he beat the young Alabama woman to death on a beach in Aruba after she refused his advances. Continue reading →

Politics

Jordan defeated again for speaker as Republican stalemate deepens

As the chaos continued, a group of Republicans and Democrats was discussing taking explicit action to empower Representative Patrick McHenry, the North Carolina Republican who has been serving as temporary speaker, to conduct legislative business on the House floor. Continue reading →

Nation

US halts collection on some past-due COVID loans, sparking federal probes

The US government has halted some efforts to collect an estimated $62 billion in past-due pandemic loans made to small businesses, concluding that aggressive attempts to recover the money — a portion of which may have been lost to fraud — could cost more than simply writing off the debt. Continue reading →

World

With Putin by his side, Xi outlines his vision of a new world order

The leaders of China and Russia hailed each other as “old” and “dear” friends. They took swipes at the United States and depicted themselves as building a “fairer, multipolar world.” And they marveled at their countries’ “deepening” trust. Continue reading →

World

Putin plays down threat posed by powerful US-supplied missiles

One day after Ukraine used newly acquired, US-made missiles to launch a damaging attack on Russian air bases in occupied territories, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to play down the impact the weapons will have on the battlefield. Continue reading →

World

Allied spy chiefs warn of Chinese espionage targeting tech firms

The United States and its allies vowed this week to do more to counter Chinese theft of technology, warning at an unusual gathering of intelligence leaders that Beijing’s espionage is increasingly trained not on the hulking federal buildings of Washington but the shiny office complexes of Silicon Valley. Continue reading →

OPINION

Is Boston even capable of building big public works projects?

It needs the idealism of the Big Dig era. Continue reading →

EDITORIAL

Healey was elected to tackle housing. With big $4 billion bond bill, she confronts the challenge head on.

ADU zoning, transfer tax worth supporting. Continue reading →

OPINION

Jim Jordan is one step from House speaker due to gerrymandering

Gerrymandering built the House chaos. The Supreme Court appears disinclined to do anything about it. Continue reading →

THE GREAT DIVIDE

BPS releases plan to overhaul special education

A report by the Council of Great City Schools last fall found that 29 percent of BPS students with disabilities — thousands of students — are taught in “substantially separate” classrooms. It's a rate more than twice that of state and national averages. Continue reading →

Politics

In the Allston-Brighton city council race, a tale of two progressives

In the District 9 race, barrier-breaking incumbent Liz Breadon faces a challenge from another progressive, Jacob deBlecourt. Continue reading →

Politics

Winter is coming, and what happens now?

Governor Maura Healey on Monday said that, after providing emergency shelter to some 23,000 people, the state system is near capacity. Continue reading →

dan shaughnessy

The Red Sox seem to be hearing, ‘No thanks,’ from a lot of prospective candidates

Who knew it would be this hard to find qualified folks interested in taking over the baseball operation of the once-vaunted Boston Red Sox? Continue reading →

college sports

The landscape of college sports is changing by the minute, and not everyone is happy about it

The introduction of NIL deals means student-athletes are now being compensated, but there is sharp division on whether they should be officially designated as “employees.” Continue reading →

celtics

Who starts for Celtics isn’t a perfectly clear picture, but it’s still one that looks very good

The surprising addition of Jrue Holiday last month seemed to blur things, giving Joe Mazzulla a welcome problem to solve. Continue reading →

Business

St. Regis condo developer gambles with below-market ‘bid sale’ on 10 units

The Collaborative Companies said on Wednesday it was running a “limited inventory bid sale” of 10 one- and two-bedroom condos with minimum required offers that are about 20 percent below recent comparable sales at the St. Regis. Continue reading →

innovation beat

How to use social media in wartime

Amid the war in Israel and Gaza, here are some recommendations for dealing with difficult or divisive topics on sites like X, Facebook, and Instagram. Continue reading →

Biotech

Eli Lilly, riding a pharma hot streak, expects to double planned employment in Boston research center

Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific and medical officer, said in an interview that the Lilly Institute for Genetic Medicine along Fort Point Channel will ultimately accommodate 500 Lilly scientists and researchers. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Roland Griffiths is dead at 77; led a renaissance in psychedelics research

A distinguished psychopharmacologist and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Roland Griffiths spent decades studying the mechanisms of dependence on mood-altering drugs. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Steven Lutvak, whose darkly comic show won Tonys, dies at 64

“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder” would be his only Broadway show. Continue reading →

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Theater

New Repertory Theatre in Watertown is shutting down

In a statement Wednesday, New Rep’s leaders said that “fundraising with major donors has fallen short of the theater’s goals for a sustainable path,” and consequently the board has “initiated the process of formally dissolving the organization.” Continue reading →

Movies

From Miyazaki’s latest to the Massachusetts-set ‘Eileen,’ here’s what to catch at IFFBoston’s Fall Focus at the Brattle

"We keep an eye out for the titles that will get people talking," says Brian Tamm, executive director of Independent Film Festival Boston. Continue reading →

TV CRITIC'S CORNER

Appreciating Greta Lee’s subtlety in ‘The Morning Show’

She plays Stella Bak, one of the few people at UBA who has some sense of ethics, journalistic and otherwise. Continue reading →